Review International NEWS

Wind Power Project in Plan 8 begins International Ontario opened cooperation in Egypt On April 3, Enbridge Inc. officially The company Plan 8 GmbH from opened the 115 turbine Enbridge Northern is founding a NEWS Ontario project in the Kincar- joint venture with the Egyptian SEKEM dine area, which is capable of producing up Group and the German company TWL Tech- to 190 MW of renewable electricity. A cere- nologie GmbH. The companies want to co- mony held in Kincardine to mark this mile- operate in realizing wind and solar energy stone was attended by George Smither- projects in Egypt. SEKEM will hold 50 % of man, Ontario‘s Deputy Premier and Minis- the shares; Plan 8 will have 40 % and TWL ter of Energy and Infrastructure, Carol will hold 10 %. Mitchell, MPP for Huron-Bruce, and Kincar- Plan 8 will begin its activities in Egypt dine Mayor Larry Kraemer. with wind measurements and probably Enbridge began construction in July of with several smaller projects in which sec- 2007 and the began supplying ond-hand wind turbines from repowering energy to the province‘s electricity grid in projects will be used, reports Managing Di- August 2008. The final turbine came online rector Dirk Jesaitis. The first turbines will be in mid-February 2009. Minister Smither- erected this year. Siemens man helped mark the occasion held at the 3.6 MW wind electrical substation by switching on one of turbines, the 115 V82 turbines that are locat- supplies 15 which will be ed on the 20,000 hectare project site. Each used at Rhyl turbine is 80 metres high and includes a turbines for Italy Flats. three-blade rotor. Nordex is installing another wind Photo: RWE Innogy „Today at more than 950 megawatts on- farm in Italy: key-account customer line, Ontario leads the rest of Canada in has ordered 15 wind wind power capacity”, said Minister Smith- power systems, type N80/2500, with a to- erman. „With the official opening of the En- tal effective output of 37.5 MW for the “San bridge Ontario Wind Power facility, the sec- Sostene” project in the region of Calabria. ond largest wind farm in Canada, Ontario is These are being supplied under a master well on its way to meeting its targets for re- agreement signed by Nordex and Falck in newable energy”, said Janet Holder, Presi- 2008, in which up to 250 MW can be called Offshore wind farm dent of Enbridge Gas Distribution. Including in by 2011. Nordex will be delivering and the Enbridge Ontario Wind Power facility, erecting the 15 turbines for “San Sostene” Rhyl Flats soon to be Enbridge has interests in 4 wind farms with as of July 2009. The manufac- completed a combined capacity of more than 260 MW. turer signed the contract with Eolica Sud Srl, a subsidiary of Falck. It also covers Pre- Construction of the British wind mium service for a period of at least nine farm Rhyl Flats is entering the final Siemens receives order years. phase. At present, 25 Siemens wind tur- The “San Sostene” wind farm is located bines with a capacity of 3.6 MW each are for offshore wind farm near the village of the same name in the Ca- being installed. For this purpose, RWE Inno- Siemens Energy is supplying 88 labrian province of Catanzaro. The 15 tur- gy, the operator of the offshore wind farm wind turbines for the offshore bines are an extension of the first construc- located about 8 km off the Welsh coast, is wind farm Sheringham Shoal off the east tion phase, which is already in the process working with a special platform 72 m in coast of England. The contract volume of installation. The wind farm is due to be length, which can be used in waters up to amounts to around € 450 million. completed at the beginning of next year. 38 m deep. The platform is equipped with a In addition to supplying 88 wind tur- The turbines will be erected in a mountain- crane that lifts the rotor and the to bines of the type SWT-3.6-107, Siemens ous region at elevations of between 950 a height of over 80 m for final assembly. will also take over the task of servicing the and 1,200 metres – an attractive location The foundations were already laid last year turbines, initially for five years, the compa- with superior wind speeds. Here the 15 at a water depth of about 15 m. ny reports. After its completion, the farm N80/2500 strong-wind turbines are able to Parallel to these works, another special will have a total capacity of 315 MW and generate an annual energy yield of approxi- vessel will start cabling the wind turbines will thus supply enough energy for approxi- mately 80 gigawatt hours, sufficient to pro- at the end of April, RWE Innogy says. mately 220,000 households on the basis of vide 20,000 households with electricity and The first wind turbines will go on-grid the figures. The completion of the construc- simultaneously avoiding green house gas this summer. After its completion, the wind tion phase is scheduled for 2011. emissions of approximately 80,000 tons. farm, which has a total capacity of 90 MW, The owner of Sheringham Shoal is the The order for “San Sostene” contributes will generate enough electricity annually to Norwegian company Scira Offshore Energy to the satisfactory trend in new orders with supply about 61,000 British households Ltd., a joint subsidiary of the Norwegian which Nordex closes the first quarter of this according to the calculations. groups StatoilHydro and Statkraft. year.

6 Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009

Review International NEWS

Cegelec completes two wind farms in France The international group Cegelec has completed wind projects in the Vendée and Aube regions of France, repre- senting a total of 35 wind turbines and € 26 million volume of orders. In the Vendée re- gion, Cegelec developed a fully-featured turnkey solution, including engineering studies and administrative formalities, the purchase of 17 turbines with a capacity of 800 kW, the installation of infrastructure and the erection of the turbines on two windfarms near Mouzeuil. In the Aube re- gion the company delivered the infrastruc- ture for three windfarms comprising six 2.3 The first deployment site of the jack-up platform “Odin” is, until June, the first MW turbines on the Plaine Auboise site. German offshore wind farm Alpha Ventus in the North Sea. Photo: Torsten Thomas

South Africa introduces Hochtief and Beluga on offshore course The German company Hochtief AG ment Board of the Civil Engineering and Ma- feed-in tariff has redesigned its jack-up platform rine Works Europe division of Hochtief Con- As the first African country, South “Odin” at a cost of € 10 million. The compa- struction AG. Africa has introduced a feed-in tar- ny also plans to construct a further assem- For 2009, Odin is already fully booked. iff for wind energy. bly platform and to form a cooperative part- The first deployment site is, until June, the According to the World Wind Energy Associ- nership with the Bremen-based Beluga first German offshore wind farm Alpha Ven- ation (WWEA), the tariff will amount to 1.25 Shipping GmbH. The legs of the jack-up tus, where piles are being driven and tower South African rand (around € 0.098) per platform, which will be used to erect off- sections erected. kWh. The payment duration is 20 years. shore wind turbines, are now 60 m long, so In the Polish city of Gdansk, the “Thor” The WWEA reports that the introduction of that Odin can work in waters up to 45 m is currently under construction, a second the tariff was preceded by long negotia- deep. But for the heavy foundation struc- ship that will cost € 70 million and have a tions. The corresponding White Paper on tures and nacelles of the 5 MW class tur- considerably higher capacity. “Furthermore, the potential of wind power in South Africa bines, the new capacity is insufficient. “For we will found a joint venture in cooperation was presented as early as 2003, at the sec- wind turbines like those from Siemens, with Beluga Shipping GmbH in Bremen and ond World Wind Energy Conference in Cape however, Odin is highly suitable”, says Mar- by 2012 we will build four self-propelled Town. tin Rahtge, the Chairman of the Manage- erection ships”, says Rahtge.

WSB sells Spremberg The Switch signs wind farm multimillion-dollar The company WSB Neue Energien contracts GmbH from Dresden, Germany, has sold a wind farm with nine turbines of the The Finnish company The Switch, a type Fuhrländer FL-2500 to the Dutch invest- provider of megawatt-class perma- ment company Ampere Equity Fund. nent magnet generators and full-power The Spremberg wind farm in eastern converter packages, has signed repeat or- Germany has a total capacity of 22.5 MW ders from the Norwegian ScanWind Group and can generate around 55.2 million kWh AS and from key Chinese customers. The of electricity annually, says WSB. The Sprem­ Switch provides ScanWind with drive train berg turbines have pylon towers 140 m in packages that combine a direct-drive height and are identical in construction to 4.25 MW permanent magnet generator with the world’s highest wind turbine, also from a full-power converter to be used in off- Fuhrländer, which is located in Cottbus (also shore wind turbine development efforts. in eastern Germany). The wind farm ranks According to The Switch, repeat orders among the largest of this type in Germany from Chinese Customers like Sci- The Fuhrländer turbines, with an overall and supplies enough energy for about ence and Technology call for nearly one gi- height of 191 m and a hub height of 141 m, 60,000 people. The electricity is fed into the gawatt of additional production. With these are designed to make optimal use of the grid of the company envia Verteilernetz new multimillion-dollar contracts, the com- local wind conditions. GmbH via a specially built transformer sta- pany sees itself well positioned for a finan- Photo: Windpark Spremberg tion with a capacity of 31.5 MW. cially strong year 2009.

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Aleo Solar to expand Despatch is successful sales in North America in Chinese solar Oldenburg (Germany) based Aleo market Solar AG announced that it will expand its presence in the USA to capi- Despatch Industries, Minnesota, talize on the emerging boom for renewa- USA, announces multiple line or- ble energy in this market. In February ders for metallization firing furnaces from United States President Barack Obama three new Chinese solar customers. The signed the “American Recovery and Rein- metallization firing furnaces developed by vestment Act”. The act has a volume of Despatch continue to hold the number one US$ 787 billion and is designed to stim- market share in China. Worldwide the com- ulate public transport, energy production pany has shipped over 8 GW of production and other infrastructure projects in the capacity. In the solar market Despatch is United States. Aleo Solar AG is anticipat- globally recognized for engineering and ing a boom in photovoltaic plants as a manufacturing innovative equipment and result of the improved conditions. “The technology solutions. Despatch Industries planned subsidy system is truly direct: partners with solar industry leaders to pro- anyone installing a solar power facility vide the process technology expertise for will be handed a check shortly after- integrated solutions that make solar power wards”, said Jakobus Smit, Aleo Solar’s a viable and affordable energy option. As Cell manufac- CEO, forecasting that “even in 2009, the the company advises, it is consistently rec- turing in a Aleo US market is likely to more than double ognized for exceptional performance and Solar facility in size to at least 700 MW. By 2010 at process quality, optimal cell efficiency, Photo: Aleo Solar the latest, the US solar market will really maximum equipment uptime and reduced get into gear.” operating costs.

Elettronica Santerno China: Solar shares rocketing skyward

strengthens its The Chinese government wants to wants to increase its production by 60 %, presence in Spain pay investment subsidies for PV from 500 MW to approximately 800 MW. installations in the future. They will pay 20 Due to the decline in demand, however, the Elettronica Santerno, a company Yuan per watt of installed capacity. This an- capacity will not be raised by 40 %, and an specialising in power electronics nouncement has caused a considerable in- increase in the number of staff has also for renewable energies, has established a crease in the prices of almost all the Chi- been postponed for the time being. In mid- new commercial company in the Iberian pe- nese solar shares – by 40 % or more. The February, Suntech Power acquired a minori- ninsula: Elettronica Santerno España. The same has happened with the shares of the ty interest in Asia Silicon. It is planned that newly-established company has just been module manufacturer Suntech Power. In the company will produce about US$ 1.5 acquired from Servicios de Cogeneración. early April, the share price rose by about billion worth of silicon for Suntech in the Its business activities include inverter dis- 45 % to US$ 11.36. In 2009, Suntech next seven years. tribution, commercialisation and after sales services for the industrial, eolian and photovoltaic sector. The acquisition, involv- ing an investment of € 900,000, is part of Elettronica Santerno’s sales network exten- sion plan. On the Spanish market in partic- ular in 2008, Elettronica Santerno has en- joyed significant growth with the installa- tion of inverters for photovoltaic plants larger than 100 MW overall power, posi- tioning the company among market leaders in this geographic area. In this context, the foundation of Elettronica Santerno España will guarantee greater impact in an emerg- ing market, where it will be necessary to guarantee continual assistance, especially for recently installed plants. Elettronica Santerno España is located near Valencia and inherits more than twenty years experi- ence in both thermal solar and photovoltaic activities. The price of Chinese solar shares is going straight up. Photo: Suntech Power

10 Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009

Review International NEWS

Greek Parliament receives PV order from Asia

spends € 29.9 million The Jenoptik Lasers and Material Processing Division is going to fit out another HelioSphera, Greek manufacturer production line for thin film solar cells in Asia. The new order comprises a produc- of thin-film modules, previously tion line together with the entire layer structuring and ablation technology. The lasers are known as Next Solar, has just announced used to apply structuring with a width ranging from 30 to 60 µm. The delivery of the pro- that the Greek Parliament has approved its duction line is scheduled for the summer of 2009. application for the subsidy of its produc- The solar cells produced by the customer consist of several ultra-thin layers applied to tion site. The subsidy amounts to almost a carrier material. High-precision structuring lines are inserted into the micrometer-thin € 29.9 million and is a key component of layers by the Jenoptik systems. This includes, for example, line ablation by laser for the HelioSphera‘s project finance structure. basic metal layer, or mechanical line ablation for the semiconductor and metal oxide lay- HelioSphera, with headquarter in ers. Jenoptik considers the new order from Asia a reinforcement of its position as a suppli- ­Athens and factory in Tripolis, is currently er of series-production solutions in the manufacture of solar cells. investing € 180 million in its production fa- cility in Tripolis. With 60 MW capacity the factory will constitute the biggest micro- Good dealings with morph photovoltaic panels manufacturing China: Jenoptik in Europe. It will employ some 180 staff from eastern and will be ready to start mass production Germany during the 3rd quarter of 2009. Photo: Jenoptik HelioSphera already has signed a long- term supply agreement with Tecno Spot, a well known Italian distributor of photo- voltaic modules and components. In a first step, the contract includes the supply of a minimum of 9 MW of micromorph thin-film modules between 2009 and 2010, and both parties agreed to consider a frame- work for additional quantities in 2010. HelioSphera was founded in 2007, with major shareholders headquartered in the United States of America.

European Business 17 MW solar power Award for Q-Cells plant in Colorado The company Q-Cells SE from Thal- Xcel Energy and SunPower Corp., a heim, Germany, has won the pres- manufacturer of high-efficiency so- tigious European Business Award 2009 in lar cells, panels and systems, announced the category “Business of the Year”. The an agreement to build a 17 MW photovolta- awards have been conferred annually since ic solar power plant in Colorado‘s Alamosa 2006. It is the purpose of the independent County. The completion is scheduled for the competition to acknowledge and support end of 2010. It is expected to create approx- companies in the European Union that are imately 200 jobs during construction. The distinguished by outstanding entrepreneur- plant will use SunPower Tracker systems, ial achievements and a high capacity for in- which generate up to 30 % more energy per novation. The award in the category “Busi- land area than fixed installations and re- ness of the Year” goes to companies that duce land-use requirements. Xcel Energy is combine excellent performance, strong ranked as the fifth-largest utility provider of growth and a leading position in their sec- solar power in the nation. In Colorado, the tor with innovative business strategies. Q- company has acquired more than 25 MW of Cells SE received the award during the on-site solar generation from homes and prize-giving ceremony in Rome. This year, businesses participating in Xcel‘s Solar Re- the jury for the category “Business of the wards rebate programme. In addition, the Year” included Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the company buys power from an 8.2 MW solar Chairman of the Board of Directors and farm adjacent to where the new facility will former CEO of Nestlé S.A., Gilbert Ghostine, be built. The company also is the nation‘s the Managing Director of Diageo Continen- number one utility provider for wind power, Q-Cells headquarters tal Europe, as well as the former Presidents and is working to meet various renewable in Bitterfeld, Germany of Bulgaria and Estonia, Petar Stoyanov and energy standards in many of the eight Photo: Q-Cells Arnold Rüütel. states in which it is operating.

12 Sun & Wind Energy 5/2009 KATAX21*29,7_eng0108 11-01-2008 11:26 ™ÂÏ›‰·1

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Solar electricity for Trina Solar: 4.7 MW Arabian oil company Peruvian hospital PV plant completed in buys majority stake in The German project developer Ju- Italy MAN Ferrostaal wi has taken the first step towards the development of the market segment Trina Solar has announced the The International Petroleum In- “off-grid energy supply”. In the Peruvian completion of a 4.7 MW photo- vestment Company (IPIC), Abu Andes, an off-grid solar installation has voltaic facility developed by ErgyCapital. Dhabi, is the new majority shareholder of been put into operation. A PV system with Trina Solar was the sole supplier of PV MAN Ferrostaal, a company that is active, a capacity of 5.7 kW now supplies electrici- modules used on the rooftop installation among other things, as a project developer ty to a hospital – independently of the na- which was carried out in the town of Serra­ for solar thermal power plants. The corre- tional grid. With 24 batterys, about 30 kWh valle Scrivia in the Piedmont region of Italy. sponding share purchase contract between are also available at night. The project is Currently the project is the largest single IPIC and MAN AG took effect at the end of also Juwi‘s first ground-mounted PV instal- roof-mounted solar system in Italy, involv- March, following the approval of the inter- lation in South America. The company has ing approximately 38,000 m2 of solar pan- national competition authorities. announced further projects on the conti- els. The system is expected to generate ap- IPIC has taken over 70 % of the shares nent. Entry into the off-grid system sector proximately 5 GWh of electricity per year. in MAN Ferrostaal; MAN AG is keeping an has been made with the aim of implement- „We are excited to partner with Ergy- interest of 30 %. The transaction encom- ing regenerative energy supply systems in Capital on the completion of the largest passes all the business units and subsidi- as many regions of the world as possible, single rooftop installation project in Italy. ary companies of MAN Ferrostaal. Since the says Juwi. This roof-mounted PV system is an excel- Arabian Peninsula is regarded as an excel- In the Peruvian project, a modern PV lent example of the many projects that we lent location for solar thermal power backup system has been installed. Any look forward to working on with ErgyCapi- plants, MAN spokesman Daniel Reinhardt surplus energy is stored using batteries. If tal in the future“, stated Arturo Herrero, Tri- considers positive effects on the solar busi- there is a supply shortfall, the system can na Solar‘s Vice President of Sales & Mar- ness to be likely. There is already a joint automatically connect itself to the public keting. „We are pleased to work with es- venture with IPIC, about which Håkan Sam- grid. Juwi has donated the off-grid system tablished Italian investment companies uelsson, the Chairman of the Executive to a mission hospital in a mountain region such as ErgyCapital that specialize in re- Board of MAN AG, said: “This company will where people had previously been largely newable energy as we continue to develop offer all the activities in our project busi- cut off from any medical care. The organi- our well recognized brand in Italy by pro- ness areas: the petrochemical industry, en- zation supporting the hospital is “Diospi viding efficient and clean solar energy in ergy, oil and gas and renewable energies – Syana”. the years ahead.“ particularly solar energy.”

Siemens Energy has acquired about 28 % of the shares in the Siemens buys shares in CSP Italian solar company Archimede Solar En- receiver manufacturer ergy S.p.A. (ASE). The companies are not revealing the purchase price. In the medi- um term, Siemens wants to increase its stake to a majority holding. According to Siemens, ASE is the only manufacturer of solar receivers that work with molten salt as the heat carrier. In com- parison to the commonly used heat trans- fer oil, receivers using molten salt are more efficient, Siemens says. Liquid salt is also used in heat storage tanks in order to allow electricity generation to continue when clouds are passing or after sunset. The salt used by ASE is heated to a temperature of up to 550 °C. Via a heat exchanger, it gen- erates the steam for driving a steam tur- boset. In the field of steam turbosets for solar thermal power plants, Siemens claims to be the market leader. “The construction of a new factory for so- lar receiver production, which will go into op- eration in 2010, will be started before the end of this year”, says Gianluigi Angelantoni, the President of Archimede Solar Energy. Solar receivers are an essential part of CSP plants as for example Andasol 2 in Spain. Photo: Martin Frey

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US Solar Industry Year Biodiesel plant in the port of Bilbao

in Review 2008 With an investment of € 25 million the production in the Bilbao plant will The Solar Energy Industries Associ- Biocombustibles has put a annually avoid the emission of 496,000 ation (SEIA) estimates in its latest biodiesel plant into service in the port of tons of CO2 per year from conventional publication, “US Solar Industry Year in Re- Bilbao. It is the second facility of this type diesel fuel in transport. This level of pro- view 2008”, that the solar thermal market in owned by the company in Spain and will duction will also avoid the need to im- the United States has grown by 50 % last produce 200,000 tons of biodiesel per port the equivalent of 1.3 million barrels 2 year, to almost 229,000 m (160 MWth). The year. The plant is located at Zierbena on a of oil a year. The Bilbao biodiesel plant state with the biggest share of the market is site in the port of Bilbao in the Basque re- is the second installed by Acciona after still Hawaii. The number of solar water heat- gion. It will produce biodiesel from previ- its 70,000 ton facility at Caparroso (re- ers that the three public utility companies ously refined first-use vegetable oils (soya, gion of Navarra, northern Spain), opera- Heco, Helco and Meco rebated even grew by rapeseed or palm). According to Acciona, tional since 2005. 55 %, to 8,207 systems in 2008 (2007: Last January 1st legislation 5,295 systems). Altogether the number of on the obligatory nature of the solar thermal systems installed in the US use of biofuels in transport add up to 25,000 to 30,000 systems, of came into effect. It establishes which approximately 12 % are combined that 3.4 % of the overall energy systems for hot water and space heating. content of gasoline and diesel In its report, SEIA underlines two other fuel sold in Spain for transport achievements for the solar thermal sector in 2009 should come from bio- that were realised within the last month: fuels, and 5.83 % in 2010. • The US Department of Energy (DOE) an- nounced its new programme for highly-effi- cient residential water heaters, which in- The biodiesel plant installed by cludes solar water heaters (SWH), too. SWH Acciona in the port of Bilbao can qualified for the Energy Star have been produce 200,000 tons a year. available since 1st January, 2009. Energy Star is a voluntary labelling and recognition programme sponsored by DOE and the US grants are available. The federal government Solarcomplex builds Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is also supporting companies in the installa- seeking to accelerate the adoption of clean tion of solar thermal systems with up to 40 % district heating system and efficient domestic energy technologies. of the investment costs, depending on the in southern Germany • The US energy ministry DOE decided to energy saving effect. A further € 50 million make the Solar Heating and Cooling Pro- are available for this purpose. The company Solarcomplex AG gramme part of its Buildings Technologies The state of Lower Austria has also in- has started the construction of a Programme, which promotes net-zero ener- creased its support for solar energy. Since large-scale heating network in the dis- gy buildings that generate as much energy the beginning of March, a grant of up to trict of Constance, Germany. By Septem- as they consume through efficiency tech- € 20,000 has been available for the thermal- ber, a heat distribution network of nologies and on-site power generation. energy-efficient renovation of single family around 7 km in length will be laid, and houses. If the heating system is backed up about 140 buildings will be connected to by an auxiliary solar thermal installation or is the system. It will be supplied with Austria pushes solar switched to certain other energy sources a bioenergy from a 700 kW pellet boiler non-repayable grant is paid, the maximum and a 2 MW wood chip boiler. Altogether, heating amount of which has been raised from approximately 500,000 litres of fuel oil According to an announcement € 2,950 to € 5,000, effective from 1st April. equivalent will be replaced by domestic from the association Austria Solar, . The associated reduc- Austria is currently pushing the use of solar tion in CO2 emissions amounts to about heating in several ways. In the context of the Energy Globe for solar 1,200 tons annually. Around three quar- second economic stimulus package, the ters of the investment, which is over Austrian Federal Government wants to sup- apartment building € 3 million, is being financed by loans port the thermal-energy-efficient renovation from Jenni from the German bank Kreditanstalt für of buildings. Private individuals can now ob- Wiederaufbau (KfW). The remaining 25 % tain up to € 2,500 for solar heating systems The Swiss company Jenni Energie­ is equity capital from newly issued if the heating energy requirement of the technik AG has received the Ener- shares in Solarcomplex AG. The southern house does not exceed 75 kWh/m2a. The gy Globe Award for its completely solar- German region of Lake Constance, with energy performance certificate for the build- heated apartment building. The building its great number of model projects, is de- ing will be accepted as evidence of this. The won the prize as the best Swiss project and veloping into a pioneer of regional ener- collector area must be at least 20 m2. also ranked among the top 15 worldwide. gy transition. During the next three The grant will be paid to private persons The collectors heat the water in a gigan- years, the bioenergy region will be able in addition to the support at federal state lev- tic storage tank, so that there is also to claim up to € 400,000 of government el. Altogether, € 50 million of non-repayable enough heat during the winter. support funds.

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