Author: Anela Dokso

Trina Solar’s State Key Laboratory (SKL) of PV Science and Technology (PVST) has fabricated a PERC cell with 23.39% efficiency using standard manufacturing equipment. This is the highest efficiency confirmed by an ISO/IEC 17025 certified calibration laboratory for such an industrial cell, the company said. “Progress in PERC cell manufacturing is continuing to be very fast in the whole PV industry,” said Dr. Zhiqiang Feng, the vice president of Trina Solar and the director of SKL, “And we are delighted to announce that our R&D team is at the forefront.” Dr. Yang Yang, the director of the PERC research group…

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives (IEA) has broke ground on the 25 megawatt (MW) Appling Solar Farm, located near the city of Baxley in Southeast Georgia. Nashville-based Silicon Ranch Corporation selected IEA’s subsidiary, IEA Constructors, as the Engineer-Procure-Construct contractor for the project. IEA is responsible for the design, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover of the facility. Silicon Ranch is funding the installation and will own and operate the array for the long-term. IEA team will assemble and install single-axis trackers that utilize NEXTracker’s TrueCapture smart control system, enabling approximately 95,000 solar modules to track the sun from east to west. The modules are produced locally by Hanwha Q CELLS…

Ramboll has secured a contract from Obayashi Corporation to perform the detailed foundation design for a new offshore wind farm in Japan. Ramboll will perform the detailed foundation design for the entire offshore wind farm, which will be one of the largest in Japan. Japan is planning major expansions in the years to come, and the brand-new order for Ramboll underlines that the Asian country is on its way to succeed with its ambition to install wind farms with an output of 4,000 MW by 2040. “There is a giant potential for Ramboll in Japan. At the same time, however,…

Sumitomo Electric Industries and Kajima Corporation have jointly started the construction of offshore wind farms at Akita Port and Noshiro Port in Akita Prefecture in Japan. These are the first large-scale commercial offshore wind farms in Japan. Sumitomo Electric is in charge of the design, production and installation work of submarine cables for power transmission from the wind turbines to land with the aim of completion in 2022. For the first time in Japan, offshore wind farms in this project will be developed and operated by a private company, Akita Offshore Wind Corporation, on a commercial basis. A total of…

Infoplaza Marine Weather has secured a contract for the provision of a global metocean database to Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Enineering (DSME). The metocean database, containing wind and wave data, will be used by DSME for the planning and design of marine and offshore projects. The database, which encompasses data for more than 75.000 model nodes and extends over a 29 year period (1990-2018) was extensively validated and calibrated where needed using buoy and satellite observation data. It was developed over a period of many years and continues remains under constant development. “The insights we were able to provide is…

Ramboll has received a contract to assist the Irish Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) over the next four years with consultancy services and assignments that will contribute to Ireland’s exploration of more sustainable energy resources. The contract has a value of €5.4 million, Ramboll informed. The contract will cover assignments within several technical energy areas, including gas and electricity infrastructure, sector integration, renewable energy, low carbon technologies and energy efficiency. Ireland is a fast-growing economy with a large share of wind electricity and an increasing gas infrastructure. The Irish government and decision-makers have a continuous interest in exploring and…

Semco Maritime, as a subcontractor to Bladt Industries, has received a contract for the offshore substation for innogy’s German Kaskasi offshore wind farm.   The offshore substation is scheduled to be installed in the first half of 2022 and the wind farm will be built off Heligoland in the same grid connection cluster as innogy’s 295-MW Nordsee Ost wind farm. “For this project, we will draw on the experience gained, the resources and capabilities that we have built up over the years to set further focus on our offerings to bring offshore energy to shore,” said Carsten Nielsen, senior vice president, Renewables,…

Scatec Solar has, along with its partners, grid connected and started commercial operation of the third 86 MW solar plant in Upington, South Africa, completing the 258 MW solar power complex. The 86 MW facility, known as Dyason’s Klip 2, is expected to produce 217 GWh annually. The Upington solar power complex is estimated to deliver an annual production of 650 GWh, providing clean energy to around 120,000 households. We are proud to have achieved this major milestone. Power supply is considered critical infrastructure, and we are pleased to be supporting South African power supply with renewable energy to another…

The SELKIE project, aiming to boost the marine energy industry in Wales and Ireland, has extended the deadline for applications for wave and tidal energy developers by April 30, 2020, due to Covid19 situation. SELKIE earlier launched calls for wave and tidal energy developers to tender their services for two pilot demonstration projects. University College Cork is leading the project in partnership with Swansea University, Marine Energy Wales, Menter Môn, DP Energy Ireland and Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions. The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation programme.   SELKIE will test and validate the…

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has, on behalf of the Australian Government, provided $951K to Oven Mountain Pumped Storage (OMPS) to undertake a study analyzing the benefits that Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) would have on the development of the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in northern NSW. OMPS plans to investigate how its proposed Oven Mountain 600 MW / 7,200 MWh PHES facility between Armidale and Kempsey can provide system-wide benefits, by storing and enabling variable renewable energy generation, improving system strength, unlocking network constraints and helping to reduce marginal loss factors. The study will examine the degree…