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Duke Energy Acquires Sunset Reservoir Solar Project In San Francisco

North Carolina-based Duke Energy Renewables has acquired a 4.5 MW solar project in San Francisco from developer Recurrent Energy. Duke says the Sunset Reservoir project is the largest solar generation facility in San Francisco.

The system, developed by Recurrent and operated by the company since 2010, consists of nearly 24,000 Suntech solar panels mounted on top of the Sunset Reservoir. The facility provides electricity for the city and county of San Francisco’s municipal services and facilities. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is purchasing the energy under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

“The Sunset Reservoir solar project more than tripled San Francisco’s municipal solar generating capacity,” SFPUC General Manager Harlan L. Kelly Jr. says. “The renewable, greenhouse gas-free energy from Sunset Reservoir and all of our other facilities help power public buses, the San Francisco International Airport, health clinics and other vital city services.”

The SFPUC authorized the Sunset Reservoir solar plant in May 2008. The San Francisco board of supervisors approved the project a year later. S

 

Sempra Awards AMEC
Copper Mountain 3 Project

U.K.-based engineering and project management company AMEC PLC has received a multimillion dollar engineering, procurement and construction contract from Sempra U.S. Gas & Power to design and construct its Copper Mountain Solar 3 project in Nevada.

Copper Mountain Solar 3 is the third phase of Sempra’s Copper Mountain Solar complex in Boulder City, Nev. Construction on the 250 MW solar project, situated on about 1,400 acres, has already begun. Trina Solar says it is providing 1,133,550 dual-rated 72-cell PD14 solar modules for the project, which is scheduled for completion in early 2015. The Cities of Los Angeles and Burbank, Calif., will buy the electricity generated by Solar 3 under separate power purchase agreements with Sempra U.S. Gas & Power.

 

Solar Thin Films
To Build 35 MW Of PV

New York-based Solar Thin Films Inc. says it has an agreement in principle with property owner Tri-State Wind Energy LLC to design, supply and construct three photovoltaic solar fields in West Virginia with a combined capacity of 35 MW.

The projects consist of one 15 MW field in Fayette County, W.Va.; one 10 MW field in Sand Black Church, W.Va.; and one 10 MW field in Nicholas County, W.Va.

Solar Thin Films says ground clearing on the first solar field is expected to begin in September and be completed by the end of the year. All three projects, representing a total value of $140 million over their operating lives, should be completed by the third quarter of 2014, the company says.

 

Concord Green Energy
Buying 49 MW Of PV

Concord Green Energy, a subsidiary of Concord Pacific, has signed a $277 million deal to acquire five solar power plants from Canadian Solar with a total expected capacity of 49 MW. Under the agreement, the five utility-scale plants, located in Chesterville, Pefferlaw, Springwater, Sudbury and Wyebridge, Ontario, Canada, are expected to start construction during 2013 and 2014, with commercial operation expected in 2014.

Canadian Solar will provide EPC services to complete the projects and will provide operations and maintenance services after completion. The installations will include approximately 236,000 Canadian Solar CS6X modules. BowMont Capital and Advisory acted as financial advisor to Concord on the transaction.

The five solar power plants will supply electricity to the Ontario Power Authority.

 

First Solar To Deliver
155 MW In Australia

First Solar says AGL Energy Ltd. has secured financing for two utility-scale solar photovoltaic projects in Australia for which First Solar has contracted to perform EPC services.

In addition to EPC services, First Solar will supply the projects with its thin-film PV. The company will also provide five years of maintenance support once the solar farms are operational.

AGL has engaged First Solar to construct a 102 MW solar plant at Nyngan and a 53 MW solar project at Broken Hill, both located in New South Wales (NSW). The projects are supported by $166.7 million of Commonwealth Government funding through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, as well as an additional $64.9 million in funding from the NSW government. The total project cost is approximately $450 million.

Construction of the Nyngan project is expected to commence in January 2014, with commercial operation expected by mid-2015. First Solar says construction of the Broken Hill project will start in July 2014, with the facility scheduled to reach commercial operation before the end of 2015. Upon completion, the projects are expected to produce approximately 360 GWh of electricity each year.

 

ACWA Building 50 MW
CSP Plant In South Africa

Saudi Arabia-based electricity producer ACWA Power International says financing has been closed on the 50 MW Bokpoort concentrated solar power (CSP) project located in Northern Cape Province, South Africa, and that construction is now set to proceed.

ACWA says its financial partners on the project include the Public Investment Corp. of South Africa, Lereko Solafrica Investment, Lereko Metier Solafrica Fund 1, Lereko Metier Sustainable Capital Fund, Kurisani Solafrica Investments and Solafrica Community Investment Co.

Forming part of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program, ACWA says the Bokpoort CSP project will have a thermal storage capacity of 9.3 hours, enabling it to generate in excess of 200 GWh of electricity per year. The developer says the capability will help the plant cover the country’s daily peak demand from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., helping to reduce power blackouts.

The construction is being undertaken by a consortium of EPC contractors that includes TSK Electronica y Electricidad S.A., Acciona Infrastructuras S.A., Acciona Ingenieria S.A., Sener Ingenieria y Sistemas S.A., all from Spain, and Crowie Concessions (Pty) Ltd. of South Africa.

Operation and maintenance will be undertaken by a consortium led by ACWA subsidiary NOMAC and South Africa-based service provider Invest In Africa Energy Services. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., a government-owned national utility, will buy all of the electricity produced.

 

REC Sells 7.87 MW
Of Solar On Sardinia

REC has sold four solar power installations with a total capacity of 7.87 MW it developed on Sardinia to IKAV Global Energy S.a.r.l., part of a Luxembourg-based investment fund.

The four ground-mounted PV facilities include a 4.986 MW plant in Villacidro, a 996 kW plant in Pischedda, a 902 kW plant in Ulmos and a 990 kW plant in Lula. The grid-connected facilities required approximately 31,000 REC solar panels and have an expected generating capacity of 12.5 MWh annually.

REC says it expects Italy to remain a viable, long-term location for solar installations, even if the investment climate becomes tighter following the expiration of the Conto Energia 5 feed-in tariff.

 

Wattner Buys 48 MW
Of Utility-Scale Solar

Germany-based financier Wattner has bought 10 utility-scale solar power plants with a total capacity of 48 MW. The company says the total transaction value is approximately €60 million.

All plants have been commissioned in 2012 and 2013 on sites throughout Germany. The two largest plants, each with a rated output of 10 MW, are located in Suelte, Mecklenburg and Schwarzheide, Brandenburg. The eight other solar power plants, with a total capacity of 28 MW, are located throughout other parts of eastern Germany.

 

Etrion To Build 8 MW
Solar Plant In Chile

Switzerland-based Etrion Corp. has entered into a power purchase agreement with Atacama Minerals Chile S.C.M. to provide electricity to its Aguas Blancas iodine mine in northern Chile.

Etrion plans to build, own and operate the solar park with a total capacity of up to 8.8 MW to meet approximately 35% of the Aguas Blancas Mine’s total projected power requirements. The solar park, which is scheduled to be operational in the second quarter of 2014, is expected to supply 23 GWh of electricity per year.

Etrion says the total project cost, including costs related to the licenses, permits, development and construction, is estimated at $25 million, a portion of which is expected to be financed through non-recourse debt with international financial institutions, with the remaining equity portion to be funded by Etrion.

Construction of the Aguas Blancas Solar Park, which is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of this year, is subject to Etrion arranging the necessary debt financing and related transactions.

 

Kyocera, Century Tokyo
Partner On Utility Solar

Kyocera TCL Solar LLC, a joint venture of Kyocera Corp. and Century Tokyo Leasing Corp., has begun operating a 2.4 MW solar power plant in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. The company says the Takamatsu Ikushima Mega Solar Plant is the first to be launched under its business plan to operate up to 35 small and midsize utility-scale solar power plants in Japan.

Under the terms of the partnership, Century Tokyo Leasing finances solar projects, with Kyocera supplying 100% of the solar modules, system construction and ongoing maintenance.

In addition to Takamatsu Ikushima, Kyocera TCL Solar says 10 similar projects are under construction or in the planning stages, with five of these to have capacities of less than 2 MW. The partnership plans to develop projects with a cumulative capacity of 60 to 70 MW. All electricity generated will be sold to utilities through Japan’s feed-in tariff system.

 

JA Solar To Supply 38.6 MW For Georgia Power

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. is supplying 38.6 MW of solar modules for the Simon Solar Farm near Atlanta. Silicon Ranch Corp. is the project developer, and Phoenix Solar is the EPC services provider.

Work on the 161-acre ground-mounted facility is expected to be finished by the end of the year. Atlanta-based utility Georgia Power will buy the project’s electricity output under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Silicon Ranch.

 

Solectria To Power 8 MW
Solar Plant At College

Solectria Renewables LLC says its SGI 500 inverters will be integrated into an 8 MW solar array at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) in West Windsor, N.J. Solectria’s inverters were specified by MasTec Renewables Construction Co.

The photovoltaic array is located on a 45-acre parcel of land at MCCC and is billed as the largest solar power system situated on a college campus in North America.

The annual electricity produced from this project is expected to provide 70% of the power needed to run the campus.

 

Suntech To Supply
Aura Solar Facility

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. says it is supplying the photovoltaic modules for the 30 MW Aura Solar I facility in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The 132,000 Suntech Ve and Vd panels will be installed by Portugal-based Martifer Solar. The project is being developed by Gauss Energia.

Martifer Solar says Aura Solar is Mexico’s first utility-scale solar project with a power purchase agreement with Comisión Federal de Electricidad, the federal power company. The plant, which is expected to produce 82 GWh of electricity per year, is near completion.

 

Seattle Aquarium To Get Solar Array

Seattle City Light and the Seattle Aquarium will install a 49 kW solar array this fall as part of the utility’s Community Solar and Green Up programs. The PV project will cover much of the south side of the aquarium’s roof.

City Light says most of the capacity will go to customers who want to buy solar power through its Community Solar program. The rest of the panels are being installed as a demonstration project through the utility’s voluntary Green Up renewable energy program, with the electricity supplying the aquarium. Solar panels for the project are being purchased from Silicon Energy of Marysville, Wash.

City Light says each 24-watt unit of the solar installation will cost $150. Customers can buy up to 125 units. Participants will receive credit on their City Light bills for their portions of the solar panels’ output through 2020, plus state incentives. S