In a bid to generate 5% of the emirate’s electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030, Dubai authorities were cited by a Reuters India report as being on the verge of announcing details of a large solar power plant in the region. Saeed Mohammed al-Tayer, vice chairman of Dubai's Supreme Council of Energy, has said that although the 5% target will comprise several forms of renewable energy sources, “[t]his is mainly going to be solar”.
According to news reports, US-based solar installation firm, SolarCity will not be able to complete and comply with documentation deadlines of September 30 to be considered for a US Department of Energy loan guarantee, previously announced.
SunEdison’s 53.5MW multi-site solar PV project in New Mexico looks set for completion by the end of this year, and has been buoyed by the news that it has secured financing of over US$200 millions from financier Wells Fargo. MEMC subsidiary company SunEdison has now activated three of the five power plants that together make up the 53.5MW total, and the remaining two plants are scheduled for completion before year’s end.
Solar Millennium has claimed that its Kuraymat, Egypt solar-thermal power plant, in operation since June, has been surpassing field performance by 8%. The parabolic trough technology hybrid plant holds an overall 150MW electric capacity and in addition to solar energy, uses natural gas to allow for 24-hour operation.
Isolux Corsán’s first venture into the UK solar market has been successfully completed with the commenced operation of three, 5MW power plants in Langform, Churchtown and Manor in Cornwall. The €40 million project is said to be the largest, combined, in the UK holding a 15MW-installed capacity.
IKEA officially started generating solar power with its 11th completed US solar project; a new 538kW, 68,000 square foot PV system at its Emeryville, California location. Using 2,394 Gloria Solar panels, the system is anticipated to produce nearly 760,300kWh of solar electricity per year.
Continuing its expansion into the US, Canadian Solar has announced that it has been awarded the module supply contract for a 2.1MW solar installation at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The company will supply almost 10,000 of its 6P 240P modules for the project, which will comprise two rooftop arrays, three solar canopies on parking lots and another solar canopy on the roof of a multi-floor parking structure.
China Datang is planning to use solar modules from Tianwei New Energy for the first time on a 10MW ground-mounted project project in Delhi, Qinghai Province, China. The module supply agreement requires Tianwei to ship between September and October the full 10MW of modules directly to the project.
US pharmacy Walgreens has chosen SoCore Energy to install PV systems at 90 of its stores in Ohio. This new portfolio will have a capacity of 2MW and increase the number of arrays on Walgreens stores to 136; the first 53 in this next wave of installations are due to be completed by November 11. The individual systems are being leased for 10 years to Walgreens, which will equip them with Power-One inverters and SolarWorld’s 240W crystalline silicon panels.
Cleantech finance company De Lage Landen has finalized an agreement that will see the company’s Clean Technology Group team up with Tioga Energy to provide long-term financing for an 856kW solar project in Honolulu, Hawaii. Built for Oceanic Time Warner at its Mililani Tech Park, the project is a combination rooftop and solar parking canopy and is said to be the largest of its kind in the state of Hawaii.
