Neoen closes finance for 51MW Jamaica solar park
31 May: Proparco and FMO are to provide US$64 million in senior debt financing for a 51MW solar PV park in Jamaica that is majority-owned by French IPP Neoen alongside Rekamniar Frontier Ventures and MPC Caribbean Clean Energy Fund.
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Neoen’s was the winning project out of 19 bids in a tender launched by the Jamaican Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR). Paradise Park will deliver to Jamaica Public Service Company Limited the cheapest electrical energy ever made available in Jamaica – with a tariff of US$85/MWh – through a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Construction of the project has already begun. Commissioning is expected in the first half of 2019.
Xavier Barbaro, CEO of Neoen, stated: “This project shows how a combination of investment in an emerging country, cutting edge technology implemented by first class international contractors and a strong governmental and grid operator support, with a large environmental and social component, can generate value by offering the most competitively priced electricity to the grid.”
Enel starts production at Australia’s largest Solar PV Project
30 May: Enel Green Power (EGP), a subsidiary of Italian power giant Enel, and Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF), have connected to the grid the first 45MW feeder of the 137.7MW Bungala Solar One solar plant, which is located near Port Augusta in South Australia.
The plant, which is now releasing energy to Australia’s grid, is the first part of the Bungala Solar PV Project, whose overall capacity will total 275.4MW.
“We have just reached a historic landmark for our Group in an entirely new continent, as this is the first renewable energy flowing into the Australian grid from Enel,” said Antonio Cammisecra, head of Enel Green Power. “We now develop, own and manage generation assets in all continents, starting from Europe and then moving around the globe, landing in Oceania through this unique project. We are just a few months away from the completion of this solar plant and look forward to other opportunities this renewable-resource-rich country will have to offer.”
Enel is investing around US$157 million in the overall 275MW project, which is fully contracted with a long-term power purchase agreement with Origin Energy, an Australian utility.
The overall Bungala Solar PV Project will be able to generate around 570GWh per year once fully operational, due in early 2019. The facility, which will cover an area of approximately 600 hectares, will consist of about 800,000 polycrystalline PV modules mounted on single-axis tracker structures.
Vikram Solar commissions 10MW solar project in Madhya Pradesh
30 May: Indian PV module manufacturer and EPC player Vikram Solar has commissioned a 10MW solar project for Bharat Electronics Limited at the Ordnance Factory, Itarsi in Madhya Pradesh.
Power generated will be used by the factory using captive consumption. Vikram Solar will also provide Operations and Maintenance (O&M) services to the plant for a period of 10 years from the date of commissioning.
Rohit Dhar, director of Sales-EPC, Vikram Solar, said: “This is yet another milestone for us and an addition to our country’s greener future. The large expanse of black soil in the area posed a challenging environment to work during the monsoon. We understand that no project is without its set of challenges and our team constantly strives to overcome these hurdles by exercising superior operational practices in the field along with robust planning and execution capabilities.”
