200 MW of solar power projects in Rajasthan

The Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) has again invited proposal from any interested company or bidding consortium for setting up 100 MW of solar PV projects and 100 MW of solar thermal projects under the Rajasthan Solar Policy 2011.

The selection of these solar power projects shall be through a tariff based competitive bidding process.

According to the press release the project sizes would be from 5 to 10 MW each. The winning bidder will be the company that offers the highest discount upon RRECL’s benchmark solar tariff of INR 8.42 (EUR 0.13) per kWh. A feed-in-tariff will be paid to the winning bidder for 25 years, who would have to supply power to the procurer in agreement with the terms and conditions of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The last date for submission of bids through online form is January 11, 2013.

It may be recalled that RRECL had postponed its Request for Selection for solar power projects which was originally scheduled for March 19, 2012. Although the exact reasons for the postponement are not known, it is assumed that mounting losses of the state’s distribution company DISCOM could be the reason.

Unlike the National Solar Mission there is no compulsion for domestic contents of modules or cells and the bidder is free to choose any solar PV power generation technology – it may be crystalline silicon solar cell or thin film modules, concentrated PV or any other technology commercially established.

Also noteworthy is a mechanism through which DISCOM is not liable to make payments to the project developer, as the project developer will be signing a PPA with RRECL, that will also provide payment security to the developer. RRECL in turn will supply the procured solar power to DISCOM through a Power Sale Agreement (PSA)

World’s largest ships emit pollution as 760 million cars

If you’ve been under the impression that your SUV is a gas-guzzler and environment killer unlike any other, here’s a bit of respite.

Your metal-chunk-on-wheels certainly isn’t the most polluting modes of transport today. James Corbett, professor of marine policy at the University of Delaware, recently figured ships to be one of the major causes of environmental pollution, a fact we’re sure is true!

According to recent research, a single super-ship can create just as much pollution as 50 million cars. Putting together the 5 largest ships in the world, these together spew just as much nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide as 760 million cars! And these statistics certainly aren’t surprising, given that each of these ships use 109,000-horsepower engines that run around the clock for the better part of the year.

The first kerosene free lighting state in India

The state government of Chhattisgarh in central India will become the first state of the country which is going to replace kerosene powered lanterns for lighting homes by LED based solar lanterns and solar study lamps.

On December 5, 2012, the two programmes “One child One Solar lamp” and “Solar for each family” were launched. The state government decided it will distribute free solar lighting systems to 1.3 million families as well as free solar study lamps to about 1.65 million school students. The implementation of the scheme will cost the exchequer approximately Indian Rupees INR 2.05 billion (about € 30 million).

Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) will be the agency to implement the programme.

The scheme is based on findings of Census 2011 where it came to the fore that approximately 1.3 million families in Chhattisgarh are still deprived of electricity.

These families use kerosene or fire wood to illuminate their houses. The government provides a subsidy of INR 0.32 per litre of kerosene, while allocated quota for each family is about 3 to 4 litres kerosene every month. Thus the government spends approximately INR 100 to INR 120 per month per family. In addition, each family spends INR 50 to INR 60 per month. The distribution of solar lanterns to about 1.3 million families will save the government subsidies of approximately INR 1.43
billion annually and it will save family expenditure of approximately INR 0.78 billion. Solar lanterns would cost close to INR 1,200 each and solar study lamps will only cost INR 300 each.

GE sells 230 turbines to Renova Energia

GE and Renova Energia, a wind developer leader in Brazil with 1 GW installed, have signed a contract worth US$ 394 million for 230 GE 1.68-82.5 wind turbines.

All 230 turbines have a 10-year operating contract, which will be managed from GE’s services centre.The purchase is part of Renova’s expansion plans that began in November 2011 with the construction of the Alto Sertão 2 Wind Farm, comprising 15 parks with a total installed capacity of 386 MW.

The contract is to supply energy sold by Renova in the Reserve Energy Auctions (LER) in 2010 and 2011. The Alto Sertão 2 Wind Farm is in the cities of Caetité, Guanambim and Igaporã, in the southeast of Bahia state, in Brazil.

“Scale and efficiency are increasingly important factors in the wind power segment and they have created a new scenario, which is more complex and which requires internationally recognised partners such as GE,” says Luiz Freitas, Legal and Purchasing Director at Renova. “This contract is the result of the value generated by a joint Renova and GE team in the pursuit of the state of the art in wind power technology in Bahia.”

The partnership between the two companies began in Brazil’s first exclusively wind energy auction in December 2009. “Renova built the largest wind farm in and we are proud to take part in this project and to help boost wind power generation in Bahia,” says Jean-Claude Robert, leader of GE’s Renewable Energy business in Latin America.

The farm, opened in July 2012, has 184 GE wind turbines producing a total of 294 MW.

Wind power is growing in Italy

The installation of small wind turbines is growing rapidly in Italy since the introduction of feed-in tariffs.

Since the introduction of feed-in tariffs for small wind turbines in 2008, installations have grown exponentially, says the University’s Wind Energy Report. Yet installed capacity of small wind turbines doubled from 2008 to 2009 and again in 2010 and 2011.

More than 90 % of the small wind turbines are less than 80 kW in size. 70 % of the capacity is installed in the southern provinces, 25 % in the central region, and only 5 % in the mountainous north.

Up to 10 MW may be installed in 2012, says the report. Nevertheless, in absolute terms, installed capacity of small wind turbines in Italy remains a fraction of that of commercial-scale turbines. By the end of 2011 cumulative capacity of small wind turbines in Italy was 13 MW – 2 % of the 6,700 MW of wind generating capacity in the country.

Italian feed-in tariffs for small wind turbines are quite lucrative, effectively double that of total payments for commercial wind under Italy’s Green Certificate (Certificati Verdi) system. Yet, Italian small wind tariffs are comparable to those in Britain, e.g. new tariffs go into effect at the end of the year.

Italy will differentiate small wind into two size tranches: <20 kW, and 20 kW to 200 kW. While the tariffs have been cut modestly, the contract term has been extended from 15 years to 20 years.

According to the University’s Wind Energy Report, 3 % of Italy’s land area has average wind speeds of greater than 6 m/s or good to excellent wind, 37 % has average wind speeds from 4 m/s to 6 m/s or sites with good wind. The report quotes the Italian wind energy association (Associazone Nazionale Energia del Vento), that Italy has the potential for 1,000 MW of small wind turbines capable of generating 1.5 to 2 TWh per year.

Weltec Biopower builds 500 kW plant in France

The French project developer Methaneo agreed with Weltec Biopower to build a 500 kW biogas plant in France.

The Paris-based company has elaborated its own concept for „cooperative agricultural biogas plants“. The new biogas plant project „Cap‘Ter Methanisation SAS“ strengthens the value chains and material cycle in the vicinity of the plant location. The biogas technology is delivered by the German company Weltec.

Construction work will begin in January 2013, and the plant is to go live and starting feeding electricity into the French grid as early as July 2013. The 4,900 m³ stainless steel fermenter is to be filled with an agricultural substrate mix consisting of cattle manure, sheep manure, chicken manure and grain residue.

For Weltec it is the sixth biogas project in France. According to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency for the development of regenerative energies (ADEME) there have been twice as many project enquiries than in the prior year for biogas projects.

Utilizing sea wave to generate electricity

Researchers Dr Ismail, Dr Muhammad Murtadha and Baharin Abu Bakar from Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia have carried out a conceptual study on mathematical modelling for sea wave in electricity generation.

This conceptual study focused on using Oscillating Wave Column (OWC) which is considered as the most efficient way to utilize sea waves, the largest power source on earth, to generate electricity. Previous studies have revealed that global wave power is estimated to be 1TW (1 terrawatt=1012W).

Countries where numerous seafronts surround the country could tap into an alternative source of power generation which could be generated by the waves during the different seasons of the year. In addition, the findings of this study could be adapted to evaluate the capability to produce electricity on shore such as from lakes and rivers with undulated waves.

Researchers began the study with the derivation of mathematical equations for each component in the electrical generation system after taking into consideration the sea wave as the input to facilitate the workability of the entire system. The team of researchers verified the validity of the developed mathematical equations for each stage of the research.

This was done to establish its workability. Electrical and mechanical relationships were derived to relate the workability of each component in the system for the purpose of electricity generation. Numerous experiments were conducted to optimize the results in this study which would eventually lead to the generation of electricity. The results obtained from the experiments indicated that the proposed model appears practical could be implemented.

Vestas and Mitsubishi can become partners on world’s largest offshore turbine

Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. are in talks which could lead to them building the world’s largest offshore wind turbine.

The report by Stefan Nicola and Gelu Sulugiuc says the envisioned 8 MW turbine would be about 30 percent more powerful than the prevailing market leaders.

The report comes just hours after Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, announced it had received €900 million (About $1.17 billion) in financing from nine international banks.The financing period extends through 2015.

The funding should also help shore up its competition with rival Siemens AG, which has been regularly announcing deals for turbines with offshore wind farm developers in Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Bloomberg reports that Siemens is currently testing a 6 MW turbine, and quotes a company spokeswoman as saying a 10 MW turbine may be in the offing.

Costa Rica opens first large-scale solar facility

Costa Rica is celebrating the opening of the country’s first large-scale solar power plant.

The solar park, which was built on the slopes of Miravalles Volcano and is comprised of 4,300 solar panels, will generate 1.2 GWh per year, enough to electrify about 600 homes.

“Today we not only took another step in terms of increasing installed capacity to continue generating more electricity and meet our economy’s demands, but we also confirmed that our growth will continue to rely on renewable energy generation,” said President Laura Chinchilla in the inauguration.

The project wa originally proposed by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, and developed by GeSolar, a Chinese manufacturer of solar products, and Greenersys, a Coasta Rican supplier of renewable energy products.

Environment Minister René Castro said the project is important because it marks the entry of Costa Rica to the production of large-scale electricity based on solar energy, and “also mark[s] the way to bring electricity to thousands of families across the country in the future.”

The project was financed by the Japanese Ministry of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET), which provided a $10 million grant under the Japanese government’s Project for Introduction of Clean Energy by System Solar Electricity Generation for the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica programme.

Renault has the automotive world’s biggest solar-powered vehicle canopy

French automaker Renault has come up with a fabulously green way to shelter the cars that roll out of its assembly lines.

The company has recently installed a canopy soaked through with solar panels that has been termed as “the world’s largest photovoltaic system in the auto industry”.

The canopy generates green energy and also shelters the company’s cars beneath. Six of Renault’s production sites including Douai, Maubeuge, Flins, Batilly, Sandouville and Cléon will make use of these systems covering 40 hectares or 400,000 square meters in all.

Capable of generating 52,600 MWh of electricity a year and reducing Co2 emissions by 200-tons annually, these solar panels will prove to be a boon for Renault, helping the automaker substantially reduce its carbon footprint in France.