Month: June 2023

                DNV has supported a solar and storage project in the Republic of Palau in the western Pacific. Philippines-based power producer Solar Pacific Energy Corporation (SPEC), the solar developer of listed Alternergy Holdings Corporation, appointed DNV as owner’s engineer for the 15.3MW solar power and associated 13.2MWh battery on Babeldoab island in the archipelago. The $29m project, jointly owned by SPEC and its listed parent Alternergy, will meet more than 20% of Palau’s energy needs. SPEC was awarded a long-term power supply agreement by the Palau Public Utilities Corporation to feed power to the central grid in Badelboab.

               DNV’s work scope for the solar-storage system spanned four phases across the design, pre-construction, construction, and project completion stages. The company assessed if the design would meet two main purposes: grid smoothing and energy generation. It advised on project scheduling and progress tracking, and checked the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on SPEC’s behalf. “Solar Pacific is grateful to DNV for its excellent technical and project management support throughout the pre-construction and implementation stages of this exciting project,” said SPEC chief executive officer Mike Lichtenfeld. “DNV provided valuable expertise to ensure the delivery of a rather complex project that involved a PV and battery storage hybrid solution on a challenging project site located in a remote location. “We look forward to expanding our working relationship with DNV throughout the Asia Pacific region.” DNV project manager at energy systems Michael Niu added: “With a project in a location as unique as the Republic of Palau, the jurisdiction itself is challenging as the project engineering codes and local requirements are very specific.  “As such, it was critical that a multi-disciplinary engineering team well-versed in international codes, standards and best practices was assembled.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: DNV] 

               Nordic developer Ilmatar has secured land for a proposed 350MW solar farm in Grums, in central Sweden. Ilmatar has signed a 50-year lease agreement with landowners in the Värmland municipality for the solar farm to be built on 300 hectares to 400 hectares of leased land. When operational, the plant will be one of the largest in Sweden.

               The farm will be primarily built in commercial timber forest severely damaged by bark beetles and therefore unsuitable for timber use. “We are strongly committed to expanding renewable energy production in Sweden and look forward to finishing construction and connecting the farm to the main grid as soon as all permits are in place,” said Ilmatar Solar chief executive Christian Gustafsson. “The Grums farm is a long-awaited boost for energy production and is of special local importance.” Landowner of the area Anders Bergenheim added: “We are really excited about this collaboration with Ilmatar and the fact that we can contribute to the green transition in a very concrete way. “We really appreciate Ilmatar’s approach that combines solar energy production with farmland.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: llmatar]

                  Equinor’s second Polish solar plant has started test production in the north of the country. The 60MW Zagórzyca solar plant, located in the Damnica municipality, was developed and will be operated by the Polish renewable power producer Wento, Equinor’s 100% subsidiary. Equinor acquired Wento and its 1.6GW pipeline of solar projects in 2021. Two years after the acquisition, two solar plants in Poland are ready and another one is under construction.

                 “Equinor aims to be a reliable energy partner for Poland and support its energy transition. We are building a broad energy offering in the country, including onshore and offshore renewables, and gas supplies through the Baltic Pipe,” said Equinor’s country manager in Poland Michał Jerzy Kołodziejczyk. Senior vice president for onshore and markets within renewables at Equinor Olav Kolbeinstveit added: “Today we inaugurate our second solar plant Zagórzyca, doubling our solar capacity in Poland to around 120MW. “Our first solar plant Stępień is already in commercial production, and another one, Lipno, will be commissioned in 2024. “We are also maturing other opportunities within onshore renewables and battery storage in Poland, in line with our market-driven power producer strategy.” Equinor’s wholly owned energy trading house Danske Commodities will be responsible for marketing and bringing the electricity from Zagórzyca to the Polish power market. Around 500 people were involved in the construction of Zagórzyca that comprises 111,000 solar panels over an area of around 55 hectares.

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Equinor]

Enel X has been awarded a tender by Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) to build a 22MW solar plant that will meet the airport’s self-consumption requirements.   The company, part of Enel Group, will deliver the solar plant in collaboration with infrastructure company Circet. Located parallel to runway No.3 at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport, the facility will cover a 340,000 square metre area. Work is scheduled to start by the end of 2023 and will be completed in 2024. The new solar energy plant will be complemented with a storage system based on second life electric vehicle batteries. The 10MWh storage system is the result of the Pioneer (airPort sustaInability secONd lifE battEry stoRage) project, which is the first stage of the collaboration between Enel X and ADR, and will help cover any possible energy demand peak at the airport in the evenings. “The construction of this new photovoltaic system, which will be the largest in Europe, is a significant step in the now well-established collaboration with Aeroporti di Roma,” said Enel X chief executive Francesco Venturini. ADR chief executive Marco Troncone added: “Working with Enel X will make it possible for the largest self-consumption photovoltaic system ever installed at a European airport. “We believe that Italy’s top companies can and must work together in order to transform and relaunch this sector, which is of strategic importance for our country, and to help mitigate climate change.” ADR is targeting zero CO2 emissions by 2030, ahead of the targets set for the European airport sector. 

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Enel]

               Statkraft has been awarded the contract for a solar-battery project in Zerbst in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt region. The 47MW solar park will be co-located with a 16MW battery to provide short-term flexibility to the energy system. Statkraft won the project as part of the Federal Network Agency’s innovation tender.

               The federal authority had tendered a total of 400MW of output for the innovation tender in May 2023. Statkraft’s project is on the site of a former gravel pit. “The construction of co-location facilities using solar energy and battery storage is part of our ambitious growth targets in Germany,” said Claus Urbanke, Head of German wind, solar and storage development at Statkraft. Statkraft has already started the tendering process for selected plant components ahead of operation in mid-2025.

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Statkraft]

               Medical products and technologies company Convatec has proposed creating a wind and solar powered renewable energy hub to power its South Wales manufacturing operation. The project is being developed in partnership with local farmers and would be situated adjacent to Convatec’s manufacturing site in Rhymney, South Wales. The project will feature three wind turbines and around 10 hectares of solar panels, providing a generating capacity of about 20MW. As well as generating enough clean energy to meet the requirements of the Rhymney facility, the project, known as Convatec Green Manufacturing Hub, will also provide enough energy to power its Deeside operation.

               Convatec also anticipates a surplus of energy being produced by the project and will commit to working with the community to identify local energy supply options for other businesses and community organisations. Since the project is expected to have an installed capacity of greater than 10MW, it will be considered a Development of National Significance (DNS) by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), with the final decision being made by Welsh Ministers. Convatec have organised two early engagement community events in Rhymney for the public to learn more about their emerging proposals. These will take place on Wednesday 28 June between 4-8pm at St David’s Community Centre and Thursday 29 June between 10am-2pm at Ael-y-Bryn Sports & Community Centre. Commenting on the proposals, Marion Davies, Rhymney Plant Director, said: “Transitioning our operations to clean, green locally produced energy will make us more resilient, ensuring we can continue to produce world leading products here in Rhymney, that positively touch the lives of people with chronic illness on a daily basis, over the long-term. “We are dedicated to supporting our local community and look forward to engaging with neighbours, stakeholders and local businesses to help shape the plans and identify opportunities for collaboration and positive community focused outcomes.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: MorgueFile]

               Accelerating solar-plus-storage in the next five years will boost the efficiency and resilience of global energy networks, according to 92% of energy industry professionals. The finding is from DNV’s Industry Insights research, which surveyed global energy industry professionals on their outlook, expectations and priorities for the year ahead. DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook forecasts that solar will grow 20-fold globally by 2050 and installations are increasingly being planned with dedicated storage. Within a decade, about one fifth of all PV installed will be with dedicated storage, and by mid-century, this share will have risen to half. “Global emissions are continuing to rise; the good news is that we have the technologies to prevent further increase of emissions. “Combining solar and storage also opens a wide range of possibilities to provide 100% renewable energy for society in a reliable and cost-efficient way. “It’s important that we act fast for the collective good, remove barriers for clean energy and plan for long term progress,” said Ditlev Engel, CEO, Energy Systems at DNV. 

                   The forecast also shows that despite its current higher costs, solar-plus-storage has an advantage over solar PV on capture price. Plants with storage can charge batteries when sunlight is plentiful during the day and sell the stored electricity when the price is high. By 2038, the capture price advantage of solar-plus-storage over regular solar PV plants will surpass the cost disadvantage on a globally averaged basis. Of those surveyed for Industry Insights, respondents working in the solar industry see investment in storage as a priority, with two thirds revealing they already have revenue-producing business interests in the sector and 56% expecting to increase their investment in the year ahead. Skills shortages and lack of policy support could stand in the way of progress, with both solar and storage industry respondents citing these as the biggest barriers to growth. Around 63% of respondents from the solar industry stated that not enough people are entering the workforce in the sector, while 62% revealed that their own organisation is finding it increasingly difficult to attract employees with the skills required for the energy transition. Regarding policy support, 47% said that inadequacy, delays or surprises in public policy represents the biggest risk to their organisation’s near-term success. A further 87% of solar industry respondents stated that reforms to permitting and licencing processes are critical to meeting net zero targets. DNV’s Industry Insights research was conducted in January and May 2023 and includes over 1500 respondents from Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Credits: renews.biz [Image: DNV]

               New research reveals total investment in European solar energy startups is up 398% compared to this time last year. Solar startups in Europe received $6bn in backing in the first five months of 2023, compared with $1.2bn raised by the same point in 2022. Avnet Abacus, an electronics distributor, has produced the findings after analysing Crunchbase data for companies listed in the solar energy category to provide insight on the level of funding going into the sector. The average funding round for European solar startups in 2023 is at a record high of $166m. In other key findings by Avnet Abacus, globally investment in the solar sector is up 47%, with funding down 7% in the US so far this year. Despite the continued uncertainty in the venture capital market, average investment in European solar is at an all-time high at $166m, compared with an average of $88.3m in 2022 and $22.9m in 2021.

               The figure flowing into European solar so far this year eclipses the sector’s global average of $116.8m and the US average of $113.8m, stated Avnet Abacus. Sara Ghaemi, Avnet Abacus’s Technical Director, said: “Even though solar technology is relatively mature, there is still a lot of room for growth and innovation. “There is growing demand around the world, and government policies and incentives continue to support investment in this area, with engineers continually seeking new ways to make solar more efficient. “Rooftop solar panels could potentially produce 25% of Europe’s annual electricity consumption. As well as the available rooftop surfaces, the facade of the buildings can also contribute to the generation of green energy. “When looking for a replacement to fossil fuels, however, rooftop and facade panels will not be enough. “This will require large scale photovoltaic farms, where you’re talking about megawatts of power generation. “At such high power and high energy density, recent developments in silicon carbide and gallium nitride technologies are enabling power to be converted with greater efficiency than traditional silicon-based components.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Dulas]

                3SUN, Enel Green Power’s module manufacturing business, has launched three new solar modules, which will be available in 2024. The products based on 3SUN’s hetero-junction technology (HJT) entirely developed by 3SUN and which will be made in Italy. The modules can be used in utility-scale ground-mounted projects as well as on rooftop installations.

               “A new milestone in the history of 3SUN materialises with the presentation to the solar industry of new photovoltaic modules that will be produced in our Gigafactory in Catania”, said Eliano Russo, CEO of 3SUN. He added: “Excellence, innovation and sustainability are our cornerstones for build latest generation photovoltaic panels, able to compete with the big players in the market.   “From today, the photovoltaic industry can count on a new protagonist, to contribute to achieve the decarbonisation goals and build a more independent and secure Europe from the point of energy view.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: 3SUN]

               Voltalia has officially inaugurated its largest solar park to date in the UK, which it has developed via a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with local authority the City of London Corporation. South Farm Solar Park has a total capacity of 49.9MW, the equivalent of more than half of the governing body’s electricity needs. The project has been supported by Santander UK, which provided £25m funding to support its construction and operation. Voltalia head of power sales Laurent Pillot said: “Signing a CPPA with the City of London Corporation has been an important milestone for Voltalia in the UK.

              “The transition to green electricity is gathering pace globally, and the City Corporation is a leader: it has demonstrated the capacity of a public entity to take efficient and meaningful decisions to accelerate this trend. “We are very proud to effectively deliver green energy to the City of London Corporation since the beginning of 2023 and we hope to continue to support City of London in their energy transition path.” Deputy policy chairman and policy lead for sustainability at the City of London Corporation, Keith Bottomley, added: “This scheme is a pioneering blueprint by the City Corporation for local authorities across the UK, cutting carbon emissions and giving cheaper, more secure energy, protected from the price volatility of energy markets. “The deal will increase our green energy supply, has no reliance on taxpayer funding, and helps us transition quickly away from fossil fuels.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Voltalia]