A German bill to increase the expansion of solar photovoltaics is undergoing its first reading in the Bundestag. Dennis Rendschmidt, Managing Director of VDMA Power Systems, said: “The law is an important step towards further strengthening the expansion of photovoltaics in Germany. “For the resilience of the energy supply, it is now important that the perspective for a European PV supply chain is included in the EEG in order to ensure fair framework conditions. “To achieve this, a competitive level playing field must be created and the value of European production must be recognised.”           Credits: renews.biz 

                 Lightsource BP and utility Conway Corp have completion of the 135MW Conway Solar at Happy project in White County, Arkansas. The solar farm will deliver home-grown, clean energy to Conway Corp under a PPA with Lightsource BP. Conway Solar is projected to generate enough clean energy to power 21,000 homes. Bret Carroll, chief executive officer at Conway Corp, said: “Work on this project began in 2019 and it is one of the most significant projects for Conway Corp since our incorporation in 1929. “I’m proud of the team that worked on this project and the way it fulfills key parts of our mission by providing reliable and environmentally sound electricity to our community. “I also appreciate our partnership with Lightsource BP, they have been great partners from the very beginning.”                Lightsource BP developed, financed, constructed, and will operate the project, a US$125m private capital investment in new energy infrastructure for Arkansas. The Conway Solar project not only generates emissions-free energy for healthier air but has created an opportunity to advance pollinator conservation in the area. Working with the Arkansas Monarch Conservation Partnership, Lightsource BP and Conway Corp have established a five-acre native pollinator garden within the solar farm, featuring 46 varieties of Arkansas native plants. This garden is crucial in providing habitat and nectar for at-risk monarch butterflies and other pollinators that support our food supply. Emilie Wangerman, interim chief operating officer at Lightsource BP USA, said: “At Lightsource BP we believe that a solar farm can be so much more than an energy facility. “By sharing in this vision, our partners at Conway Corp are bringing a host of benefits to their community, from affordable energy to ecosystem health, economic development and beyond.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Lightsource BP]

                 Solar developer Alight has doubled its company headcount with new hires. The company has hired 12 employees since August and now employs 75 staff across its offices and locations, up from 38 in March. The company now has 11 employees based in Spain, following the opening of its Madrid office in July to support the company’s European buildout.                Notable recent hires include Marian Giner, Head of Engineering, who has worked in renewable energy for 15 years, most recently at OX2, César Torres, Vice-President for Investments, who joined from Nala Renewables and Johanna Hellberg, Business Development Manager, Battery Storage who joined from Northvolt. Giner said: “Alight caught my eye as a leading independent power producer, with a dynamic team, a clear business strategy and a great track record. “The importance of efficiently engineering solar projects is not only recognised – but a key to its success. “I’m excited to be a part of Alight’s journey, supporting large corporate customers on their transition to solar while ensuring engineering excellence of the highest quality.”             Credits: renews.biz [Image: Alight]

                 Developer Low Carbon has begun energising a 22MW solar farm in Buckinghamshire in England.  The Fox Covert Solar Farm is the company’s first project to energise as part of a pipeline of solar and battery projects in excess of 3GW in the UK. The announcement follows the recent news Low Carbon secured contracts for 10 solar projects with a capacity of 350MW in the latest CfD allocation round. In the last year the company has raised close to £1bn in finance to support the wider development of its renewables projects.                Fox Covert has the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to power more than 7000 homes and is also the first to benefit from Low Carbon’s partnership with LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Education, an initiative that aims to inspire and educate children and young people about food, farming and the countryside. “We are delighted to see Fox Covert Solar Farm come online, which represents a landmark moment in our journey to becoming a global IPP,” said Low Carbon founder and chief executive Roy Bedlow “We are developing renewable energy at scale in the UK and the Fox Covert project will make an important contribution to tackling climate change and enhancing our energy security.” Landowner of Fox Covert Solar Farm Jo Nicholson added: “As farmers, we’ve got to bring life back into the farms through regenerative farming, people now understand the need for renewable energy. Having solar on our site, gives us a chance to rest the land and diversify into other farming.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Low Carbon]

                 Cubico Sustainable Investments has put nine new solar projects into operation in Colombia through its joint venture with Celsia this year. The developments, totalling 200MW, comprise San Felipe, Melgar, Yuma, Dulima and Flandes in Tolima; and Buga 1, Palmira 1, Palmira 3, and La Victoria 1-2 in Valle del Cauca. This takes Cubico and Celsia’s operational solar platform in Colombia to 300MW, making it one of the largest in the Latin American country. Through the same joint venture the companies have a further 200MW in construction and late stage development, which will become operational during 2024 and 2025, and a further project pipeline of over 500MW.                In addition, Cubico and Celsia’s solar portfolio is complemented by the significant Caoba transmission and distribution (T&D) platform, with assets in the Tolima, Valle and Caribbean regions. “We continue to support Colombia’s energy transition by consistently bringing even more clean power to the grid,” said country manager for Colombia at Cubico Camilo Toro Gómez. “This is especially relevant during the current El Niño dry season, where alternative power to the hydro generation base is much needed by the country. “We are very proud to be one of the key players and market leaders for renewable investment in Colombia, as well as in the T&D business where we directly contribute to the country’s energy infrastructure needs.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Cubico]

                  Ilmatar’s first Swedish solar farm has become fully permitted and now stands ready to be built. The 55MWp site will be constructed on two locations covering approximately 54 hectares of land in Knihult, Småland, southern Sweden. In addition to solar panels, a 20MW battery to balance the power and allow optimal use of renewable energy is planned to be installed at both sites. Ilmatar aims to start building the project during spring 2024 and grid connection is planned for early 2025.                “More renewable energy is needed to accelerate green transition,” said Ilmatar Solar AB managing director Christian Gustafsson. “Solar energy has immense potential in Sweden. Knihult’s solar farm will be our first, but by no means last. “I look forward to start building it and then connecting the farm to the grid.” The land where Knihult’s solar farm will be built was previously used for peat extraction and will be restored to wetland before solar panels are installed. Due to its previous use, the land area would not be suitable for food production. With a solar farm on it, the land will be used to provide Southern Sweden the much-needed renewable energy said Ilmatar.                Ilmatar started operations in Sweden in the beginning of 2022 and said the Knihult project  is the latest indication of the company’s rapid growth in Sweden. Since starting operations there, Ilmatar has leased enough land to generate 4.2 terawatt hours of solar power per year it stated. This meets the electricity demand of approximately 210,000 houses.  “I am excited to see Ilmatar’s growth in Sweden,” said the power producer’s chief executive Juha-Pekka Weckström. “We have said that we are strongly committed to starting renewable energy production in Sweden, and Knihult is a great concrete step forward in our journey. “In general, we have succeeded well in finding and leasing suitable land for solar energy production, especially taking into consideration the challenging grid situation.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Ilmatar]

                 Renewable energy consultancy and service provider Natural Power has taken over as owner’s engineer and principal designer for NTR’s 40MW Ockenden Solar PV Park in Essex, England. Anticipated to be one of the UK’s largest solar parks, the site will comprise more than 108,000 ground-mounted PV panels, potentially powering 17,000 local homes.                  This initiative covers a 98.44-hectare Veolia-owned plot, previously used as a landfill site. “This has been a really exciting project for us, not just due to the location of the site in close proximity to London, where there is understandably a significant demand for energy, but also the forward-thinking nature of the development that is repurposing land that would otherwise go unused to supply clean power using new and innovative engineering solutions that ensure minimum disruption to the landfill and maximum energy output,” said construction director at Natural Power Ralph Spernagel. “This continues our long relationship with NTR where we have used our full project lifecycle knowledge to provide value adding health and safety expertise, technical advisory and project management services to assist in its acquisition and construction of renewable projects.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Natural Power]

                 Nexta Infrastructure Holdco has agreed to buy a 26.5MW Italian solar portfolio. The projects, ranging from 1MW to 7.3MW are being sold by solar producer R.Power Group and are located in different parts of the country, including Sicily and Umbria. The final sale agreement is expected to be concluded no later than by June 2024.                R.Power said the move aligns with the company’s strategy of asset rotation and is a deliberate shift in focus from small-scale to medium and large-scale projects. Italy is still a vital part of R.Power’s market presence, and the company’s commitment to growth in Italy remains steadfast it added. It has assembled a dedicated team in the region and currently maintains an extensive project pipeline of over 700MWp actively under development. “We are dedicated to the development of medium and large-size projects in the Italian photovoltaic market,” said says R.Power board member Klaudiusz Kalisz. “The transaction will enable the company to make further investments and focus on the expansion of new innovative projects’ pipeline in this part of Europe.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: R.Power]

                 SSEN Transmission has energised an extension to the Abernethy substation which will facilitate the connection of up to 50MW of renewable energy to the local electricity distribution network. The extension was required to the existing 132 kV substation at Abernethy to enable an increase in electricity capacity, which will allow for the future connection and onward transportation of clean renewable energy generated in the area.                Delivered by principal contractor Freedom Group, the project involved the installation of new electrical components including busbar and 132 kV outdoor switchgear to enable the increase in energy, along with an expansion of the substation footprint into the field immediately north of the existing substation to make way for the new electrical equipment and upgrades to the infrastructure. This included the successful installation of two new 120 MVA transformer units, each weighing around 100 tonnes, which arrived on site after a long journey from manufacturer SGB in Germany.  The substation extension has also used two new 132kV SF6-free circuit breakers as part of the development, which use an environmentally friendly technology to help insulate the equipment. Now that the new equipment has been successfully energised, the previous equipment has been removed and recycled, with some parts stored as back up components for use elsewhere on the network.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: SSEN Transmission]

                 Sonnedix has begun construction of a 149MW solar project in Portugal, its first in the country. The Douro project, located in the municipality of Tarouca, in the Viseu district in northern Portugal, is also Sonnedix’s largest solar project in Europe to date. Sonnedix entered the Portuguese market in late 2022, with the acquisition of a portfolio of ground-mounted projects located throughout the country. Douro will be constructed by EPC company Zagope (Group Andrade de Gutierrez) and is estimated to be completed by the end of 2024.                The project will have a 14 km 220kV transmission line, which will be constructed by CME. Axel Thiemann, CEO of Sonnedix, said: “The start of construction of this project is a milestone in our growth strategy for Portugal and Europe. “We entered this market at the end of 2022 with over 250MW of solar capacity to develop, and today, we announce the beginning of construction of our largest solar PV project across our entire European portfolio. “It is the first of many projects in Portugal, which is a key market in helping us become a true leader in the energy transition as we continue to expand our portfolio of renewable energy projects throughout the Iberian Peninsula.” At present, Sonnedix has a total capacity including projects under construction and development of approximately 9.3GW, across 10 countries in four continents.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Sonnedix]