Global Photovoltaic News Briefing:20240122-20240128

Asia

Saudi Arabia

1. Saudi power producer and desalination company ACWA Power Co will complete construction of the 200MW Kom Ombo solar project in Egypt in April. The total construction cost of the solar power plant is approximately US$182 million (€167.1 million), and financial close will be completed in August 2023. Once up and running, Kom Ombo will power 130,000 homes and offset 280,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

2. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said that the kingdom’s expert team has identified 1,200 sites for the deployment of large-scale wind and solar projects across the country.

(Israel) Israel-based photovoltaic (PV) inverter and battery supplier SolarEdge Technologies Inc plans to cut about 16% of its global workforce as part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs. The move will affect approximately 900 employees, including 500 workers at the production site.

(UAE) Dubai-based Floating Man is currently negotiating a contract to deploy a new offshore solar floating structure. A 900-square-meter floating body system can support up to 200 solar panels. The new structure can withstand wind speeds of up to 160 km/h and has a lifespan of 30 years. It has steel construction and corrosion-resistant coating. It will be supported by 30 pontoons.

North America

US

1. U.S. thin-film photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer First Solar Inc said it plans to open a new distribution center in Ohio. The company plans to increase its production capacity in the state to about 7 gigawatts this year. First Solar is currently expanding 1 GW of module production capacity in Ohio, with the goal of exceeding 10 GW of U.S. production by 2025. The company said the new distribution center will streamline its logistics activities to accommodate expanded production, reduce operating costs and ensure efficient and timely delivery of modules to customers.

2. Sausalito, California-based community solar and distributed renewable energy platform 38°North has signed a project agreement with Community Power Group (CPG), which agrees to purchase 10 community solar projects in New York State with a total capacity of 62 megabytes. watt.

3. US-based Nautilus Solar Energy LLC has signed a tax equity agreement worth $72 million (€66.1 million) with institutional investment fund sponsor Foss & Company to fund the construction of 62 MW of community solar projects in multiple states. . Projects benefiting from the financing arrangements are located in Maine, Minnesota, New York and Maryland, and are expected to be fully operational in 2024 and provide power to the Northeast and Midwest.

4. Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc, a US supplier of renewable energy, environmental and thermal energy technologies, announced that it has been selected to build three solar farms with a total capacity of 75 MW in western Pennsylvania. These solar power plants have a capacity of 25 MW each.

(Canada) Local Canadian utility company SaskPower has selected partners led by clean energy company Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure to build a 100-megawatt solar power plant in Saskatchewan, Canada. The solar facility will be built in the rural municipality of Estevan and is expected to be one of the 10 largest solar power stations in the country. The project is expected to cost approximately CAD 200 million (USD 148.6 million/€136.3 million) and will be operational once operational. Generating enough electricity to power approximately 25,000 homes.

South America

Brazil:

1. TrinaTracker, a subsidiary of China Trina Solar Co., Ltd., has completed a supply order for a 210-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) project in Brazil. The photovoltaic power plant is located in the city of Mauritius in the northeastern state of Ceará and is owned by China Power Construction Corporation. TrinaTracker pointed out that once the photovoltaic power plant is fully operational, it will create more than 2,000 jobs and total cumulative economic growth will reach 140 million US dollars (128.5 million euros).

2. Brazilian energy company Auren Energy announced that the company has begun trial operation of the 100.6 MW portion of the 629.9 MW Sol de Jaiba solar park. The photovoltaic power station is located in Jaiba City, Minas Gerais, and will become one of the largest photovoltaic power stations in the country.

Chile

1. German energy group RWE has successfully submitted its project proposal to build a 257 MW solar farm and 255.4 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Chile for environmental assessment. RWE plans to invest approximately $300 million (€275.4 million) to build power generation complexes in communes in the region. The project will include assembling more than 467,100 photovoltaic modules, installing battery arrays with five hours of storage, and building supporting power infrastructure. Based on the environmental assessment results, construction is expected to begin in October 2025.

2. Spanish renewables company Greergy Renovables SA has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Chile’s solar-plus-storage giant for its $1.4 billion (€1.28 billion) Oasis Ataca in Chile. Related to the fourth phase of the Malaysian solar + energy storage development project, the entire project has close to 1 GW of solar energy and 4.1 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS). Phase 4 has a solar capacity of 260 MW and an energy storage capacity of 220 MW/1100 MWh. The Phase 4 plant will be operational by the end of 2025.

Oceania

(Australia) Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. has reached a 1.1GW solar power purchase agreement with Queensland Aluminum to purchase power from Australia’s largest solar park, which will be installed at the Upper Calliope complex near Gladstone, Queensland.

Europe

Germany

1. According to the latest statistics released by the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), Germany deployed 14.28GW of new photovoltaic systems in 2023. Germany's newly installed photovoltaic capacity in December 2023 totaled approximately 880GW, a significant monthly decrease compared with 1.37GW and 1.25GW in October and November.

2. The Energy Minister of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia said that the state will allocate 60 million euros ($65.3 million) over the next four years to promote the installation of solar power generation systems in the Rhine mining area. The funds will be used to support the Gigawatt Pact alliance, which was launched in March 2022 by approximately 50 regions, municipalities, energy companies, project sponsors and the state’s Department of Energy.

3. Germany’s Federal Network Agency launched the first ground-mounted solar project tender this year, targeting projects with a total capacity of 2.23 GW. The project submission deadline is March 1, 2024. Germany's Federal Network Agency plans to allocate 8.1 GW of capacity to ground-mounted solar parks in three rounds in 2024. The next few rounds of auctions will close on July 1 and December 1, with a target of 2.7 GW in each round.

United Kingdom

1. British renewable energy developer Elements Green has opened community consultation on building an 800MW solar farm with battery storage in the East Midlands, England. The program aims to gather feedback from communities in selected areas and engage with local planning authorities, interest groups and statutory advisers.

2. UK-based renewable energy company Low Carbon has secured all the funding it needs to build a 385MW portfolio of solar and battery storage projects in its home country. Under the plan, Low Carbon will install a 290-megawatt solar park, generating enough electricity to meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 85,000 local homes. The power plants will be equipped with a total of 95 MW of batteries.

3. British clean energy company Enviromena has submitted a proposal to build a 40 MWac solar power plant to Doncaster City Council in England. Enviromena said the plant, if realized, would be able to power around 19,500 homes, responding to Doncaster Council’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2040.

Italy

1. FP Lux Group has taken over the development of a 114 MW Italian solar park portfolio on behalf of its Energy Transition Fund. The acquired portfolio consists of 12 photovoltaic (PV) projects in various regions of Italy, scheduled to be operational from 2025. It is estimated that their total annual production is enough to meet the consumption of a medium-sized city with 75,000 households.

2. Italian renewable energy company Enel Green Power secured a €560 million ($610.5 million) financing package from three commercial banks backed by the European Investment Bank and Italian export credit agency SACE for its 3Sun solar panel factory in Sicily to provide funding for the expansion.

Spain

1. Spanish civil engineering and construction company Obrascon Huarte Lain SA said it has been awarded a contract worth more than 45 million euros ($49 million) to build, commission and Operate a solar farm. The new factory will consist of 160,000 photovoltaic modules with an installed capacity of 100 MW. More than 180GWh of electricity will be generated annually, enough to power around 20,000 homes, and the project is expected to create around 300 jobs during the construction phase.

2. Spanish Renewable Energy Companies Association APPA said in its latest annual report that Spanish households and businesses installed 1,943 MW of solar photovoltaic self-consumption systems in 2023, a 27% decrease in capacity compared with the same period last year.

(Norway) Norwegian industrial silicone manufacturer Elkem ASA has reached an agreement to acquire polysilicon producer REC Solar Bulgaria AS from a unit of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. With this acquisition, Elkem expects to realize local synergies and further develop its factories.

Poland

1. A subsidiary of Ireland’s Alternus Energy Group Plc has sold an 88.5 MW solar park project in Poland to a fund affiliated with private equity firm SINO-CEEF. Alternus said the deal transferred ownership of six photovoltaic (PV) projects.

2. Amsterdam-based renewable energy developer Photon Energy NV said it has sold rights to a 2.3 M Wac solar PV project in central Poland to a subsidiary of Polish investment company INWE Group. Under the agreement, subsidiary PM PV 7 Sp Zoo should have the project in Zloczew, Lodz Voivodeship, Poland, in preparation for construction by the second quarter of 2024.

(Sweden) Sustainable Energy Solutions Sweden Holdings (SENS) has identified terrain for the construction of a 40 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in southeastern Sweden.

(Moldova) Moldova plans to hold a tender for 165MW large-scale renewable energy projects in April 2024 to support the Eastern European country's 2030 climate goals and reduce dependence on energy imports.

(France) French renewable energy power plant operator Voltalia SA announced that its 12.1 MW solar park in the Grand-Est region in northeastern France has started commercial operations. The plant is located in Wintzenheim, Upper Rhine, on a former landfill covering an area of 12 hectares (29.65 acres). Composed of 21,384 photovoltaic (PV) panels, it is expected to output enough to meet the annual electricity needs of approximately 6,000 people and will help offset approximately 2,545 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Africa

(Ivory Coast) Infrastructure investor PFO Africa has signed a concession agreement and power offtake agreement with the Ivorian government for a 52MWp solar project in the West African country. The contracts will enable PFO Africa's subsidiary PFO Energies to design, finance, build and operate the photovoltaic park. The total investment required is estimated to be approximately CFA 39.5 billion (USD 65.2 million/EUR 60.2 million). PFO Africa says the proposed solar project will result in the largest photovoltaic complex in Côte d’Ivoire. The power plant is located in the town of Sohoro in the northwest region of Chologo and is expected to generate 90 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, enough to supply more than 370,000 local residents.