Australia's biggest solar farm was officially connected this week.
The 10-megawatt Greenough River Solar Farm in Western Australia -- a joint project of First Solar, Inc., GE Energy Financial Services and Western Australian state-owned power utility Verve Energy -- is expected to generate enough solar energy to power 3,000 homes, eliminating 20,000 tons of greenhouse gases each year.
The plant, near the port town of Geraldton, consists of 150,000 of First Solar's advanced thin film PV modules solar photovoltaic panels spread over 198 acres.
"The Western Australia community has developed a genuine appetite for renewable energy, and today we are 10 megawatts closer to a cleaner energy future," Western Australia's Minister of Energy Peter Collier said in a release.
Verve Energy and GE Energy Financial Services each own 50 percent of the project. The Western Australia Government provided $20 million in funding.
"As the largest photovoltaic solar plant in operation in Australia, the Greenough River Solar Farm demonstrates that renewable technologies can contribute to meeting Australia's future energy needs on a sustainable, cost-competitive basis," Verve Energy Chief Executive Officer Jason Waters said in a release.
"This is a positive first step in validating the bright future that large-scale solar represents in Australia," he said.
Verve Energy and GE are evaluating the possibility of a plant expansion up to 40 megawatts to satisfy growing demand for renewable energy, Waters said.
Australia aims to generate at least 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
The project represents GE Energy Financial Services' first renewable energy investment in Australia. GE says it's portfolio of committed renewable energy projects worldwide totals more than $8 billion.
Matt O'Connor, managing director at GE Energy Financial Services said the company sees "incredible investment opportunities in Australia," and it looks forward "to applying our expertise to help the country's renewable energy market grow."
Australia has the highest average solar radiation per square meter of any continent in the world, the government says.
About 858,000 homes in Australia have solar PV panels, accounting for a total installed capacity of nearly 2 gigawatts, data from the Australian Clean Energy Regulator indicate. That translates into a rooftop solar installation on one out of every 10 households.
Ray Wills, chief adviser to the Sustainable Energy Association, an industry lobby group, said at the current rate of installations, he expects the 1 millionth home to be achieved by the end of next June, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Tuesday 16 October 2012
Germany raises electricity charge to finance renewables
Germany's electrical grid operators said Monday they were raising by nearly 50 percent the charge to consumers that finances subsidies for renewable energy as the country phases out nuclear power.
Consumers will be asked to pay a charge of 0.05277 euros per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed in 2013, the firms said, compared with a 0.03592-euro surcharge this year.
For an average three-person house, this 47-percent increase amounts to an additional 60 euros ($77.8) per year, taking the overall charge up to about 185 euros annually.
In total, the network operators hope to collect more than 20 billion euros to subsidise renewable energies.
On Thursday, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said that Germany, Europe's top economy, wanted to meet 40 percent of its energy needs with renewable sources by 2020, up from a previous target of 35 percent.
By 2050, the government aims to supply four-fifths of Germany's power needs from alternative energy sources such as solar or wind energy.
"It's clear that the energy switch-over that we all want and that I want to succeed, won't come free," Altmaier told Monday's edition of the mass-circulation daily Bild.
Claudia Kemfert, from the DIW economic institute, warned that the poorer-off in society needed to be shielded from the hike but stressed that the renewable energy sector in Germany would continue to create jobs.
"The increase in this charge is manageable for many households, but there are also very poor, low-income households which could be negatively affected by this type of price rise," Kemfert said.
"We need to think about ways to help these households financially, so they can save energy and electricity," she added.
Nevertheless, the renewables sector already employed 400,000 people in Germany and "this number will rise," she noted. "Therefore, this is a positive development for Germany."
However, an association representing the chemical industry slammed the charge as a "bottomless pit."
Firms that use a lot of electricity, such as the chemical sector, can apply for an exemption in paying the charge or benefit from a lower amount. More than 2,000 companies have applied for special treatment for next year.
Karl-Ludwig Kley, head of the German chemical industry association, said: "The costs for consumers and industry of the electricity price charge for renewable energy has risen to an unbearable degree."
The costs for the chemical sector would rise from 550 million euros this year to 800 million euros in 2013, Kley said.
Germany decided in the immediate wake of Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster to shut down its nuclear reactors by 2022 and ramp up the use of renewable energy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has made the so-called "Energiewende", the term used to describe both the end of nuclear power and the promotion of renewable energy sources, one of her government's priorities.
However, the policy has run into difficulties, notably due to technical and financing problems as well as because of local resistance to building new power lines.
In February, Germany was forced to tap into its electricity reserves amid a cold snap, sparking fears that the switch out of nuclear power could result in power shortages.
Germany, one of Europe's biggest countries, also faces transmission problems, with much of the production capacity offshore in the north but much of the demand hundreds of kilometres (miles) away in the south.
According to the EU statistical office Eurostat, the average household electricity price is 0.253 euros per kilowatt hour, the second highest in the 27-member bloc behind Denmark.
The World Wildlife Fund in Germany warned that a "hysterical debate" was now taking place.
"Only one-third of electricity price rises since 2000 is due to support for renewable energy," said Regine Guenther, the group's head of climate and energy policy in Germany.
Wednesday 10 October 2012
Australia's largest solar farm opens amid renewable target debate
Australia switched on its first utility-scale solar farm on Wednesday, bringing the country a step closer to achieving ambitious renewable energy targets that traditional coal and gas power producers are now fighting to soften.
The Greenough River Solar project, just outside the small town of Walkaway in the state of Western Australia, is a joint-venture between Western Australian state-owned Verve Energy and US conglomerate General Electric. It is expected to have a capacity of 10 megawatts, enough to power 3,000 homes.
"The Greenough River solar farm demonstrates that renewable technologies can contribute to meeting Australia's future energy needs on a sustainable, cost-competitive basis," Jason Waters, chief executive of Verve Energy said on Wednesday.
Australia has committed to getting 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020 but big coal and gas-based utilities are arguing for those targets to be cut.
The plant is General Electric's first investment in Australian renewable energy, and plans are already underway to eventually expand it to 40MW.
The electricity generated by the plant will be purchased by Western Australia Water Corporation to power a nearby desalination plant.
Australia is one of the world's most ideal places for solar projects. It has the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent in the world, according to government, and a population the size of New Delhi spread over an area the size of the contiguous United States.
Australia currently gets about 10% of its electricity supply from renewable energy, about two-thirds of which comes from hydropower.
But the plant opens as the future of renewables is clouded by a campaign by some utilities and energy companies to cut Australia's mandatory renewable energy targets.
The renewable energy targets (RET) are currently undergoing a routine review by Australia's Climate Change Authority which will be wrapped up by the end of the year.
Champions of renewable energy say a cut in the targets, which would require Australia to produce 41,000 gigawatt-hours of its electricity requirements by 2020, would devastate the fledgling industry.
"If the RET was to be reduced or, in fact, to be removed then essentially the business case for renewable energy just would not stack up and the industry would fall off a cliff. It would stop dead in its tracks," said Kane Thornton, director of strategy, Clean Energy Council.
AGL Energy, one of the few utilities that has called for the RET to remain the same, arguing the investment certainty is key for the more than the several billion dollars worth of solar and wind projects it has underway.
"Amendments of the renewable energy target would certainly not be well received by investors who've got potential new projects that they'd be looking to develop," Tim Nelson, head of economics and policy for AGL in Sydney, said.
But critics of the targets say that the 41,000 GWh goal by 2020 will amount to around a quarter of Australia's total electricity supply by then, due to slower than expected growth in electrify demand, more than the intended 20%.
Origin Energy, Australia's largest energy retailer and an investor in renewables, said the RET target should be re-evaluated.
Another leading utility, TRUenergy, which recently rebranded itself as EnergyAustralia, said adjusting the targets to take account of lower energy use projections could save AU$25bn (£16bn) or $840 for each electricity customer.
The Australian Coal Association has argued that the RET should be abolished completely because it unfairly picks winners in the electricity market.
Proponents of leaving the RET unchanged, however, hold that those who advocate changes in the RET, including getting rid of it, are those who stand to profit from an energy mix with fewer renewables.
Source - Reuters
KYOCERA to Supply 405KW of Renewable Solar Energy to Remote Villages of Fiji
Kyocera Solar has announced that its solar energy systems will power over 2000 homes in the Fiji Islands. The solar projects are in partnership with Fiji's Department of Energy and the Fifth Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting project (Palm 5) with the goal to bring renewable energy to remote villages of the island nation. To date, 135 kilowatts have been installed and the remaining 270 kilowatts will be completed by the end of the year.
With these solar systems, rural villages are able to thrive without access to a traditional electric grid. Each system will utilize Kyocera's modules and the sun's energy to provide basic lighting and other low-power needs on the islands.
"Solar energy makes so much sense for island nations that often lack an electricity grid infrastructure but have an abundance of sunshine year-round," said George Phani, sales manager for Kyocera Solar Australia. "With our Kyocera modules, many Fijians have been given light and other electricity into the night - maybe for the first time. We hope this program can serve as a template for other islands to follow."
Kyocera has partnered with Powerlite Generators (Fiji) Limited to install 3,000 solar modules throughout Fiji. Each system includes at least one 135-watt Kyocera module, a regulator, maintenance-free batteries, and both indoor and outdoor lighting.
Solar panels more popular than satellite TV with homebuyers
With the results of a new survey conducted by mortgage lender ING Direct recently revealing that British property buyers regard a solar PV installation as their most desirable "non-essential deal-sealer", Trina Solar's Ben Hill has spoken out to emphasise the need for panel manufacturers to step up their efforts to support installers as they look to meet increasing demand for solar technology.
Solar panels were by some distance the most popular extra property feature, being named by 38 per cent of respondents to the survey and beating off competition as diverse as weekly refuse collection and satellite television connection (32 per cent each), good 3G mobile Internet coverage (20 per cent), and a garden pond (15 per cent).
For Hill, Trina Solar's Head of Europe, these statistics are confirmation of the trends he is seeing in the UK market, where the number of homes generating their own energy using solar panels has risen by 349 per cent since August 2011: "The strong demand we are witnessing is a sure sign that the British public is embracing solar PV. More and more people are recognising the environmental and economic benefits that they can reap from installing solar panels," he said.
But Hill cautions that manufacturers hoping to take advantage of the growing popularity of solar panels among British homebuyers need to make more of an effort to understand the business needs of their installer partners, providing services that match these requirements.
"Mass-producing panels and leaving the matter of getting them onto roofs to someone else just does not cut it," he said.
"There are still very few high-end manufacturers providing the training opportunities, support, and incentives that installers need. Trina Solar has just launched its UK truck roadshow to take its comprehensive installer programme out to the UK market, including visiting Solar Power UK on 2nd-4th October, and London on 8th and 10th October.
"Giving installers and distributors this kind of assistance when it comes to increasing their competence and building their business can only be a good thing, especially as demand for solar PV continues to grow."
Tuesday 9 October 2012
What We Can Learn from Germany’s Solar Dominance
Solar has never been more affordable for more Americans – with residential prices dropping an impressive 14% over the last year alone. But global solar leader Germany is still beating the U.S. in the race to low-cost PV.
The Lawrence Berkeley Lab released a fascinating study that shows that the total the price of a residential installation in Germany is $2.8/W – or a whopping 45% – lower than here in the U.S. Um, that’s huge. (Note that cost varies dramatically in the U.S. from state to state, and even within a state. So in some places U.S. solar installers are actually on par with German pricing, but on average we are lagging far behind.)
So what’s going on? We’re all buying the same panels at prices generally set by the global market? Turns out there are a multitude of reasons for the price differential – many of which carry clear lessons for effective policy design.
1. Size matters. Turns out that the sheer number of megawatts a country has installed dramatically affects the price of solar – and Germany has installed massively more solar than we have. In 2011, Germany installed about five times more solar than the U.S (7,485 MW compared to 1,900 MW). At the residential scale, Germany installed more than 2.5 times more solar in 2011 than the U.S. So why is more solar lower cost solar? LBNL attributes this to business process “learning” – with experience, businesses become more efficient at every step from customer acquisition to installation. Our learning rate is slower because simply haven’t had as much practice developing solar projects. LBNL estimates that about half of the price difference could be attributed to this factor alone.
The policy lesson is simple; more solar. Market-building policies that drive economies of scale and sustained industry experience deliver real returns in the form of cost-effective solar.
2. Little soft costs add up to big price tags. To put it simply, while German installers pay the same price for solar panels -where price is determined on a global scale- they are paying much less for all the ‘soft costs’ associated with a solar installation. In Germany their customer acquisition costs are lower; their permitting costs are lower; they pay lower sales tax on solar systems, and their solar companies may be making smaller margins on each installation. The lesson here is that both the U.S. solar industry and solar advocates have a role to play in reducing these soft costs. While the industry must reduce customer acquisition and overhead costs, groups like Vote Solar can help work to reduce permitting costs and sales tax costs. Check out our Project Permit campaign website to see what we are doing to streamline solar permitting requirements in the U.S.
3. A national approach to energy policy helps. While all U.S. solar installers have access to the 30% federal investment tax credit, additional state or even local incentives vary widely and create a very uneven landscape for solar installers to navigate. Germany on the other hand has offered one federal incentive – the feed in tariff (FIT). In addition to offering the cost advantages of a straightforward incentive process, the FIT has been reduced iteratively since 2004 – putting pressure on German installers to lower system prices to maintain attractive investments for their customers. (Note that California’s CSI rebate program has had a similarly effective step-down design that has reduced the incentive from $2.50/watt in 2007 to near zero today) We aren’t expecting federal solar energy policy to overtake the work of the states anytime soon, but this is a good reminder that a patchwork 50 state approach is an inefficient process.
Nokia launches portable solar charger in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 9 – Nokia has announced the availability of a new portable solar charger in Kenya aimed specifically at the eighty percent of Kenyans without regular access to electricity.
Nokia Portable Solar Charger, DC-40, which will be retailing at Sh1,250, is being marketed by Nokia to test the viability of solar charging as an alternative mobile phone charging system in Africa. The charger will be available in limited quantities during the pilot period.
The technical solution is a thin film panel, measuring 165mm x 237mm with a long cable and 2mm Nokia plug interface. Weighing only 93 grams, the solar charger is highly portable and with one minute of charging, consumers will be able to get approximately two minutes of talk time.
The solar charger is most efficient when used in direct sunlight where the average charging time for full charge on a 1000mAh battery would be under four hours. However, the solar panel can also be used behind a glass window, but is less efficient in these conditions.
According to Nokia, Kenya and Nigeria provide the perfect opportunity for testing this solution, with recent World Bank reports indicating that only 16 and 51 percent of Kenyans and Nigerians respectively had regular access to electricity between 2007 and 2011.
However, mobile phone usage is pervasive in these markets, calling for alternative methods of power.
“There are numerous advantages to this solution, including being able to service consumers outside of regular electricity supply, or those who need a quick charge on the go” says Bruce Howe, General Manager for Nokia East Africa. “However, perhaps the greatest benefit is the cost saving achieved by being able to harness the natural resource of the sun”.
The DC-40 solar charger will be available in Kenya at selected Nokia Premium Partner outlets across the country.
“Nokia prides itself on its ongoing sustainability programs to minimize power usage. This solar charger provides an extremely environmentally friendly solution that is free of CO2 emissions,” added Howe.
India eyes Solar power for electric cars
India's government has approved a new $4bn (£2.5bn) plan to spur the production of electric and hybrid cars over the next eight years.
It includes an ambitious target of producing 6 million units of green vehicles by 2020.
But with choked roads and an already overloaded energy grid, will this next generation of vehicles catch on in India any time soon?
Shilpa Kannan travelled to Bangalore, to find out more
SolarAid and SunFunder Launch New Crowdfunding Project to Finance Solar Lighting in Zambia
SolarAid and SunFunder will launch an innovative financing partnership to bring solar power to over 20,000 people in Eastern Zambia.
SunFunder is providing up to $50,000 in loans to SolarAid through its social enterprise SunnyMoney, in 2012. The first loan, for $10,000, will finance the purchase of 781 solar-powered lights.
These lights will be sold to Zambian families who currently live without power. The money for this loan will be raised through SunFunder's crowdfunding platform, which allows anyone to invest money into the project in amounts starting at $25.
Richard Turner, Director of Fundraising for SolarAid is excited about the potential.
"Families in Africa are prepared to buy solar lights to replace kerosene and candles. These brilliant little lights can transform the lives of a family by reducing the amount they spend on kerosene, and providing a safe clean light to use.
"We just need the capital to buy these magical lights and get them to remote areas. Sunfunder can help make that happen and we are delighted to be partnering with this amazing initiative".
SolarAid owns SunnyMoney the brand and company which works to build trust in solar products in Africa to help create a market for solar lights. This market approach is more sustainable than aid.
SunFunder is a new platform for anyone to invest in high-impact solar projects, unlocking access to clean, affordable energy around the world. SunFunder solves the biggest problem facing solar businesses working to deploy affordable solar technology in off-grid markets: access to financing.
SunFunder, which specializes in off-grid markets where power is most needed, unlocks a significant new source of capital for solar: individual investors who will be able to place money into high-quality, vetted projects.
"This partnership has the potential to make clean affordable solar energy a reality where it is needed the most," said Ryan Levinson, CEO and founder of SunFunder.
Investors who place money into a project are repaid over a period of six months to two years, earning back their principal plus interest-based "Impact Points" that can be used to reinvest in new projects. Investors are also able to track their project's performance and impact.
The project that launches with SolarAid will provide solar-powered lights to families in the Chadiza district of Eastern Zambia using distribution through local schools.
Working through schools allows SolarAid to overcome the trust barrier typically faced when introducing a new technology such as solar lights. All of the target schools in the Chadiza zone of the Eastern Province are remote and not connected to the electric grid, instead relying on kerosene lanterns and candles for light.
Tuesday 3 April 2012
Solar power station in Spain works at night
A unique thermosolar power station in southern Spain can shrug off cloudy days: energy stored when the sun shines lets it produce electricity even during the night.
The Gemasolar station, up and running since last May, stands out in the plains of Andalusia.
From the road between Seville and Cordoba, one can see its central tower lit up like a beacon by 2,600 solar mirrors, each 120 square metres (1,290 square feet), that surround it in an immense 195-hectare (480-acre) circle.
"It is the first station in the world that works 24 hours a day, a solar power station that works day and night!" said Santago Arias, technical director of Torresol Energy, which runs the station.
The mechanism is "very easy to explain," he said: the panels reflect the suns rays on to the tower, transmitting energy at an intensity 1,000 times higher than that of the sun's rays reaching the earth.
Energy is stored in a vat filled with molten salts at a temperature of more than 500 degrees C (930 F). Those salts are used to produce steam to turn the turbines and produce electricity.
It is the station's capacity to store energy that makes Gemasolar so different because it allows the plant to transmit power during the night, relying on energy it has accumulated during the day.
"I use that energy as I see fit, and not as the sun dictates," Arias explained.
As a result, the plant produces 60 percent more energy than a station without storage capacity because it can work 6,400 hours a year compared to 1,200-2,000 hours for other solar power stations, he said.
"The amount of energy we produce a year is equal to the consumption of 30,000 Spanish households," Arias said, an annual saving of 30,000 tonnes of CO2.
Helped by generous state aid, renewable energies have enjoyed a boom in Spain, the world number two in solar energy and the biggest wind power producer in Europe, ahead of Germany.
For the Gemasolar solar product, foreign investors helped too: Torresol Energy is a joint venture between the Spanish engineering group Sener, which holds 60 percent, and Abu Dhabi-financed renewable energy firm Masdar.
"This type of station is expensive, not because of the raw material we use, which is free solar energy, but because of the enormous investment these plants require," Arias said.
The investment cost exceeds 200 million euros ($260 million).
But "the day when the business has repaid that money to the banks (in 18 years, he estimates), this station will become a 1,000-euro note printing machine!," he said, recalling that oil prices have soared from $28 a barrel in 2003 to nearly $130.
For now, the economic crisis has nevertheless cast a shadow over this kind of project: Spain is battling to slash its deficit as it slides into recession and has suspended aid to new renewable energy projects.
Andalusia, hard hit by the economic crisis with the country's highest unemployment rate at 31.23 percent, holds regional elections on March 25.
"We have three projects ready but stalled" because of the aid suspension, Arias said, admitting that in a difficult global economy the group has not managed to sell the Gemasolar techology abroad despite huge interest outside Spain.
Source - Yahoo News
The Gemasolar station, up and running since last May, stands out in the plains of Andalusia.
From the road between Seville and Cordoba, one can see its central tower lit up like a beacon by 2,600 solar mirrors, each 120 square metres (1,290 square feet), that surround it in an immense 195-hectare (480-acre) circle.
"It is the first station in the world that works 24 hours a day, a solar power station that works day and night!" said Santago Arias, technical director of Torresol Energy, which runs the station.
The mechanism is "very easy to explain," he said: the panels reflect the suns rays on to the tower, transmitting energy at an intensity 1,000 times higher than that of the sun's rays reaching the earth.
Energy is stored in a vat filled with molten salts at a temperature of more than 500 degrees C (930 F). Those salts are used to produce steam to turn the turbines and produce electricity.
It is the station's capacity to store energy that makes Gemasolar so different because it allows the plant to transmit power during the night, relying on energy it has accumulated during the day.
"I use that energy as I see fit, and not as the sun dictates," Arias explained.
As a result, the plant produces 60 percent more energy than a station without storage capacity because it can work 6,400 hours a year compared to 1,200-2,000 hours for other solar power stations, he said.
"The amount of energy we produce a year is equal to the consumption of 30,000 Spanish households," Arias said, an annual saving of 30,000 tonnes of CO2.
Helped by generous state aid, renewable energies have enjoyed a boom in Spain, the world number two in solar energy and the biggest wind power producer in Europe, ahead of Germany.
For the Gemasolar solar product, foreign investors helped too: Torresol Energy is a joint venture between the Spanish engineering group Sener, which holds 60 percent, and Abu Dhabi-financed renewable energy firm Masdar.
"This type of station is expensive, not because of the raw material we use, which is free solar energy, but because of the enormous investment these plants require," Arias said.
The investment cost exceeds 200 million euros ($260 million).
But "the day when the business has repaid that money to the banks (in 18 years, he estimates), this station will become a 1,000-euro note printing machine!," he said, recalling that oil prices have soared from $28 a barrel in 2003 to nearly $130.
For now, the economic crisis has nevertheless cast a shadow over this kind of project: Spain is battling to slash its deficit as it slides into recession and has suspended aid to new renewable energy projects.
Andalusia, hard hit by the economic crisis with the country's highest unemployment rate at 31.23 percent, holds regional elections on March 25.
"We have three projects ready but stalled" because of the aid suspension, Arias said, admitting that in a difficult global economy the group has not managed to sell the Gemasolar techology abroad despite huge interest outside Spain.
Source - Yahoo News
Solar Jobs Join Harry Reid to Chinese Billionaire in Price Drop
A Chinese billionaire is teaming up with the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate to build a solar plant in a dusty corner of Nevada, even as officials accuse China of driving energy companies out of business by dumping cheap components on the American market.
ENN Group (ENNGZ) plans a manufacturing and generating facility worth $5 billion, more than all Chinese investment in the U.S. combined last year, in Laughlin, Nevada, a town pockmarked with foreclosed properties and the skeleton of a 14-story resort abandoned when the project went bankrupt.
Wang Yusuo, chairman of ENN Group, signs an agreement at the U.S.-China Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 2011. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
China's ENN Plans $5 Billion Solar Plant in Nevada
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Sisolak, a Clark County, Nevada Commissioner, talks with Bloomberg's Jennifer Oldham about ENN Group's plans to build a solar project near Laughlin, Nevada. ENN's project highlights the growing clout of Chinese capital in the U.S. ENN founder Wang Yusuo, one of China's richest men, has enlisted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the deal. (Source: Bloomberg)
Enlarge image Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada, speaks at the Energy Independence 2020 Forum at NASDAQ Market Place on Dec. 12, 2005, in New York. ENN founder Wang Yusuo, one of China’s richest men, has enlisted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to win incentives including land 113 miles (182 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas that ENN is buying for $4.5 million, or less than one-eighth of the $38.6 million assessors say it is worth. Photographer: Ramin Talaie/Bloomberg
Enlarge image Solyndra LLC Solar Panels
Solar panel prices have plunged almost 50 percent in the past 15 months, leading to the bankruptcy of equipment maker Solyndra LLC, with $535 million in U.S. government loan guarantees, and job cuts at other alternative-energy companies. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Company founder Wang Yusuo, one of China’s richest men, has joined with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to win incentives including land 113 miles (182 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas that ENN is buying for $4.5 million, or less than one-eighth of the $38.6 million assessors say it is worth. The project has produced legal work for Reid’s son, Rory, a lawyer at a Las Vegas firm that gave the Nevada Democrat more than $40,000 in the past three election cycles.
“This is counter to most logic,” said Thomas Maslin, an analyst at IHS Emerging Energy Research in Washington, D.C. “It doesn’t make sense in terms of supply and demand. The likely rationale is that because they’re building on public land they need to justify somehow the price through job creation and high- tech manufacturing.”
Growing Clout
ENN’s project highlights the growing clout of Chinese capital in this country. Chinese investment in the U.S. jumped to 66 deals worth $4.5 billion in 2011, up from just 11 deals worth $146 million in 2003, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York-based firm that researches trade with China. While it is rising quickly, that total is still far lower than countries such as Switzerland, whose $42 billion infusion makes it the top foreign investor, according to a July report from the U.S. Commerce Department.
Solar panel prices have plunged almost 50 percent globally in the past 15 months, leading to the bankruptcy of equipment maker Solyndra LLC, with $535 million in U.S. government loan guarantees, and job cuts at other solar manufacturers. The Obama administration, under pressure to curb Chinese companies’ trade practices, imposed preliminary duties on March 20 of as much as 4.73 percent on solar equipment imported from China. Tariffs may prompt more Chinese companies to move their manufacturing facilities to the U.S., Maslin said.
ENN’s Nevada plan calls for solar panel manufacturing and generation facilities and an eco-community people can visit -- part of what Reid proposes as an alternative-energy hub in a March 12 report called “Playing to Win in Clean Energy.”
Energy for California
Reid, 72, a Nevada Democrat who has led the U.S. Senate since 2007, promotes the project planned by ENN, based in Langfang, Hebei Province, as a way to put thousands of people back to work as his state struggles to overcome one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates.
“It will generate the electricity California must have in just a few years -- 30 percent of all electricity must come from renewable resources,” Reid said during a March 12 conference call with reporters. “This project is close to California. It’s within walking distance.”
Plans for ENN’s Nevada facility say it may eventually generate about 700 megawatts of electricity, more than 100 times the output of the company’s biggest solar operation now, in Germany. If actually built at that size, it would be 12 times bigger than the largest solar power plant currently in operation in the U.S., Sempra Energy’s 58-megawatt Copper Mountain Solar 1 Facility, and also larger than the biggest facility under construction, the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm in Santa Margarita, California, with financing from Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
Creating Jobs
The solar complex could create as many as 2,505 jobs during construction through 2023, according to an economic impact study by Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis, a market research consulting firm.
“Other solar companies said they could produce electricity, but they didn’t have anything that would offer a permanent number of good jobs -- ENN’s manufacturing component will,” said Jacquelyne A. Brady, Laughlin’s town manager, in an interview.
Both Rory Reid, 49, and former Nevada Governor Richard Bryan, attorneys at the Lionel Sawyer & Collins law firm, have worked on the project, according to documents and Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak.
Payments to Reid
The firm gave $40,650 individually and through its political action committee to Senator Reid over the past three election cycles, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan firm that researches the role of campaign contributions in public policy. Lionel Sawyer’s political action committee also contributed $2,000 in 2010 and $5,000 in 2008 to the Searchlight Leadership Fund, a political action committee that lists Reid as an affiliate, according to the CRP’s opensecrets.org.
The senator’s son hasn’t lobbied him on the ENN project, said Kristen Orthman, a Reid spokeswoman.
“We have a longstanding office policy that strictly bars any member of the staff’s family or the Senator’s family from lobbying our office on behalf of their clients,” Orthman said in an e-mail. Reid did not recommend the law firm to ENN, she said. Bryan and Rory Reid didn’t return repeated calls.
While the project may create jobs, it doesn’t make sense in terms of market dynamics, said Lawrence Gasman, principal analyst at Glen Allen, Va.-based NanoMarkets, an alternative- energy research firm.
‘Reasons to be Skeptical’
“There are many reasons to be skeptical of this project,” Gasman said. “Running a power plant and running a manufacturing plant making solar panels are two very different skill sets.”
Cash-strapped states nationwide want to draw foreign investment to create jobs and boost tax revenue. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Feb. 24 that PepsiCo Inc. and Theo Muller Gmbh, a German dairy company, would invest $206 million in a yogurt factory that would create 186 jobs.
In Florida, a Malaysian developer announced plans to build a five-star resort on Biscayne Bay that state officials said would boost employment and raise millions in tax revenue.
In January, Xinyu, China-based LDK Solar Co. announced plans to build two solar plants with a capacity of 8 megawatts in California.
Like struggling U.S. solar manufacturers, Nanosolar Inc. and SoloPower Inc., both based in San Jose, and Loveland, Colo.- based Abound Solar Inc., ENN manufactures thin film solar panels. ENN’s panels aren’t made with the same material as its U.S. competitors’ and rely on a non-crystalline substance known as amorphous silicon.
Firing Workers
SoloPower announced in August that it received a $197 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. Abound Solar, with $400 million in approved federal loan guarantees, said in February it was firing 180 workers and halting solar panel production.
Solar price weakness may be good news for consumers and for utilities such as San Francisco-based PG&E Corp. (PCG), which is required to buy much of its power from renewable sources, said Anthony Earley Jr., PG&E’s chief executive officer. The trend isn’t as healthy for government-backed solar companies struggling to make ends meet in the aftermath of the collapse of Solyndra.
“Every time we go out for bids we are seeing the price come down,” Earley said in an interview. “A lot of it is that the Chinese and others are dumping cheap solar cells on the market. The risk is the industry just collapses.”
Suits of Armor
The man behind the proposed Nevada plant is Wang, 48, chairman of ENN Group, which includes ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. (2688), the fourth-largest Hong Kong-listed natural gas supplier by sales. He founded the company that became ENN Group in 1989 and it now operates in more than 100 cities across China, according to its website.
Wang rose from a background selling natural gas canisters for home cooking and renting cars to build the 100-acre ENN headquarters 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Beijing, with manufacturing facilities and a company museum. Nearby, Wang built a luxury golf course with his personal villa and a five- star hotel, featuring a wine cellar guarded by suits of armor.
With his wife, Zhao Baoju, Wang is estimated to be worth $2.7 billion, ranking the couple among the top 100 richest people in China, according to the Hurun Report, a Shanghai-based publisher of luxury magazines, which tracks the nation’s wealthy using publicly available information.
Land Deal
The land deal ENN negotiated with Clark County commissioners requires the firm to obtain an agreement from a utility to buy power before it can break ground, Sisolak said.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved only a fraction of renewable power deals brought before it for review last year, said Timothy Alan Simon, a member of the commission.
“We have a situation where we’re oversubscribed,” Simon said in a telephone interview.
Speaking through an interpreter, Wang touted the proposal in August in Las Vegas at Reid’s fourth annual Clean Energy Summit. Vice President Joe Biden and California Governor Jerry Brown -- who asked Wang to consider bringing the project to his state -- were photographed alongside the ENN chairman, Reid and Sisolak.
‘Resort Destination’
“We plan to build an eco-community by using our ‘Ubiquitous Energy Network’ technology, with the aim of making it a good resort destination just like Las Vegas,” Wang said in a speech at the summit.
In a statement provided by a company spokesman, ENN Solar Energy Co. Chief Operating Officer De-Ling Zhou said: “After reviewing your questions, it became clear that at this early stage in the proposed project, we simply do not have enough details or are not in a position to adequately answer them.
“We can say ENN’s proposed project will bolster the long- term economic health of Clark County and the State of Nevada,” Zhou wrote.
Job creation persuaded Clark County commissioners to approve the subsidized land deal, which requires ENN to meet a series of milestones including investing $100 million by 2014 and $1 billion by 2018. Officials also offered to use ENN’s land payments to build infrastructure on the property.
“Next to the hospitality industry, construction has been our life blood,” said Sisolak. “It’s not like it got a little rough for construction over the last couple of years. It basically went away.”
For Clark County, where 70 percent of homeowners owe more on their homes than they are worth, furloughed construction workers rely on food banks at local union halls, and unemployment is 13.1 percent, the project could singlehandedly diversify a stagnant economy.
“I can’t tell you how many tours I’ve given people over the years trying to get them to see Laughlin as an attractive place,” said Brady, who has managed the town since 1995 on behalf of Clark County.
About 30 percent fewer people visited Laughlin in 2011 than in 2007, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Gaming revenues at its riverside resorts -- battling competition from Indian casinos in Nevada and California -- were off by 25 percent, statistics show.
ENN isn’t the only company interested in the desolate desert where road runners race across potholed two-lane roads in front of Baby Boomers on Harleys. Here, the sun shines 320 days a year and mobile phones can’t decide whether to use Pacific (Laughlin) or Mountain (Arizona) time.
Others are also looking to buy land for solar projects in the area, wrote New York-based Integra Realty Resources in an appraisal commissioned by Clark County for the 9,000-acre ENN parcel and obtained by Bloomberg through the Nevada Public Records Act.
“From what we can surmise, this is just the beginning,” Integra wrote. The firm added: “We also found that this is a highly secretive business.”
Source - Bloomberg
ENN Group (ENNGZ) plans a manufacturing and generating facility worth $5 billion, more than all Chinese investment in the U.S. combined last year, in Laughlin, Nevada, a town pockmarked with foreclosed properties and the skeleton of a 14-story resort abandoned when the project went bankrupt.
Wang Yusuo, chairman of ENN Group, signs an agreement at the U.S.-China Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 18, 2011. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
China's ENN Plans $5 Billion Solar Plant in Nevada
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Sisolak, a Clark County, Nevada Commissioner, talks with Bloomberg's Jennifer Oldham about ENN Group's plans to build a solar project near Laughlin, Nevada. ENN's project highlights the growing clout of Chinese capital in the U.S. ENN founder Wang Yusuo, one of China's richest men, has enlisted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the deal. (Source: Bloomberg)
Enlarge image Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat from Nevada, speaks at the Energy Independence 2020 Forum at NASDAQ Market Place on Dec. 12, 2005, in New York. ENN founder Wang Yusuo, one of China’s richest men, has enlisted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to win incentives including land 113 miles (182 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas that ENN is buying for $4.5 million, or less than one-eighth of the $38.6 million assessors say it is worth. Photographer: Ramin Talaie/Bloomberg
Enlarge image Solyndra LLC Solar Panels
Solar panel prices have plunged almost 50 percent in the past 15 months, leading to the bankruptcy of equipment maker Solyndra LLC, with $535 million in U.S. government loan guarantees, and job cuts at other alternative-energy companies. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Company founder Wang Yusuo, one of China’s richest men, has joined with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to win incentives including land 113 miles (182 kilometers) southeast of Las Vegas that ENN is buying for $4.5 million, or less than one-eighth of the $38.6 million assessors say it is worth. The project has produced legal work for Reid’s son, Rory, a lawyer at a Las Vegas firm that gave the Nevada Democrat more than $40,000 in the past three election cycles.
“This is counter to most logic,” said Thomas Maslin, an analyst at IHS Emerging Energy Research in Washington, D.C. “It doesn’t make sense in terms of supply and demand. The likely rationale is that because they’re building on public land they need to justify somehow the price through job creation and high- tech manufacturing.”
Growing Clout
ENN’s project highlights the growing clout of Chinese capital in this country. Chinese investment in the U.S. jumped to 66 deals worth $4.5 billion in 2011, up from just 11 deals worth $146 million in 2003, according to the Rhodium Group, a New York-based firm that researches trade with China. While it is rising quickly, that total is still far lower than countries such as Switzerland, whose $42 billion infusion makes it the top foreign investor, according to a July report from the U.S. Commerce Department.
Solar panel prices have plunged almost 50 percent globally in the past 15 months, leading to the bankruptcy of equipment maker Solyndra LLC, with $535 million in U.S. government loan guarantees, and job cuts at other solar manufacturers. The Obama administration, under pressure to curb Chinese companies’ trade practices, imposed preliminary duties on March 20 of as much as 4.73 percent on solar equipment imported from China. Tariffs may prompt more Chinese companies to move their manufacturing facilities to the U.S., Maslin said.
ENN’s Nevada plan calls for solar panel manufacturing and generation facilities and an eco-community people can visit -- part of what Reid proposes as an alternative-energy hub in a March 12 report called “Playing to Win in Clean Energy.”
Energy for California
Reid, 72, a Nevada Democrat who has led the U.S. Senate since 2007, promotes the project planned by ENN, based in Langfang, Hebei Province, as a way to put thousands of people back to work as his state struggles to overcome one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates.
“It will generate the electricity California must have in just a few years -- 30 percent of all electricity must come from renewable resources,” Reid said during a March 12 conference call with reporters. “This project is close to California. It’s within walking distance.”
Plans for ENN’s Nevada facility say it may eventually generate about 700 megawatts of electricity, more than 100 times the output of the company’s biggest solar operation now, in Germany. If actually built at that size, it would be 12 times bigger than the largest solar power plant currently in operation in the U.S., Sempra Energy’s 58-megawatt Copper Mountain Solar 1 Facility, and also larger than the biggest facility under construction, the 550-megawatt Topaz Solar Farm in Santa Margarita, California, with financing from Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.
Creating Jobs
The solar complex could create as many as 2,505 jobs during construction through 2023, according to an economic impact study by Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis, a market research consulting firm.
“Other solar companies said they could produce electricity, but they didn’t have anything that would offer a permanent number of good jobs -- ENN’s manufacturing component will,” said Jacquelyne A. Brady, Laughlin’s town manager, in an interview.
Both Rory Reid, 49, and former Nevada Governor Richard Bryan, attorneys at the Lionel Sawyer & Collins law firm, have worked on the project, according to documents and Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak.
Payments to Reid
The firm gave $40,650 individually and through its political action committee to Senator Reid over the past three election cycles, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan firm that researches the role of campaign contributions in public policy. Lionel Sawyer’s political action committee also contributed $2,000 in 2010 and $5,000 in 2008 to the Searchlight Leadership Fund, a political action committee that lists Reid as an affiliate, according to the CRP’s opensecrets.org.
The senator’s son hasn’t lobbied him on the ENN project, said Kristen Orthman, a Reid spokeswoman.
“We have a longstanding office policy that strictly bars any member of the staff’s family or the Senator’s family from lobbying our office on behalf of their clients,” Orthman said in an e-mail. Reid did not recommend the law firm to ENN, she said. Bryan and Rory Reid didn’t return repeated calls.
While the project may create jobs, it doesn’t make sense in terms of market dynamics, said Lawrence Gasman, principal analyst at Glen Allen, Va.-based NanoMarkets, an alternative- energy research firm.
‘Reasons to be Skeptical’
“There are many reasons to be skeptical of this project,” Gasman said. “Running a power plant and running a manufacturing plant making solar panels are two very different skill sets.”
Cash-strapped states nationwide want to draw foreign investment to create jobs and boost tax revenue. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Feb. 24 that PepsiCo Inc. and Theo Muller Gmbh, a German dairy company, would invest $206 million in a yogurt factory that would create 186 jobs.
In Florida, a Malaysian developer announced plans to build a five-star resort on Biscayne Bay that state officials said would boost employment and raise millions in tax revenue.
In January, Xinyu, China-based LDK Solar Co. announced plans to build two solar plants with a capacity of 8 megawatts in California.
Like struggling U.S. solar manufacturers, Nanosolar Inc. and SoloPower Inc., both based in San Jose, and Loveland, Colo.- based Abound Solar Inc., ENN manufactures thin film solar panels. ENN’s panels aren’t made with the same material as its U.S. competitors’ and rely on a non-crystalline substance known as amorphous silicon.
Firing Workers
SoloPower announced in August that it received a $197 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. Abound Solar, with $400 million in approved federal loan guarantees, said in February it was firing 180 workers and halting solar panel production.
Solar price weakness may be good news for consumers and for utilities such as San Francisco-based PG&E Corp. (PCG), which is required to buy much of its power from renewable sources, said Anthony Earley Jr., PG&E’s chief executive officer. The trend isn’t as healthy for government-backed solar companies struggling to make ends meet in the aftermath of the collapse of Solyndra.
“Every time we go out for bids we are seeing the price come down,” Earley said in an interview. “A lot of it is that the Chinese and others are dumping cheap solar cells on the market. The risk is the industry just collapses.”
Suits of Armor
The man behind the proposed Nevada plant is Wang, 48, chairman of ENN Group, which includes ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. (2688), the fourth-largest Hong Kong-listed natural gas supplier by sales. He founded the company that became ENN Group in 1989 and it now operates in more than 100 cities across China, according to its website.
Wang rose from a background selling natural gas canisters for home cooking and renting cars to build the 100-acre ENN headquarters 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Beijing, with manufacturing facilities and a company museum. Nearby, Wang built a luxury golf course with his personal villa and a five- star hotel, featuring a wine cellar guarded by suits of armor.
With his wife, Zhao Baoju, Wang is estimated to be worth $2.7 billion, ranking the couple among the top 100 richest people in China, according to the Hurun Report, a Shanghai-based publisher of luxury magazines, which tracks the nation’s wealthy using publicly available information.
Land Deal
The land deal ENN negotiated with Clark County commissioners requires the firm to obtain an agreement from a utility to buy power before it can break ground, Sisolak said.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved only a fraction of renewable power deals brought before it for review last year, said Timothy Alan Simon, a member of the commission.
“We have a situation where we’re oversubscribed,” Simon said in a telephone interview.
Speaking through an interpreter, Wang touted the proposal in August in Las Vegas at Reid’s fourth annual Clean Energy Summit. Vice President Joe Biden and California Governor Jerry Brown -- who asked Wang to consider bringing the project to his state -- were photographed alongside the ENN chairman, Reid and Sisolak.
‘Resort Destination’
“We plan to build an eco-community by using our ‘Ubiquitous Energy Network’ technology, with the aim of making it a good resort destination just like Las Vegas,” Wang said in a speech at the summit.
In a statement provided by a company spokesman, ENN Solar Energy Co. Chief Operating Officer De-Ling Zhou said: “After reviewing your questions, it became clear that at this early stage in the proposed project, we simply do not have enough details or are not in a position to adequately answer them.
“We can say ENN’s proposed project will bolster the long- term economic health of Clark County and the State of Nevada,” Zhou wrote.
Job creation persuaded Clark County commissioners to approve the subsidized land deal, which requires ENN to meet a series of milestones including investing $100 million by 2014 and $1 billion by 2018. Officials also offered to use ENN’s land payments to build infrastructure on the property.
“Next to the hospitality industry, construction has been our life blood,” said Sisolak. “It’s not like it got a little rough for construction over the last couple of years. It basically went away.”
For Clark County, where 70 percent of homeowners owe more on their homes than they are worth, furloughed construction workers rely on food banks at local union halls, and unemployment is 13.1 percent, the project could singlehandedly diversify a stagnant economy.
“I can’t tell you how many tours I’ve given people over the years trying to get them to see Laughlin as an attractive place,” said Brady, who has managed the town since 1995 on behalf of Clark County.
About 30 percent fewer people visited Laughlin in 2011 than in 2007, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Gaming revenues at its riverside resorts -- battling competition from Indian casinos in Nevada and California -- were off by 25 percent, statistics show.
ENN isn’t the only company interested in the desolate desert where road runners race across potholed two-lane roads in front of Baby Boomers on Harleys. Here, the sun shines 320 days a year and mobile phones can’t decide whether to use Pacific (Laughlin) or Mountain (Arizona) time.
Others are also looking to buy land for solar projects in the area, wrote New York-based Integra Realty Resources in an appraisal commissioned by Clark County for the 9,000-acre ENN parcel and obtained by Bloomberg through the Nevada Public Records Act.
“From what we can surmise, this is just the beginning,” Integra wrote. The firm added: “We also found that this is a highly secretive business.”
Source - Bloomberg
Mexico buoyed by renewable energy boost
Mexico, buoyed by success in wind energy expansion, is launching a giant solar energy project that sees a U.S. firm's role in its primary development.
Soaring crude oil prices have skewed national budgets throughout Central and Latin America and the ongoing row between Argentina and Spain's YPF Repsol is an indication of tension over rising energy costs.
Mexico will aim to circumvent the challenge of punishing oil prices by installing high-capacity solar power generation systems, company data indicated.
Californian solar systems provider SolFocus, Inc. said Thursday it joined with Mexican land and real estate developer Grupo Musa and U.S. energy developer Synergy Technologies LLC to work on a landmark solar power plant in Baja California, near Tecate, Mexico.
The plant is planned to have a 450-megawatt capacity but will be built in 50-megawatt phases. Construction on the first phase will begin this year and that part of the plant will be operational next year.
The plant will use the SolFocus Concentrator Photovoltaic equipment, but will be owned and operated by SolMex Energy S.A. de C.V., a new Grupo Musa and Synergy Technologies company focused on solar energy in Mexico.
Officials said Mexico's solar energy aims met with the objectives of both Mexican and U.S. energy planners.
"The project is in direct alignment with the Mexico and U.S. bilateral clean energy agenda," said David Munoz, director general of the Baja California State Commission of Energy.
"The countries share a common goal of achieving strong economic growth and energy security while addressing climate change and increasing the reliability of energy infrastructure," Munoz said.
"Mexico has been successful with wind energy, and now this large solar project will support our energy infrastructure and economic development efforts in the very near future," he said.
The renewable energy market in Mexico so far is limited to wind power but interest in other forms of renewable energy is growing.
With the launch of the new project, solar power development points to a major step forward as an energy source for the country, officials said.
Grupo Musa says it aims to provide low-cost, dependable energy but will use most of the initial 50 megawatts to meet its own energy needs. At least 120,000 megawatt hours of electricity will make it to consumers in Baja California.
"There is no doubt that Baja California faces energy challenges and we are excited that we are able to utilize two of our key resources - abundant land and solar fuel - to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of northern Mexico," Grupo Musa Director of Special Projects Marcos Sarabia Rodelo said.
Experts say northern Mexico has the third greatest solar resource in the world, making it an ideal location for the project.
"While Tecate is a solar-rich region, the hot temperatures make it a challenging environment for traditional solar equipment," Synergy Technologies Chief Executive Officer Matt Piell said.
SolFocus was picked because of its advanced, high-efficiency CPV equipment and to improve the overall financial economics of the project, the company said.
The new project builds on SolFocus track record in the southwest United States and Mexico.
SolFocus Chief Executive Officer Mark Crowley said the project will "turn dormant land into jobs and low-cost, reliable electricity."
Grupo Musa has headquarters in Tijuana, Baja California, and has developed more than 250 business and industrial projects in Mexico and abroad.
Synergy engages in manufacturing energy technology and has headquarters in Waynesboro, Ga.
SolFocus, a leading manufacturer of solar energy systems based on Concentrator Photovoltaic technology, has headquarters in San Jose and is active worldwide.
Asian Pacific Corp. Panama, S.A. is a multinational business development and investment banking company.
Source - Solar Daily
Soaring crude oil prices have skewed national budgets throughout Central and Latin America and the ongoing row between Argentina and Spain's YPF Repsol is an indication of tension over rising energy costs.
Mexico will aim to circumvent the challenge of punishing oil prices by installing high-capacity solar power generation systems, company data indicated.
Californian solar systems provider SolFocus, Inc. said Thursday it joined with Mexican land and real estate developer Grupo Musa and U.S. energy developer Synergy Technologies LLC to work on a landmark solar power plant in Baja California, near Tecate, Mexico.
The plant is planned to have a 450-megawatt capacity but will be built in 50-megawatt phases. Construction on the first phase will begin this year and that part of the plant will be operational next year.
The plant will use the SolFocus Concentrator Photovoltaic equipment, but will be owned and operated by SolMex Energy S.A. de C.V., a new Grupo Musa and Synergy Technologies company focused on solar energy in Mexico.
Officials said Mexico's solar energy aims met with the objectives of both Mexican and U.S. energy planners.
"The project is in direct alignment with the Mexico and U.S. bilateral clean energy agenda," said David Munoz, director general of the Baja California State Commission of Energy.
"The countries share a common goal of achieving strong economic growth and energy security while addressing climate change and increasing the reliability of energy infrastructure," Munoz said.
"Mexico has been successful with wind energy, and now this large solar project will support our energy infrastructure and economic development efforts in the very near future," he said.
The renewable energy market in Mexico so far is limited to wind power but interest in other forms of renewable energy is growing.
With the launch of the new project, solar power development points to a major step forward as an energy source for the country, officials said.
Grupo Musa says it aims to provide low-cost, dependable energy but will use most of the initial 50 megawatts to meet its own energy needs. At least 120,000 megawatt hours of electricity will make it to consumers in Baja California.
"There is no doubt that Baja California faces energy challenges and we are excited that we are able to utilize two of our key resources - abundant land and solar fuel - to enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of northern Mexico," Grupo Musa Director of Special Projects Marcos Sarabia Rodelo said.
Experts say northern Mexico has the third greatest solar resource in the world, making it an ideal location for the project.
"While Tecate is a solar-rich region, the hot temperatures make it a challenging environment for traditional solar equipment," Synergy Technologies Chief Executive Officer Matt Piell said.
SolFocus was picked because of its advanced, high-efficiency CPV equipment and to improve the overall financial economics of the project, the company said.
The new project builds on SolFocus track record in the southwest United States and Mexico.
SolFocus Chief Executive Officer Mark Crowley said the project will "turn dormant land into jobs and low-cost, reliable electricity."
Grupo Musa has headquarters in Tijuana, Baja California, and has developed more than 250 business and industrial projects in Mexico and abroad.
Synergy engages in manufacturing energy technology and has headquarters in Waynesboro, Ga.
SolFocus, a leading manufacturer of solar energy systems based on Concentrator Photovoltaic technology, has headquarters in San Jose and is active worldwide.
Asian Pacific Corp. Panama, S.A. is a multinational business development and investment banking company.
Source - Solar Daily
Monday 2 April 2012
Collapse of solar power giant an embarrassment for Obama administration
The company Solyndra was lauded by President Barack Obama but later left the US government liable for $528 million (£334m) of taxpayer money. Republicans in the House of Representatives are investigating whether the guarantee was rushed through so that an event featuring Vice President Joe Biden could be held.
Solyndra was a major presence in Washington and spent millions of dollars on lobbying. Its executives raised thousands of dollars for Mr Obama and Democrats in Congress. The fallout from the collapse of the California-based company is an embarrassment to the White House at a time when Mr Obama is promoting his new jobs plan.
The congressional panel examining the loan released emails that appeared to show that senior staff at the Office of Management and Budget were reluctant to conduct "rushed approvals" of loan guarantees.
"We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews and have the approval set the date for the announcement rather than the other way around," said unnamed aide in an email to Mr Biden's office.
Mr Obama cited Solyndra as an example of how the economic stimulus bill would create jobs. When it filed for bankruptcy, saying it couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers of solar panels, 1,100 employees were laid off.
Source - Telegraph
Solyndra was a major presence in Washington and spent millions of dollars on lobbying. Its executives raised thousands of dollars for Mr Obama and Democrats in Congress. The fallout from the collapse of the California-based company is an embarrassment to the White House at a time when Mr Obama is promoting his new jobs plan.
The congressional panel examining the loan released emails that appeared to show that senior staff at the Office of Management and Budget were reluctant to conduct "rushed approvals" of loan guarantees.
"We would prefer to have sufficient time to do our due diligence reviews and have the approval set the date for the announcement rather than the other way around," said unnamed aide in an email to Mr Biden's office.
Mr Obama cited Solyndra as an example of how the economic stimulus bill would create jobs. When it filed for bankruptcy, saying it couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers of solar panels, 1,100 employees were laid off.
Source - Telegraph
Spain subsidy cuts seen threatening thousands of jobs
Spain's decision to cut subsidies for clean energy production puts at risk the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in a sector in which it is a global leader, industry leaders warned Tuesday.
The sector shed 20,000 jobs between 2008 and 2010 due to cuts to the subsidies made by the previous government and the end of new subsidies announced Friday will likely lead to the loss of a similar number of jobs this year, said the head of lobby group Fundacion Renovables, Javier Breva.
"But what worries me more are the hundreds of thousands of jobs which would be generated and which now will not be," he said, adding that the previous government had predicted the sector would generate 300,000 jobs by 2020.
Spain's new right-leaning government passed a decree on Friday that will "temporarily suspend" subsidies for all new wind, solar, co-generation or waste incineration plants as part of its bid to curb the public deficit.
"Who is going to invest in the renewable energy sector after this decree?" Breva said. "It is an attack on the competitiveness of the Spanish economy."
Spain was an early mover in developing clean energy, especially wind power, and generous government subsidies helped Spanish firms to become global leaders in the sector.
Spanish power giant Iberdrola is the world's biggest producer of clean energy, with plants in Brazil and the United States, while Gamesa is one of the world's top wind turbine groups.
But the previous Socialist government started scaling back subsidies for clean energy at the end of 2008 as the global economic crisis began to bite and Spain headed into recession.
"There are many companies that are not going to be able to make it until the end of the year because of the end of the new subsidies," said Jose Antonio Gonzalez, the head of FENIE, which represents power and telecoms firms.
The loss of jobs in the clean energy sector would add to Spain's already dire unemployment situation.
The country's jobless total soared above five million people at the end of 2011, pushing the unemployment rate to 22.85 percent, the highest in the industrialised world.
Renewable sources provided Spain with a third of its electricity last year, according to the industry ministry.
The government says the cuts will not affect Spain's contribution to reaching European renewable energy targets. The European Union wants to have 20 percent of its total energy use covered by renewable sources from 2020.
Source - Solardaily
The sector shed 20,000 jobs between 2008 and 2010 due to cuts to the subsidies made by the previous government and the end of new subsidies announced Friday will likely lead to the loss of a similar number of jobs this year, said the head of lobby group Fundacion Renovables, Javier Breva.
"But what worries me more are the hundreds of thousands of jobs which would be generated and which now will not be," he said, adding that the previous government had predicted the sector would generate 300,000 jobs by 2020.
Spain's new right-leaning government passed a decree on Friday that will "temporarily suspend" subsidies for all new wind, solar, co-generation or waste incineration plants as part of its bid to curb the public deficit.
"Who is going to invest in the renewable energy sector after this decree?" Breva said. "It is an attack on the competitiveness of the Spanish economy."
Spain was an early mover in developing clean energy, especially wind power, and generous government subsidies helped Spanish firms to become global leaders in the sector.
Spanish power giant Iberdrola is the world's biggest producer of clean energy, with plants in Brazil and the United States, while Gamesa is one of the world's top wind turbine groups.
But the previous Socialist government started scaling back subsidies for clean energy at the end of 2008 as the global economic crisis began to bite and Spain headed into recession.
"There are many companies that are not going to be able to make it until the end of the year because of the end of the new subsidies," said Jose Antonio Gonzalez, the head of FENIE, which represents power and telecoms firms.
The loss of jobs in the clean energy sector would add to Spain's already dire unemployment situation.
The country's jobless total soared above five million people at the end of 2011, pushing the unemployment rate to 22.85 percent, the highest in the industrialised world.
Renewable sources provided Spain with a third of its electricity last year, according to the industry ministry.
The government says the cuts will not affect Spain's contribution to reaching European renewable energy targets. The European Union wants to have 20 percent of its total energy use covered by renewable sources from 2020.
Source - Solardaily
India to plot solar energy hot
India is planning a "solar atlas," based on the intensity of the sun's radiation, to pinpoint ideal sites for the development of solar power projects.
With data from the atlas, solar project developers will be able to predict a proposed plant's output with reasonable accuracy and determine which solar technology is more suited to the project, India's government-run Center for Wind Energy Technology said in a report in The Economic Times.
Last month CWET completed ground-based measuring of radiation in 51 locations in India, a major phase of the project, and is now developing an algorithm to validate the data.
While the country averages 300 days of sunshine annually, solar project developers typically have relied on NASA and its satellite images to identify the best locations.
"A solar atlas will be very useful," said James V Abraham, managing director and chief executive officer of India's Sunborne Energy Technologies.
Accurate data are crucial for solar projects, Abraham said, noting that even a 10 percent gap between the actual radiation and what data show can result in nearly a 20 percent drop in energy output.
Indian companies such as Mahindra Solar, which had used NASA data for planning solar projects, welcome the solar atlas as a useful business tool.
"To have info mapped in India with local conditions will help us further optimize prediction. The entire ecosystem, with solar atlas mapping, will see companies like ours getting aggressive in (the) future," Mahindra Chief Executive Officer Vish Palekar told The Economic Times.
Separately, the International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, announced Monday that it will provide $5 million debt financing to Mahindra for a 5-megawatt solar photovoltaic power project in Rajasthan expected to generate enough electricity to serve about 60,000 rural homes.
India's National Solar Mission, launched in January 2010, aims for a solar power generation capacity of 20,000 megawatts by 2022. By the end of 2011 India had acquired 190 megawatts of solar, up from less than 12 megawatts in 2009.
In a related development, the Indian government announced it is establishing a solar company with initial capital of $405.6 million to build federal solar projects.
"A dedicated company will ensure that we meet our targets effectively," Renewable Secretary Gireesh B. Pradhan was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.
Pradhan said Indian officials are planning visits to the United States and Europe in May to attract investment in India's renewables sector, particularly for solar energy.
Source - SolarDaily
With data from the atlas, solar project developers will be able to predict a proposed plant's output with reasonable accuracy and determine which solar technology is more suited to the project, India's government-run Center for Wind Energy Technology said in a report in The Economic Times.
Last month CWET completed ground-based measuring of radiation in 51 locations in India, a major phase of the project, and is now developing an algorithm to validate the data.
While the country averages 300 days of sunshine annually, solar project developers typically have relied on NASA and its satellite images to identify the best locations.
"A solar atlas will be very useful," said James V Abraham, managing director and chief executive officer of India's Sunborne Energy Technologies.
Accurate data are crucial for solar projects, Abraham said, noting that even a 10 percent gap between the actual radiation and what data show can result in nearly a 20 percent drop in energy output.
Indian companies such as Mahindra Solar, which had used NASA data for planning solar projects, welcome the solar atlas as a useful business tool.
"To have info mapped in India with local conditions will help us further optimize prediction. The entire ecosystem, with solar atlas mapping, will see companies like ours getting aggressive in (the) future," Mahindra Chief Executive Officer Vish Palekar told The Economic Times.
Separately, the International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, announced Monday that it will provide $5 million debt financing to Mahindra for a 5-megawatt solar photovoltaic power project in Rajasthan expected to generate enough electricity to serve about 60,000 rural homes.
India's National Solar Mission, launched in January 2010, aims for a solar power generation capacity of 20,000 megawatts by 2022. By the end of 2011 India had acquired 190 megawatts of solar, up from less than 12 megawatts in 2009.
In a related development, the Indian government announced it is establishing a solar company with initial capital of $405.6 million to build federal solar projects.
"A dedicated company will ensure that we meet our targets effectively," Renewable Secretary Gireesh B. Pradhan was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.
Pradhan said Indian officials are planning visits to the United States and Europe in May to attract investment in India's renewables sector, particularly for solar energy.
Source - SolarDaily
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