Ireland set for a 500 MW, five-year solar pipeline
Danish developer Obton and Ireland’s Shannon Energy have promised to develop the projects within five years. Total investment is expected to be around €300 million and the companies have already acquired projects with a combined generation capacity of 150 MW.
EDF seeks mounting structure providers
The renewable energy unit of the French energy giant has made a public call to source mounting structures for the large scale PV projects it wants to build in France up to 2023.
Emirate of Umm al-Quwain launches tender for 500 MW solar park
The UAE Federal Electricity and Water Authority is seeking expressions of interest to enable it to pre-select independent power producers for the project. The plant will be owned 60% by the government of Umm al-Quwain and the electricity authority, with the successful developer owning the balance.
Cape Verde kicks off 10 MW solar tender
The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy has issued an expression of interest to pre-qualify developers for two 5 MW solar plants. The facilities will be on the islands of Sal and São Vicente.
Best-worst method applied to select solar project locations
Scientists at the Beijing Institute of Technology have identified the most suitable areas for solar parks in the Chinese capital using a geographical information system and a new multi-criteria decision-making technique: the ‘best-worst’ method. They claim the approach can help establish technically and economically viable projects.
Repowering solar plants for need – or bigger returns
Alencon’s silicon carbide-based String Power Optimizers and Transmitters enable the repowering of solar plants which need to replace 600 V inverters with newer 1,000 V or 1,500 V gear, or for project owners who wish to maximize electricity generation at aging and imperfect facilities with creative engineering techniques.
Vietnam to hold auctions for 400 MW of floating solar
Following its decision to switch from fixed feed-in tariffs to reverse auction bidding for the setting of solar incentives, the Vietnamese government has decided to devote the first two pilot auctions to floating PV. A first procurement exercise, for a project which could reach 100 MW of generation capacity, will be held this year.
Winners and prices of Tunisia’s 500 MW PV tender
The Tunisian Ministry of Mines and Energy has confirmed that Norway’s Scatec Solar has secured 300 MW at three sites. It also revealed that France’s Engie and China’s TBEA each picked up 100 MW projects. The lowest bid came in at $0.025/kWh, while $0.034/kWh was the highest offer.
‘You can’t go wrong with solar’
2.5 MW of solar is being deployed at three project sites in Papua New Guinea, with commercial operations likely to begin within nine months. The installations will provide power in the island province of New Ireland at lower prices, while also improving access to electricity.
Vietnam to stop licensing large-scale solar projects
In a newly published policy document, Hanoi has urged regional governments and the country’s state-run utility, EVN, to suspend authorizations for new solar parks until further notice. Around 8.93 GW of utility-scale solar capacity is already approved for development in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
