DIF, an independent fund management company with an extensive global portfolio of solar projects, has chosen Radian Generation, LLC to provide commercial and technical asset management services for more than 65MW of solar projects in Ontario, Canada. 

According to DIF, RadianGEN was selected due to its extensive experience in managing solar projects effectively and efficiently. “We look forward to working with RadianGEN and their accomplished team on our portfolio of solar projects and achieving our goals of building a North American portfolio of infrastructure investments that produce stable cash flows for our investors,” said Paul Huebener, managing director, DIF in Canada.

DIF, which currently manages more than 300MW of solar PV assets globally, has five projects under contract in Canada. “DIF is an established, well-respected fund management company with impressive infrastructure investments globally in the renewable energy sector,” said Chad Sachs, CEO of RadianGEN.  “Their long-term view and competitive sources of capital will help drive the renewable energy forward in both Canada and the United States.»

Following were the top 3 stories on RenewableEnergyFocus.com last week:

Renewables in smart grids: Part I

‘Mini power station’ vision pulls in £800,000 for IE-CHP

NEC Energy Solutions to install energy storage system in California

For more information on this Capsells product, go to capsells.com/products/all-in-one-20-watt-led-solar-pathway-light.html.

This All-in-One is a 20 Watt LED pathway light that is a completely self contained unit that is powered by its own solar panel and battery providing you up to 12 hours of motion activated lighting. The all aluminum fixture can be wall or pole mounted (available separately) virtually anywhere as there is no wires to install.

The night light feature provides 30% illumination all night long and will fully illuminate when the infra red motion sensor is triggered.

40W/18V Solar Panel is integrated into the back of the light fixture for a simple installation.

Great for:

• perimeter lighting, entrances, exits and muster areas.
• playgrounds, courtyards and outside storage areas.
• parking lots, pathways, private roads, and gates.
• Where lighting is not economical or practical.

Specifications

• Dim (Night Light) Mode 30%: 600 lm
• Bright Mode 100%: 2000 lm
• Lighting Hours 12 hours per night
• Battery Autonomy: 2 days
• Installation Height – 4 to 6 Meters (12 to 18 Feet)
• Operating Temperature: -20C to +60C
• Color Temp: 5000-6000K
• Dimensions (mm): 858 x 355 x 65
• Battery Type: Li-ion (LiFePO4)
• Battery Capacity: 18AH / 12.8V
• Fits Pole Diameters of: 60-110mm
• White powder coated Aluminum alloy fixture housing

Grupo Clavijo has completed the installation of a 40 MW array entailing single-axis solar trackers in Chañares, Chile. The Spanish company worked with the Greenwood Biosar Chile Spa (Aktor Group) as the EPC company of reference. According to Grupo Clavijo, the trackers were manufactured in six weeks, with assembly taking just two months.

This latest solar installation marks the continuation of Grupo Clavijo’s international expansion. In fact, Grupo Clavijo has just started another project in Chile comprising 35 MW of single-axis trackers. The firm expects to finish this year with more than 650 MW installed worldwide.
 

The 2014 CanWEA conference programme will focus on a wide range of topics of interest to Canadian and international wind energy investors, including Canadian market growth and investment opportunities, wind energy project development and operations, wind energy integration and storage, and wind energy as a solution to climate change and other electricity system challenges.

This year’s conference will include a celebration of the association’s 30^th anniversary and multiple educational sessions, including:

Sessions—Climate Change, Global Investment and More

• Global Opportunities for New Wind Energy Investment
• Operations and Maintenance Leaders Panel
• Taxes, Ethics, Acquisition, and Technical Review through a Finance Lens
• Current Best Practices to Responding to Common Concerns

• Investment in projects currently contracted to be built or in development for future procurement opportunities
• Manufacturing needs, especially in Ontario and Quebec
• Providing construction and consulting services

Actis, A global pan-emerging market private equity firm, is committing US$250 million to establish a Mexican energy platform, Zuma Energía, which will target over 500 MW of installed capacity in the country.

Zuma Energía 1 recently completed its first acquisition and closed the financing of PE Ingenio, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (Ingenio), a 50 MW wind farm located in the state of Oaxaca.  The project will be constructed by Acciona Energía who will also supply its 33 wind turbines. The wind farm project will receive debt finance from Bancomext and will have Comexhidro as a local partner with a 5% interest. Once in operation the wind farm is expected to produce enough clean energy to power over 125,000 Mexican households, reducing CO2 emissions from conventional generation by over 200,000 tons. 

“Supported by the recent reform agenda in the energy sector, Mexico has compelling fundamentals for investing in power generation, including superior natural resources, an evolving and supportive regulatory framework and an deep project finance capacity,” said Michael Till, co-head of Energy at Actis. “Drawing on our deep understanding of the Latin American energy sector, we are looking forward to building one of Mexico’s leading suppliers of competitive power.”

Rafael Mateo, CEO of Acciona Energía, added: “Actis’s interest in partnering with us strengthens our business in Mexico — a country where we already have significant presence, and in which we continue to develop new projects. We are delighted to be working with such a credible, highly experienced partner as Actis.”

Actis invests exclusively in the emerging markets with a growing portfolio of investments in Asia, Africa and Latin America; it currently has US$6.5 billion funds under management.

1. Zuma Energía S.A. de C.V. (Zuma) is a Mexican energy company that develops, constructs and operates wind, solar and thermal generation projects in Mexico.  Zuma Energía’s growth strategy involves both partnering on new projects and developing its own proprietary pipeline.

Low carbon vehicles

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK is funding £6 million (US$9.6 million) for two new research projects, to drive forward low carbon vehicle technologies. The projects, part of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Energy Programme, will involve academics from eight universities around the UK.

The announcement is being made today by Greg Clark, the Minister for Universities, Science and Cities, to coincide with the annual CENEX Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2014 (LCV2014), taking place 10–11 September at the Millbrook Proving Ground, near Bedford.

Electrochemical technologies

The ELEVATE (ELEctrochemical Vehicle Advanced Technology) project is led by Professor Rob Thring at Loughborough University. It will develop better materials for energy storage devices such as fuel cells and batteries, and improve integration between devices, vehicles and power grids.

ELEVATE will draw on expertise in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials, and manufacturing departments at Loughborough University, University of Warwick, University of Southampton, University College London, and University of Oxford. It will be informed by an Industrial Advisory Committee that includes companies such as Jaguar Land Rover, Johnson Matthey, and Intelligent Energy.

Ultra efficient engines and fuels

The Ultra Efficient Engines and Fuels project, led by Dr Robert Morgan at the University of Brighton, will investigate how to improve the operating efficiency of internal combustion engines by as much as one-third, and how the performance of new fuels can be used in future engines to bring emissions close to zero.

This project will involve academics from computing, engineering maths, engineering design, physics, and mechanical engineering departments at the University of Brighton, Brunel University, University of Oxford, and University College London. Industrial partners include Delphi Diesel Systems Ltd, Jaguar Land Rover, BP British Petroleum, and Ricardo UK.

Driving low carbon vehicle technology research

‘Low carbon vehicles are, without doubt, an inevitable and very necessary next step for the automotive industries,’ says EPSRC Chief Executive, Professor Philip Nelson. ‘The leading research that EPSRC supports will help to make the mass use and production of these vehicles a reality more quickly.’

The Research Councils UK Energy Programme, led by EPSRC, is investing more than £625 million ($1 billion) in research and skills to pioneer a low carbon future. This builds on an investment of £839 million ($1.35 billion) since 2003.

The project marks Chinese industrial conglomerate Everbright Group’s debut in the wind sector. In addition, Gamesa and Everbright have agreed the potential supply of another 48 MW during a second phase of this project in 2015.

Year-to-date, Gamesa has won contracts for the supply of almost 250 MW in China. The most recent deal was the agreement to supply 100 MW to CGN, which came on the heels of contracts with Fujian Energy (48 MW) and another with CGN (49.3 MW).

Gamesa is present in China in its capacity as OEM and wind farm developer. Since 2000, Gamesa has installed more than 3,500 MW and currently services almost 900 MW.

The CSP plant is located on the site of the solar-thermal power plant PE1 in southern Spain. The innovative feature of the new plant design is that the solar collector uses inorganic molten salt as heat transfer fluid.¹ (Using inorganic salts as heat transfer fluid allows operating temperatures above 500°C, resulting in a significant increase in power yield.)

How it works: The thermal energy can either be directly converted into electrical power or be stored in large molten salt tanks during periods of low demand. This stored energy can be kept in reserve for periods when production is low — for example, when the sky is overcast. Solar thermal power plants with storage systems can supply electricity as and when required, which helps to ensure grid stability.

Over the coming months, the demonstration collector will be used to experimentally simulate a large number of different operating conditions. BASF and Novatec will study the impacts on long-term operability, utilizing the results to develop the next generation of solar thermal power plants. 

«The successful commissioning and the initial results of the DMS demo plant have confirmed our expectations of the technology,” said Andreas Wittke, CEO of Novatec Solar. “We are delighted that we can now offer solar thermal power plants with molten salt technology and thermal storage on a commercial basis.”

At the joint test plant, BASF and Novatec Solar use molten salt as heat transfer and storage medium in a Fresnel collector. This type of collector, an alternative to parabolic trough or solar power tower technology, uses flat glass reflectors.²

For several years, BASF has been researching and developing heat transfer fluids based on inorganic salts and process control concepts for solar thermal power plants. The company also has more than 30 years’ experience in the operation of so-called salt bath reactors, chemical plants that also use molten salt as a heat transfer fluid for process control. Besides the use in chemical plants, anorganic salts can be used reasonably in any application that requires the transport or storage of heat.

«Our knowledge of salt chemistry and the new technology concepts are contributing to a significant improvement in the efficiency of solar thermal power plants,» noted Kerstin Dünnwald, head of business management for inorganic chemicals at BASF. «With our portfolio of high-purity inorganic salts and our expertise in their application, we help our customers operate this type of plant safely and efficiently.»

1. Most solar thermal power plants currently use heat transfer oils, which have a limited qualification temperature, according to Novatec.
2. A Fresnel collector consists of almost flat reflectors mounted in rows on a steel structure. The reflectors concentrate direct sunlight onto a receiver, through which the molten salt is pumped. This has the effect of heating the salt to temperatures in excess of 500°C

Under the terms of the contact, ABB will design, engineer, supply and commission two 320 kilovolt land-based HVDC Light converter stations — one rated at 1,200 MW at Blackhillock in Moray and another rated at 800 MW, situated at Spittal in Caithness.

ABB’s scope of supply also includes submarine and underground cables covering a total transmission length of nearly 160 kilometers. The link is scheduled to become operational in 2018.

“We are pleased to support this major transmission project that will enable integration of a significant amount of renewable energy into the grid and supply clean, emission-free electricity to millions of people,” said Claudio Facchin, head of ABB’s Power Systems division.

SHE Transmission is undertaking a major strengthening of its power network serving the north of Scotland to accommodate the rapid growth in generation of electricity from renewable sources, with around 1,200 MW of wind, wave and tidal energy planned to be connected. With associated reinforcement of the existing onshore network, this project represents the largest investment in northern Scotland’s electricity network since the hydro development era of the 1950s. 

A key enabler for this is the installation of a subsea HVDC cable, capable of carrying up to 1,200 MW of electricity between Caithness and Moray. That’s equivalent to the electricity needs of about 2,000,000 Scottish residents.

Earlier this year, ABB Power Systems was awarded a $55 M contract to connect the Dungeon Offshore Wind Farm with the UK grid.