Morrisons to Drop Single-Use Plastic Bags within Months

09.02.2018

Morrissons has become the latest recruit to the war on plastic, announcing it will begin to “phase out” single-use plastic bags across its stores from March.

The ban will mean single use plastic bags that are subject to a five pence charge will no longer be available. However, a 10p “reusable” plastic bag will remain in circulation.

The hope is the shift to reusable only bags will encourage more shoppers to bring their own bags to the supermarket.

A spokesperson for Morrisons confirmed single use bags will be removed from distribution centres first, before then being phased out at the company’s supermarkets.

The whole process is expected to take a “matter of months”, although the firm did not specify a specific end date.

Campaign group A Plastic Planet, which has led calls for ‘plastic-free aisles’ in supermarkets, congratulated Morrisons on its move.

However, co-founder Sian Sutherland said more needed to be done to tackle plastic waste across the sector. “It’s clear that the UK supermarkets must do much more than simply banning single-use plastic bags,” she said in a statement. “We have to turn off the plastic tap urgently. Morrisons should introduce a Plastic Free Aisle at the earliest opportunity.”

She added that there was strong public support for such measures. “A Populus poll revealed last year that more than nine in 10 Britons support the introduction of a Plastic Free Aisle in supermarkets,” she said. “It’s high time the UK’s biggest supermarkets backed the move.”

Morrisons’ announcement is the latest in a string of moves by retailers to crack down on plastic waste.

This week, Asda published a plastic waste action plan, saying it would reduce the amount of plastics in its own brands by 10 per cent over the next year and begin searching for new options to replace plastic packaging. Meanwhile, Tesco and Iceland have all announced a range of new commitments to curb plastic use.

The blitz of announcements come after Prime Minister Theresa May last month unveiled a new 25 Year Environment Plan, which signalled the government’s support for ‘plastic free aisles’, proposed a series of consultations to investigate new plastic waste levies, and set a target to end ‘avoidable’ plastic waste by 2042.

Source: businessgreen.com

Record-Low Solar Bid from ACWA Power for 1st Utility-Scale Renewable Energy Project in Saudi Arabia

08.02.2018

Leading Saudi developer and operator ACWA Power has announced it has won the right to develop the first utility-scale renewable energy project in Saudi Arabia, the 300 megawatt Skaka IPP PV solar project, at a record-breaking tariff of 2.34 US-cents per kilowatt-hour.

ACWA Power announced on Tuesday that it had been awarded the rights to develop the 300 megawatt (MW) Skaka IPP PV solar project, which is set to be located in the Al Jouf region of Saudi Arabia and cover a site over 6 square kilometres in area. ACWA Power was awarded the project at a record-low tariff of 8.782 halala per kilowatt-hour (kWh), or around 2.34 US-cents/kWh.

In conversations with CleanTechnica in January, ACWA Power President and CEO Paddy Padmanathan as well as other regional solar experts told us that continually declining costs in solar technology combined with highly competitive financing and low land costs in the region had allowed for multiple record-breaking solar PV bids. Paddy Padmanathan at the time told us to look out for news about this Saudi Arabia project.

That started with a 5.98 cents/kWh solar bid in late 2014, an ACWA Power bid that blew the solar world away. (Related: Cheapest Solar In The World — Michael Liebreich Interview Series). A couple of years later, again in Dubai, a consortium led by Masdar offered yet another record-low solar bid. This one got down to an astonishing 2.99 cents/kWh. But progress marches on, and those bids now look high compared to the 2.34 cents/kWh bid that won ACWA Power this project.

The Skaka solar project is Saudi Arabia’s first utility-scale renewable energy project and the first of what the Kingdom aims will eventually generate 9.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2023.

“We are proud to have set yet another world record tariff for PV power, now at home, and are humbled to be entrusted with the first utility-scale renewable energy plant to be developed in the Kingdom, which will be the foundation of the visionary ambitious national program that seeks to maximize the utilization of renewable energy sources, as defined by the National Transition Plan 2020 and the objectives of the Saudi Vision 2030,” said Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan, Chairman of ACWA Power.

Paddy Padmanathan says 7.3 cents for night solar in MENA“We are very excited to have won this project, through such a rigorous transparent process at a new world record tariff as it will set the foundation for a robust and competitive market for renewable energy in the Kingdom thus enabling Saudi Arabia to take advantage of all intrinsic valuable ingredients available to become a global hub for research, development, manufacture and investment in the rapidly transforming energy sector which is pivoting to increase the renewable energy content in the fuel mix of power generation,” added Paddy Padmanathan, President and CEO of ACWA Power.

ACWA Power was one of 8 bidders on the project, which was narrowed down to only two at the beginning of January (PDF) — ACWA Power and the Marubeni Corporation with consortium members Khaled Ahmed Juffali Energy & Utilities Limited and Axia Power Holdings BV. Other bidders included Masdar and EDF. It is believed that ACWA Power came out on top — even though its own bid was not the lowest bid — due to a focus on local manufacturing and a more traditional offering as compared to its competitors.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Ph.D. Aleksandar Joksimovic: The Adriatic is Our Heritage – We Must Preserve It!

08.02.2018

With four national parks and a multitude of forest systems, more than 50 protected plant species and 320 animal species, although small in size, Montenegro has three different natural environments at a distance of only 100 kilometers: the coast, karstland, and the region of high mountains.

In 1988, the Montenegrin parliament declared Montenegro as an ecological state, confirmed by the international community in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Brazil.

Taking into account the impacts of the proximity of the sea to the entire ecosystem as well as human health, we bring you a story about the Kotor Institute of Marine Biology, the only scientific research institution in Montenegro that deals with the biology of the Adriatic Sea.

For 56 years, employees and associates at the Institute of Marine Biology in Kotor study biodiversity of the southern Adriatic in order to preserve it – protect it from the impact of climate-change, extinction and migration of marine organisms, and pollution caused by man’s activities. In the capacity of the organizational unit of the University of Montenegro, within the Institute today there are Laboratory for benthos and marine protection, Laboratory for ichthyology and coastal fishery, Laboratory for marine chemistry and oceanography, Laboratory for plankton and seawater quality and Laboratory for development research and mariculture. The Institute publishes a scientific magazine “Studia Marina”. By providing recommendations for responsible use of marine resources, the Institute cooperates daily with almost all institutions in Montenegro.

Our interlocutor is Ph.D. Aleksandar Joksimovic, the Head of the Laboratory for ichthyology and coastal fishery in this Institute. Mr. Joksimovic received a doctorate at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Belgrade. His doctoral dissertation was about ‘’Fishery Biology and population dynamics of some economically important fish species of the Montenegrin coast’’, and he is also the main negotiator of Montenegro for the opening of negotiation Chapter 13 (Fisheries) of the EU as well as the scientifically responsible person on behalf of Montenegro at the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean.

− More than 20 national, bilateral and international scientific and research projects are currently being implemented at the Institute, and at the same time, thanks to the strong will of the employees, numerous student visits, such as the traditional May spring school, are conducted for biology students from all the countries of the region and beyond. We, at the Institute, carry out numerous educational campaigns because we want to transfer the results and methods of our research to interested, young people − said Ph.D. Joksimovic.

National projects, conducted for the needs of the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, are primarily dedicated to sustainable development of marine fisheries but also to mariculture because natural resources are rather prevalent and burdened with the outflows of polluting substances into the environment. Although the Montenegrin fleet is small, a large number of fishing vessels of other Adriatic countries are extremely active in the Adriatic Sea, resulting in a noticeable downward trend in marine resources.

− In cooperation with partner institutions, the Institute also implements IPA projects from the Pre-accession Assistance allocated funds of the European Union, such as the recently completed NetCet project, dedicated to the research and study of whales, turtles, and other marine mammals. The DeFish Gear project is also worth mentioning, focusing on the analysis of marine waste, primarily particles and filaments of plastic, which are potential foods of marine organisms, and can be found in their organs, as well as on the surface and the bottom of the sea − Ph.D. Joksimovic told us.

The Institute also has an accredited laboratory for monitoring the sanitary quality of seawater. For many years, the quality of water on public beaches has been checked for the needs of the Public Enterprise for coastal zone management.

In the previous years, the South Adriatic developed a model for the protection against oil pollution and its derivatives, which in case of accidental situations could be spilled from ships, and surveys have been carried out on potential dangers of ballast water spillage (water that the vessels are sucking for their stability) in the coastal area, under IPA projects “HAZADR” and “BALMAS”.

Food coming from the sea is significantly present on the tables of inhabitants of the coast, but also of the inhabitants of the entire region. With the support of the Albert II Foundation from Monaco, the Institute has been implementing a project for exploring the Pen Shell (Pinna Nobilis), a very important species that was once dominant in the Bay of Kotor but has become compromised over the past decades. The emphasis is placed on the revitalization of this species and its artificial reproduction in order to eventually be returned to the natural habitat.

Four years ago, the Ministry of Science launched a competition for the establishment of the first Center of Excellence in Montenegro, which was announced as partners by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Biotechnology of the University of Montenegro, the Institute of Public Health and the Institute of Marine Biology, and after a long evaluation process they were given the chance to, form BiO-ICT, the first Center of Excellence in the field of biotechnology and bioinformatics, through the HERIC project funded by the World Bank.

Within the BiO-ICT Center, and in cooperation with the Center for Ecological Security of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Arts from St. Petersburg, the status of shellfish used in human nutrition is monitored. The system measures the cardiac activity of the shellfish through the sensors on the shells, and cardiac rhythm of the shellfish obtained by means of optical cables and transmitters on the monitors. The essence of this measurement is that in this way you get an overview of the situation in real time, that is you learn how shellfish react to changes in the marine environment which is otherwise very dynamic. If the heart rate deviates from normal, this indicates that the changes have occurred, and at that point, the team goes to the eld to sample water and determine what is the cause of the changes, through chemical and microbiological analyzes. The system was set up in an experimental farm in front of the Institute and in the private farm “COGI mar” and according to Mr. Joksimovic, so far eco-toxicological analysis of heavy metals in tissues of shellfish, sediment, and water have always been within normal limits, so we can freely conclude that food caught in the bay has no negative impact on human health.

The Bio-ICT Centre of Excellence has enabled the Institute to cooperate with various businessmen dealing with the cultivation of fish and shellfish. Ph.D. Joksimovic singled out BokaGard, a business unit of Skoljka Boke, which today follows all trends in science and the result of this successful cooperation is a certificate of quality that enables the export of products outside Montenegro. In the mentioned farm, mussels, and oysters are produced, and the quality of the sea water, in which they are grown, is estimated based on microbiological parameters.

The Institute is engaged by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the development of mariculture and monitoring of the quality of seawater in farms. Parameters are measured every 15 days and based on them, a database is created, available to breeders. In addition to monitoring, it is the Institute’s obligation, if an irregularity is detected – that the parameters are beyond the limit values, to alert breeders and recommend for the farm to be temporarily closed in order to investigate the causes of the deviation.

So far it has not happened that some of the breeding farms are closed, because there is no longer an active industry, and besides, there is a phenomenon of self-purification in the waters of the Bay of Kotor, as many rivers with a large flow of fresh water flow into the sea. All sampled waters are mainly the first category, which is confirmed by the analysis of water on the beaches, that are performed during the summer season for the Public Enterprise for the coastal zone.

This summer, within the framework of the project implemented by the Bio-ICT Centre for Excellence, in partnership with the Public Enterprise for coastal zone management, and the company “APLITUDO” from Podgorica, smart buoys were installed, on several locations in the open sea and one in the Bay of Kotor, which are powered by solar energy and are used to measure the salinity, temperature and pH of the water. The measured data are sent to the base of the site using GPRS. As this is a pilot project, we are working on a model for the data to be available for interested individuals and companies, through registration and subscription, and in the future, this concept could become an open data form, with the extension of the monitored parameters.

Since its inception, the Institute of Marine Biology has been successfully cooperating with Belgrade Institute for Biological Research “Sinisa Stankovic”, through activities related to bioindicators of the environment. Ichthyologists use different tools and methods to sample living organisms – fish, crayfish, and shellfish, and their habitat, and biologists from the Institute “Sinisa Stankovic”, do over two hundred analysis on the tissues of these organisms (muscles, liver, gills).

− Through this form of cooperation, we have the results of how the organisms respond and what happens in their tissues in relation to the pollution that can come from the outer environment into the seawater and thus to the food chains of different species. When I moved to Kotor twenty years ago, there were noticeable problems with the wastewater from the sewage systems that were manifested as the turbidity of the surface layer, the disorder of clarity, the change of colour into yellow and red, as well as the smells that spread during the summer months. In the last decade, the problems have been solved thanks to the system for collecting and purifying wastewater from Boka which is located in Traste. Technical water is discharged at 3,650 meters from the coast, at a depth of 56 meters. The discharge was designed in the seventies because there are extremely strong currents in that place, and the water discharged there has little effect on the Adriatic ecosystem − explains Joksimovic.

In the summer months, Budva has overcrowded capacities, and it happens that due to the heavy load there is sometimes a pipe break, which causes a decrease in water quality due to the increased number of coliform bacteria. By alerting the competent institutions, these accident situations are solved in the shortest possible time, and the quality of the water is brought about to its original state. According to Ph.D. Joksimovic, earlier there were infections such as abdominal pain and skin changes among bathers that have come into contact with the water of poorer quality. These are mostly symptoms that are cured quickly. In the long run, the system is viable and in function.

The Institute, with its numerous associates, carries out actions to raise awareness of the importance of preserving the sea and coastal area. There is also cooperation with several non-governmental organizations that are making great efforts to change the irresponsible behaviour of individuals with actions for cleaning the coastal area.

− We want to teach children that the sea is our heritage, that they should take care of it and respect it so that it is clean because we inherited it clean from our ancestors. Nobody who comes here will neither pollute it nor clean it. As a human species, we must be aware that we are only a part of nature, not its masters. Therefore, we must not behave that way, because nature is a great living organism that requires attention. We are witnessing the changes that are taking place due to our activities, but they are not limited to the sea. We are aware that summers became hot and winters extremely cold in the areas where they were not like that earlier, while the frequency of hurricanes and typhoons increased. Nature’s clock is ticking the eleventh hour, therefore it is necessary to do everything we can to change the consciousness of people around us, otherwise, the bough we are sitting will be cut off. I believe it is not too late for changes – concluded Ph.D. Joksimovic.

Prepared by: Marija Nesovic

This interview was originally published in the ninth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine, named ECOHEALTH.

New US Renewable Energy Capacity Beats Natural Gas for Fourth Year Running, Renewables now Account for over 20%

08.02.2018

For the fourth year in a row, new US electricity capacity from renewable energy sources surpassed those from natural gas, and accounted for half of all new capacity additions, according to recent figures published by the country’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

New electricity capacity from renewable energy sources — including biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind — accounted for 49.85% of all new capacity installed during 2017, which totaled 24,614 MW (megawatts), meaning that there was 12,270 MW worth of new renewable energy capacity. New natural gas capacity accounted for 48.67%, with the remaining new capacity being served by waste heat (0.89%), nuclear (0.41%), and oil ( 0.16%). There was no new coal capacity added during 2017.

These are the key statistics from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) latest issue of its “Energy Infrastructure Update” (PDF) which includes data through to the end of 2017. Ken Bossong’s Sun Day Campaign highlighted these statistics in an email on Wednesday.

While renewable energy capacity was down on 2016’s impressive 16,124 MW, it nevertheless retained its position as the dominant new form of energy, outpacing natural gas for the fourth year in a row.

“Notwithstanding a year-long effort by the Trump Administration and its congressional allies to prop up coal, nuclear, and natural gas at the expense of renewable energy sources, clean energy technologies have proven themselves to be amazingly resilient,” noted Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “The unmistakable lesson to be drawn from the past five or more years of FERC data is that solar, wind, and the other renewable energy sources are carving out a large and rapidly-expanding share of the nation’s electrical generation.”

Technology-specific statistics were similarly impressive. By the end of last year, utility-scale solar had reached 30.30 GW (gigawatts) — approximately eight times greater than what FERC had reported five years ago. Solar now makes up 2.55% of the total US utility-scale generating capacity — an inherently underrated figure, considering FERC does not include distributed solar in its statistics.

Over the past five years, renewable energy generating capacity has increased across the board in the United States. On top of solar’s 7.77% increase, wind energy grew by 53.88%, biomass by 11.20%, geothermal by 3.51%, and hydropower by 2.79%. In fact, the generating capacity of all non-hydro renewable energy sources is 73.89% greater than it was five years ago, and renewables together account for 20.21% of the United States’ installed generating capacity. Five years ago this figure stood at only 15.40%. Unsurprisingly, given its popularity and economic viability, wind energy stands out from the pack for the moment, accounting for 7.45% of total US generating capacity.

On the other side of the energy generating street, natural gas has only increased its share of generating capacity by 5.14% over the past five years, and oil by only 5.35%. Most importantly, however, is the state of coal, which over the past five years has seen its share of total generating capacity decline by 17.83%.

Source: cleantechnica.com

India Aims To Add 15.6 Gigawatts Of Renewable Energy Capacity In 2018–2019

08.02.2018

Obnovljivi izvori energije — Foto: Pixabay

The Indian Minister of Finance recently announced the budgetary allocation for all ministries and associated target outcomes for the financial year 2018-19 that starts from 1 April 2018.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an allocation of just over Rs 5,020 crore ($790 million) for the expansion of various renewable energy technologies and other activities of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) for the financial year 2018-19.

MNRE is expected to commission 15.62 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity in the financial year 2018-19. The targeted capacity addition is 7.3% higher than the capacity addition target set for the financial year 2017-18.

The capacity addition target in the wind energy sector remains unchanged at 4 gigawatts. Remember, the wind energy capacity addition in India will remain highly regulated due to the shift from a feed-in tariff regime to competitive auctions.

The MNRE targets the addition of 11 gigawatts of solar power capacity, up from 9 gigawatts in FY2017-18. The solar power capacity, too, will be highly regulated through the auctions timeline already announced by the MNRE. The solar power capacity addition includes 10 gigawatts of ground-based large-scale projects and 1 gigawatt of rooftop projects.

The capacity addition target for small hydro technology has been increased from 200 megawatts to 250 megawatts. The biopower capacity addition has also been increased marginally from 340 megawatts to 370 megawatts. Surprisingly, no target has been mentioned for waste-to-power projects.

The largest allocation, of Rs 2,045 crore ($321 million), has been provided for capacity addition in the solar power sector, i.e. to add 11 gigawatts of capacity. Rs 848 crore ($133 million) have been earmarked for 200 megawatts of solar lighting devices and 20 megawatts of solar thermal applications.

A very important allocation of Rs 600 crore ($94 million) has been made for implementation of 3,000 circuit kilometers of transmission lines across 8 states rich in renewable energy resources. These transmission lines (Green Energy Corridors) will be used solely to transmit electricity generated from renewable energy projects.

The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) will receive Rs 128 crore ($20 million) for payment of interest on green bonds it plans to issue over the course of the financial year.

Source: cleantechnica.com

New Global Offshore Wind Capacity In 2017 Hits 3.3 Gigawatts

08.02.2018

wind-power-plant — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Navigant Research has published new figures which show a total of 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of new offshore wind energy capacity was installed in 2017, bringing the cumulative capacity up to almost 17 GW, with another 7.9 GW in the pipeline.

Published on Wednesday, Navigant Research released its latest report, Offshore Wind Market and Project Assessment 2017, which analyzes the offshore wind energy market around the globe, and found that 3.3 GW worth of new wind energy capacity was installed in 2017.

Navigant makes its money by selling its analysis, and the full breakdown of the analysis is not always easily available, so this figure is an interesting one when compared with figures published by the European offshore wind industry trade group WindEurope on Tuesday, which boasted Europe’s offshore wind industry installed 3.1 GW. If both reports are correct, then Europe accounted for 94% of all offshore wind capacity additions in 2017.

Further, Europe’s cumulative offshore wind energy capacity hit 15.8 GW at the end of 2017, increasing by an impressive 25% in 2017 alone, which would mean that, according to Navigant’s own report that global cumulative capacity was almost 17 GW, Europe accounts for 93% of global offshore wind energy capacity.

These are not necessarily surprising figures, or even figures which should be taken with a grain of salt, as Europe has been the world’s leading offshore wind energy center for years now. What is interesting is seeing how 2017 has only solidified Europe’s position and highlights the current lack of growth elsewhere — though Asia and the United States are both slowly making their way into the arena.

Navigant Research also highlights “a substantial 7.9 GW of wind projects under varying levels of construction” already in the pipeline, led by Europe with 4.9 GW under construction. In comparison, WindEurope boasted 11 offshore wind projects already under construction worth around 2.9 GW, but the discrepancy could sit in the definition of “under construction” and expand to include pre-construction development. China boasts 2.3 GW worth of offshore wind in varying stages of construction, making use of its significant expertise and ambition from the onshore wind sector — 23 GW installed in 2016 and 31 GW installed in 2015 — to kick-start its offshore wind industry with the same impressive trajectory.

Globally, Navigant Research says that there is 18.7 GW worth of offshore wind capacity in advanced planning stages, though not all of these projects are guaranteed to make it through to construction.

Looking forward, Navigant Research expects the global offshore wind energy market to install over 24 GW of new capacity at a growth rate of 11.1% over the next five years, with a cumulative capacity expected to surpass 40.6 GW by the end of 2022.

“While the onshore wind market is larger in terms of total megawatt plant capacity added annually, offshore wind is growing more quickly,” said Jesse Broehl, senior research analyst at Navigant Research. “It is forecast to grow at an 11.1 percent compound annual growth rate between 2017 and 2022, compared to single-digit growth rates for onshore wind.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Yingli Secures Order For 12 Solar PV Plants In Chile Worth 146 Megawatts

08.02.2018

solar-cells-2590968__340 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Yingli Green Energy has announced it has secured orders for 12 solar PV projects in Chile worth 146 megawatts for which it will provide Engineering, Procurement, and Construction services.

One of the world’s leading solar panel manufacturers with over 15 gigawatts worth of solar panels delivered all around the world, Yingli Green Energy (also known as Yingli Solar) announced on Tuesday that it had secured an agreement from Latin American-focused independent power producer Jenner Renewables to provide Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services for 12 ground-mounted PV plants in Chile which, upon completion, will boast total capacity of 146 megawatts (MW).

Jenner Renewables achieved financial close on the 146 MW portfolio of Chilean solar projects only last week, which will be built in two phases — a 46 MW phase expected to reach commercial operations in the third quarter of 2018, and the remaining 100 MW to reach commercial operations by the first quarter of 2019. The projects are expected to displace 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per year and produce 324 gigawatts worth of electricity each year, which is enough to power the equivalent of more than 43,000 Chilean households.

“As an independent power producer operating throughout Latin America, we are very excited to contribute in such a significant way to the development of renewable energy in Chile,” said Jorge Calvet, Founder and CEO of Jenner. “This country is at the forefront of implementing a carbon free electricity system by 2040 and our projects definitely support this strategy. This is part of our renewable energy pipeline of 1,500 MW, which we intend to develop over the next 3-4 years in Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and other countries in the region.”

The 12 solar PV projects are set to be located throughout the Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) region of Chile, and will be supported by the Chilean Small Distributed Generators’ (PMGD) pricing mechanism. The PMGD is supposed to only apply to sub-9 MW projects — and a quick reference to your age-old times tables will tell you that 146 divided by 12 does not equal 9 (closer to 12.16) — but Jenner Renewables explained that its projects will be able to benefit from the PMGD’s long-term stream of stable cash flow. PMGD projects are expected to be connected to distribution networks so as to bring generation closer to the consumption point, and therefore contributing to Chile’s strategic power system goals.

Yingli Solar has been contracted to provide EPC services for all 12 projects for which it will supply its multicrystalline modules type YL325P-35B.

“We are proud to partner with Jenner Renewables on such a significant project, which is the largest EPC project that Yingli undertook independently,” said Mr. Liansheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli. “In addition to focusing on our historical customers, such as EPC contractors and project developers, we are also seeking opportunities in some specific countries or cooperation with some specific partners to provide EPC services, which we believe could bring higher added value to our high quality products and therefore increase our service level.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Report Shows Half of Public Buses Will be Electric by 2025

07.02.2018

elektricni-bus — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The total number of electric buses servicing the public will more than triple by 2025, according to a new report released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). In 2017, there were 386,000 electric buses in service. The BNEF report predicts that number will balloon to about 1.2 million in the next seven years, meaning approximately 47 percent of the global municipal bus fleet will be running on electricity.

China is expected to dominate this push. According to Aleksandra O’Donovan, the study’s author and BNEF analyst: “China will lead this market, due to strong domestic support and aggressive city-level targets.” His analysis concludes that China’s buses will account for 99 percent of the world’s battery-powered buses.

This is not a trend unique to China. New York City is also working to introduce more all-electric buses into service. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) released information at the beginning of the year that it is currently testing a fleet of 10 electric buses to help modernize the city’s massive transit fleet. According to a 2016 report by Judah Aber at Columbia University, switching the entire MTA fleet of buses to electric buses would result in an annual reduction of 575,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions within the city.

The biggest obstacle to the transition from gas-powered to electric-powered buses is the difference in upfront costs, which may discourage public transportation authorities from investing in envrionmentally-friendly fleets. However, the 2016 Columbia University report stated that, while electric buses typical cost $300,000 more than diesel buses, that cost is made-up over the electric buses’ lifetimes. Aber estimated that annual savings for an electric bus — thanks to reduced fuel costs — is $39,000, which would compound over the bus’ 12-year lifetime.

The environmental impact of switching to electric-powered buses is clear. Joining New York City and China’s efforts are mayors from 12 major cities — from London to Paris to Los Angeles — who have pledged to stop purchasing new gas-powered buses by 2025. Global commitments like this will make public transportation more sustainable, reducing the number of gas-powered vehicles on the streets.

Public buses are also ideal candidates for the switch to electric, because they travel along predictable, set routes. This means operators will not have to worry about how far their buses can travel on one charge, a common concern for owners of personal electric cars. As the obstacles for integrating personal and public electric-powered vehicles are systematically eliminated, the global community will be able to make strides towards more environmentally-sustainable means of travel.

Source: Futurism

Robert Nygard: Serbia Has Capacity for Managing New Investments in Ecology

07.02.2018

EZ - SIDA_1 — Photo: imagebank.sweden.se

Swedish government agency for international development and cooperation – SIDA was founded with a mission to help reducing poverty in the world and to distribute humanitarian aid to people in the conflict zones worldwide. SIDA has been working in our country for more than two decades offering help on many levels and supporting reforms in a number of areas which Serbia has to take in order to become a member of the European Union.

This includes the environmental sector in which as well we are facing numerous challenges and essential problems. Having identified this area as one of the most important when it comes to its impact on national health, throughout last year SIDA donated 605.000 dollars for general environmental protection projects as well as 271.000 dollars for projects aimed to improve water and sanitation systems, while the greatest financial support (7,2 million dollars) was granted to the sectors of governance, democracy, human rights, and gender equality.

Swedish development cooperation is aiming for a holistic approach to Environment and Gender, says Robert Nygard, the First Secretary Programme Officer in Development Cooperation Section of the Swedish Embassy. “These are two areas where Sweden has pushed for mainstreaming, thus these perspectives should be an integrated part of all sectors. For instance, there should be analyses of the Environmental Impact and Socio-Economic consequences of all the projects dealing with development in general, that is industrial or urban development, agricultural production, and water management, etc.”

Given the mainstreaming philosophy, there are projects supported by Sweden which are classified as having some influence in the environment sector, though it is not the main objective. For instance, Sweden supports CSO (like REC) and Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) which receives funding, although environmental support is not the main objective but rather governance and democracy. Out of the total annual budget, which currently is 11 M Euro, 51% of the budget and 34% of the number of projects (contribution) were classified as having Environment as its main objective in 2017. Currently, there are 6 environmental projects and they are all being carried out with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoE), and according to Robert Nygard, commonly they are implemented during a four year period.

“We believe that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (€0.5 million per year) was giving constructive support to the Serbian government negotiations for the opening of Chapter 27 of the EU acquis. SEPA was among other means of support, able to provide an adviser (former Minister of Environment in Lithuania) who led similar negotiations in his country. Much of the work boils down to assessing realistic transition periods during which Serbia could meet the targets specified in the various Directives. In case targets are not been met in time, Serbia could face large fines or miss opportunities to attract major investment, which has been the case for some of the recent EU members.”

The Swedish Chemical Inspectorate (SCI) has assisted its Serbian peer to upgrade the Serbian chemical register management both with hardware and software and training for several years with €0.2 million per year. Sweden is also supporting the Integrated Pollution Prevention Center (IPPC) located at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Metallurgy, for two years now, to assist industrial agriculture farms to obtain IPPC (Industrial Emission) permits. It is estimated to amount to about €0.5 million per year. The main goal of the project “IPPC Farms” was to assist competent authorities in Serbia and operators in the process of adopting a sustainable approach for implementation of IPPC/IE Directives in facilities for intensive rearing of poultry and pigs. The project involved more than 50 farms and covered the entire process, starting from drafting the IPPC application for permit (with the involvement and work with farms), writing the permits (work with competent ministry and municipalities), to the enforcement and monitoring activities related to checks of compliance with permit conditions (work with the republic and local inspectors). “We expect that about 10 farms will have the IPPC permits within a year”, says Robert Nygard adding that all Swedish development support is aiming to assist the Serbian EU accession. “Sweden has assisted the Ministry of Environmental Protection with Technical Assistance (TA) to help resolve 15 out of 20 “bottleneck” projects in Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and Waste Management (WM) sectors that date back to 2012”.

Swedish development cooperation is aiming for a holistic approach to Environment and Gender, says Robert Nygard, the First Secretary Programme Officer in Development Cooperation Section of the Swedish Embassy

Some of the results from Swedish Support have been:

Waste management options analysis for Kragujevac
Landfill risk assessment for Kalenic
Outline for landfill alternatives in Zrenjanin
Terms of reference for studies and design of Batajnica (Belgrade) wastewater collection and treatment
Study of Novi Sad regional waste system
Feasibility study for Nis wastewater
Review of tender documentation for the Leskovac sludge line

In addition, Swedish support has been used to build the waste transfer station in Cacak, bringing into operation the sanitary landfill in Pancevo, stabilization of the regional landfill in Duboko, introduction of household recycling in Arilje, building a recycling yard in Bajina Basta and construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Kruscica (Bela Crkva). In 2016 two consultancy firms contracted were awarded after a tendering procedure which will be assisting the MoE with technical assistance for WWTP and WM for a 4 year period.

Complementarity to EU IPA funding of projects is the main criteria’s deciding on Swedish contribution in all sectors, so the EU acquis is the main criteria for the whole Swedish Western Balkan strategy 2014-2020. Another criterion is manifested in Serbian ownership in terms of national contribution in available sta or funds. After receiving a proposal from a Serbian partner which is often the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Embassy makes an assessment of relevance a scrutiny of the budget often with the external consultant familiar with Swedish development objectives and Serbian conditions and policies to make a more informed decision.

Given the large investment needs in WWTP and WM 44 (Heavy Investment Directives) which will take place over a long period, throughout all Serbian cities and municipalities, there is a need to have a prioritized list of projects a Single Project Pipeline (SPP) to be presented for the EU IPA funding. “My understanding is that it has been difficult for the government to prepare an SPP with well-prepared mature project proposals. In many cases, these projects require designing, building and operating technology that has never before been built in Serbia so some delays might be expected. Having said that, it appears that now is the time for a fully staffed environmental ministry, a clear strategy and strong cooperation and local leadership from the cities and municipalities to move forward”, explains Robert stressing that Serbia stated the establishment of source separation, starting with a two-bin system of dry and wet fractions, as the short-term priority whereas the long-term goal is the establishment of a system to achieve the recycling rate of municipal waste of minimum 50% until 2030.

Transitioning to a recycling culture is one of the most important steps to generate projects and investment. Under the Article 53 of the Serbian National Law on Waste Management*, local self-governments are obliged to introduce and implement selection and separate collection of waste for recycling not later than three years from the date of entry into force of the Law (the Law came into force in 2016) and, households and other municipal waste producers are obliged to select municipal waste for recycling.

“It is estimated that there are over 3000 non-sanitary landfills or dumpsites in Serbia which should be closed down, remediated and replaced by some 26 regional sanitary landfills. In Sweden, only 5% percent is not recycled, which is the EU ambition. It is necessary to introduce ‘source’ or ‘household’ separation to reduce the operational costs of regional sanitary landfills”, says Robert Nygard having in mind that recycling helps minimize the use of landfill space, cuts down the need for mixed waste transport costs, creates new jobs and generates revenue from secondary raw materials. But, it must be recognized, that recycling will cost more than just dumping waste in the ground.

Behavioural change is seldom easy and it is challenging to persuade citizens to take on more work voluntarily and separate waste into different material types unless they fully understand and accept the reasons why this will benefit them directly or indirectly.

According to Robert, experience from other countries going through the same experiences has shown that building modern water and wastewater infrastructure requires the largest investment of time, money and effort. So, the EU delegation has assessed, and Sweden concurred, that WWTP and WM are the most urgent areas to address from many perspectives, that is multidimensional poverty perspective.

The biggest problems often appear to appear in the planning process. Establishing a shared understanding of the size of projects, the standards expected in construction and operation, affordability limits and the staffing required to design, build and operate facilities requires time and experience.

“Developing projects for multi-million euro grants requires a Serbian investment in the key project staff in public institutions. Sweden can support Serbia with some specialist expertise but can only, and will only, do so if there are national counterparts ready to operate at this high level”, says Robert.

Larger cities, not just the capital, should be leading the way. Unless Serbia resolves the vast majority of waste being generated by the urban centres then changes in the smaller towns or rural areas will not sufficiently improve the quality of the environment of the country. Recent progress has been seen through the actions of the Ministry of Environment, with Swedish support, to bring projects in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis, and Kragujevac to the point they can be financed and built.

“The best example of overall progress in the Ministry is that after a 3-year pause in funding for environmental projects, the EU has accepted with EU IPA 2017 that Serbia has the capacity to manage new investments. While this does not mean that all skills and capacity issues are resolved, it is a sign of progress”, confirms Robert expressing his hope that the cooperation between Swedish Development Cooperation Agency and Serbian partners will lead to experience from individual projects that then lead to better, more practical national plans that lead to new, bigger investments and tangible changes to environmental quality for everyone living in Serbia.

Prepared by: Tamara Zjacic

* Law on Waste Management (the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 36/2009, 88/2010 and 14/2016), Article 53.

This content was originally published in the eighth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine ECOHEALTH, in November 2017.

Major Increase in EV Charging Stations Across U.S.

06.02.2018

Electric car — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

While electric vehicles only make up a tiny 0.2 percent of passenger cars around the world, that number is growing, and growing fast. In 2016, there were 2 million EVs on the world’s roads, up from “virtually non-existent” in 2012. Nearly 200,000 electric vehicles were sold in the U.S. in 2017 alone, a new record.

This boom in electric car ownership has corresponded with growth in public charging infrastructure. EVgo, the largest public network of fast-charging stations in the U.S., charged 40 million miles of electric driving in 2017. That’s a dramatic increase compared to the 22 million EV miles charged in 2016.

The EVgo network increased by 20 percent last year, and now has more than 1,000 DC fast chargers across 66 markets nationwide. Network usage set a record with 1.1 million charging sessions, an increase of 50 percent.

Impressively, EVgo said that the 13 million kilowatt hours delivered from the network corresponded to 1.6 million gallons of gasoline saved and prevented the release of 9,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

“2017 was an extremely successful year for EVgo, and not only did we add the 1,000th charger to our network, but we also delivered more fast charging power to EV drivers than ever before, with a resulting impact of 1.6 million gallons of gasoline saved,” said Cathy Zoi, EVgo’s CEO. “We are extremely pleased to see such rapid growth not only of our network, but also of EV sales across the board, and we are proud to be at the center of this rapid change toward a more electrified world.”

The company expects this growth to continue as more long range electric vehicle options come to market, and deliveries strengthen for EV’s such as the Chevy Bolt, 2018 Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model 3.

Experts say that the rise of electric vehicles is all but inevitable. Within six years, the cost of owning an EV will be cheaper than purchasing and running a gasoline or diesel model, Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicted.

However, one of the biggest roadblocks towards widespread adoption is the availability of public charging infrastructure. As the Environmental Defense Fund recently pointed out:

“People are more likely to invest in plug-in cars once they feel confident they’ll always find a place to recharge their batteries away from home, and fast. In fact, the availability of public charging infrastructure is a leading factor in EV adoption.

“While the vast majority of charging occurs at home, public charging stations enable EV drivers to take extended trips. They also facilitate EV ownership by households reliant on on-street parking.”

But more and more companies—even ones you wouldn’t expect—are waking up to the electric car revolution.

Futurism reported that oil giant BP is investing $5 million in FreeWire Technologies, a U.S. manufacturer of rapid charging systems for electric vehicles. In November, Shell teamed up with IONITY (a partnership between BMW, Ford, Volkswagen and other automakers) to build a High-Power Charging network in Europe.

The Electric Vehicle Charging Association reported there were more than 50,000 charge points (public and private) in operation in the U.S. in 2017, up from 45,000 the year before. The organization also projects major growth for the industry over the next few years.

“Globally, the EV charging infrastructure industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 46.8 percent from 2017 to 2025, reaching $45.59 billion in revenue by 2025,” the association said. “In the U.S. alone, revenue increased by 576 percent over five years, growing from $27 million in 2011 to $182 million in 2016. If the annual increase in revenue matches the 11 percent growth rate from 2015 to 2016, the U.S. could see more than $276 million by 2020.”

The switch away from traditional gas guzzlers couldn’t come soon enough. According to the International Energy Agency, in order to limit temperature increases to below 2°C by the end of the century, the threshold set by the Paris agreement, the number of electric cars will need to reach 600 million by 2040.

Source: ecowatch.com

Ørsted’s 573 Megawatt Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm Reaches Full Power Output

06.02.2018

The 573 megawatt Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm developed by Danish offshore wind energy company Ørsted has reached full power output across all its 91 wind turbines.

The Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm has been long in the making, having been first proposed back in 2004 by developer Centrica before being sold to DONG Energy (now named Ørsted) for £50 million in December of 2013. Delays nevertheless followed and construction didn’t begin until July of 2016. Located approximately 16.8 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast, the 573 MW (megawatt) Race Bank Offshore Wind Farm is made up of 91 wind turbines and generates enough electricity to power over 500,000 UK homes and save over 830,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.

Wind turbines for the project were provided by Siemens, which was announced as the provider in July of 2015. The 6 MW direct-drive turbines stand at 154 meters in height, many of which feature the first blades to be manufactured at Siemens Gamesa blade factory in Hull — which was opened back in December of 2016.

Last week, Ørsted confirmed that all turbine testing had been completed and the project had been ramped up to full generating capacity. The project has also already generated 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) of power since construction began.

“Full power and 1 terawatt hour of production are two fantastic milestones and have been achieved by the hard work and dedication of a significant number of people,” said David Summers, Project Director for Race Bank at Ørsted UK. “Full power means that Race Bank can now produce enough green energy to power over half a million UK homes.

“Not only have we achieved full power on schedule, but we have also done so safely, without compromising our high standards. I now look forward to completing final activities on Race Bank and being able to officially open the project in the summer.”

Source: cleantechnica.com

Thailand’s Biggest Wind Power Generator Plans Solar, Hydro Expansion

05.02.2018

Thailand’s biggest wind power generator, Wind Energy Holdings (WEH), plans to invest into other sources of electricity including solar, hydro and biomass to back up its capacity, its chief executive told Reuters in an interview.

Thailand has emerged as Southeast Asia’s leading developer of renewable electricity, with providers obliged to guarantee minimum levels of supply.

“The problem with wind in this region is it tends to be night-time wind, so we do need something to balance that mix,” said Chief Executive Emma Collins.

She added that five onshore wind farms with a capacity of 90 megawatts (MW) each would be operational this year, boosting WEH’s total capacity in Thailand to 720 MW. The firm last year secured a $1.14 billion loan from Siam Commercial Bank to finance the development.

WEH is aiming for a total capacity of 3,000 MW by 2025.

Thailand has “good wind and great infrastructure”, Collins said in the interview last week.

The country is targeting 3,000 MW of wind energy by 2036, up from around 615 MW in 2017.

It is already Southeast Asia’s leader in solar power use, having broken into the top 15 globally in 2016, with a capacity of more than 3,000 MW, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

But last year, a court ruling halted energy developments on agricultural land, which affected some of WEH’s projects. Collins said greater clarity was needed on rules regarding land usage by energy firms.

Meanwhile, she said WEH was also targeting 1,000 MW of wind capacity in Australia, requiring investment of around $1.5 billion.

Collins said WEH was also in the early stages of studying opportunities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

“We have a massive growth plan, and have to finance it,” said Chief Strategy Officer Aman Lakhaney.

One way of accessing investment cash would be to list on a public stock exchange in an initial public offering (IPO).

WEH said it still plans an IPO, but did not provide a schedule for a listing, on hold since 2014 when founder and former shareholder Nopporn Suppipat left Thailand after being accused of violating the country’s strict lese majeste law.

Source: reuters.com

Students Say Colleges Must Use 100 Percent Renewable Energy

05.02.2018

massachusetts-2443907__340 — Foto: Pixabay

Students and faculty members in Massachusetts are planning to converge on the Statehouse to pressure colleges and universities to switch to 100 percent renewable energy.

The students point to a vote by the Boston University board of trustees last year to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions. They’re gathering at the Statehouse Tuesday.

The group hopes to pressure lawmakers to adopt a bill committing Massachusetts to obtaining 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources like solar and wind.

The bill would require Massachusetts to achieve total renewable electricity generation by 2035 and phase out fossil fuels across all sectors by 2050.

Rhode Island aims to increase the amount of clean energy in the state tenfold by the end of 2020. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo plans to discuss progress on Monday.

Source: turnto10.com

The Forgotten Renewable: Geothermal Energy Production Heats Up

05.02.2018

Three and a half hours east of Los Angeles lies the Salton Sea, a manmade oasis in the heart of the Mojave Desert. It was created in 1905, when a canal broke and the Colorado River flooded the desert for more than a year. The Sea became a tourist hotspot in the 1950’s, perfect for swimming, boating, and kayaking. But now, people are coming here looking for something else.

Jim Turner is the chief operating officer of Controlled Thermal Resources, an energy company from Australia. On a hill overlooking the Salton Sea, he points out a patch of land that will someday house his company’s first power plant, named Hell’s Kitchen.

“We’re standing on top of what is probably the most robust geothermal resource in the United States,” he explains.

Geothermal energy uses the earth’s natural heat to create electricity. While there are several different ways to accomplish this, the most common is to take super-heated water from geothermal hot spots and pipe it to the surface. It then turns into steam and spins a turbine, which generates electricity.

It’s completely renewable, and generates clean energy around the clock, unlike wind and solar.

“You think of renewable energy as a house, solar is the roof and the wind is the walls,” says Jason Czapla, principal engineer for Controlled Thermal Resources. “But geothermal’s the foundation, and what California did is it built the walls and the roof, but on wild, windy days it blows too much rain on the roof [and] that house falls down. Well, the Salton Sea is this opportunity for California to fix that.”

The company wants to develop 1,000 megawatts of electricity here over the next decade. They say that could power about 1,000 homes. And for a state that’s aiming to get half its electricity from renewable sources, that’s no small number.

“Our development coincides with the state’s target, 2030 being the ultimate goal getting to 50 percent,” says Czapla. “And our goal is to build up that 1,000 megawatts and help them increase the renewable energy portfolio.”

But it’s not just California that’s got these resources.

Colin Williams, a geothermal expert at the U.S. Geological Survey, published a report in 2008 in which he explained that there are untapped geothermal reservoirs throughout the American West.

The report also elaborated on a developing technology that could drastically increase the amount of power the Earth can provide, called enhanced geothermal systems.

In order for a reservoir to be able to provide geothermal energy, it has to have three things: heat, water, and permeability. In other words: hot, wet rock, with enough fractures in it to allow water to pass through. Enhanced geothermal systems is the process of taking areas with only one or two of those conditions – hot, dry rock with very little fractures, for example – and altering it to satisfy all three conditions. That could mean cracking underground rock to allow more water to pass through, or inserting water into the rockbed to be heated.

Williams says scientists and engineers are still working on the technology for enhanced geothermal systems, but if they are able to make it a reality, that could potentially open up thousands of megawatts of energy potential from new reservoirs. And that could someday take from the country’s current 3,000 megawatts of geothermal energy production to almost 500,000.

“To put that into perspective,” Williams says,” the entire electric power generating capacity in the United States is about a million megawatts.”

So if there’s that much clean energy just waiting in the ground, what’s taking so long?

Allyson Anderson Book directs the American Geosciences Institute, a nonprofit network of geoscientists around the country. She says that geothermal energy has been historically overlooked as a renewable energy source, to the point that it is sometimes referred to as the “forgotten renewable.”

Book says there are social and technical challenges that have kept geothermal from becoming a major player in the energy field. The technology is complex, and plants are expensive to build.

“There’s a lot of different factors that play in,” Book says. “And so the Department of Energy right now is spending a lot of time and energy in something called the FORGE project.”

The FORGE project is an Energy Department initiative that would create a dedicated test site for exploring enhanced geothermal systems. Currently, the proposed test site is in Fallon, Nev., where Sandia National Laboratories plans to set up a field where scientists can experiment with new geothermal technology. The idea is, if they can make enhanced geothermal systems a reality, then geothermal energy production around the country would skyrocket.

But back at the Salton Sea, Controlled Thermal Resources isn’t waiting on new technology — it’s hoping to exploit what’s already there.

In his office in El Centro, Calif., CEO Rod Colwell plays an aerial video of the southern end of the Salton Sea, where the Hell’s Kitchen plant will go. It’s still in the permitting stages, and it’s going to cost a lot of money – around a billion dollars. But if it’s successful, Colwell plans to build more. He hopes to build enough plants to be able to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity, which could power about 800,000 homes. And with California looking to phase out its use of fossil fuels, that’s no small number.

“Particularly in California,” Colwell says, “we will not be able to import any carbon-fired energy after 2025. So it’s important that geothermal is that integral value in the mix.”

Geothermal’s got a long way to go. But Colwell and others are betting that new technology and the demand for clean energy will someday bring this forgotten renewable to the forefront of clean power.

Source: npr.org

Vietnam Sees Solar Power Construction Boom as Nation Goes Green

05.02.2018

Numerous projects to build large solar power facilities are underway in Vietnam, as the country scrambles to make up for the anticipated power shortage due to the recent cancellation of nuclear power plant construction projects.

Thien Tan Group will by 2020 spend $2 billion to build five large solar power plants in the southern province of Ninh Thuan. A 50 megawatts solar plant will start operating this year, followed by four plants generating 200-300MW each. The five solar plants will generate an estimated 1 gigawatts, equivalent to the total power output of a nuclear reactor.

The Vietnamese government had planned to build two nuclear power plants with Russia and Japan in the province. Japanese nuclear power plant manufacturers and power companies aimed to win contracts, but the plan was cancelled in November 2016 due to the hefty up-front costs of several billion dollars per reactor.

Ninh Thuan Province — which is blessed with ample sunshine and abundant idle land — is highly suitable for solar power generation. The province is trying to attract solar power plants as an alternative to nuclear. The province plans to attract 4.85GW worth of large solar power plants by 2030.

TTC Group decided to tap into the solar power generation business. By 2020, the sugar, energy, real estate and tourism conglomerate will build 20 large solar power plants in southern provinces with ample sunshine, including a 320MW plant in Tay Ninh Province and a 300MW facility in Binh Thuan Province.

Power generation capacity will reach 1GW by 2020, when all large solar power plants start operating. Total investment amount is estimated at $1 billion, including wind power plants.

Khanh Hoa Province also invited solar power plants generating 120MW of electricity operated by Vietnam Electricity and others. These plants are forecast to start operating from this year.

Southern Vietnam, excluding Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest city, has a lot of idle land, and it is relatively easy to secure the 50-70 hectare sites required for large solar power plants. Annual energy production in southern Vietnam is expected to be 20-30% higher than that of Japan’s major cities, according to a local newspaper.

The government is trying to nurture solar power generation as the country’s main source of electrical power. Currently solar power only accounts for 0.01% of total power generation capacity, but the government plans to increase the ratio to 3.3% by 2030 and 20% by 2050.

As solar panel prices are declining and the government is expected to introduce a system of buying excess solar power, solar will likely rapidly spread to households in general.

Source: asia.nikkei.com

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