Utility Scale

Masdar, EDF Renewables and Nesma Company have signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Saudi Power Procurement Co. (SPPC) to develop the 1.1 GW Al Henakiyah Solar Project in Saudi Arabia.

Created by scientists in Poland, the model is based on GIS and can be adapted to different market conditions. The researchers applied it to the Polish market and found that 3.61% of the country’s available land can host utility-scale PV systems.

Toyota Tsusho says that it is building a 25 MW solar plant in Benin. It has also launched a new solar project to improve access to clean water and vaccines in the West African country.

At this year’s Intersolar Europe conference in Munich, pv magazine caught up with Gregory Lukens, the new Director Utility Europe for Solis, a brand of Ginlong Technologies. He discussed his background in solar, and how the company is looking to build its footprint in the European utility scale segment.

There is a growing trend in the European renewable energy space that will likely give us a great overview of the future of the industry. As the industry scales up, we are seeing more big players emerge, who are investing in and managing multiple solar PV plants.

A lack of trained personnel, slow overhaul of PV rules, and a weak electricity grid could slow the emergence of solar as a solution to diminish Romanian dependence on Russian gas. The next two winters will be critical.

Sungrow has become a strong force in Europe’s PV inverter landscape. The company has already captured a 26% share of the continent’s utility scale PV market and a new line-up of products is catching the attention of project developers.

At the recent Solar Power International trade show in Salt Lake City, Utah, part of the larger North America Smart Energy Week, pv magazine met with Hank Wang, President of the Americas Region at the Chinese inverter manufacturer Sungrow. The company expects to ship 2 GW of products to North American markets this year with utility-scale products making up the bulk of these shipments.

With a combination of scale, a growing population, outstanding irradiation, and available capital, solar PV should be a ‘no brainer’ for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But early explorations of the technology have soured expectations, and progress has come in fits and starts.

Vietnam had already successfully commissioned 1.5 GW of utility-scale PV at the end of May this year, and there is no sign of this slowing down, with another 2 GW teed up for June 2019. The breakneck speed in development is making Vietnam a powerhouse in the region in installed capacity, even nipping at the heels of Australia. Rystad Energy’s Minh Koi Le looks at the state of play in the Vietnamese solar market.