Two years in the making, Arizona’s largest commercial-scale solar power project has been completed. Located in Pinal County, the 20MW project sits on 144 acres and began operation earlier this year. Iberdrola Renewables will own and operate the facility with Salt River Project (SRP) purchasing the entire output of the plant under a 25 year agreement.
Upon the reveal of its financial results for the third quarter 2011, Satcon Technology advised that while its US$45 million in revenue was in line with it previously announced guidance, its revenues quarter-over-quarter remained flat when compared to Q2 2011’s US$45.5 million. The company reported that gross margin for the quarter was 12%, up from 8% in Q2, with the incremental improvement attributed to Satcon’s cost reduction programs and the expansion of its 1.25MW Prism Platform solution.
Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited (MBCEL) has commissioned a 23.8MW solar power plant in Lauta, Germany, said to be the company’s largest to date. Funded with approximately €50 million long-term debt financing from DKB bank in Germany – the same financier for the company’s Thuringen and Meissens projects, the farm uses c-Si technology, SMA central inverters and was built with Conecon as the construction partner.
Martifer Solar has signed a turnkey contract to install a 6.6MW PV system in Murcia, Spain. Under the terms of the agreement, Martifer will not only build the plant, but also supply all the equipment and carry out operation and maintenance.
First Solar has begun construction on what will be Australia’s first utility-scale PV project once it reaches completions, Located near Geraldton, the 10MW (AC) Greenough River Solar Farm will be built over a nine-month period, with local civil contractor WBHO Civil providing Phase 1 construction services. Civil work on the project began November 4, with on-site construction for structural supports and above ground electrical work following soon.
Nautilus Solar Energy advised that three of its rooftop PV systems in Ontario, totaling 1.25MW, had reached official commercial operation today. The projects are owned by Nautilus’ unit, Nautilus Solar Canada Limited Partnership and are supported by the Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA) FiT program, which will see OPA purchase the electricity produced by the systems for a fixed rate over a 20-year period.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are evaluating the feasibility of developing renewable energy production on Superfund, brownfields and former landfill or mining sites.
The US’s Export-Import Bank has awarded loans totalling US$103.2 million to two Indian companies to help finance planned projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The recipients, Dahanu Solar Power and Tatith Energies, will use the funds to pay for panels and engineering services from US companies First Solar, SolarWorld and American Capital Energy.
China Sunergy and REC Wafer have spent the last few years to-ing and fro-ing between courts in Norway and China in the hope of reaching a settlement over the termination of a supply contract by REC Wafer.
Just one week after completing an 80MW project in Ukraine, Activ Solar has added a further 20MW to the country’s burgeoning solar portfolio by installing Phase II of the Perovo Solar Power Station.
