Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

Solar Energy is currently prominent in the global press even if it does not feature heavily in the UK’s renewable energy expectations.

In many parts of the world, the solar industry is making giant size steps alongside wind energy. Norwegian silicon ingot and wafer manufacturer Norsun recently secured US $180m for its expansion plans. Meanwhile Chinese solar company Astronergy hit an annual generation figure of 100MW from its thin PV film technology last year and has attracted deals from two Chinese private equity investors worth US $50m to expand its manufacturing base.

Solar energy has very similar barriers to deployment as wind energy. High capital costs mean current problems with securing finance to build. Earlier this month however Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, confirmed plans to purchase a 34% stake in AMPER Central Solar, the developer of Portugal´s Amareleja (Moura) PV solar plant, wholly owned by ACCIONA. According to solar energy website Solarbuzz, the 45.8MWp Amareleja (Moura) plant is the world´s largest grid-connected photovoltaic solar plant and required an investment of 261 million Euros. It has an estimated annual production of 93 million KWh, enough to supply 30,000 homes with electricity.

Also this month, UK based Foresight Group, an asset manager focused on environmental infrastructure investments signed two contracts worth €50 million for the construction of solar projects totalling 10MW in the Foggia and Lecce regions of Puglia, Southern Italy. Giovanni Terranova from Foresight said “The solar infrastructure market is experiencing rapid growth and continues to attract strong interest from investors and operators. We have been able to partner with market leaders in the construction and operation of solar PV plants which is an endorsement of Foresight’s growing reputation as a major player in the solar infrastructure market in Italy. We believe that having ready access to substantial equity capital through our European Solar Fund and an experienced Italian team with a very strong banking network significantly strengthens our market position in the current financial climate. We expect to announce several more deals in the coming months.”

In the US, The Huffington Post today reports that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is opposed to planning applications in California’s Mojave Desert by 19 companies to build solar or wind projects because in her view they would “violate the spirit of what conservationists has intended when they donated much of the land to the public“. Sen. Feinstein said she intends to push legislation that would give the land national monument status, which would allow existing uses to continue but prevent future development.

The latest concerns highlighted in the Mojave Desert include effects on the desert tortoise population. It seems that whatever renewable energy technology is proposed, a small and vocal group will find an obscure reason to object – although I am sure someone who has read the environmental reports will correct me if effects on the tortoise population are in fact likely.