Author: Arnes Biogradlija

Enel Green Power has started construction of the Lily solar + storage project, its first hybrid project in North America that integrates a renewable energy plant with utility-scale battery storage. By pairing the two technologies, Enel can store energy generated by the renewable plants to be delivered when needed, such as to help smooth the supply of electricity to the grid or during periods of high electricity demand. In addition to the Lily solar + storage project, Enel plans to install approximately 1 GW of battery storage capacity across its new and existing wind and solar projects in the United…

Kyocera Corporation has started testing Japan’s first ‘self-wheeling’ energy system, developed using a storage battery earlier this month in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Self-wheeling is a system in which a company’s self-generated electricity is supplied to its own factory or office located at a different site using an existing electrical power grid. Kyocera constructed the 150 kW Yasu Kamiya Solar Power Plant on 2,000 m2 land owned by Yasu City in Shiga. Renewable energy generated at the site will be supplied to the Kyocera Shiga Yasu Plant, approximately two kilometres away via the Kansai Transmission and Distribution, Inc’s electrical power grid.…

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is funding the Grid Innovation Hub at Monash University with $495.680 to conduct a desktop study that will explore how to manage unstable and weak parts of the electricity grid. Grid Innovation Hub researchers will conduct the desktop study to address issues and approaches related to linking clean energy technologies such as solar, wind, and battery projects into weaker sections of the National Electricity Market (NEM). The $1.3 million project will use the West Murray region of the North West Victorian network as a case study due to the existing system-stability issues facing the…

Recurrent Energy, Canadian Solar owned subsidiary, has closed $282 million of debt financing to construct its Maplewood and Maplewood 2 solar projects, located in Pecos County in the Permian Basin of West Texas. The financing was provided by a bank club led by Norddeutsche Landesbank, which included Export Development Canada, Rabobank, National Bank of Canada and Bayerische Landesbank. “We are pleased to partner with Nord/LB, EDC, Rabobank, NBC and Bayern/LB in this important financing. We are appreciative of these long-standing relationships with leading financial partners, and value their continued support and trust as we execute on our growing pipeline in…

Brookfield Renewable Partners has entered into a binding agreement to acquire a 1.200 MW advanced solar development project in Brazil that is expected to be completed by early 2023. Approximately 75 percent of the project is contracted under long-term inflation-linked power buying agreements, and Brookfield Renewable intends to leverage its profound power marketing expertise to contract the remaining generation before construction begins. Total equity needed to complete the project is expected to be around $200 million. “This acquisition represents a unique opportunity to invest in one of the largest solar development projects globally. This investment aligns with our ongoing strategy of…

Department of Labor and Industries fined three companies connected to the January trench collapse that killed a 24-year-old Chehalis man. An investigation led to discovery of “numerous safety violations in connection with the incident,” ending with $500,000 fine for three companies. Renewable Energy Systems-Americas (RES-Americas) System 3 was cited for eight violations totaling $360,874 and RES Americas Construction was cited for six violations totaling $184,800 related to the fatal death incident. A third company, GEMS, a medical service contractor, was cited for one serious violation and must pay $4,200.  The finding stems from a January 9 workplace death at the Skookumchuck…

JinkoSolar reached the maximum solar conversion efficiency of its large-area N-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells to 24.79%, and have set a world record for large-size contact-passivated solar cells. This result was independently confirmed by the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hamelin (ISFH), Germany.  The record-breaking mono-crystalline silicon solar cell was fabricated on a high quality CZ mono-Si substrate, with a practical size of 267.72cm2, and several advanced technologies have been implemented to achieve this new record of 24.79%, including passivating contact technologies, advanced diffusion system, surface passivation, and advanced anti-reflection technologies, and a series of the material upgrade were integrated into the…

Vestas has secured a 50 MW order with local EPC construction company, Bac Phuong JSC for the second phase of the Dong Hai 1 intertidal wind project. This project win comes after Vestas was awarded the first phase of the project in December 2019. With this second phase in place, the 100 MW Dong Hai 1 intertidal wind project will be the largest intertidal wind project in Vietnam to date. To optimise energy production for the site’s specific wind conditions, Vestas will supply and supervise the installation of 13 V150-4.2 MW wind turbines, with ten turbines in 3.8 MW and three turbines in 4.0 MW operating modes. The project will also feature customized…

Swire Blue Ocean (SBO) has secured a contract with MHI Vestas to ship and install wind turbine generators at the Seagreen offshore wind farm. MHI Vestas has chosen Swire Blue Ocean for the transport and deployment of wind turbine generators at the offshore wind farm Seagreen in Scotland, for which SSE Renewables and Total entered FID on 3 June 2020. After construction, the plant will be the largest offshore wind farm in Scotland, meeting the electricity needs of about one million households. Seagreen is situated 27 kilometers off Scotland’s east coast, in the deepest waters of the offshore wind sector…

Fugro has started a four-month marine site characterization campaign for Vattenfall at two large offshore wind production sites about 40 kilometers off Norfolk, UK. The resulting Geo-data from Fugro’s geotechnical investigations will feed into the ground model for the wind farms Norfolk Vanguard and Norfolk Boreas, which will have a total installed capacity of 3.6 GW, sufficient to power over 3.9 million homes. Working from its dynamically placed (DP2) geotechnical drilling vessel Fugro Scout, Fugro performs surveys and sampling using its patented SEACALF Mk V DeepDrive cone penetration testing system at both locations, and will perform research both in situ and…