CleanTech Report October 6th 2020 |
M&AMacquarie Makes £120 Million Investment In UK Waste Giant Viridor The investment brings Macquarie’s investments in the energy, waste, solar PV and onshore and offshore wind sectors to more than £1.5bn, according to the firm Australian bank Macquarie continued its push into sustainable infrastructure this week, announcing a £120m long-term debt investment in a portfolio of energy-from-waste assets operated by the UK waste and recycling giant Viridor. Greenwood Energy Acquires 2C POWER To Create A Cleantech Energy Company For Latin America Greenwood Energy Latinoamérica, the Latin American renewable energy subsidiary of the Libra Group, has acquired Colombia-based 2C POWER, a developer-operator that builds and finances sustainable energy solutions for commercial and industrial clients. The consolidated company will henceforth trade as Greenwood Energy and will develop, install, operate and finance projects in the cleantech space with a particular focus on distributed generation. Lithium-Ion Battery Maker Northvolt Raises $600 Million Northvolt announced the signing of a $600 million private placement, led by Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Volkswagen, enabling the company to make further investments in expanding its production and recycling capacity as well as R&D activities to support the target of establishing 150 GWh of manufacturing capacity in Europe by 2030. |
NORTH AMERICACommunity Solar Program Gets Big Push The state is looking to aggressively expand its community solar program, a policy aimed at bringing energy savings to the many low- and moderate-income customers who have yet to benefit from New Jersey’s transition to cleaner energy. In a meeting Friday, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities opted to double the capacity of a pilot program designed to bring solar projects to those customers, while at the same time adopting changes to the program that reduce time and costs to developers looking to enroll customers in the program. Infrastructure Bank To Embark On $10 Billion Growth Plan The Canada Infrastructure Bank will get more creative in order to attract additional private-sector and institutional investors to its projects, its chair said, as the Crown corporation has been tapped to deploy billions as part of the federal government’s COVID-19 economic recovery efforts. IRENA Presents $2 Trillion Plan For Renewable Jobs By 2023 Doubling down on renewable energy investment and energy transition spending is required to ensure a truly green global recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and its economic aftershock, claims the International Renewable Energy Agency. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has used its annual renewable energy jobs report to urge governments to more than double annual investment in energy transition technology to almost $2 trillion from next year to 2023 so renewables employment can drive the global recovery from Covid-19. |
LATIN AMERICAItaly’s Enel To Help Build Green Hydrogen Plant In Chile Italy’s Enel ENEI.MI plans to team up with Chilean power company AME and others to install a pilot project to produce green hydrogen in Chile, the utility said on Friday. The plant, which is expected to be commissioned in 2022, will be the first green hydrogen plant of its kind in the country and one of the biggest in Latin America. CDF And IRENA Partner To Support Energy Transition In The Caribbean IRENA has signed an MoU with CDF to support a transition to a low carbon economic development model in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) to support a transition from fossil-fuel dependency to a more resilient and sustainable low carbon economic development model in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Renewables Could Drive Recovery In Latin America Countries in Latin America did not feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic until several weeks after Europe and the U.S., but the impacts of the coronavirus when it arrived were swift on the region’s economy. The United Nations in a policy brief in July said “COVID-19 will result in the worst recession in the region in a century, causing a 9.1% contraction in regional [gross domestic product] in 2020.” That contraction had analysts looking at what could drive the region’s recovery from the pandemic, and most agreed with what the U.N. said in that policy brief—that Latin American countries should begin “fostering sustainable industrial and technological policies, including measures to encourage a low-carbon growth path [and] promote the transition to renewable energy.” |
EUROPETotal To Increase Investments In Renewable Energy Production The French oil and gas company, which has slashed some spending as it grapples with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, said it would grow investments in renewables and electricity to $3 billion a year by 2030 from $2 billion now. European Energy Centre Elevated To Renewable Energy Institute The UK Government has awarded the European Energy Centre (EEC-ECT) institute status following the distinguished work in providing accredited Renewable Energy training and research carried out in the UK and internationally. The prestigious Institute status is only awarded to well-established organisations and bodies who deliver education of the highest excellence. Green Light For EU Grants Worth Nearly €1 Billion EU Member States agreed yesterday on a Commission proposal to invest €998 million in key European energy infrastructure projects under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Yesterday’s positive vote provides financial aid for works and studies for ten projects. The largest amount of funding goes to the Baltic Synchronisation Project (€720 million), to better integrate the electricity markets of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Other projects include a smart electricity grid linking Hungary and Slovakia (€102 million), and the first-ever CEF grant for works on a CO2 transport project for Belgian and Dutch ports. |
ASIA600 MW Solar Projects In Rajasthan To Light Up 4 Lakh Houses In a major breakthrough for the Indian solar space, Rays Experts, one of the leading Solar EPC and park developer companies in India, has successfully commissioned 6 solar parks in Rajasthan with the combined power of 600 MW. They have invested Rs 3,000 crore on these parks which are spread across 2,500 acres of land, mainly in the districts of Bikaner and Jodhpur and provide more than 4 lakh houses with renewable energy. Beijing Is Winning The Clean Energy Race At the end of September, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced his country’s intention to peak its emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral before 2060. To meet this goal, China will have to expand its domestic market for clean energy technologies, many of which it produces. China is also hoping to spur other countries to be more aggressive in lowering emissions—calling for a “Green Revolution”—and these countries could also be a market for Chinese technologies. Trina Solar Expands 15 GW New Module Capacity Trina Solar, the China leading solar PV module manufacturer announced this week that the company is going to build 15 GW module capacity in future three years. The new capacity will be deployed in location of the company’s headquarter, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. An investment agreement has been signed by Trina with local government of Changzhou High-tech Zone for total investment of no more than RMB3 billion for this expansion target. All capacities will be achieved in stages between 2020 and 2023. |
MENAOman Expects $30 Billion Investment In Clean Energy Projects By 2030 Oman is looking at an investment of $30 billion in clean energy projects by 2030, a senior official at Ejaad, an Omani think tank, said. “We foresee 30 gigawatts (GW) collective renewable capacity potential for hydrogen, heat substitution, and industrial projects by 2030. This translates into a $30-billion investment by 2030,” said Abdullah Al-Abri, Manager at Ejaad, an organisation that is involved in energy-related research and innovation activities. Mitsubishi Power Committed To Supporting Saudi Arabia’s Circular Carbon Economy Energy consumption in Saudi Arabia is estimated to increase threefold from present levels by the year 2030. The country has set itself a clean energy target of 27.3 GW by 2024 and 58.7 GW by 2030. The Saudi government also aims to localize a significant portion of the energy value chain with specific focus on renewables, R&D, and manufacturing. The global energy mix will be a combination of oil and gas fire as well as renewables, and Mitsubishi Power can play an effective role on both sides of the fence with its wide portfolio. UAE Consortium Considers $500 Million Energy Project In Egypt An Emirati consortium is studying the implementation of a wind farm to produce electricity in Egypt, at investments worth about $500 million (EGP 7.87 billion), Al Mal News reported on September 28th. The Arab republic’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) approved the UAE group’s request to allocate the land required for the project, official sources at the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy revealed, declining to disclose the identity of the Emirati firms. |
AFRICASpanish Solar Tracking Group Establishes Formal Presence In South Africa Spanish solar tracker and structures specialist STI Norland has, since the start of October, established an active presence in South Africa, which it views as an attractive market for utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. Two Northern Cape Solar Plants Connect To National Grid Two utility-scale solar plants in the Northern Cape – Aggeneys Solar and Konkoonsies II Solar – have commenced commercial operations, adding a collective 132MW to SA’s generation capacity. These sister solar plants, situated within 35km of each other, both form part of BioTherm Energy’s portfolio, and are expected to produce enough each year to power 110 000 households collectively. The switching on of these plants comes as SA is looking at renewable energy as a solution to the country’s energy challenges. Lumos Receives $35 Million From DFC To Expand Renewable Energy Access Nigeria-based pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar home system provider Lumos Global has received US$35 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to expand its off-grid solar home systems installation project, which will see 160,000 new solar home kits benefiting nearly one million people. |
AUSTRALIAWest Australia To Build 100MW First On State’s Main Grid Big Battery The West Australia government says it plans to build a 100MW big battery with two hours storage to ease the pressure off the state’s ageing coal and gas generators as the share of renewable energy grows. The state Labor government made the announcement late Friday, issuing a request for information on its tenders page for what it is calling the Synergy Big Battery, which will be a 100MW/200MWh facility built at a decommissioned power station Kwinana. Australia Announces $1.62 Billion In Funding For Renewables Agency In Australia, the government has announced up to $1.62 billion in funding to support the development and adoption of innovative low-carbon energy technologies over the next ten years. The prime minister and the minister of energy and emissions reduction announced the funding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). IFM Partners With Oil Trader To Create $2.8 Billion Renewable Energy Venture The investment arm for Australia’s industry superannuation funds has struck a deal with a global oil trader to form a new multi-billion-dollar joint venture to targeting investments in new renewable energy and battery storage projects. Nala Renewables has been formed as a joint venture between IFM Investors, which manages around $140 billion in assets and investments on behalf of Australia’s industry super funds, and international oil trader Trafigura Group. |
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