A round-up of the latest news in solar project development, as juwi hits 3GW installed PV milestone, Greencells makes further progress in the Netherlands and plans for a Cambodian solar-plus-storage microgrid are announced.
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Juwi develops trio of South African solar projects with total capacity of 250MW
1 December 2020: The final project of a 250MW solar PV portfolio in South Africa built by a juwi has been connected to the grid.
Waterloo, an 86MW solar park located in the country’s North West province, has recently been completed by a local subsidiary of the German developer, following on from the development of the 78MW Bokamoso project in the same province and the 86MW Droogfontain 2 park in the Northern Cape.
The three-facility portfolio has been built for South African insurance group Old Mutual Alternative Investments.
Completion of the final project means juwi has now installed more than 3GW of PV projects, a figure that COO Stephan Hansen said represents “an outstanding milestone” for the company.
“I'm even more pleased that our colleagues from South Africa have made this significant contribution to our track record with the construction of three utility-scale solar parks,” he said. “After all, they had to wait more than two years until politicians settled their internal differences in terms of renewable energies.”
The company said a more than two-year standstill ended in April 2018 with the signing of power purchase agreements between public utility Eskom and several independent power producers.
Greencells completes ‘second-largest’ solar plant in the Netherlands
1 December 2020: German solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider Greencells has completed three PV projects in the Netherlands with a total capacity of around 152MWp.
The portfolio includes the 101MWp Stadskanaal facility, which Greencells said is the “second-largest solar power plant” in the Netherlands, as well as a 45MWp project in Buinerveen and 5.7MWp park in Ommelanderwijk.
The trio were developed on behalf of customer Chint Solar as part of an EPC cooperation with partners such as Goldbeck Solar.
“The three successful project completions are a further milestone in our success story in the Netherlands,” said Greencells CEO Andreas Hoffmann, who added that the company has already secured orders for a total capacity of more than 70MWp for 2021 in the country.
To accelerate its growth, Greencells has issued a secured green bond with a volume of up to €25 million with a coupon of 6.5% per annum over a term of five years. Investors are able to participate until 7 December.
Cambodian holiday island to feature solar-plus-storage microgrid
30 November 2020: A subsidiary of French oil and gas company Total is financing a solar-plus-storage microgrid project for a remote resort island in Cambodia.
Total Solar Distributed Generation (DG) has enlisted Canopy Power as its EPC partner for the project, which will consist of 1.25MWp of solar PV, a 2MWh battery energy storage system, smart controls and diesel genset.
Designed to lower the reliance on diesel fuel used for visitor accommodation on the island of Koh Rong Sanloem, off the coast of Sihanoukville, the microgrid is expected to be able to run on more than 50% renewable energy.
Total Solar DG CEO Gavin Adda said the project, which in effect converts “an entire island from diesel to solar-battery power”, is a “milestone” for the company’s regional portfolio.
“Integrating storage with solar is a way for remote locations to leverage renewables effectively. For us, it’s also a great growth opportunity as there are tens of thousands of islands in Southeast Asia,” Adda said.
For more on this project, visit sister publication Energy-Storage.News.
C2 Energy Capital buys ‘California’s largest floating solar project’
30 November 2020: Renewables investor C2 Energy Capital has acquired a 1.78MW floating solar project in California from Ciel et Terre.
Deployed on a recycled water storage pond in the town of Windsor, the system features 4,959 modules and is described by C2 as “California’s largest floating solar project”.
The plant covers 22% of the pond’s surface and will help slow evaporation and algae growth thanks to cooling from the water.
The town of Windsor has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the energy generated by the facility.
Spain’s GRS energises 39MWp solar facility in New South Wales
30 November 2020: Spanish EPC contractor GRS has energised a 39MWp solar project in Australia that has been built for Amp Energy.
Located in New South Wales, the Molong Solar Farm features more than 80,000 modules and is expected to produce around 78,000MWh of clean energy annually. GRS said it built the facility on time despite the “significant challenges” caused by COVID-19.
Molong Solar represents the fourth project that GRS has energised in Australia, where it has been awarded 550MW of capacity to date.
