renewable energies

The Chilean subsidiary of the Czech Republic’s Solek Group and CarbonFree Chile SpA has signed a framework agreement for the development and construction of up to 118 MW of PV projects in Chile. These will have a power range of 3 MW to 9 MW, and will be developed under Chile’s PMGD Program for distributed generation.

The Sahara Desert, and the Sahel region, could be set to take advantage of large-scale wind and solar power projects covering huge surfaces.

The results of Jordan’s Round 3 solar PV auction have been announced. Jinko Power (HK) Company Limited submitted the lowest bid of US$0.02488/kWh. Jinko, along with two other companies, are now in pole position to be awarded projects. A final decision will be made after the financial offers have been validated, among other things.

The Uyuni project will cover half of the electricity demand in the Potosí region, and is currently the largest PV installation in the Andean country. The project was realized thanks to an investment of US$62 million.

During the past three years, Philipp Schröder has built up and consolitaded the Sonnen brand. Now the self-proclaimed “Sonnen Warrior” is going his own way, although he will remain an advisor to the German storage provider. Managing Director, Christoph Ostermann regrets the departure, but emphasizes that with the strong management team that has been established, he will continue to promote the company’s growth.

The new Italian government has maintained, almost unchanged, the provisions for the creation of an auction scheme for solar, wind and other renewables designed by the previous government. It has, however, postponed the first auction for large-scale projects from November to January. Furthermore, it has introduced new rules to enable the replacement of asbestos covers with rooftop PV systems through an ad-hoc FIT scheme.

Tanzania-based mini-grid operator, Jumeme is tendering two 1 MW projects in the Rukwa and Katawi regions. The projects are being developed in the frame of the Micro Power Economy, Tanzania Roll out program, which is financially backed by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF).

The mini-tender will be held under the RenovAr program for large-scale renewables, but will be limited to projects not exceeding 10 MW in size. The quota for solar and wind will be around 350 MW. Auctions for projects larger than 10 MW were suspended by the Argentinean government in early August.

In an interview with pv magazine at this year’s Intersolar SA in Sao Paulo, Rodrigo Sauaia, president of Brazilian solar association, ABSSOLAR discussed the current issues and opportunities in Brazil’s PV market. The association is calling on the Brazilian Government to contract up to 2 GW of solar power in future auctions, and to maintain current rules for DG. The private PPA segment, meanwhile, which only a year ago appeared unviable, has begun to show positive results. All in all, solar in Brazil is growing, despite the hurdles created by a difficult political and economical environment.

Under the current scheme, rooftop PV remains far below its huge potential in the country. Regulatory, administrative and financial hurdles are preventing more electricity consumers from installing rooftop arrays, as well as the resistance of local utilities.