Category Archives: Solar

01.09.12
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The Rough Guide to Community Energy – free book

Rough Guides has published a new book titled The Rough Guide to Community Energy.

With financial backing from retailer Marks & Spencer and distribution by energy efficiency pressure group 10:10, the new book is being distributed for free to encourage Britons to launch carbon-cutting and renewable-energy projects in their local communities.

The Rough Guide to Community Energy is a ’how-to’ guide for community energy projects, covering everything from setting up a group to picking a renewable technology, as well as providing advice on finances and governance. The book features many case studies of community energy projects, including wind, solar PV, solar thermal, heat pumps, biomass, hydro, CHP and energy efficiency.

The book can be downloaded here: The Rough Guide to Community Energy (2.74 MB PDF; right click and select ‘Save target as…’ to download)

Printed copies are also available for the price of two first-class stamps and an A5 envelope. To receive a printed copy, simply send a self-addressed A5 envelope with two first-class stamps to the following address:

Community Energy book

10:10

8A Delancey Passage

Camden Town

London NW1 7NN

09.12.11
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GE launches GE Deutschland

GE launches its GE Deutschland campaign

GE has announced a press conference for 11am CET tomorrow (Tuesday) to launch its new structure for the German market, GE Deutschland.

A GE blog states the media will be informed about the new structure and its planned investments, goals and projects at its research centre in Garching near Munich.

Millicent Media understands the new unit will encompass all of GE’s businesses, such as energy, healthcare, lighting, transportation etc., in a German profit & loss centre, as it seeks to follow a localization trend and compete more effectively in the home market of arch-rival conglomerate Siemens.

To emphasis the Teutonic credentials of GE the US firm placed television ads on national German television tonight, the first time it has ever done so, claiming ‘Wir sind das GE in GErmany’ or ‘We put the GE in GErmany’.

German speakers can find out more here.

09.05.11
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British farmers swap CAP for FiT

The average barn roof could generate as much as £5000 of income a year. Photo: Centre of Excellence for UK Farming

An increasing number of British farmers are embracing renewable energy schemes with a potential return on investment of more than 10 per cent, according to UK renewables developer Eco Environments.

With income for farmers dropping as commodity prices have plummeted, the farming community has been forced to look for new ways to make money. There has been a massive surge in interest among the UK’s farmers since the Government introduced new subsidies – known as feed-in tariffs (FiTs) – in April last year, the company says.

Even changes brought in earlier this year have made little impact on farmers as most of the schemes under consideration are small- and medium-sized and well below the 50kW mark identified by the London government for proposed cuts in tariffs available.

With returns of 10 per cent or more on investment, installing some form of renewable energy generation – most commonly solar panels or wind turbines – is seen as a secure investment by the farming community. Across the UK, more than a third of farmers are believed to be considering investing in renewable energy schemes. Eco Environments says interest from farmers has “gone through the roof” in the past six months.

David Hunt, a director with Eco Environments, said: “The interest from the farming community in the past six months has been phenomenal. “We are currently speaking to dozens of farmers in England and Wales who have either given the go ahead to a renewable energy project or are seriously considering one. Renewable energy for farms is one of the fastest growing areas of our business.”

Farmers flocking to diversify into renewables

Tom Hind, Head of Economics at the National Farmers Union (NFU), said in an interview earlier this year: “Investment in renewables and developing new income streams from land and buildings is part of the defence against volatile commodity prices.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Scurlock, the NFU’s chief adviser on renewable energy, commented: “Farmers are extremely interested in diversifying and this is completely compatible with the traditional business of a farm.”

The FiT system has quite simply transformed the renewable energy industry in the UK. Customers are paid for every kilowatt-hour of electricity their system produces irrespective of whether they use it or not as well as being paid for electricity sold back to the grid.

David Hunt, whose company has a network of offices across the UK, added: “There is considerable interest among farmers in the potential benefits of harnessing renewable energy on their farms. It provides them with a strong and ongoing income at a time when commodity prices are falling; it allows them to make the best use of their land; it fits with the farming culture of business diversification; and, it allows them to generate their own electricity and become increasingly self-sustainable.

“We are currently working with farmers across the UK with schemes either completed or in the planning stages in Cumbria, the North East, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales.” The FiT scheme offers guaranteed cash back for the next 25 years on every unit of electricity generated by a solar panel or 20 years for a wind turbine.

Handsome returns on offer

The system is designed to offer a return of over 10 per cent on all scales of project, making it more attractive for investors than a bank account and more reliable than the stock market. The average barn roof could generate as much as £5000 (€5703) of income a year if electricity-generating solar panels are installed. Larger field-based projects of 50 kWp have the potential to generate income/savings of more than £15,000 a year.

Drive around Europe, particularly Germany, Spain and Italy, and you will readily see how farmers on the Continent have been actively installing renewable energy schemes to help bring them new income streams. David Hunt added: “Most people, including farmers, do not like taking risks. A guaranteed annual return on investment of over 10 per cent is very attractive at any time, but even more so at a time when the wider economy remains in such a state of flux. On many schemes, the return on investment is considerably greater.”

A North Wales farmer is one of a growing number of farmers in the UK to install solar panels on their farm buildings. Edwin Hughes, of Cornist Ganol Farm in Flint, brought in Eco Environments to handle the project which saw a 19.62 kWp solar PV system – consisting of 90 Hyundai SF218 panels – installed at the farm.

It is estimated that Mr Hughes’ system will produce around 15,692 kWh of electricity a year which will earn him more than £5162 a year in FiT payments. He will also save around £1330 a year generating his own electricity and £97 by exporting any excess power generated. The total income/saving of £6590 a year gives the farm a 22.69 per cent return on investment annually and within seven years, the system will have paid for itself.

08.30.11
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Renewables and the rise of private equity investment

renewable private equity

The world's biggest private equity firms are stepping up investment in renewables

Despite a scaling back of lavish subsidies amid government austerity programmes (and falling costs), the renewables sector is undergoing somewhat of a resurgence. This time last year, shares in the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, had lost more than a fifth of their value after recording a second consecutive quarterly loss and issuing a profit warning.

What a difference a year makes. Vestas’ shares rose by around a quarter after posting a 31 per cent rise in half-year revenue of 31 per cent on 2010 to €2.461 billion, including a 40 per cent rise in the second quarter alone.

The wind power industry, let alone Vestas’ share price, has yet to fully recover from a collapse in orders during the credit crunch. The Danish firm’s share price is still trading at just 15 per cent of what it was before Lehman Bros went bankrupt. But the good news is that private equity firms have been ploughing investment into European renewables projects in recent weeks.

Typically, private equity investors invest in wind farms that are already up and running or close to completion, rather than ones yet to be built. But that is changing fast. Perhaps the bellwether deal was the one made in June by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) – one of the world’s biggest private equity groups – which made its first European renewable energy investment by teaming up with Italian wind developer Sorgenia to build wind farms in France.

The deal is the first investment for KKR’s new infrastructure fund and wind being the first investment is not a coincidence. When announcing the deal, KKR said it sees wind farms as “core infrastructure assets providing long-term cash flow visibility”, and was targeting the four main renewables markets of Germany, Spain, Italy and France, plus the UK, Poland and possibly India in time.

Since that deal, another US private equity firm, Blackstone, announced in August it would invest a combined €2.5 billion into the construction of German offshore wind farms.This includes the €1.2 billion, 288 MW Meerwind project, and the €1.3 billion, 64 turbine Nördlicher Grund offshore wind farm. Both projects will receive a guaranteed feed-in tariff of €119/MWh.

It’s not just private equity firms that want a piece of the action. With renewables installations offering 7-8 per cent annual returns, fixed over a 20-25 year period, some of the world’s biggest insurance and reinsurers are ramping up their renewable energy investments. For example, Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, is increasing its investment in wind farms and solar plants tenfold this year to around €2.5 billion. If ever there was a sign that renewables has come of age, this is surely it.

08.04.11
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Siemens splits renewables division into wind, solar/hydro units

The West Wind project near Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: Siemens

Effective  October 1, Siemens is to split its renewables business into two units: Wind Power and Solar & Hydro.

Wind turbines, solar power and components for hydro power plants form part of Siemens’ “Environmental Portfolio”, for which revenue totalled €28 billion ($40 billion) in 2010.

Michael Suess, CEO of Siemens Energy, said: “We’re separating solar and wind power because these two markets are at very different stages of development. Germany, the rest of Europe and the whole world need power storage systems for the integration of renewables. Our Solar & Hydro Division will therefore also be handling the strategic issue of power storage.

“In our established wind power business we’ll be forging ahead with industrialization and internationalization,” Suess added.

Dr. Felix Ferlemann, currently head of the Chassis Systems Division of Austria’s Benteler Automotive, has been appointed CEO of Siemens new wind power division.

Since 2004, Siemens wind power business has posted rapid growth. Its workforce has grown from 800 to 7700, and revenue has risen to €3.2 billion.

The industrialization of manufacturing and logistics with a view to reducing power generation costs through high-efficiency production will play a decisive role in wind power, says Suess. Particular importance will be attached to regionalization in order to enhance customer intimacy and Siemens will therefore be conducting its new wind unit from three regional business units located in the US, Asia and Europe.

 “We’ve got an order backlog of almost €11 billion, and we’re world market leader in offshore wind farms, the market sector posting the fastest growth. We also want to forge ahead with onshore wind turbines.”

To further reduce wind-based power generating costs Siemens will focus on new products and industrialized manufacturing and logistics. Nacelles are now produced in a continuous flow manufacturing process, with the automation of rotor blade production to follow.

The German manufacturer has recently installed the prototype of its new direct drive wind turbine rated at 6 megawatts and announced investments of €150 million in two new R&D locations in Denmark. Following the opening of two new factories in the US and China in late 2010, Siemens is planning further production facilities in Canada, UK, India and Russia and Brazil.

Siemens will bundle its activities in the fields of solar and hydro power in the Solar & Hydro Division. In this field Siemens acts as general contractor for large-area photovoltaic (PV) installations in the megawatt capacity range. The company has acquired a minority stake in Semprius, a developer of high concentrating PV modules.

The new solar/hydro division will encompass Siemens’ stakes in Voith Hydro (35 per cent), one of the leading vendors in the hydro sector, and in Marine Current Turbines (10 per cent), a pioneer in tidal current energy turbines. The new unit will also be a centre of competence for the development of power storage technologies, says Suess.

07.05.11
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Point Carbon slashes EU ETS Phase III carbon price forecast

Point Carbon expects the average carbon price to be €22/tonne during Phase III of the EU ETS

The average EU Allowance (EUA) price in Phase III of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) will be €22/tonne ($32), according to Thomson Reuters Point Carbon.

The €22/tonne figure is €8/tonne less than its October 2010 forecast, “mainly due to the earlier and greater deployment of renewable energy than previously assumed”, said Anne Kat Brevik, Commercial Manager at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon. 

Point Carbon still believes that the EU will adopt a 25 per cent emissions reduction target for 2020, despite Poland’s opposition to the discussion of any target beyond 20% at the Environment Council in June. Brevik explains “if, as we expect, the EU does adopt a 25% reduction target during the first half of 2012, this would require additional emissions reductions in the order of 1 billion tonnes during Phase III of the EU ETS. This would result in an estimated average Phase III price of around €22/tonne”.

However, in the event that the EU does not agree to increase its emissions reduction target beyond the current 20%, “we expect the market to be significantly long when the combined allocation of allowances and credits is taken into account, leaving average prices in the region of €10-€15/tonne in Phase III”, said Stig Schjølset, Head of EU Carbon Analysis at Point Carbon, adding that even at this lower price there are still a number of abatement measures that would take place.

In the event that the EU adopts a 30% reduction target, something Germany, France and the UK are advocating, the average price range for EUAs would rise to €22-€40/tonne.

In the short term, Schjølset believes that EUA prices will struggle to regain recent losses due to weaker demand from utilities combined with high supply levels of EUAs and credits which will keep prices relatively depressed.

As such, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon believes that the market can “expect an average price of €15/tonne for the remainder of 2011, rising to €16/tonne and €17/tonne for 2012 and 2013 respectively”. “Prices are expected to increase more rapidly towards the end of phase 3, and we estimate prices to reach €28/tonne in 2020. At this stage, however, expectations and actual decisions regarding Phase IV will probably be important, increasing the uncertainty on the price forecast for the final years of Phase III”, according to Stig Schjølset.

Despite recent questions regarding confidence in the carbon markets as a whole “we believe that the EU ETS will remain a cornerstone in the overall EU climate policy”, said Schjølset. “In contrast to policy measures promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency, the EU ETS establishes a firm cap on emissions, together with a well-established framework for enforcing the cap.

“Because other measures do not provide EU policy makers with the same degree of certainty that emission reductions will actually be achieved, we do not think that the EU ETS will become less relevant as a policy tool to ensure that EU’s long-term reduction targets are met”.