Energy deal activity down in the Americas but renewables show strength
An Ernst & Young report has found power and utility deals fell off markedly in the Americas during the first half of the year because of the Covid-19 pandemic but commitment to clean energy investment appeared to remain strong.
IRENA wants to improve West African grids for renewables
The International Renewable Energy Agency wants consultants to prepare a plan for grid expansion across West African countries. The ECOWAS region currently has only 16 GW of power generation capacity, with 32% of it from hydroelectric facilities and 68% thermal power.
Bangladesh net metering requirement may deter solar pump owners
The government has finally issued guidelines on how solar-powered irrigation system owners can be paid for exporting power back to the grid. However, for those who expect to have to use grid power to augment solar from time to time, there could be a sting in the tail.
Tesla may become power provider in Germany
The high-profile electric car maker is conducting a survey of German customers to gauge their interest in a Tesla electricity tariff.
South African utility Eskom launches tender for 80 MW/320 MWh of storage
The South African national power company is planning to deploy large scale energy storage capacity at the Skaapvlei substation. The facility will help manage the intermittent energy generated by a 100 MW Eskom wind farm.
Finnish industrial park gets 12 MW smart grid with central inverters
Inverter manufacturer Fimer provided its PVS980-58 central inverter solution for the project, which will derive 35% of its energy from solar PV.
Strategies to prevent overvoltage-induced inverter disconnections
Australian scientists have identified seven methods to prevent PV losses when overvoltage-induced inverter disconnections occur. The methods include battery storage, reactive power inverters, export limits, distribution static synchronous compensators, the replacement of old conductors in power grids, load reconfiguration, and dynamic voltage restoration.
Texan utility tenders 900 MW of solar, 50 MW of storage
CPS Energy has taken the first step towards bringing those volumes – plus 500 MW of firming capacity – to the Lone Star State in pursuit of the power company’s 50%-renewables-by-2040 goal.
Testing floating PV, storage and hydrogen at Netherlands’ largest off-shore wind complex
Energy companies Shell and Eneco have secured the tender to build the 759 MW wind power plant. The partners will build a pilot solar park, short-term storage capacity and a green hydrogen plant at the facility, to assess their capabilities of balancing intermittent power.
PG&E, Tesla start building world’s biggest battery
The 182.5 MW/730 MWh Moss Landing energy storage system could eventually be expanded to 1.1 GWh – putting it on track to overshadow Tesla’s massive Hornsdale project in Australia.
