Projects

Solar Frontier provided 10MW of its CIS thin-film solar modules to power the Mt. Komekura Solar Power Plant in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, which started operations on January 27. Shigeaki Kameda, president of Solar Frontier, was in attendance for the plant’s opening celebration.

A 7.5MW solar plant, worth €22.8million has been built in the north-west province of Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Japan’s Kagawa government in western Japan has announced that Kokusai Kogyo Holdings and Orix Corp will each build a solar power plant, to start operations in July and September. The plants will have a capacity of 2MW.

Mercury Solar Systems has completed the installation of a 3.6MW solar system, with over 12,000 solar panels, in Manalapan, one of the largest ground-mounted, grid-interconnected solar systems in New Jersey.

A US$646 million US DOE loan and loan guarantee for First Solar’s 230MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One (AVSR) PV power plant project in northern Los Angeles County, California has hit a snag over an outstanding construction permit issue. The timeframe for initial funding of the loan has been pushed back to February 24, 2012 but if the issue isn’t resolved by that date, First solar said it could have to acquire the project from customer, Exelon for approximately US$75 million.

An undisclosed Chinese investment company that is said to own a portfolio of PV power plants in Italy is planning to recoup the investment in a frame agreement signed with 3Power Energy Group.

Chinese Powerway Renewable Energy and Japanese West Holding have partnered to construct a 2MW capacity installation in Japan to fill the nuclear gap. West Holding will provide the investment and Powerway will design and construct the plant using its PowerScrew foundations and mounting structure products.

Last year, the Israeli Ministry of Interior approved a plan for an 8MW solar PV plant to be built adjacent to the Bedouin community of Tarabin in the Abu Basma region of the north west of the Negev Desert, which has finally been given the go ahead. This will be a joint project between the Tarabin tribe and Arava Power Company, costing approximately US$30 million. The plant will cover 15 hectares of privately owned agricultural land.

Spanish solar company ISOFOTON and Chinese oil company, China National Offshore Oil Corporations (CNOOC)'s subsidiary, TIANJIN LISHEN BATTERY JOINT-STOCK, have established a joint venture based in Tianjin, China. The new company, called ISOFOTON LISHEN New Energy, will develop PV projects totalling 150MW. CNOOC will invest up to US$300 million in the projects. For the CNOOC Group, partnering with ISOFOTON is an opportunity to have a strong European partner with experience in PV technology and extensive knowledge of international markets.

Fotones de Chile has revealed plans to establish a 180MW project - the country's largest to date - consisting of six 30MW PV power plants in the town of Maria Elena in the Tocopilla province of Antofagasta. Work is scheduled to begin later this year, pending all necessary permissions. The project is entitled Planta Fotovoltaica Encuentro Solar, and will involve the installation of close to 2.5 million PV modules.