Month: December 2022

               Sonnedix has achieved commercial operations at its 50MW Sonnedix Los Frailes solar farm in Spain. The project, which is located in Badajoz in southwest of Spain, spans 111 hectares of land and connects to the Vaguadas substation. It is expected to produce approximately 102GWh per year, which is the equivalent to powering more than 30,000 homes with clean electricity and avoiding approximately 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Sonnedix Los Frailes was built with Mytilineos as the main EPC Contractor and developed by Viridi RE group in collaboration with Sonnedix’s development team. Sonnedix said it has over 1GW of capacity in Spain, including over 600MW operational, 60MW under construction and a development pipeline of almost 400MW. Sonnedix chief executive officer Axel Thiemann said: “Seeing this come to fruition is wonderful, especially knowing the challenges our team had to go through these past couple of years with the pandemic, supply chain concerns, and economic uncertainty. “Our team was able to deal with adversity to continue our commitment to the Spanish market, whose role in the energy transition is remarkable.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Sonnedix]

                Solar and battery developer Renewable Connections has received consent from the UK Government for a new PV project in the East Midlands, England. Rushcliffe Borough Council approved the 49.9MW Church Farm solar project on the 10 November 2022. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has now ratified the decision. Development director at Renewable Connections John Leith said: “This project will play an integral role in helping Rushcliffe Borough Council meet its own Climate Emergency objectives.   “As well as providing energy for up to 14,000 homes, it will also achieve a substantial biodiversity net gain of 93% and provide significant benefits to local wildlife. “Throughout the project development we engaged with local people, statutory consultees and Council officers, who’s support has been much appreciated. “We made a number of improvement to the design of the project as a result of the local community’s feedback.” The project has been developed in partnership with European Energy (EE) and once operational is expected to have a lifespan of up to forty years.

Credits: renewa.biz [Image: Renewable Connections ]

               Neoen has begun construction of its first asset in Canada, the Fox Coulee solar farm, located in Alberta, Starland County. The solar farm is 100% owned by Neoen and the turnkey contract for its construction has been awarded to Goldbeck Solar. With a capacity of 93MWp, the solar farm will be connected to ATCO Electric’s distribution system, at 24.5kV. The commissioning of Fox Coulee is scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. When it enters service, it will prevent the emission of around 70,000 tonnes of CO2 a year and is expected to generate enough electricity to power over 20,000 homes. Neoen intends to sell a significant part of the electricity generated, together with the environmental benefits, via power purchase agreements. The remainder will be sold on Alberta’s electricity market, taking advantage of the province’s deregulated electricity market and ambitious carbon taxation policy.

               The farm will contribute to the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 set by the Province of Alberta and the federal government. Emmanuel Pujol, Regional Director of Neoen in the Americas, said: “I would like to congratulate our teams for their hard work in making this first project in Canada a reality. It’s a major step in developing Neoen’s presence in the country. The start of construction work for Fox Coulee comes just a year after establishing our local team and shows our commitment and drive to become a leading player in Alberta and Canada.” Xavier Barbaro, Chairman and CEO of Neoen, added: “We are thrilled to break ground at Fox Coulee and to see our presence in Canada bearing fruit. Neoen has been present in the Americas for almost ten years and we are proud to now have a presence from north to south. Canada’s climate and energy policy stands out for its ambition and Neoen is looking forward to playing an active role in delivering on its targets.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Pixabay]

                  ESB Networks’ 95MW Gillinstown solar farm in County Meath has begun delivering power to the grid. The company connected 23 large-scale renewable generator projects to Ireland’s electricity network in 2022, with total green energy capacity of 688MW. In addition, some 79MW across four battery storage projects were connected this year. ESB Networks Managing Director Nicholas Tarrant said: “The connection of almost 700MW of clean energy this year is a significant collective achievement for ESB Networks, the renewables community and for Ireland. “It represents a 15% increase in renewable generation year-on-year and it is testament to ESB Networks’ continued investment and innovation in the development of a safe, resilient and flexible electricity network. “Ireland is a world leader in the integration of intermittent renewables on its electricity system, with wind comprising almost half of electricity generation for October and November. The Climate Action Plan and ESB’s Net Zero by 2040 strategy commits to an acceleration in renewables connections in the next decade as we seek to deliver on our climate targets as we transition to a greener, brighter future.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: ESB Networks]

               Bluefield Solar has acquired an operational solar portfolio from Fengate Asset Management with a capacity of over 46MW. The portfolio consists of two ground mounted solar photovoltaic farms, the 39.3 MWp Raventhorpe plant located in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire and the 7.1MWp Roanhead facility located in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The enterprise value of the portfolio is £56m, including the economic benefit of all cashflows from May 2022. Both solar sites are accredited under the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) regime with a tariff of 1.4 ROCs. In the period 2022 to 2035, the proportion of contracted and regulated revenues from the portfolio is projected to be approximately 60%. Following the acquisition, the total installed capacity of Bluefield’s portfolio has grown to 813MWp. John Scott, Chairman of Bluefield Solar, said: “We are delighted to have acquired this high-quality portfolio of operating assets from Fengate Asset Management. The portfolio includes a high proportion of contracted and regulated revenues, and so represents a natural complement to the company’s significant development pipeline of new build solar and storage projects.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Pixabay]

               Enfinity Global has closed €142m in long-term and VAT financing, and LCs facilities for the construction of 112MW in three utility-scale solar power plants in Italy. This financing was comprised of two tranches with Santander Corporate & Investment Banking and BayernLB providing project financing for two power plants totaling 72MW, and an additional tranche for 40MW that also included Nomura. These institutions have acted as mandated lead arrangers for each project financing through a club deal structure that includes €85m of non-recourse senior debt financing, and €57m of VAT financing and LC facilities (PPA and PV modules). Carlos Domenech, chief executive of Enfinity Global, said: “We are grateful to partner with three leading financial institutions and demonstrate the quality of our portfolio and the depth of the financing sector. “Enfinity Global has an additional 318MW of permitted projects and is committed to build out its incremental 2GW of advanced permitting projects in Italy.

                 “We aim to bring solutions to our customers by delivering predictable and affordable clean energy. “Our plan will accelerate the country’s energy independence goal while creating thousands of jobs in the green economy.” The 112MW portfolio is located across the Lazio region and is expected to be operational in the first half of 2024.

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Robert Anasch/Unsplash ]

                AIB has invested in BNRG, an Irish-based developer and operator of solar energy projects globally. BNRG currently has a solar development pipeline of 2.7GW across Ireland, the USA, UK and Australia, in addition to 23MW of operating assets in the USA. AIB’s €8.5m investment will help fund BNRG’s ongoing development pipeline, which aims to have 1.8GW of solar energy products installed or under construction by 2025. AIB’s investment follows a recent partnership between Impax Asset Management and BNRG to deliver portfolios of solar energy projects, with an initial focus on the US and Ireland. In the US, BNRG aims to take 70MW of projects into construction in Maine in the coming months. In Ireland, BNRG was recently successful in winning CFD contracts in the Renewable Energy Support Scheme 2 auction for four projects totalling 55MW in Cork and Kildare, with construction expected to commence early next year. These contracts will ensure material savings for electricity consumers. BNRG has also recently re-entered the UK, after a period of success between 2011 and 2017. Recent success in the UK government’s CfD auction will allow a portfolio comprising 42 MW in the South of England to be constructed between 2023 and 2024, it said. In Australia, in partnership with the Leeson Group, BNRG is developing a portfolio of 135MW of solar projects co-located with 220MWh of battery storage.

                   The first five projects, comprising 35MW will commence construction in mid 2023. In all, BNRG expects to commence construction on over 200MW next year. BNRG chief executive and founder David Maguire said: “BNRG welcomes this investment from AIB, an Irish financial institution that has demonstrated a clear commitment to helping fund the fight against climate change. “The investment will help BNRG accelerate the development of our solar portfolio, across multiple jurisdictions and expand our activity globally.” Head of AIB Investment Banking Finlay McFadyen added: “AIB is delighted to partner with BNRG, a leading Irish solar developer and operator. “The investment is part of AIB’s ambitious strategy to help address the challenges of climate change by providing funding to companies and projects that are helping to create a cleaner and more sustainable future. “This will be of benefit to our economy and society.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: BNRG ]

               RWE has begun producing power from a solar-storage plant in Germany that has been built on an opencast mine site. The 14MW plant has been built on the Inden lignite opencast mine in the district of Düren, in North Rhine-Westphalia. The “RWE indeland Solarpark” hosts around 26,500 solar panels. Katja Wünschel, CEO Onshore Wind and Solar Europe & Australia of RWE Renewables, said: “With the RWE indeland solar park, we are making an important contribution to the energy transition in Germany. “And that’s just the beginning: In our home market, we will realise every wind and solar project that is possible. “By the end of the decade, we want to invest around 4 billion euros gross in the green energy world in North Rhine-Westphalia alone.” Lars Kulik, member of the Executive Board of RWE Power responsible for lignite, added: “The RWE indeland solar park is a visible sign that structural change and the energy transition can succeed. “There is plenty of space for renewables on our opencast mining sites. We will use this to ensure that the area remains an energy location in the future.” The RWE indeland solar park was built on a gravel area of around 15 hectares on the western edge of the Inden opencast mine. After the end of the opencast mine at the end of 2029, this area will be lakeshore, provide 20 years to use the site to host a clean energy plant.

Credits: renews.biz [Image: RWE]

               Gamesa Electric will supply its Proteus PV inverters to the Zvizdan solar farm in Bosnia and Herzegovina under a new deal signed with MET Consulting The scope of the project includes the design, supply and commissioning of seven PV4500 Proteus Inverters, supplied as three units of PVS9100 and one unit of PVS4500 integrated, fully assembled and factory tested PV Power Stations, and their corresponding spare parts. On top of that, Gamesa Electric will also supply the Orchestra Power Plant Controller (PPC).

               “We are delighted to be making our debut in the Balkans with a great client,” said Enrique de la Cruz, Sales Director of Solar & Storage at Gamesa Electric. “This project is another example of how competitive the Proteus series inverter is in large-scale projects. They are inverters with a power of up to 4,700 kVA/unit, reaching up to plug & play solutions of 9,400 kVA at medium voltage. “With such high-power ratings, the number of units can be reduced and therefore the LCoE of the project can be optimised. In addition, the record efficiency levels of 99.4% and the low THD make the performance of the Proteus PV solutions excellent.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Siemens Gamesa]

               Neoen has begun the construction of one of Portugal’s largest solar parks, with a capacity of 272MW. The park will comprise two contiguous solar farms, which are the 68MW Torre Bela Solar Farm, fully owned by Neoen, and the 204MW Rio Maior Solar Farm, owned in partnership with Aura Power. The facility is located at Herdade da Torre Bela, in the municipality of Azambuja, 70 km north of Lisbon and connected to the REN substation, in Rio Maior, via a 400 kV overhead line. Aldesa, one of the largest construction groups in Spain, has been given notice to proceed under an Engineering, Procurement and Construction turnkey contract. The commissioning of the solar park is scheduled for early 2024. Some 80% of the renewable energy produced will be purchased by the Portuguese State, under two 15-year power purchase agreements (PPA) awarded under the 2019 renewable capacity auction.

               The PPAs are expected to start in the course of 2025. The remaining energy and certificates of origin will be sold on the electricity market. The solar park will be built in plots with an average size of 20 hectares, separated by green corridors to improve connections between almost 200 hectares of biodiversity protection areas. Over 6000 cork oaks, a protected tree species in Portugal, will be maintained in these protected spaces. A tree and shrub curtain will shield the panels from view, so that the solar farms blend in with the surrounding landscape. Bernardo dos Santos, Managing Director of Neoen Portugal, said: “It gives us great satisfaction to see the Rio Maior and Torre Bela solar farms get off the drawing board: their construction will bring Portugal closer to its objective of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. “I would like to thank the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action and all public institutions for their support over the past years. “We would also like to thank the people and local government in the surrounding community who have championed the project and the benefits it will bring.”

Credits: renews.biz [Image: Neoen]