Posted on 28 May 2014. Tags: Dubai's 100MW solar park project, solar energy, solar plant
Chinese solar panel manufacturer Yingli Green Energy is planning to participate in Dubai’s 100MW solar park project, as part of the company’s expansion plans in the Middle East and Africa in 2014.
The company is looking to expand its business in emerging markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Pakistan, Nigeria and others.
The National cited Yingli Green Energy managing director Dimitirios Bachadakis as saying that the company will bid on Dubai’s independent power plant (IPP) project.
“There is a huge move towards solar energy in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE to name just a few,” Bachadakis said.
As part of the plan to diversify its energy mix by 2030 in the UAE, the state utility Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has issued a tender for the solar park project, with the deadline on 5 July 2014.
The tender for the solar part forms part of the AED1bn 1,000MW Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park project.
Yingli executive director Middle East Evangelos Lianos was quoted by Reuters as saying, “It is either we will partner with other companies together and then will submit our bid, or it might be that our strategy is we will support this project with services to the participating companies.”
Currently, DEWA is negotiating with other partners and governments to equip large-scale solar installations in the region.
Posted in Alternative Energy, Business, Solar Energy
Posted on 23 May 2014. Tags: Abengoa, solar energy, solar plant
Abengoa has completed a 206MW solar PV plant, which is claimed to be the world’s largest single-axis photovoltaic plant, in south-east California.
Located in the city of Calexico, the Mount Signal Solar PV plant will supply power to around 72,000 households in San Diego and its surrounding area, preventing the emission of 356,000t of CO2/year into the atmosphere. The company will not retain an interest in the constructed assets.
Under the contract worth $365m, Abengoa was responsible for the engineering, construction and commissioning of the plant for Silver Ridge Power.
The project is spread across 801 hectares and consists of more than three million photovoltaic modules that rotate on a north-south axis tracking the path of the sun.
During the construction process, Abengoa signed agreements with various local firms in order to boost economic development in the region.
At its peak, the project created more than 700 direct jobs in the area, most of which were filled by local residents. The company constructed and commissioned the plant in a record 16 months.
Abengoa is currently carrying out various projects in EE.UU., an area that accounts for 28% of its business. These include Solana, the world’s largest parabolic trough plant that has been operating since last year; Mojave, a 280MW solar-thermal plant that will be operating mid of this year; and a new photovoltaic project in California for EDP Renováveis.
Posted in Solar Energy
Posted on 21 May 2014. Tags: Fukushima, renewable energy plans, solar plant
Fukushima experienced the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit three years ago. Now, the region is trying to turn the “lost landscape” into massive renewable energy fields. The prefecture has declared “zero dependency on nuclear energy” and created a goal to meet 100 percent of its electricity needs with renewable energy, such as solar, by 2040. The prefectures also believes that investing in renewable energy will spur economic development and create jobs to help its recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Prefecture-Led Initiatives
In April, a 1.2-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) system was completed at the Fukushima airport that is very visible not only to local people but also outside visitors. The 400 million yen (US $3.9 million) project was fully funded locally, and meant to signify the prefecture’s strong commitment to renewable energy.
According to a city official, the prefecture invested 45 million yen (US $443,000) to create the Fukushima Power Company, a special purpose entity, to develop the Fukushima Airport Solar Power Project. Local city governments and businesses also made equity investments in the company, while local banks provided 200 million yen in debt financing. Furthermore, citizens in Fukushima raised an additional 100 million yen for the project.
The solar project installed at the airport parking areas consists of 4 ground-mount structures: a 500-kW system, created by 2,000 SunPower modules and one 500-kW TMEIC inverter donated by Toshiba, a 501-kW system with SunEdison modules, a 22.5-kW tracking system using Fuji Premium modules, and a 169-kW system consisting of 30 different solar panels provided by various domestic and foreign manufacturers and six different mounting system structures.
In the same month, the prefecture opened the “Fukushima Renewable Energy Research and Development Center” with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), a publicly funded research institution, for advancement of solar technologies in the prefecture. The Research Center monitors and analyzes the efficiency and effectiveness of different modules and system structures at the airport. The center will also research other renewable energy technologies such as wind and geothermal, and transfer knowledge and advances to create jobs in the prefecture.
Near Future Plans for Fukushima
For the fiscal year 2015, ending March 31, 2016, the prefecture has a renewable energy goal of 805 MW (cumulative installed capacity). This goal is equivalent to 24 percent of the retail electricity demand of the prefecture. Out of 805 MW, solar PV technology will represent 447 MW. By 2030, the cumulative installed capacity of solar will be 2 GW.
This goal appears to be easily attainable. As of January 2014, Fukushima already had nearly 1.6 GW of FIT-approved PV capacity.
While the federal government described nuclear power as an “important baseload power source” in the energy plan released in April, Fukushima is making important strides toward zero nuclear power.
Posted in Renewable Energy, Solar Energy
