CleanTech Report December 8th 2020 |
M&AEni To Speed Up Renewables Drive With Greenfield Development Italy’s Eni will expand its renewable energy in Europe, the U.S. and the Pacific by developing its own projects and making small acquisitions, the group’s clean energy head said on Friday. Eni, which currently has a renewable energy capacity of only 350 megawatts, has pledged to reach 15 gigawatts by 2030 and 55 GW by 2050 – mainly by building its own capacity. Stem Agrees Blank-Check Merger With Star Peak To Go Public U.S. artificial intelligence-driven energy storage company Stem Inc said on Friday it has agreed to go public by merging with blank-check acquisition company Star Peak Energy Transition Corp at a valuation of roughly $1.35 billion. The merger with Star Peak will give Stem an estimated $608 million in gross proceeds to invest in its burgeoning smart grid technology which helps support green forms of energy. Renewable Energy Behemoth Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Acquires Metz Solar Farm Spanish developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) has reaffirmed its presence in the Australian renewable energy marketplace by adding the 115 MW Metz Solar Farm to its solar portfolio. |
NORTH AMERICANugen Capital Announces Largest Single Rooftop Solar Project In Rhode Island NuGen Capital Management, LLC (NuGen) starts construction of a 6.76 MWdc rooftop solar power system in the company’s home state of Rhode Island. The project, comprised of over 16,000 solar panels, is being installed by AUI Partners on a 560,000 square foot warehouse in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Full commercial operation of the project is expected in early 2021. Bill Gates Urges $35 Billion Per Year For Renewable Energy Research When he isn’t dissing “representative democracy” for its failure to address the climate crisis, urging ordinary people to accept higher green energy utility bills because the sacrifice is worth it, or spending quality time at his beachfront mansion, Bill Gates advocates for more money to be spent on climate research, in the hope that someone out there will discover the magic energy solution which has eluded his personal efforts. Kern Solar Structures Partners With S2A Modular And FreeVolt USA As Provider Of Solar CarPorts The three companies will provide Solar CarPorT systems for S2A Modular’s network of 35 MegaFactories throughout North America. The first such system being installed currently consists of three individual carport structures which are designed to allow for system expansion and increased generation capacity as the factories expand its operations. |
LATIN AMERICAChile’s Caserones Copper Mine Goes 100% Renewable Through 17 Year Deal With Enel As of January 2021, SCM Minera Lumina Copper Chile’s Caserones copper mine will have a 100% clean and renewable electricity supply, thanks to an agreement reached with Enel Generación for an annual volume of 1 TWh of certified renewable energy. The new contract will last for 17 years. Vestas Confirms 534MW Brazilian Order Vestas has confirmed Casa dos Ventos has placed a 534MW order for the second stage of the Rio do Vento complex in Brazil – the largest wind project in Latin America to date. The extension will add to the 504MW first phase of the 1GW project in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, which is currently under construction. For the project, Vestas developed a customised solution, featuring V150-4.2MW wind turbines with some delivered in 4.3MW and others in 4.5MW Power Optimised Mode. Initiative Launched To Accelerate Financing Of Distributed Solar Energy The Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the UN Program for the Environment (UNEP) together with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) launched the Generación SOLE initiative, which seeks to promote innovative financing models for the deployment of distributed solar photovoltaic generation in the region with immediate actions in Colombia and Panama. |
EUROPEGermany’s EWE Frees Up $8.5 Billion To Move Away From Fossil Fuels German utility EWE, in which French private equity group Ardian holds 26%, will invest 7 billion euros ($8.5 billion) to expand into renewables and become carbon neutral by 2035, it said on Monday. More than half of the funds will be spent on the expansion of energy networks and on clean energy such as onshore wind farms and hydrogen for industrials. About 1 billion euros will go into digitalisation, EWE said. PPC Plans To Invest €3.4 Billion By 2023 Greece’s biggest power utility, Public Power Corporation, will spend 3.4 billion euros to expand its footprint in renewables and modernize the country’s distribution grid, it said on Wednesday. The coal-reliant utility, which is 51% owned by the state, has pledged to shut down all but one of its coal-fired plants by 2023 to help Greece reduce carbon emissions in line with climate targets set by the European Union. Aquila European Renewables Agrees To Buy Spanish Solar Project Aquila European Renewables Income Fund announced on Friday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Tesseract Holdings has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of a Spanish solar photovoltaic construction project, Albeniz, along with an interest in the shared substation. |
ASIALONGi Hits 20 Gigawatts Of Solar Module Shipments In 2020 In 2010, 17,151 megawatts (17.151 gigawatts) of solar modules were deployed worldwide. A decade later, one company, LONGi, has shipped more solar PV modules worldwide in the first 11 months of the year. LONGi is the first solar brand to ship more than 20 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV modules in 2020. Vikram Solar Set To Commission Phase-1 Of 1 GW Solar Module Plant By March 2021 Vikram Solar Limited, one of the leading Indian manufacturers of solar modules, EPC & rooftop solar solutions provider in the country, is working towards commissioning of the phase-1 of one giga watt (GW) solar module manufacturing plant coming up in Kanchipuram,Tamil Nadu by March next. AIIB Commits $100M To Renewable Debt Fund The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is investing $100 million in a renewable energy fund run by ADM Capital. The investment is for ADM Capital’s Elkhorn emerging Asia renewable energy fund, which is a closed end debt fund that focused on small and medium sized firms engaged in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Asia. The fund hopes to raise $500m and will close in 2021. |
MENAIran Launches New Power Projects Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated 25 projects improving the national grid. In a videoconference on Thursday, the president inaugurated the projects that have been carried out in three provinces of Khuzestan, Khorassan Razavi, and Sistan and Balouchestan. The projects boosting the national grid include several power stations, electricity transmission lines, and combined-cycle power plants. Officials say Iran is among the top five countries in the world in the construction of power plants. Egypt, Denmark Explore Renewable Energy Investment Opportunities Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker has met with Denmark’s Ambassador to Egypt Svend Olling to discuss enhancing cooperation and investment opportunities between the two countries in the field of renewable energy. Shaker said that the Egyptian government has made great efforts to overcome the difficulties and challenges that the country’s electricity sector has faced in the last period. Serious efforts have been made at all levels, and with the help of the country’s development partners. Oman Sets Up New Energy Company To Raise Capital Oman has set up a new state energy company which will own part of the Gulf nation’s largest oil block and be able to raise debt, as the cash-strapped country seeks to offset the impact of lower oil prices. The new company, called Energy Development Oman (EDO), will have a shareholding in Petroleum Development Oman, a state-owned oil and gas exploration and production company, and an interest in Block 6, according to the country’s Official Gazette. |
AFRICASunCulture Wants To Turn Africa Into The World’s Next Bread Basket, One Solar Water Pump At A Time Armed with a new financing model and purpose-built small solar-powered generators and water pumps, Nichols and Ibrahim have already built a network of customers using their equipment to increase incomes by anywhere from five to 10 times their previous levels by growing higher-value cash crops, cultivating more land and raising more livestock. Rwanda Embracing Solar Energy ARC Power, a British Startup, is currently helping Rwanda, a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with Solar Business Parks alongside its roll-out of solar mini-grids – a collection of solar-powered commercial units – the latest energy initiative to light up Rwanda. Rwanda is increasingly adopting solar energy due to its affordability and easy accessibility to electricity for use in both urban and rural communities. Africa’s Future Is Renewable Energy There’s one area where Africa has the chance to lead. And that’s in the space of renewable energy, writes Taru Madangombe, Vice-President – Power Systems Business Anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric. In many ways, the continent of Africa is an unsung success story. Over the past decade, Africa has grown faster than any other continent. According to the World Economic Forum, six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies in 2019 were in Africa; based on PwC’s own research it’s likely that for the period 2014-2050, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt will remain in the top 10. |
AUSTRALIAYatpool Solar Farm Moves Out Of Queue And Onto Grid In Victoria The 106MW Yatpool solar farm – one of a number of Victorian renewable energy projects that has spent months in a queue waiting to connect to the grid – has started sending power to the National Electricity Market. The BayWa RE project started registering small bouts of generation this week, as illustrated in the below chart from Global Roam’s Paul McArdle, joining fellow Victorian newcomer to the NEM, the Moorabool wind farm. Tasmania Clocks 100% Renewable Energy Goal Two Years Ahead Of Schedule Tasmania had announced last year that it had hoped to reach 100% renewable energy by 2022. However, they managed to achieve their sustainability goal two years early partly due to the Granville Harbour wind farm. New 200MW Solar Project With Big Battery Approved For New South Wales The New South Wales government’s Independent Planning Commission has given the green light to the 200MW Bonshaw solar project in the Inverell Shire, a $A238-million project which could also feature a big battery sized up to 300MW. Being developed by GAIA Australia, the 200MW solar project and 300MW lithium-ion battery storage project is set to be built on 149-hectares of agricultural land approximately 16km south of Bonshaw. |
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