Power Plants

PV inverter market leader, SMA Solar Technology, has provided 2012 guidance that has sent shockwaves through the investment community as revenue and margins are expected to take a significant nosedive. Management said in a statement that 2012 sales would be between €1.2 billion and €1.5 billion, while EBIT margin would be between 5-10%. SMA Solar reported preliminary 2011, full-year financial results in January of €1.7 billion in sales and EBIT of more than €240 million. The mid-point of the guidance, which the company had previously declined to provide due to uncertainty in the market, will represent over a 20% decline in revenues and a 60% fall in EBIT.

GE Energy Financial Services announced that over the past year, the company has more than doubled its global solar power investment commitments to US$1.4 billion, leading to nearly US$ 5 billion in projects. The company notes that its 1GW portfolio spans 48 solar power plants in six countries, including Australia, Canada, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the US.

Vancouver, Canada-based P2 Solar has revealed that it has signed a binding agreement for the construction and ownership of a 4.95MW solar farm in the Vratsa Province of north-west Bulgaria. The company has assigned a 20-year gross revenue of €31 million to the project with a net cash flow of €13.6 million.

Previously announced in February, the French government has confirmed PV power plants will be eligible to receive a 10% bonus on top of the feed-in tariff if at least 60% of the installation’s modules are made in Europe. The law will come into effect shortly before the first round of presidential elections in April.

The US Commerce Department has yet again postponed a ruling on tariffs to be imposed on imported PV modules from China. An announcement was expected today, after a previous postponement due to the complexity of the case. The new proposed date for tariff details is expected on March 19, 2012.

Significant booking reductions from customers in the PV manufacturing sector impacted revenue at Ferro Corporation in 2011. The materials provider reported net sales of US$443 million in the fourth quarter, down 18% from net sales of US$537 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The Australian Secretary for Climate Change, Mark Dreyfus, announced on Tuesday that solar hot-water rebates would no longer apply under the Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme. The Clean Energy Council and various industry representatives expressed disbelief and surprise at this decision.

Dow Chemical’s ‘ENLIGHT’ polyolefin films, recently launched for c-Si module applications have had claims of no power loss after 10,000 hours of operation validated in test carried-out by TÜV Rheinland.

MetLife and Longsol Holdings US advised that they had mutually bought SunEdison’s 30MW Webberville, Texas solar project, for an undisclosed amount, in December 2011. The project was activated in December 2011 and is said to be the largest active solar plant in Texas. Constructed by RES Americas, who will also operate and maintain the project for the next five years, the solar farm is anticipated to produce over 1.4 billion kWh of electricity over 25 years.

Payom Solar advised that as of February 10, it had completed its energy bond issuing a volume of €27,548,000 in subscription. Finished ahead of schedule, the bond has a €1,000 denomination and holds a five-year maturity with an interest rate of 7.5%, due April 8. The company notes that the original subscription period was scheduled to March 20, but after talk about the future of FiTs, coupled with other developments in the solar market, no further subscriptions had been received.