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saurabh

Soltec Starts Installing Trackers At South America’s Largest Solar Power Project

written by saurabh

Installation of solar trackers on of what will soon become the largest operational solar power project in South America has begun.

Soltec, a Spanish manufacturer of single-axis trackers, has started installing trackers at the Piaui power plant owned by Enel Green Power Brasil Participações. The 292 megawatts solar power project was secured by the subsidiary of Enel through competitive auction.

This is the second large-scale solar power tracker installation taken by Soltec in Brazil. After completion of this project Soltec would have installed trackers at 450 megawatts of projects in the South American country.

Enel started construction of the Piaui solar power project last year. The project is expected to require a total investment of $300 million and generate more than 600 gigawatt-hours electricity annually. The project is expected to be operational by the second half of this year.

Enel already operates an 11 megawatts solar power project in Brazil and is also working on a 254 megawatts project. Together, these three projects will have a combined installed capacity of more than 550 megawatts. Enel has entered long-term agreements for sale of electricity from all these projects.

At present, the largest solar power project operational in South America belongs of Acciona Energia in Chile with installed capacity of 246 megawatts.

01/30/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Google Starts Getting Power From South America’s Largest Solar Power Project

written by saurabh

The largest solar photovoltaic power project in South America has started supplying electricity to Google.

Acciona Energia has announced that it has started power supply to Google’s installations in Chile from the El Romero solar power project. The 246 megawatts project is the largest solar PV power plants in South America.

Acciona Energina had signed a contract to the supply of 80 megawatts power to Google’s data center in Quilicura through the Central Interconnected System. Quilicura is one of the 13 Google’s data centers worldwide and the only one located in the Southern hemisphere. The power supply agreement will be in place at least until 2030, with an option to extend it by five years.

“We are proud to supply renewable energy to such an important customer as Google, a company strongly committed to renewables. And to do it from this plant, the biggest photovoltaic installation in Latin America and a key reference within the sector”, says ACCIONA Energía Chile CEO José Ignacio Escobar.

Florencia Bianco, Google Corporate Communications Manager for Latin America, points out that “in 2017 Google will achieve the objective of supplying its global operations with 100% renewable energy. El Romero is a very important element in achieving this objective”.

In November last year, Acciona had announced that it commissioned a 246 MW solar power project in the Atacama region of Chile. The El Romero solar power project was successfully linked to the Central Interconnected System following 13 months of construction.

The project is spread across 280 hectares and consists of 776,000 modules. The project required a total investment of $343 million. Around 500 GWh electricity generated from the project every year would be enough to power 250,000 homes in Chile and offset around 485,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission every year.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Dubai Launches 200 Megawatts CSP Tender

written by saurabh

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) announced a fresh tender for the iconic Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park just days after Dubai announced long-term renewable energy targets.

Media outlets recently reported that DEWA launched a 200 megawatts tender for concentrated solar power project at the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This is the first time concentrated solar power technology will come up at the solar power park.

The 200 megawatt project is set to be commissioned by April 2021 and will add to the more than 1 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic power capacity, almost of which is currently under development at the solar power park.

An additional 800 megawatts CSP capacity will be added to the solar power park taking the total CSP installed capacity to 1,000 megawatts by 2030.

Under the recently announced Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 plan, Dubai targets 44% energy from renewable energy sources, 38% from gas, 12% from ‘clean fuels’ and 6% from nuclear energy. Almost $17 billion will be invested to expand the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The solar power park will now be increased to a capacity of 5 gigawatts. The initial planned capacity was 1 gigawatt which was subsequently increased to 3 gigawatts, and now 5 gigawatts. Bids of the first 1 gigawatt of capacity have already been awarded.

Under the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy, the Emirate aims to achieve 7% share of clean energy sources in the total energy mix, which is scheduled to be increased to 25% by 2030 and 75% by 2050.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Record Low Bids Expected In India’s 750 Megawatts Solar Power Tender

written by saurabh

India’s solar power bids are expected to fall to a new record low with the upcoming reverse auction of 750 megawatts solar power park.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is expected to launch reverse auction for the Rewa solar power park in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The solar power park will be among the largest solar power parks in India although much larger parks are being planned by SECI.

The solar power tender will offer some incentives to the project developers that have never been offered till date. Successful project developers will have more flexibility to sell generated electricity compared to existing projects. A significant percentage of the planned capacity has been allocated to power distribution utilities in Madhya Pradesh as well as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

SECI will also implement a payment security mechanism so that developers are ensured of payment even if the power distribution utilities refuse to pay. The developers shall also receive payment during times of non-availability of power grid.

Additionally, the tariff discovered following the reverse auction shall undergo annual escalation of INR 0.05/kWh (0.7¢/kWh) for the first 15 years.

The solar power park will be developed in 3 phases of 250 MW capacity each, spread over a total of 1,500 hectares. Power generation from the first phase is expected to start beginning in June 2017, with the entire capacity expected to be fully operational by December 2017.

Delhi Metro has agreed to procure at least 121 million kWh electricity every year from the first phase. Once all the phase are operational, Delhi Metro may increase procurement to 363 million kWh per year.

Earlier this year, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed an agreement with the government of the state of Madhya Pradesh in India to provide assistance in the implementation of the solar power park. The IFC will extend its global expertise to structure and implement the transaction to help attract private investments of about $750 million. IFC’s work on this project will be supported by its partnership with Australia’s Department of Foreign Trade.

The lowest tariff bid for utility-scale solar power project in India currently stands at INR 4.34/kWh (6.40¢/kWh) in Rajasthan. There is every chance that the bids for the Rewa solar power park will be lower than the current lowest bid.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

IFC To Fund Jordan’s Largest Solar Power Project (200 Megawatts)

written by saurabh

A year after signing an agreement with the Jordan’s National Electric Power Company to set up the largest solar power project in the country, Masdar Group has finalised the financier for the projects.

According to media reports, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) shall provide funding for the 200 megawatts solar photovoltaic power project. The project shall be executed by a subsidiary of the Masdar Group – Baynouna Solar Energy Company.

Construction on the project will start later this year at the outskirts of capital Amman. Once commissioned, the project shall generate enough electricity to meet the annual demand of 110,000 homes and offset around 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

In January 2016, it was also reported that Masdar had joined hands with ABB for the development of solar power projects in Jordan. Substations, required to link power plants to the power grid, and inverters supplied by ABB are already operational at various solar power projects in Jordan.

Jordan has set a target of installing 600 MW of solar PV capacity and 1,200 MW of wind energy capacity by 2020 to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. The country has already conducted a number of auctions to allocate solar and wind energy projects and is planning to conduct more in the near future.

Image by vectoropenstock.com for Cleantechies

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Construction Set To Begin On The World’s Largest Solar Power Project In Dubai

written by saurabh

Construction on the largest solar power park at a single plot will begin later this month, the project developer and owner have announced.

Masdar Group and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) have announced plans to start construction of 800 megawatt project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. The project will form phase III of the solar power park which is set to have an eventual capacity of 5 gigawatts.

First Solar has already commissioned the first phase of 13 megawatts while ACWA Power is currently working on phase two of 200 megawatts. The fourth phase of the project shall have 1 gigawatts capacity.

A Masdar Group–led consortium was confirmed as the winner of the 800 MW solar power tender that was floated by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) last year. The consortium includes Fotowatio Renewable Ventures and Gransolar Group.

The phase III tender set a record for lowest-ever solar PV tariff globally at that time. The Masdar-led consortium beat the phase II winning bid of 5.84¢/kWh with a bid of 2.99¢/kWh. Masdar Group and DEWA signed the power purchase agreement for the project in November 2016.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Developers May Match Solar Bids In Upcoming India Wind Energy Auction

written by saurabh

Wind energy tariffs in India are set to crash to levels of the lowest solar power tariff bids in the upcoming and the first-ever wind energy auction.

Media reports suggest that wind energy tariff bids could fall to as low as INR 4.00/kWh (5.90¢/kWh) once the 1 gigawatts of wind energy capacity is auctioned and allocated to project developers over the next few days. This will mark a 20% discount to the average wind energy feed-in tariffs determined by the various state regulators across India.

The auction, being organised by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, did not have a benchmark tariff but the general lack of high wind speed sites across the country may push the bidders to place quite competitive bids.

Interestingly, the capital cost for setting up each megawatt of solar photovoltaic power plant and wind energy project is fairly the same in India, around $0.73-0.88 million. The lowest solar PV tariff for utility-scale solar power project is INR 4.34/kWh (¢6.40/kWh). However, in that case land for the project was provided by the government while in the case of wind energy auction the project developers will have to acquire land.

Still, a parity between wind and solar power projects will be remarkable. Solar power tariffs in India have collapsed sharply over the last six to seven years specifically due to the introduction of competitive auctions. Wind energy sector has prospered into the largest renewable energy technology in terms of installed capacity due to higher feed-in tariffs which continued to increase despite a fairly stable capital cost requirement and introduction of larger and more efficient turbines.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Suzlon Energy Wins 226.8 Megawatts Wind Energy Order In India

written by saurabh

Even as uncertainty over the extension of some crucial financial and tax incentives for the wind energy sector in India remains, Suzlon Energy has secured one of the largest orders in recent times.

One of the India’s largest integrated wind energy solutions provider – Suzlon Energy – recently announced that it received an order to supply 226.8 megawatts of wind energy turbines to an independent power producer.

The wind energy project will come up at Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh in the southern India. The district is a hotbed of renewable energy activity with several solar power projects coming up under the state as well as central government policies.

Suzlon Energy and the project developer will push hard to meet a possible deadline for expiration of the accelerated depreciation and generation-based incentive on 31 March 2017.

Suzlon Energy shall supply 108 units of S111 2.1 megawatt turbine for the project. The company has entered into an exclusive Supply and Installation Agreement (SIA) and Engineering and Construction of the project. The company would also be responsible for operation and maintenance services with dedicated life cycle asset management services for an initial period of 10 years.

The project will generate enough electricity to meet the annual demand of 120,000 households and offset almost half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

01/22/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Indian Solar Tariff Bids Could Fall To New Low With Fresh 500 Megawatts Tender

written by saurabh

After failing to attract enough bids for the 500 megawatts solar power tender in October last year, the state’s power utility has issued yet another tender for the same capacity.

Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has issued a request for selection (RfS) document for auction and allocation of 500 megawatts solar power capacity. Prospective project developers can submit their bids by 10 February 2017.

The utility had issued a tender in October 2016 which saw a measly response of just 117 megawatts. There are some significant changes in this fresh tender.

Project developers will now be able to bid for upto a maximum capacity of 500 megawatts; thus a single company can secure the entire tender capacity. In the earlier tender, the maximum bid size was 50 megawatts only.

The maximum tariff bid in the October tender was INR 5.10/kWh (7.50¢/kWh) but this threshold has now been reduced to INR 4.50/kWh (6.60¢/kWh). The lowest tariff bid for utility-scale solar power project in India currently stands at INR 4.34/kWh (6.40¢/kWh) in Rajasthan. Thus, if this new tender is fully subscribed the existing lowest tariff bid record may very well be shattered.

There is all likelihood of developers quoting a new record low tariff bid. Since the Rajasthan tariff bid in January 2016 several significant developments have taken place that are conducive for a sharp tariff bid cut.

Interest rates have fallen sharply, especially following the demonetisation drive of the Indian government in early November 2016. Module prices continue to remain very low. TANGEDCO has signed up the financial restructuring plan for power utilities enhancing the prospects of timely payments to project developers. The Indian government has waived off a number of charges for inter-state transmission of solar and wind energy. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has also directed states to provide ‘must-run’ status to renewable energy projects.

01/18/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

SunEdison Signs Agreement For 200 Megawatts Solar Project In Bangladesh

written by saurabh

SunEdison may have sold off most of the assets in the developed or rapidly developing solar power markets, the company seems to hold on to assets that represent significant premium over other global assets.

A subsidiary of SunEdison has signed an agreement with the government of Bangladesh to set up 200 megawatts solar power project. The power purchase agreement for the project was signed by Southern Solar Power. The company shall set up the power project in partnership with a local firm – Midland Power – which will have 20% equity stake in the project.

The power plant shall come up in the Cox’s Bazar district and is required to be commissioned over the next 18 months.

The fact that could explain why SunEdison remains active in a country like Bangladesh, which has virtually no utility-scale solar power projects, while it has exited one of the fastest growing solar power markets like India is the tariff mentioned in the power purchase agreement.

The solar power plant will receive a tariff of 17¢/kWh for a period of 20 years on a ‘no power, no payment’ basis.

This tariff is at a massive premium to the competitive tariffs seen in India and the world over. Competitive solar power tariffs have fallen to the record low of 2.42¢/kWh. Tariffs in India, where SunEdison recently offloaded 1.7 gigawatts of solar and wind energy assets to Greenko Energy Holdings, have fallen to 4.40¢/kWh for rooftop projects and 6.40¢/kWh for utility-scale solar power projects.

This is the advantage that attracts large renewable energy project developers to under-developed renewable energy markets of Asia and Africa. The lack of competitive auctions for projects allows them to set up projects at feed-in tariffs which are still very high.

SkyPower Global had also announced plans to set up 2 gigawatts of solar power capacity in Bangladesh over the next few years. Indian power company Adani Power also recently expressed intention to set up utility-scale solar power projects in the south Asian country.

01/18/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

South African Utility Eskom Threatened With Legal Action For Its Alleged Preference To Nuclear Over Renewables

written by saurabh

The South African Renewable Energy Council has suggested that the country’s utility may soon face legal action for its decision not to sign fresh power purchase agreements with renewable energy projects.

According to media reports, the council chairman has suggested that Eskom has not done enough to promote the advancement of renewable energy infrastructure in the country. While the utility is bound to signed PPAs and procure electricity from renewable energy projects auctioned by the government, the company has stopped doing so citing transmission constraints.

In August last year, Eskom had refused to sign PPA with a concentrated solar power project backed by SolarReserve with capacity of 100 megawatts. The project has a tariff of 12.40/kWh and the agreement was supposed to be signed for a duration of 20 years.

Eskom openly stated that it will no longer sign PPAs with any renewable energy projects. The utility stated that there was excess renewable energy going into the grid which has also increased the cost of power.

Eskom has expressed difficulty in absorption of the rapidly increasing renewable energy capacity in the country due to transmission capacity constraints. The utility recently secured funding to strengthen power grid. The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced a $1.34 billion loan to South African utility Eskom for the expansion and strengthening of its transmission network.

The council stated that this approach by the utility has jeopardised renewable energy investments worth $3.63 billion and has put thousands of jobs at risk. Additionally, it has also raised doubts about the future of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement auction programme. In 2015 the Minister of Energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, has announced that she would approach the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) to make arrangements to offer an additional 6.3 GW in future auctions.

01/15/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

El Salvador Awards Solar Power Project At 4.955¢/kWh

written by saurabh

A small Central American country giving competition to a renewable energy giant like India in solar power tariff bids does not seem quite right. But this is indeed true in the case of El Salvador.

According to media reports, El Salvador allocated four solar PV power projects through competitive auction. These projects have a cumulative capacity of 120 megawatts and were awarded at tariff bids ranging from 4.955¢/kWh to 6.724¢/kWh. Successful project developers offered 36% to 53% discount compared to the ceiling tariff of 10.53¢/kWh set by the government.

The lowest solar power tariff for a utility-scale solar power project in India stands at 6.40¢/kWh while for rooftop solar power project it is 4.40¢/kWh, with subsidies.

The successful bidders – Tracia Network Corporation, Capella Solar, Sonsonate Energy and Asocio Ecosolar – shall signed power purchase agreements of duration 20 years and will be required to commission the projects in 2019.

Interestingly, there was not much competition in the wind energy sector as a single 50 megawatts project was allocated at the ceiling tariff of 9.878¢/kWh.

Demand from wind energy projects seems to be waning in El Salvador as even during the last competitive auction no wind energy project was awarded while 100 megawatts of solar power capacity was awarded to project developers.

Image by vectoropenstock.com for Cleantechies

01/15/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Half A Million Green Jobs Expected In Morocco By 2040

written by saurabh

Morocco’s thrust in the renewable energy sector could yield additional benefits of creating numerous green jobs.

A new report published by the Mediterranean Forum of Institute of Economic Sciences claims that Morocco could have up to half a million jobs in the renewable energy sector by 2040. Most of the renewable energy jobs are expected to originate from the Noor-Ouarzazate solar power complex which will host a number of projects based on different solar power technologies.

The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) recently enhanced its target to set up 4 gigawatts renewable energy capacity by 2020 to 10 gigawatts by 2030. The Noor-Ouarzazate solar power complex will likely be the backbone of such large-scale expansion.

Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power is aggressively working on several power projects that will form part of the solar power complex. The company has already commissioned a 160 megawatts concentrated solar power project based on parabolic trough reflectors – Noor I – and is working on Noor II (also based on parabolic trough reflectors) and Noor III (based on power tower technology).

Additionally, ACWA Power is also working on a 120 megawatts wind energy project. The company signed an agreement with Vestas for supply of 40 units of V90-3.0 turbine for Khalladi wind park being developed in Tangiers.

Morocco’s enormous investment in renewable energy is completely justified as the country is almost entirely dependent on imported fuel. Morocco spends 10-12% of its gross domestic product to import energy. The possibility that Morocco could have half a million renewable energy jobs by 2040 is remarkable as, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), globally around 8.1 million renewable energy jobs existed in 2015.

01/15/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

World’s Tallest Solar Tower To Come Up In Israel

written by saurabh

Israel will soon have the world’s tallest solar power tower giving a massive boost to the country’s renewable energy efforts.

The solar power tower project will be part of the Ashalim solar power complex which will host a total of four projects, all based on different power generation technologies. Three of the projects at the solar power complex have already been allocated. These include 110 megawatts concentrated solar power project based on parabolic trough reflectors, a solar PV power project and the 121 megawatts concentrated solar power project based on power tower technology. A fourth solar power project is scheduled to come up later.

The three allocated projects will have a combined generation capacity of 250 megawatts while the fourth project will take the cumulative capacity to 310 megawatts.

To set up the solar power tower project BrightSource Energy has partnered with General Electric and NOY Infrastructure & Energy Investment Fund. General Electric will be responsible for engineering, procurement and construction of the project while BrightSource Energy shall provide the solar field technology.

More than 50,000 reflectors equipped with dual-axis tracking technology will be installed in solar field. These mirrors (or heliostats) will reflect the sunlight to the central solar power tower with a height of 250 meters, the highest in the world.

The 121 megawatts project is expected to be commissioned later this year. The project will generate enough electricity to meet the power demand of 120,000 homes. The project will also help offset 110,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

01/15/2017 0 comment

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