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SFCE Aug 24
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$100 million expansion to rise at Suniva
Aug 21, 2015 | Atlanta Business Chronicle
By Urvaksh Karkaria
...Suniva hinted at an expansion when it reported Aug. 13 that Hong Kong-based Shunfeng International Clean Energy had bought a 63 percent share of the Norcross-based company for about $58 million. Suniva declined to discuss details about the expansion... -
Yingli Could Be Gone In A Year
Aug 21, 2015 | Alt Energy Stocks
By Doug Young
...A sharp drop in prices back in 2011 led to an initial round of consolidation that saw major players Suntech and LDK go bankrupt and their assets get acquired or shuttered. But clearly some more consolidation is still needed to further reduce supply.... -
Is Another Chinese Solar Maker on the Road to Bankruptcy?
Aug 21, 2015 | 24/7 Wall Street
By Paul Ausick
Since Chinese solar panel makers Suntech and LDK Solar filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013 and 2014, respectively, the solar panel business has gotten more stable. Manufacturing overcapacity has dropped, but Chinese makers that expanded rapidly until about 2011 continue to be plagued with too much capacity and too little demand. -
China's Subsidy Policy Hits Wind, Solar Developers
Aug 24, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
China's wind and solar developers are getting much less than they anticipated in government subsidies, which threatens to stymie growth in the world's biggest market for clean energy. The issue relates to the support China pays power suppliers as enticement to develop clean energy projects. -
Australian capital government sets sights on 100% renewables by 2025
Aug 24, 2015 | PV Tech
By Ben Willis
As Australia’s national politicians continue their bitter dispute over the country’s espousal of renewable energy, the government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is setting its sights on reaching 100% renewable energy generation by 2025. The target was announced over the weekend... -
India approves plans for 50 ‘solar cities’
Aug 24, 2015 | PV Tech
By Tom Kenning
India has selected 50 municipalities across the country to develop plans to become 'solar cities'. Each solar city will aim at a minimum 10% reduction in projected demand for conventional energy within five years through the installation of renewable energy technologies including solar, wind, biomass, small hydro... -
Victoria to fast-track the construction of 50 new wind turbines worth $200m
Aug 24, 2015 | The Guardian
By Melissa Davey
The Victorian government has set itself against the Coalition government over renewable energy by fast-tracking plans to build 50 new wind turbines worth $200m. The premier, Daniel Andrews, made the announcement on Friday at Keppel Prince Engineering, the same wind tower... -
The world’s first fully solar-powered airport
Aug 21, 2015 | Telegraph
By Soo Kim
India has unveiled the first airport in the world to operate completely on solar energy. A solar power plant with 46,150 solar panels has been installed across 45 acres of land near the cargo area of Cochin International Airport (CIAL). It supplies the airport with 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day, making the airport ...
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$100 million expansion to rise at Suniva
Aug 21, 2015 | Atlanta Business Chronicle
By Urvaksh Karkaria
Solar cell-maker Suniva Inc. will invest nearly $100 million in an expansion at its metro Atlanta headquarters, creating up to 500 jobs in Norcross.
The expansion, sources said, will triple local manufacturing capacity and involve the addition of a new building.
Suniva, a Georgia Tech spinoff founded by Ajeet Rohatgi, makes high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells and modules. Suniva’s cells can convert about 20 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity, meaning fewer cells are needed to produce the same energy output. Conventional crystalline silicon solar cells average 15.5 percent to 16.5 percent efficiency.
The United States is the second-largest solar power market in the world, with California, alone, being the sixth largest.
Suniva hinted at an expansion when it reported Aug. 13 that Hong Kong-based Shunfeng International Clean Energy had bought a 63 percent share of the Norcross-based company for about $58 million. Suniva declined to discuss details about the expansion. The state of Georgia is expected to announce the economic development deal next week.
Suniva, which employs about 250 in Norcross and operates a solar panel manufacturing plant in Michigan, is following a growing trend of manufacturing returning to the United States as the cost-of-labor gap narrows, companies become more environmentally conscious and customers demand “Made in USA” products.
Suniva is the No. 2 U.S. crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturer in total capacity, according to Greentech Media. Suniva primarily serves the U.S. market, which is the largest market for “power dense” or high-efficiency solar cells. The expansion will bring Suniva’s U.S. manufacturing capacity to more than 400 megawatts.
Led by CEO John Baumstark, Suniva primarily sells to government agencies, residential customers, and the commercial and industrial markets. Domestic demand for Suniva products is growing more than 75 percent annually, Vice President Matt Card said.
Demand is especially strong for Suniva’s high-energy cells from industrial users who have limited space on which to install solar panels. “It’s not simply a conversation about lowest-priced,” Card said. “It’s also a conversation about highest quality and highest power efficiency.”
U.S. solar cell manufacturing capacity is “woefully inadequate” to supply domestic demand, said Mark Burger, a Chicago-based energy consultant. “In the absence of standardized and long-term federal policy to drive solar energy adoption, manufacturers have been hesitant to invest in production, stateside,” Burger said.
Even so, tumbling prices of cells have made solar power about 25 percent cheaper than two years ago. Battery and other storage technologies on the grid are making solar power more reliable as a fuel source. Meanwhile, the United States is imposing import tariffs on solar cells and wafers from Chinese and Taiwanese sources, making domestic manufacturing more attractive.
U.S. module manufacturing capacity is expected to top 3.5 gigawatts by 2018, up from 1.6 gigawatts today, according to Greentech Media. Cell manufacturing capacity could increase to 2 gigawatts, from 0.7 gigawatts, over the same period, according to GTM Research, a division of Greentech Media.
Domestic manufacturing is seeing a resurgence thanks to corporations sensitive about their carbon footprints. Businesses are putting emphasis on sourcing locally manufactured products.
“By buying products manufactured at home for consumption at home, you’re not going to end up with an endless stream of diesel-burning container ships moving back and forth across the Atlantic and Pacific,” Card said.
The domestic manufacturing movement is not entirely altruistic. Shipping solar panels from China can take 30 to 45 days, tying up capital that might be invested elsewhere. “By producing locally, manufacturers shorten the cash investment cycle, freeing up capital to produce more product and boost sales,” Card said.
Suniva is able to keep manufacturing in the U.S. thanks to its more power-efficient cell technology. “Driving the per-unit power efficiency up is another way of lowering the per-unit production cost,” Card said.
Prior to the Chinese investment, Suniva has since its inception in 2007 raised about $130 million in venture capital and private equity funding from New Enterprise Associates, Goldman Sachs, Warburg-Pincus, and Prelude Ventures.
Suniva, which in recent years was swamped by a flood of cheap Chinese imports into the U.S. market, is now being buoyed by the Chinese.
Shunfeng’s investment gives Suniva the financial, manufacturing and supply chain resources to accelerate growth and lower manufacturing costs. Shunfeng owns China-based Suntech Power, a major solar panel maker.
“It gives us the ability to expand at a greater level,” Card said. “It’s about continuing the globalization of the solar supply chain, while focusing on the U.S. market.”
For Shunfeng, the investment gives it a U.S. outpost, Burger said. “Suniva gives the Chinese conglomerate a U.S. manufacturing outpost,” he said. “This is another example of the Chinese being strategic and realizing the United States will continue to be a big market.”
Suniva was once widely considered a candidate for an initial public stock offering. Those plans are apparently not off the table.
“If you look at our investors’ history...they all have a history of building stand-alone companies that they eventually take public,” Card said. “The goal remains the same, which is to build a viable company and an IPO may still happen.”
Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2015/08/21/100m-expansion-to-rise-at-suniva.html
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Yingli Could Be Gone In A Year
Aug 21, 2015 | Alt Energy Stocks
By Doug Young
Bottom line: China is likely to see 1-2 of its weakest major solar panel makers close over the next year in a campaign led by Beijing, with Yingli as the most likely candidate to make the first exit.
A couple of new reports from the Chinese solar sector are shining a spotlight on consolidation that’s still needed before the industry can return to health. One report cites the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the sector regulator, saying more such consolidation is necessary and the pace should accelerate. The second is a technical announcement from Yingli (NYSE: YGE), the weakest among China’s major panel makers, saying it has fallen out of compliance with US listing requirements due to its low stock price.
The appearance of these 2 news items on the same day is purely coincidence, even though both are related to the same phenomenon. That phenomenon saw global solar panel production explode over the last decade, as scores of new plants opened in China in response to policy directives and other incentives from Beijing.
As a result, China now supplies over half of the world’s solar panels, and global prices have remained wobbly for much of the last 4 years due to oversupply. A sharp drop in prices back in 2011 led to an initial round of consolidation that saw major players Suntech and LDK go bankrupt and their assets get acquired or shuttered. But clearly some more consolidation is still needed to further reduce supply.
The MIIT is keenly aware of that fact, which has prompted it to issue a statement saying it expects consolidation to accelerate, and for the nation’s strongest players to lead the way for the entire sector. (English article) It adds that despite the state of oversupply, Chinese output of polysilicon, the main ingredient used to make in solar panels, actually grew 16 percent to 74,000 metric tons in the first half of the year.
That would seem to imply that the MIIT is quietly criticizing Chinese panel makers for boosting output even during a weak market, and hints the regulator may step in to forcibly close some weaker producers or at least force them to cut back output. This kind of situation is quite common in China, where manufacturers of raw materials like steel and aluminum actually boost output during a weak market, even if it means selling at a loss. Acting on Government Orders
They usually behave in such irrational manner under direct or implied orders from their local governments, which want the increased activity to help them meet their economic growth targets. Such orders also carry the implicit guarantee that the government will step in to help companies if they run into financial difficulties by offering measures like loans from local branches of big state-owned banks.
Yingli is one such company, and gets big support from its local government in the industrial city of Baoding where it’s a major employer, even though the company is losing money. Unlike its peers, most of whom managed to return to profitability after several years of losses at the height of the earlier downturn, Yingli has never emerged from the red over the last 5 years.
The company’s financial struggles prompted it to issue a statement earlier this year saying its existence as a business could be in danger, though it later said that investors had misinterpreted that statement. (previous post) Nonetheless, the statement prompted a sell-off of Yingli stock, and the shares have traded at $1 or less since mid-July.
That prompted Yingli to issue another statement saying it had fallen out of compliance with US trading rules that require a company’s share price to remain above the $1 level. (company announcement) Technically Yingli could be forcibly de-listed due to this violation, though companies in such situations can usually return to compliance using a reverse share split.
Still, the company’s troubled situation and shrinking market value — now worth just $174 million — make Yingli an ideal candidate for the kind of consolidation envisioned by the MIIT. Accordingly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the MIIT quietly engineer a deal for one of the stronger panel makers to make a bid for Yingli, which could quietly disappear by this time next year.
Link: http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2015/08/yingli_could_be_gone_in_a_year.html
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Is Another Chinese Solar Maker on the Road to Bankruptcy?
Aug 21, 2015 | 24/7 Wall Street
By Paul Ausick
Since Chinese solar panel makers Suntech and LDK Solar filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013 and 2014, respectively, the solar panel business has gotten more stable. Manufacturing overcapacity has dropped, but Chinese makers that expanded rapidly until about 2011 continue to be plagued with too much capacity and too little demand.
The next casualty appears to be Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (NYSE: YGE), which said Wednesday that it had received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange that the company is not in compliance with its rule for continued listing because the stock’s share price has fallen below $1.00 per ADS for a period of 30 consecutive days.
Yingli has six months from the date of the August 13 notice to regain compliance. The company said it expects to notify the NYSE that it intends to cure its price deficiency within the prescribed period.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MITI) said on Wednesday that it expects the country’s solar makers to accelerate consolidation as market conditions continue to shift. MITI also said it expects “steady growth” in the country’s solar industry in the second half of the year, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The central planners of MITI may expect more consolidation, but under the country’s local control rules, it is difficult for the solar makers to take the necessary steps, given a local government’s drive to make itself look good by keeping employment numbers up. Closing a solar manufacturing plant does not make the powers-that-be look good.
Yingli’s ADSs traded down more than 9% Friday morning, at around $0.83 in a 52-week range of $0.72 to $4.03. The company’s market cap is about $150 million at that price. The ADSs hit an all-time high of $41.50 in December of 2007 and dropped to around $13.50 in February 2011, before skidding to the recent sub-$1.00 price range.
Link: http://247wallst.com/energy-business/2015/08/21/is-another-chinese-solar-maker-on-the-road-to-bankruptcy/
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China's Subsidy Policy Hits Wind, Solar Developers
Aug 24, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
China's wind and solar developers are getting much less than they anticipated in government subsidies, which threatens to stymie growth in the world's biggest market for clean energy.
The issue relates to the support China pays power suppliers as enticement to develop clean energy projects. Surcharges slapped onto electricity bills to fund the subsidies are too low, leaving a gap between what was promised and what's being paid out, said Meng Xiangan, vice chairman of the China Renewable Energy Society, an industry group.
Left to continue, the trend may foreshadow a reckoning for what has become the engine of growth in the global renewables industry. Less money flowing to developers could ultimately constrain China's capacity to generate power from nonpolluting sources.
“This will weaken enthusiasm for investment and go against the development of renewable power in the long run,” Meng said.
Additional delays could ultimately eat into cash flow at companies such as China Longyuan Power Group Corp., China Datang Corporation Renewable Power Co. and others.
About 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) to 40 billion yuan may be owed by the government to developers in unpaid subsidies, said Li Junfeng, director general of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation. Some developers have been waiting since before 2012 for payments they have yet to receive, Li estimates.
A fax sent to the Ministry of Finance, which retains responsible for allocating the subsidies, wasn't answered.
Incentive Structure
In the U.S., state and federal incentives have been used to help cover the cost of renewable energy projects, mostly in the form of production and investment tax credits. China by contrast supports renewables mainly in through government-set pricing.
Since 2006, China has levied a surcharge on consumers to fund the subsidies. The surcharge is currently 0.015 yuan a kilowatt-hour paid for by users, excluding residential and agricultural customers.
The Finance Ministry took control of the subsidy program in 2012 from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning agency. But the transition left unclear which agency was responsible for paying any previous shortfall between the subsidies promised and the money raised from the surcharge.
Procedure Blamed
Besides the mismatch between incentive levels and the surcharges, the move to a new subsidy-allocation system in 2012 and complicated application procedures may also be to blame for holding up payments, said Meng at the Renewable Energy Society.
The issue is of particular importance at the moment because of the huge amounts of money pouring into the sector in China, along with the country's ambitions.
Clean energy investment in China totaled almost $28 billion in the second quarter this year, up 15 percent from a year ago and more than double investment in the U.S., according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Policymakers want the boom to continue. China added about 17 gigawatts of solar and wind power in the first half alone, data from the country's National Energy Administration showed last month. The nation vows by 2030 to get 20 percent of its energy from renewables and nuclear power, almost double the current share.
Longyuan's Deficit
Though improving in recent months, Longyuan had about 2 billion yuan in subsidy receivables at the end of 2014, mainly from overdue payments in 2011 or earlier, said Lan Peizhen, Longyuan's investor relations manager. Payments are now being settled one to two months after the end of the period in which they're due, she added.
Longyuan, China's biggest wind-farm developer, reported net income of 2.56 billion yuan last year.
Datang, an operator of wind and solar plants, had about 2 billion yuan of subsidy receivables as of June, according to an official from Datang Renewables's investor relations department, who asked not to be identified in line with policy.
Companies faced with more delays may need to turn to alternative financing, the Datang official said.
At the end of June, the government owed more than 10 billion yuan to operators of Chinese solar farms, according to data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.
Consumer Impact
“Though the government is working to fill in the shortage in the subsidies, this can't be done at one kick,” said Gong Siwen, an analyst at Northeast Securities Co. in Shanghai. “The government has to consider the impact on electricity bills after a possible lift in the surcharge.”
The issue could undermine efforts by China's renewables developers to raise financing from outside China, said Nick Duan, a Beijing-based analyst from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Moreover, the overdue subsidies may sour investors on China's renewables developers, said Karl Liu, a Hong Kong-based analyst from Bank of China International Ltd.
The Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association, an organization that acts as a conduit between government policy makers and industry executives, has called for raising the surcharge to 0.025 yuan a kilowatt-hour, according to Tang Wenqian, executive vice secretary-general.
“There's an impact on the entire supply chain” when subsidies aren't paid on time, Tang said.
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Australian capital government sets sights on 100% renewables by 2025
Aug 24, 2015 | PV Tech
By Ben Willis
As Australia’s national politicians continue their bitter dispute over the country’s espousal of renewable energy, the government of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is setting its sights on reaching 100% renewable energy generation by 2025.
The target was announced over the weekend at the ACT Labor Party conference by chief minister Andrew Barr, building on an existing plan to achieve 90% renewable energy generation by 2020.
“We can do this. We have shown it’s possible – now we have one small step left. 100% renewable energy will drive further jobs growth in our research and corporate sectors,” Barr said.
“We’ve already seen a 400% increase in renewable energy jobs in the past five years, and there will be more to come. Canberra can and should be a beacon for everyone who realises the world must act decisively now to stave off a future of catastrophic climate change.”
Barr pointed out that the ACT policy was in “stark contrast” to that of Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and his Liberal Party, who have made various attempts to water down Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) in favour of supporting the coal industry. Abbott and his administration have also been criticised recently for falling behind other countries in efforts to reduce emissions.
“As the Federal Liberal Government denies the existence of climate change, the ACT Labor government is doing everything we can to ensure future generations aren’t burdened with the consequences of global warming,” Barr said.
Canberra is looking to meet its renewable energy goals through a mixture of large-scale solar and wind development, with tenders for 200MW of wind and 50MW of PV with storage having recently been announced. These are on top of other past large-scale solar and wind projects commissioned by the ACT, which are expected to contribute towards a 60% renewable energy target by 2017.
Barr said as an additional step, the ACT government would divest its portfolio of high-carbon-emitting companies and sectors.
With Australia’s federal government seeking ways to row back on Australia’s renewable energy commitments, the country’s state governments are becoming increasingly important protagonists in its shift towards low-carbon energy sources.
Aside from the capital territory, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania have been notable in their championing the deployment of clean energy at a state level.
Speaking at the Australian Clean Energy Summit last month, the ACT government’s energy minister Simon Cobell said Australia’s states now had a more prominent role than its federal leaders.
“Strong policies are critical to allow renewable energy to scale up sufficiently…we believe there is a big role for the states to play in encouraging more renewable energy.”
Link: http://www.pv-tech.org/news/australian_capital_government_sets_sites_on_100_renewables_by_2020
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India approves plans for 50 ‘solar cities’
Aug 24, 2015 | PV Tech
By Tom Kenning
India has selected 50 municipalities across the country to develop plans to become 'solar cities'.
Each solar city will aim at a minimum 10% reduction in projected demand for conventional energy within five years through the installation of renewable energy technologies including solar, wind, biomass, small hydro and waste to energy. Energy efficiency measures may be included depending on the resource availability in each town or city.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said plans have already been prepared for 46 out of the 50 municipalites. The total cost for the 50 sanctioned cities and towns would be INR236.9 million (US$3.55 million) for which INR61 million has been released.
Each city may receive financial support of up to INR5 million to prepare the master plan.
Jasmeet Khurana, senior consulting manager at analyst firm Bridge to India, told PV Tech that once the MNRE funds have been released, it will then be up to municipal corporations to carry out the plans.
Although Khurana said this is an old policy, which has "not been very streamlined", it will make up part of the Indian government's target of reaching 40GW of rooftop solar by 2022.
The 50 cities sanctioned for the solar city developments are: Agra, Moradabad, Allahabad, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Surat, Nagpur, Kalyan-Dombiwali, Thane, Aurangabad, Nanded, Gwalior, Rewa, Imphal, Kohima, Dimapur, Dehradun, Haridwar-Rishikesh, Chamoli-Gopeshwar, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Coimbatore, Vijayawada, Bilaspur, Raipur, Agartala, Guwahati, Jorhat, Hubli-Dharwad, Mysore, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Mohali, Jodhpur, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl, Panaji City & Environs, Itanagar, Hamirpur, Shimla Shirdi, Ajmer, New Town Kolkata, Howrah, Madhyamgram, New Delhi, Puducherry, Kochi and Bhopal.
There are six proposed cities in Maharashtra, four in Madhya Pradesh, and three in Punjab, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, "in-principle" approvals have been given to five cities: Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Indore, Leh and Mahbubnagar.
India has targeted 100GW of solar by 2022. Mercom Capital Group's latest quaterly report on India revised its forecasts, expecting the country to install 2.5GW of solar in 2015, significantly up from the previous forecast of 2GW.
Link: http://www.pv-tech.org/news/india_approves_50_solar_cities1
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Victoria to fast-track the construction of 50 new wind turbines worth $200m
Aug 24, 2015 | The Guardian
By Melissa Davey
The Victorian government has set itself against the Coalition government over renewable energy by fast-tracking plans to build 50 new wind turbines worth $200m.
The premier, Daniel Andrews, made the announcement on Friday at Keppel Prince Engineering, the same wind tower manufacturer in the state’s south-west where 100 staff were made redundant in 2014 because of uncertainty regarding the federal government’s renewable energy target.
Tony Abbott recently described wind farms as “visually awful” and launched a senate inquiry to investigate their impact.
In June, legislation passed through both houses of federal parliament to wind back the renewable energy target from 41,000 gigawatt hours by 2020 to to 33,000GWh, with the uncertainty in the lead-up damaging investor confidence. Renewable energy target: Senate sits late to pass bill without amendment
Andrews said: “The renewable energy sector and the thousand of Victorians and Australians whose lives depend on it, were betrayed with very bad policy. They were forgotten and left behind.”
“That’s not good enough. We’ve got a very different set of priorities. Renewable energy is about jobs, it’s as simple as that. I understand that, my government understands it. We will make sure we see more and more Victorians employed in this industry.”
The government would source renewable energy certificates from new projects in Victoria, bringing forward the building of about 100 megawatts’ worth of new wind energy worth $200m, he said.
It was expected that about 1,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created as a result, he said, with most of the new jobs based in regional Victoria.
Andrews also announced a renewable energy target of at least 20% within the next five years, saying his government was one that “understands” the renewable sector has a strong future.
Some environmental campaigners cautioned that the Victorian government was making only limited gains on wind farms.
Victoria’s target is slightly higher than that of the federal government’s, but falls well short of other jurisdictions.
In 2013, the ACT legislated to have 90% of electricity coming from renewable energy sources by 2020. South Australia has set its target at 50% by 2025, and Queensland at 50% by 2030.
Andrews said he was open to increasing Victoria’s target down the track.
Meridian Energy, the most significant contributor to the New Zealand government’s target of 90% renewable generation by 2025, and a recent entrant into the Australian market, said it was disappointing the federal government did not recognise retailers would need to acquire a growing supply of renewable energy to remain competitive.
“The fact that states and territories have felt the need to introduce these measures highlights the failure of the federal government to provide the sort of certainty that the the target was intended to deliver,” Meridian Australia chief executive, Ben Burge, said.
Greg Barber, the Victorian Greens leader, told Guardian Australia that Andrews was setting the bar too low. There was no reason Victoria should not aim for 100% renewable energy, he said.
“It was federal Labor who got together with the Liberal party to reduce the federal Renewable Energy Target, and now Daniel Andrews, who was silent then, is basically raising his head and endorsing a similar target.
“One hundred megawatts worth of wind is a small investment. It’s a wind farm, but it’s a small wind farm. There’s already 2,800 megawatts approved and ready to go in the state, so he’s encouraging a fraction of that.”
A spokeswoman for AGL Energy Limited (AGL) said the Victorian government’s renewable energy stance was a welcome one.
“Reducing emissions will require policy mechanisms that support the gradual substitution of older, less efficient coal-fired power stations with renewable generation, in order to facilitate renewable energy investment,” she said.
“There also needs to be sufficient confidence that shareholders will be able to receive an adequate return from investing in renewable energy.”
A spokesman for a federation of environmental organisations, Friends of the Earth, Leigh Ewbank, said he was optimistic that the Andrews government would increase the state’s target later this year.
“A Victorian target that matches the ambition of the ACT or South Australia would be welcomed by the community,” Ewbank said.
Link: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/21/victoria-to-fast-track-the-construction-of-50-new-wind-turbines-worth-200m
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The world’s first fully solar-powered airport
Aug 21, 2015 | Telegraph
By Soo Kim
India has unveiled the first airport in the world to operate completely on solar energy.
A solar power plant with 46,150 solar panels has been installed across 45 acres of land near the cargo area of Cochin International Airport (CIAL). It supplies the airport with 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day, making the airport “absolutely power neutral”, according to a statement by CIAL.
India's leading airport in sustainability had already been using solar energy from two smaller power plants installed in 2013. But the latest addition brings its solar energy capacity up to 12 megawatts (MW) of power per day, a sufficient amount to run all of the airport’s daily functions. The new plant is expected to generate 18 million units of solar power annually, an amount that could charge around 10,000 homes in the country for one year. The sustainable project is expected to offset carbon emissions by more than 3 lakh (300,000) metric tons over the next 25 years, which is said to be the equivalent of planting three million trees or not driving for 750 miles, according to the airport.
Cochin International is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala and the third busiest in India, according to international passenger traffic, having received more than 3,750,000 passengers between 2013 and 2014.
• The world's best airports
Its latest development is one of several ‘green’ initiatives currently in place or being planned at airports globally in the future.
Plans for Mexico City’s new international airport, which aims to be world’s most sustainable airport, were revealed last year. The Mexican capital's new airport will be designed by Norman Foster, the British architect responsible for the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) and the dome of Berlin’s Reichstag building. The new hub, expected to be completed by 2018, will use minimal energy and offer an efficient passenger experience with shorter walking distances.
A rendering of the future Mexico City International Airport Photo: fosterandpartners.com
Heathrow’s Terminal 2, which opened last year, was the first airport terminal in the world to be certified by BREAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), the world’s longest established building sustainability rating system.
T2’s eco-friendly features include “skylights and 10 metre-high, floor-to-ceiling windows that maximise the natural light” and “sophisticated lighting control systems that keep energy use down by switching off the LED lights when parts of the building are not in use”. The terminal’s close proximity to the runways also helps cut carbon emission by reducing aircraft taxiing times.
• The world's most convenient airports
Last year, Denver International Airport in the US installed its fourth solar power array which can produce up to 2MW of electricity per year. It reduces around 2,200 metric tons of carbon emissions annually, which is said to be enough to supply energy to 500 homes in Denver for a year.
Slipstream, the sculpture by Richard Wilson that dominates Heathrow's Terminal 2 Photo: PA
Sustainability has been developed for several years at airports in North America, including Chicago O’Hare International which has been a founding figure in airport sustainability since 2003 when it created the Sustainable Design Manual to establish “greener airport development” within the industry. The manual was updated as the Sustainable Airport Manual in 2009 and has since been used as a standard for sustainability design by airports across the country.
In 2006, Terminal A at Boston’s Logan International Airport installed several sustainable features, including heat-reflecting roofs and windows, self-dimming lights and a storm water filtration system, making it the first airport terminal in the US to receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the Green Building Council.
A plane taxiing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Photo: Getty Images
Trudeau International in Montreal has been making ground-breaking developments in sustainability since 2004, including an underground car park heated by hot water and automated blinds in the airport jetties that respond to natural light, helping to save on heating and air conditioning costs.
Arizona’s Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport was given a 'gold rating' by LEED last year for its PHX Sky Train, an electric, automated transport system that reduced the airport’s carbon footprint by nearly 6,000 tons a year.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/11816236/The-worlds-first-fully-solar-powered-airport.html
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