News

Armenia to tender five more large-scale solar projects
The projects will be tendered under single-round competitive bidding processes, supervised by the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, tender, Europe, Armenia, EBDR, Masrik 2 PV plant, the Gagarin PV plant
France allocates 858 MW in PV tender
The average price guaranteed to the winners of the tender’s sixth window is €64/MWh. For installations above 5 MW, the price is €59.5/MWh, which is higher than the fifth window.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, France, tender, Europe, installations, utility-scale, Elisabeth Borne
Qatari utility mulls jump to 800 MW tender as consortia submit bids
A consortium led by Jinko Power and Korea Electric Power Corp., as well as another group led by Japanese conglomerate Marubeni and French energy group Total, have submitted bids for Qatar’s 700 MW solar tender. The final results will be announced in September.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, tender, Asia, Jinko Power, Korea Electric Power Corp., Qatar, Marubeni, Total, Kahramaa, Siraj Solar Energy, IRENA
Metito wins 45-55 MW Bangladesh project with $0.07/kWh bid
A consortium led by Metito Utilities, JinkoSolar and Al Jomaih Energy and Water has won a tender to build a 45-55 MW grid-tied solar plant with a bid of $0.0749/kWh — the lowest ever seen in Bangladesh.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Canadian Solar, tender, JinkoSolar, Metito Utilities, Al Jomaih Energy and Water, Bangladesh, grid-tied PV, Asia, BPDB, WAC Logistics and Jiangsu Zhongtian Technology, SREDA
255 MW Sunraysia Solar Farm nears completion
UNSW Sydney has announced the looming completion of the Sunraysia Solar Farm in Australia. The university is now on track to run on 100% renewable energy from 2020, as the massive 255 MW project will be operational by the end of this year, with 25% of its generation to be purchased by UNSW.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Australia, UNSW Sydney, Sunraysia Solar Farm, John Laign, Nicholas Jones, AGL Energy, EPC Decmil Group, Oceania
Don’t have a node for your solar plant? Connect it to the railway!
Railway operators can now feasibly connect solar plants to traction substations, claims a consortium that is now working on a similar demonstration project in the U.K. Almost all of the 30 kW installation’s output will be used to move trains, but in the future storage could come into the picture for larger “railway-connected” solar power projects, says 10:10, the U.K.-based climate change charity that developed the pilot.
Aug 6, 2019 // Technology, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Storage, U.K., Aldershot, railway system, Leo Murray, Riding Sunbeams, Great Britain
Economics of road transport starting to favor renewables
According to a new report by BNP Paribas Asset Management, renewables offer more advantages than simply mitigating climate change. Electricity is easier to transport than oil, and wind and solar electricity prices are much more stable than volatile oil prices. An analyst from the French bank argues that major producers will need to reduce oil prices below $20 to compete with clean energy in the transport sector.
Aug 6, 2019 // Technology, Storage, BNP Paribas Asset Management, transport sector, Mark Lewis, oil prices
First Solar’s great ramp forward
First Solar reported a bumper quarter during Q2 by most metrics. The company’s net sales of $585 million were nearly double the previous year, on shipments 1.4 GW of product – the most in its history. Additionally, First Solar booked more than 2.1 GW of orders in July alone, a very positive start to Q3.
Aug 6, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, USA, SEIA, China, First Solar, Trump, Mark Widmar, Asia, North America
Bolsonaro clears Brazilian solar scheme at floating plant launch
Jair Bolsonaro has given the green light to a new solar scheme in Brazil’s northeast, marking its launch as he attended the opening of a separate floating project.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Grids, Floating PV, floating PV, South america, Latin america, Brazil, solar water pump, jair bolsonaro, Bento Albuquerque, Gustavo Canuto, Chesf, floating plant
New Jersey Resources to issue US$150m green bond for 50MW of solar
Energy provider New Jersey Resources (NJR) is selling US$150 million of green bonds to finance six commercial solar plants with a combined capacity of 50MW.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, USA, New Jersey, solar pv, ssfusa, green financing, new jersey resources, financial results, clean energy ventures, North America
Xinte Energy profits in 1H 2019 to be significantly impacted by polysilicon price declines
Major China-based polysilicon producer, Xinte Energy has signalled a significant decline in expected profits for the first half of 2019, due to polysilicon ASPs declining 43% from the prior year period.
Aug 6, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, China, CPIA, SMSL, xinte energy, polysilicon, c-si manufacturing, wacker chemie, ASPs, JinkoSolar, JYT, Asia
Ground-mounted PV auction set to boost France’s capacity by 10%
A major ground-mounted PV auction in France is set to boost the country’s solar capacity by 10%, with 107 developers successfully bidding on 858MW of capacity spread evenly across the country.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Grids, Tariffs, France, Wood Mackenzie, Engie, tender, auctions, ground-mounted pv, Europe
Solar scores lowest average prices in Argentina’s smaller-scale tender
Solar has emerged as the overall cheapest technology in Argentina’s latest clean energy tender, aimed at smaller-scale installations.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Markets & Finance News, Canadian Solar, solar pv, Argentina, South america, Latin america, renovar, cammesa, auction ppa, MiniRen tender
Duke Drops Largest Solar Project in North Carolina Procurement — Its Own
The cancellation of an 80-megawatt project with no financial penalty raises questions about a monopoly utility competing against private developers.
Aug 6, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, USA, North Carolina, Duke Energy, Randy Wheeless, Chris Carmody, Accion Group, Cypress Creek Renewables, utilities, North America
Ormat starts operation at unique hybrid geothermal-solar power plant in Nevada
Supported by an innovative portfolio contract with its power purchasers, Ormat Technologies has now started commercial operations of its innovative hybrid solar-geothermal power plant at Tungsten Mountain, Nevada.
Aug 5, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Solar, USA, Nevada, Geothermal, hybrid, Ormat Technologies, power plant, Tungsten Mountain, North America