CleanTech Report 2020.06.09

Solar costs have fallen 82% since 2010. Egypt approves $27.5B renewables and environment projects.
Australian Renewable Energy Agency receives $1B in hydrogen grant requests. Abu Dhabi Power Corporation announces world’s lowest solar tariff in the world at $1.35.
India’s Railway Energy Management Company to set up 3GW solar capacity on vacant land.

CleanTech Report June 9th 2020

NORTH AMERICA

Brookfield Acquires Emami Group’s Solar Business

India INC

Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management acquired Emami Power, a solar power focused company owned by Emami Group, for an undisclosed amount. The group is looking to pare debt speedily and the sale of its solar power unit is part of the plan, a report cited an unidentified person familiar with the transaction.

CIT Leads $225M Credit Facility For 8minute Solar Energy

Monitor Daily

The CIT Group (CIT) Power and Energy business served as sole coordinating lead arranger for a $225 million letter of credit facility on behalf of 8minute Solar Energy (8minute), a developer of renewable energy projects nationwide. 8minute intends to use the credit facility to arrange purchase power agreements and interconnection agreements associated with its development pipeline of solar and storage projects representing 18 gigawatts of power in California, Texas and the southwestern U.S.

Solar Costs Have Fallen 82% Since 2010

PV Magazine

The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency.

 

LATIN AMERICA

Opdenergy To Sell Majority Stake In 144 MW Mexican Solar Portfolio

Renewables Now

Spanish renewables developer Opdenergy has agreed to sell an 80% stake in two Mexican solar plants with a combined capacity of 144 MW to private investment firm Riverstone Holdings LLC.

 

Valmont Acquires Majority Stake In Brazil-Based Solbras

Business Wire

Nebraska-based Valmont Industries Inc., a global provider of engineered products and services for infrastructure development and irrigation equipment and services for agriculture, recently announced the purchase of a majority stake in Solbras-Energia Solar do Brasil, a Brazil-based company that provides and installs photovoltaic energy plants. Effective immediately, the company will go to market under the Valley brand.

 

IDB Invest To Issue Certification For Green Transmission Lines

Renewables Now

IDB Invest, the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will be issuing the first certifications of green transmission lines (GTLs) in the world. The GLT certification will help to attract new funds and institutional investors searching for high impact investments in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

 

EUROPE

Nexans Solar Technologies Signs First KEYLIOS® Solar Trackers Contract For Reden

Cable Technology News

Nexans Solar Technologies (NST) has signed its first contract to design, manufacture and supply its KEYLIOS® Solar Trackers for Reden, a major player in the development of photovoltaic projects and a supplier of fully integrated energy. Over 800 of the solar trackers will be installed at Reden’s next four solar parks, located in the southwest of France, with a combined peak capacity of 26 megawatt (MWc).

Iberdrola And Enea Eye Up To 3.3 GW Of Polish Offshore Wind

Offshore Wind

Poland’s Enea Group and Iberdrola have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to jointly develop offshore wind projects in the Polish Baltic Sea with a possible total capacity of up to 3.3 GW. The two companies will now begin negotiations on an exclusive basis to assess the possibility of jointly investing in, developing, and operating offshore wind projects.

Solar Provided 11.5% Of Britain’s Electricity In May

Renew Economy

The number was celebrated this week by National Grid ESO, which operates the grid in Great Britain and which also noted that May was the first coal-free calendar month since the industrial revolution (see table above), and a new record low day for carbon intensity. “Great Britain’s incredible coal-free run has continued throughout May, giving us the first full calendar month – 744 straight hours – of electricity generation without coal since the industrial revolution,” National Grid’s head of control Roisin Quinn said in her monthly report.

 

ASIA

Taiwan Power Company Signs Deal For Largest Energy Storage System

Asia Today

Taiwan Power Company has partnered with Delta Electronics to build its largest energy storage system as part of a smart grid project on Kinmen Island. Delta will provide a 1MWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system, a 2MW capacity power conditioning system, an energy management platform and environment management systems for installation at the utility’s Xia Xing Power Station.

Keventer Agro Executes Eastern India’s ‘Largest’ Rooftop Solar Plant

Money Control

The Kolkata based food and beverage company Keventer Agro on June 5 said that it has executed eastern India’s “largest” rooftop solar plant project at Barasat in West Bengal. The 2.15-MW project is expected to yield 2.83 million units of energy, it said. The plant is spread over two lakh square feet, making it eastern India’s largest installation of rooftop solar panel, Keventer Agro claimed.

Railways To Set Up 3 GW Solar Capacity On Vacant Land

liveMINT

In what will add further heft to India’s credentials as a clean energy champion, state run Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) will tender, supervise and manage electricity supply from 3 gigawatt (GW) of solar plants that will be built on vacant Railway’ land. In the union budget presented earlier this year, finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed to set up large solar power capacity alongside rail tracks, on land owned by Railways.

 

MENA

EBRD Approves $100M Loan To NBK Egypt

ZAWYA

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved the provision of a $100 million loan to the National Bank of Kuwait – Egypt (NBK Egypt). The funding will be used to finance private-sector businesses, seen as one of the main economic drivers in the country, minister of international cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, said in a statement on Sunday.

Record Abu Dhabi Solar Bid Is A Sober Reminder To Upbeat Fossil Fuel Pundits

Clean Technica

A rather meaningful piece of energy news went almost unnoticed in recent weeks. The Abu Dhabi Power Corporation announced the lowest tariff for solar energy in the world. The new record came as the winning bid for the upcoming 2 gigawatt (GW) solar power plant, the Al Dhafra Solar PV project, set the world’s most cost-competitive tariff for solar PV energy, at USD 1.35 cents/kWh (AED 4.97 fils/kWh in local currency).

Egypt Approves $27.5B Renewables And Environment Projects

ZAWYA

Egypt has approved 691 projects in renewable energy and environment worth around 447.3 billion Egyptian pounds ($27.6 billion), a local newspaper reported on Sunday. Some of the projects, dubbed “green investments programme”, will be funded through bonds in the North African Arab country’s 2020-2021 fiscal year, Alhram Arabic language daily said, citing a report by the Planning Ministry.

 

AFRICA

How West Africa Can Expand Power Supply And Meet Climate Goals

All Africa

The challenge in creating flexible, reliable and affordable energy supply systems with renewables lies in the very different circumstances across countries and regions. Planning and expanding renewable power must consider countries’ local resources and their existing and planned infrastructure. This becomes even more interesting for countries trying to grow their grids and expand their renewables at the same time – like many in sub-Saharan Africa.

UN Puts Nigeria’s Electricity Access Rate At 57%

News Diary

No fewer than 110.7 million Nigerians out of a 195.8 million estimated population had access to electricity as of 2018, according to the latest global energy progress report. This represents a 57 per cent national electricity access rate compared with the global average of 90 per cent, says the report launched at the United Nations on Thursday.

Swedish Clean Energy Tech Ready For Full Scale Commercial Launch In South Africa

Mining weekly

A year ago, the first PWR BLOK from the Swedish clean technology company Swedish Stirling was commissioned at ferrochrome producer Afarak’s Mogale site, in South Africa. The company is now ready to launch on a larger commercial scale in the country.

 

AUSTRALIA

ARENA Receives $1B In Hydrogen Grant Requests

Pipeliner

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has received 36 expressions of interest for its next hydrogen funding round. The $70 million Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Funding Round was opened in April with the goal of fast tracking the development of Australia’s hydrogen industry by supporting two or more large scale projects. ARENA said more than $1 billion in total grant requests had been received for more than $3 billion worth of total combined project value.

Rooftop Solar To Top 2 GW Again In 2020

Renew Economy

Rooftop solar installations tracked record levels in the first quarter of 2020, a new Clean Energy Regulator report has confirmed, as the industry continues to assess the impacts of Covid-19 on clean energy investment. The latest quarterly carbon markets report published by the Clean Energy Regulator outlined the continued strong uptake of rooftop solar installations, with an additional 609MW of new small-scale solar PV capacity added in the first three months of 2020.

Australia’s First Digitized PPA

PV Magazine

While not impressive in size, the Robinvale Solar Farm provides a litany of firsts for the Australian renewable energy sector. The 9.4 MW project commissioned last week marks the arrival of a new project developer and new technology, which holds the promise of opening the door for small businesses to access renewable-energy power purchase agreements (PPAs).

 
 

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