German company IB Vogt has broken ground on the first of seven solar and battery storage projects in the UK. The portfolio consists of seven sites with a total capacity of 720MW, 380MW of which comprises solar projects and the other 340MW battery storage. The projects are located throughout the UK, with start of construction on the first project, a 66MWp solar and 50MW battery storage co-located power plant, taking place on 27 February, 2023. The second project in the portfolio is a 58MWp solar and 40MW battery co-located power plant, with start of construction expected in April 2023. The first project in the portfolio comprises of 115,856 modules and represents IB Vogt’s first tracker development in the country.                With an output of circa 82GWh per year, the project alone will produce clean solar electricity equivalent to the average annual consumption of 27,000 households while saving up to 21,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. In addition to the solar capacity, the co-located battery and solar project will provide grid services such as stabilisation and load shifting, moving renewable electricity generation from when it is generated to when it is needed on the market. IB Vogt is the minority shareholder and realisation partner in the portfolio, as it worked together with DIF Capital Partners to acquire the greenfield ready-to-build solar and battery assets. The company will provide EPC and O&M services for the solar projects, with all projects expecting to be operational between 2024 and 2026. “We are constructing a number of solar plants in the UK and this solar plus battery portfolio is a great addition to the projects we are currently realizing from our own pipeline,” said Anton Milner, CEO of IB Vogt. “The UK is an advanced solar energy market and battery systems are an increasingly important factor to support the transition to renewable-based electricity generation. I would like to thank everyone involved so far for their tremendous work. “Together with our partners at DIF, we are committed to continue advancing clean solar power and supporting the decarbonisation of electricity generation – even after the sun has set.”         Credits: renews.biz [Image: ib vogt]

                 DIF Capital Partners, together with Ib Vogt, has signed the acquisition of a 100% interest in a 720MW portfolio of ready-to-build co-located solar and battery projects in the UK. DIF and Ib Vogt have acquired the portfolio from Enso Green Holdings Limited (EGHL), a joint venture between Cero Generation and Enso Energy. DIF’s investment is being done through its DIF Infrastructure VII fund, which will acquire a 90% interest. The UK-based portfolio, developed by EGHL, consists of seven sites with a total capacity of 720MW (380MW of solar and 340MW of battery storage). Ib Vogt will supply Solar EPC and O&M services to the portfolio. The acquisition of each project will be completed once a site reaches the ready-to-build stage.                The first two projects have already been acquired and have started construction; the expectation is that all sites are acquired by mid-2023 and that they are operational between 2024 and 2026. All individual developments are expected to benefit from CfD contracts or power purchase agreements with corporate or utility offtakers. DIF and Ib Vogt are in the process of raising a non-recourse debt financing facility to fund the construction of the portfolio. Gijs Voskuyl, partner and Head of Infrastructure at DIF Capital Partners, said: “This transaction perfectly fits in DIF’s build to core strategy and will make a significant contribution to the UK’s efforts to achieve net zero by 2050. “It represents DIF’s first direct investment into the asset class of utility scale energy storage, which is an essential component of future electricity markets.” Marta Martínez Queimadelos, CEO of Cero Generation, said: “This portfolio will make a significant contribution to the UK’s efforts to achieve net zero by 2050, with the co-location of solar and battery storage playing a key role in the de-carbonisation of the grid. “We will continue to develop and deliver the UK solar and battery projects in the joint venture’s existing pipeline, which extends to 5GW, and a further 5GW of early-stage opportunities.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Enso Energy]

                   CEP Renewables, CS Energy and NJR Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) have announced the conversion of a former contaminated brownfield site into a 17MW solar project  (pictured) in New Jersey. This fixed-tilt solar array was constructed in two phases on a site that previously housed a paper mill complex. CEP Renewables used its experience redeveloping Superfund landfills and brownfields to transition a former contaminated site into sustainable, green energy.                Executive vice president at CEP Renewables Chris Ichter said: “We’re pleased to leverage our extensive experience with redeveloping Superfund and brownfield sites to turn this previously contaminated property into a source of solar energy, jobs and tax revenue. “We were able to efficiently overcome the unique challenges this site posed by working closely with the property owner and the EPC, CS Energy, at every stage of the project.” CEV, one of the largest solar owner/operators in New Jersey, acquired the Holland project from CEP Renewables in 2021, and now owns 63 commercial solar projects throughout New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Connecticut, with a portfolio of more than 430MW of installed capacity.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: CEP Renewables ]

                Renantis, formerly Falck Renewables, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support the construction of a agrivoltaic plant in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The campaign, aimed at financing part of the 32.6MW agrivoltaic plant, envisages annual returns of 6.5% for the inhabitants of the municipalities of Terzo di Aquileia and Cervignano del Friuli, who wish to join. Renantis brings its sustainable approach to Friuli Venezia Giulia, by sharing the value generated by the plant to promote widespread, compatible, and agriculture-related sustainability, in synergy with local communities. The plant will combine the production of clean energy with beekeeping and the planting of a variety of native crops under the solar panels, the installation of beehives and a polyphytic meadow, composed of multiple species of grasses. The plant will also include advanced technology agricultural tools to make beekeeping activities more efficient and sustainable.  The lending crowdfunding campaign will be developed through a remunerated loan, guaranteed by Renantis and not directly linked to the actual production of the plant.               Through the Ener2Crowd platform it will be possible for individuals to participate in the project with investment of between €200 and €10,000. Receiving annual interest on the loan made for 36 months, participants have the possibility of early exit and full recovery of the capital paid in, at the end of the period. Giangiacomo Altobelli, Renantis’ community manager in Italy, said: “For over fifteen years, our Group has been successfully conducting initiatives to share the value created by our renewable plants. “In 2021 we launched our first lending crowdfunding campaign in Sicily, in the province of Ragusa, with a high level of participation from the local community. “This new initiative in Friuli Venezia Giulia is further evidence of our sustainable commitment, which is based on caring, both for the region and for the people who live around our facilities.” Lending crowdfunding is just one of the many initiatives implemented by Renantis to support the communities in which it operates. Construction work will begin on the Terzo di Aquileia project in July 2023 over a 52-hectare site. Forty five of those hectares will be dedicated to the production of renewable energy combined with agricultural activity. Once in operation, the agrivoltaic project will produce around 50 GWh of energy, equal to the annual needs of more than 16,500 households.             Credits: renews.biz [Image: Renantis ]

                 Lightsource BP, Schroders Greencoat and H&M Group have announced the completion of two new solar power stations in Leicestershire. The Streetfields (pictured) and Northfield House solar projects provide a power output of approximately 50MWp, the equivalent of powering over 15,000 UK homes.  As part of the partnership, which was first communicated in 2021, Lightsource BP has developed a customised and tailored PPA for H&M Group. This is to support the company’s ambitious goal to reduce its absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions and scope 3 emissions by 56% both by 2030, from a 2019 baseline. It also aims to increase the annual sourcing of renewable electricity to 100% by 2030.  The renewable solar electricity produced at the Streetfields and Northfield House plants will supply H&M Group business activities across the UK. Renewable power contracts like this can include varied tenors and provide much-needed price predictability for corporates and businesses to help meet sustainability and decarbonisation targets. The joint capacity of the Streetfields and Northfield House projects is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 10,500 metric tonnes each year.  Kareen Boutonnat, CEO for EMEA and APAC for Lightsource BP, said: “Projects like these are a clear demonstration of how renewable energy partnerships between developers, investors and corporations can play a vital role in enabling the UK’s energy transition. “We are pleased to continue growing our partnership with Schroders Greencoat and support H&M Group’s decarbonisation targets.               “We will continue to apply our development and power marketing expertise to further support investors, utilities and corporations needing to ramp up their ‘home grown’ renewable ambitions.”  Head of green investment at H&M Group Ulrika Leverenz said: “It is great to see the solar parks of Streetfields and Northfield House becoming a reality. “Renewable energy plays a crucial role in our climate roadmap to reduce emissions and achieve net-zero by 2040. “Power purchase agreements like this one bring us one step closer to meeting our ambitious climate goals and increasing the availability of clean energy in the country.” The solar projects became operational in December 2022, and ownership was transferred to a fund managed by Schroders Greencoat. As part of the agreement, Lightsource BP will provide third-party solar asset operation and maintenance services through the company’s operations and maintenance division, already contracted for 179MW of Schroders Greencoat’s solar assets.            Credits: renews.biz [Image: Lightsource BP]

                 Vodafone has signed its second corporate solar power purchase agreement (PPA) in the UK that will mean 44% of its annual energy requirement will come from UK-based renewable power sources by 2025. The deal, with Centrica, gives Vodafone UK access to clean, high quality and affordable renewable electricity for the next 10 years, supplied by five solar farms. The solar farms, located in Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Buckinghamshire and Dorset, will generate a total of 216 gigawatt-hours of electricity. Construction will begin this year with energy generation expected from early 2024. Vodafone will purchase a “significant proportion” of the electricity output from the solar farms, securing their development and bringing additional renewable power provision to the UK Grid. The remainder will be sold through Centrica’s Energy Marketing & Trading business.                The deal, between Vodafone, Centrica as the power supplier, and Mytilineos as the generator, supports the UK government’s ambition to focus on home-grown, clean and more affordable energy. Ahmed Essam, UK CEO of Vodafone, said: “The energy crisis has highlighted we must work together – as governments, businesses and society – to change how we produce and consume energy. Today’s announcement ensures a significant proportion of our energy requirement, for at least the next 10 years, is home-grown in the UK. “I’m pleased Vodafone is helping to progress the development of new renewable power sites and supporting the delivery of green energy to the UK grid. “Importantly, this also gives Vodafone UK improved energy security and price certainty and will help us achieve net zero for our UK operations by 2027.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Vodafone]

                 ECOwind, a subsidiary of BayWa, together with Austrian energy supplier EVN, has realised a 24MW floating PV plant in Grafenworth, Lower Austria. The 24.5MWp project is the fourth largest floating PV plant in Europe after three projects located in the Netherlands, and the largest of its kind in Austria and Central Europe. The floating PV system in Grafenworth measuring approximately 14 hectares is built on the water surface in a former sand and gravel pit on two lakes. It will produce 26,700MWh of green electricity per year and will be able to supply around 7500 Austrian households.                The project has seen rapid growth, with the 45,304 solar modules installed in only ten weeks total. Benedikt Ortmann, Global Director of Solar Projects at BayWa, said: “We are in the decade that matters. As market leader in floating PV, BayWa sees the important role of this technology in the clean energy revolution, and we are excited to bring floating PV to more and more countries. “It creates a new function for otherwise unused water surfaces. With this turnkey floating PV project, we have brought incremental improvements to our already cutting-edge systems in the Netherlands. “Together with EVN and our Austrian subsidiary ECOwind, we managed to install the plant in record time – without compromising on environmental protection. Biodiversity and sustainability are major considerations for us in all floating PV projects.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: BayWa]

                 McDonald’s Corporation has signed an agreement with Lightsource bp to purchase power from a 145MWac/180MWdc solar site in Louisiana. The Prairie Ronde Solar project will generate an expected average of approximately 327,000 MWh of renewable energy annually, equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of 30,700 US homes once complete. Lightsource bp will finance, build, own and operate the facility located about 25 miles north of Lafayette. McDonald’s will purchase all the solar energy the project generates, equivalent to approximately 630 restaurants’ worth of renewable electricity annually. Construction of the site is expected to begin in early 2023, with commercial operation starting in late 2024.                “Growing our partnership with Lightsource bp reaffirms our commitment to building a more sustainable McDonald’s system at a meaningful scale,” said Elaine Strunk, Senior Director Global Sustainability, McDonald’s. “Prairie Ronde Solar will contribute to our climate aspirations while adding a considerable amount of new renewable generation to the grid.” Kevin Smith, CEO, Lightsource bp, Americas, added: “This deal marks McDonald’s second solar project in Louisiana in partnership with Lightsource bp, bringing our statewide total of solar assets to 525MW representing a cumulative half billion-dollar private investment. “McDonald’s is a great example of a corporate buyer whose commitment to sustainability is driving massive investment in new clean energy infrastructure for America’s energy security and clean energy future.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Pixabay]

                 The Isle of Man is set to generate as much as 75% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2026, its government has announced. Ministers have given the go-ahead for the island’s state-owned electricity supplier Manx Utilities to start work on generating 30MW of electricity from onshore wind and solar power within the next three years. The island’s current electricity demand averages at around 40MW and peaks at around 75MW in winter, but can fall as low as 25MW at night during the summer. The UK island’s Chief Minister Alfred Cannan MHK said: “Today marks a major milestone in the Isle of Man’s commitment to become a net zero nation by 2050 and to decarbonise our electricity production by 2030. “Electricity generation is the largest single source of carbon emissions in the Isle of Man, accounting for around 35% of our annual total, so this is the obvious place to start with our decarbonisation plans if we are to make significant inroads, and quickly. “Thirty megawatts by 2026 is an ambitious and stretching goal for an island community, but one we must achieve if we are to play our part in tackling global warming and climate change.”                Sites on the island in public ownership are being targeted for the installation of solar panels, including car parks and government buildings.  Wind turbines could also be built on publicly-owned sites focussing on areas where the wind yield is likely to be highest, subject to planning approvals. The majority of the island’s electricity is currently generated using natural gas, with diesel, energy from waste, hydroelectric and a subsea cable to England making up the remainder. The Isle of Man, a self-governing Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea at the heart of the British Isles, is home to 85,000 people and is unique in being the only nation in the world where the entirety of its territory – the land and the sea – makes up a UNESCO Biosphere.           Credits: renews.biz/[Image: Dimitry Anikin/Unsplash ]

                 Aura Power and Ib Vogt are to begin construction work on a 27MWp solar project near Leiria in Portugal. The grid connection for the project was awarded in the 2019 solar power auctions. The grid works scheduled to begin in mid February by EDP Comercial. Ib Vogt will then begin construction of the solar farm in May.  Construction is expected to be completed in Q4 this year with energization expected shortly after. The solar farm is located 120km north of Lisbon and 6km to the south of the city of Leiria. It lies adjacent to the EREDES(DNO) Azoia substation which it will connect directly into, at the 60KV voltage level. With an energy generation of 44GWh per year, the solar farm will provide enough clean electricity to power over 13,500 homes, preventing the emissions of over 9,000 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere each year.                 Aura Power chief operating officer Ben Moore said: “We are really pleased to announce the construction of this project which is the first Utility Scale PV farm in Portugal to be developed organically and constructed all the way to COD by a British company. “It is the first of many that we are bringing through our pipeline all the way to COD and we are proud to be able to help contribute towards Portugal’s commendable 2026 and 2050 net zero targets.” Portugal has an ambitious target to reach 80% clean electricity production by 2026, four years earlier than previously planned. Aura Power has over 20GW of solar and battery energy storage projects in development across Europe and North America.           Credits: renews.biz/ [Image: Ib Vogt ]