South African property company signs offtake deal for wind, solar, hydro
South African real estate trust Growthpoint Properties has signed an offtake deal with local electricity trader Etana Energy for 195 GWh of renewable energy. The contracted power will be sourced from wind, with a smaller component of hydro and large-scale solar capacity.
Serbia attracts $2 billion Chinese investment in solar, wind, hydrogen
The Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese companies Shanghai Fengling Renewables and Serbia Zijin Copper. It envisages the construction of 1.5 GW wind and 500 MW of solar projects alongside a green hydrogen production facility with 30,000 tons of annual output.
Renewables-powered high temperature heat pumps are cheapest option for industrial steam
New research from Austria has compared different industrial heat-generating techniques and has found that wind or solar-powered heat pumps are the cheapest and most environment-friendly solution.
UK grid operator streamlines 10 GW of battery storage
Plans to connect around 10 GW of battery energy storage projects in England and Wales are now in the fast lane. This comes on top of 10 GW of capacity unlocked at distribution level, including shovel-ready solar farms, onshore wind, and battery storage projects.
Techno-economic dispatch model to combine pumped hydro with solar, wind power
A research team in Spain has developed an hourly mathematical model that reportedly allows for the optimal management of grid-connected renewable generation facilities and pumped hydro-energy storage with reversible pump turbine. The scientists tested the model on a potential pumped hydro-solar-wind complex in northern Spain and found that the combination of the three technologies may achieve considerable savings.
Open-source online tool to optimize wind-solar projects
Scientists in Spain have developed a tool that optimizes the joint production of wind and solar. It combines data, patterns of solar radiation, and wind speeds over time in specific parts of Europe.
Green baseload hub to replace coal, gas generation in eastern Germany
German coal miner LEAG is planning a massive clean energy hub, comprising up to 14 GW of wind and solar energy generation paired with 2 GWh to 3 GWh of battery energy storage and 2 GW of green hydrogen production. Combined, these technologies are expected to create a net-zero baseload energy system.
MAN Energy installs world’s largest seawater CO2 heat pump in Denmark
Germany’s MAN Energy Solutions has supplied two 50 MW seawater heat pumps for district heating at the port of Esbjerg, Denmark. They use CO2 as a refrigerant and will be powered by nearby wind farms. The project will start producing 350,000 MWh of heat per year in the fall.
Solar, wind covered Belgium’s entire electricity demand for the first time
Belgian grid operator Elia announced that solar and wind generation provided enough electricity to cover the country’s entire electricity demand for the first time this Monday.
Floating solar combined with wave, tidal, wind power
A consortium of Singaporean universities and companies will study the feasibility of integrating a hybrid floating solar project with ocean, tidal, and wind capacity. If successful, the parties plan to deploy a pilot system with at least 100 MW of renewables capacity.
