Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

I'm not sure if this is good news for PV, or frighteningly bad news for off-shore wind?

The recent cheap auction results for off-shore wind could hopefully encourage net subsidy free auctions/contracts for on-shore wind and PV, or encourage the government to pull the plug on off-shore wind support too!

What the UK’s record-low offshore wind prices could mean for utility-scale solar

But what about onshore generation? Solar and onshore wind have been controversially locked out of the previous two rounds of auctions under the CfD process, with the government citing a need to stimulate investment into so-called unproven and nascent technologies.

The CfD is essentially divided into two ‘pots’. Pot Two technologies, like offshore wind, remote island wind projects with tricky development conditions and others, are less established. Pot one technologies, like solar and onshore wind, are those with proven track records of deployment that aren’t considered to need the kind of support a government-mandated, subsidy-backed contract can offer.

Now that offshore wind clearing prices are coming in as low as £39.65/MWh – essentially lower than the forecasted wholesale price – is that asset class now all but certain to join Pot One and, if so, what does the future hold for forthcoming auction rounds?

.........

Furthermore, investors in the UK have previously called for subsidy-free CfDs, which would essentially track the wholesale price. The certainty a 15-year contract brings is evidently all that’s required to build a bankable, economically-feasible utility-scale solar farm in the UK these days.

If that is indeed the case, then the UK government could well find it difficult to resist now that offshore wind is delivering such significant cost reductions – 30% in the two years since the second auction.

Large-scale solar has been left in the cold in the UK, and offshore wind has flourished in its absence. Now’s the time for the UK government to stop throttling the competition, and let these technologies show what they’re really made of.

GreatApe

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is good news for PV, or frighteningly bad news for off-shore wind?

The recent cheap auction results for off-shore wind could hopefully encourage net subsidy free auctions/contracts for on-shore wind and PV, or encourage the government to pull the plug on off-shore wind support too!

What the UK’s record-low offshore wind prices could mean for utility-scale solar
....

The UK does not need much more wind power than already committed to

20GW more offshore wind by 2030 if they average 60% CF (GE Halide X is supposedly 63% CF) is an additional 105TWh. We are also building lots more interconntors so will import more nuclear and hydropower

Simply put if we just implement the current plan then by 2030 the grid is going to be very low FF

36TWh nuclear (all the current nukes closed bar the 1.2GW LWR)
105TWh new offshore wind power (2019-2029)
6TWh hydropower
15TWh PV
58TWh existing wind power
36TWh biomass

That leaves about 75TWh of generation to cover
Most of that will be covered by Norway and French imports

It's probably wise to deploy at the current rate
If nessaery we can deploy another 10GW of offshore wind between 2030-2035
And another 10GW in 2035-2040
With these figures changing depending on how electricity demand evolves with BEV deployment and electrifying heating

Overall the UK is in a good position
It won't even take until 2030 to go majority non fossil
In fact wasn't 2018 last year 53% non fossil
2020 is going to be even better as new offshore wind come online and as two new interconntors start up
2022 even better as another two interconntors and more offshore wind come online
Around 2022 we will probably be about 65% non fossil which is 8 years ahead of Germany

Cheerleaders efforts should switch to insulation and heat pumps and energy efficiency

Ignore BEVs as they will happen irrespective of the UK giving rich people £3.5k to buy £50k electric cars

Maybe go on a major bicycle and electric scooters infrastructure push to reduce car miles

And perhaps try to convince construction to use less carbon materials perhaps wood over cement etc

Perhaps deploy shared EVs in London
Using contactless cards like for busses
10p per mile and 20p per minute and park anywhere where parking is legal
£500 deposit which would be the insurance excess so people don't damage them

Lots of possibilities
Need to move beyond the grid
The grid is solved if you stop looking at your feet and look down the road


Also potentially allow other EU countries to use/lease UK sea bed to deploy offshore wind power for themselves
It's more or less irrelevant which way the cable goes. Ideally the cable would go connect to two countries anyways so the cables and converter stations could act as a interconntor when the wind isn't blowing

silverwhistle

1961Nick wrote: »

The problem for businesses is that very few own the premises that they trade from.

Yes, and it's something that's been pointed out a number of times on here. I'm not sure that too much funding would be required to change the situation, but it could certainly do with a bit of political will to do so. There's a lot of can't be bothered attitudes around, and maybe something is needed to overcome that. It's a bit like the use of pumped storage: there needs to be an appropriate regulatory regime so that the investor can at least be assured of a reasonable rate of return, not necessarily a generous one.

silverwhistle

Just read Martyns post: utility scale solar would need more in the way of short term storage (which is where pumped storage would be useful), but the technologies are complementary, not competitive.


With the uptake of EVs and variable and interruptible tariffs I don't see a lot of need for curtailing in the future.

Coastalwatch

More good news for renewable energy and Solar in particular.
Subsidy free Solar beginning to come on stream BSIF announces.
https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/bluefield_heralds_arrival_of_uk_subsidy_free_solar_makes_maiden_pipeline_ag

The solar investor confirmed in its results disclosure last week that it had reached a “select number of agreements”, and it was now working through a viable pipeline of potential projects with its developer and contractor partners.

Bluefield joins a growing list of financiers and developers that have acknowledged their ability to fund utility-scale solar assets on a purely merchant basis. NextEnergy Solar Fund has previously guided that it expects to complete its maiden subsidy-free solar farm later this year, with other projects expected to commence almost immediately afterwards.

John Rennocks, chairman at BSIF, said: "We are delighted to deliver another strong set of results for our shareholders. Record earnings support our highest ever dividend, value enhancement activities support our highest ever Net Asset Value and the arrival of the non-subsidised market looks set to offer a significant opportunity for the next phase of growth for the company. Much to be pleased about and much more to look forward to"

Damit, should have bought into their shares twelve months ago instead of just tracking their progress out of interest!

Martyn1981

Germany removing their solar cap of 52GW, as they are now at around 48GW (I think we're at ~13GW).

Germany ditches solar subsidy cap to hasten clean energy shift

Coastalwatch

British company Viridian aims to take advantage of California's 100% Solar roofs from next year onward. Just shows how renewable efforts around the world are taking place.

Viridian Solar is to launch into the US and Latin American markets after penning an exclusive licensing arrangement with North American PV mounting provider Unirac.
Cambridge-based Viridian has granted Unirac an exclusive licence to manufacture, market and sell its Clearline fusion roof-integrated solar products in US and Latin American markets, building on the international expansion the firm has pursued this year.

“The solar mandate comes into force in California in 2020 and we will be ready to offer homebuilders a highly desirable, aesthetically pleasing roof integrated solar option,” he said.
Stuart Elmes, chief executive at Viridian Solar, also pointed to California’s solar mandate – which requires all newbuild homes to feature rooftop solar from next year – as a significant contributing factor to the arrangement.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/viridian_bids_to_crack_america_with_unirac_deal

Martyn1981

Labour proposing to triple UK solar by 2030, sounds great to me and doable, and go net zero by 2030, sounds, um, difficult!

Solar ‘ready to deliver’ as Labour proposes 2030 net zero target

Hewett also stressed the importance of utilising solar and battery storage in the transition, which will play a "vital role" over the next decade, in particular as costs are set to continue to fall in the period.

"Solar can be deployed very quickly and has already demonstrated it can do this at scale. The industry stands ready to deliver,” he said.

The Labour Party has shown an interest in supporting solar in recent months, having revealed in May plans to install solar on 1.75 million homes. This ambition was positively received from the industry, described as “the leadership we need on renewables”.

And at last year’s annual conference, the party announced it would look to treble the UK’s solar capacity by 2030 as part of a Labour government.

Martyn1981

Australian billionaire to back $14 billion solar power supply to Singapore: AFR

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Atlassian Corp PLC (TEAM.O) co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has pledged to help fund a A$20 billion ($14 billion) project to supply solar power from northern Australia to Singapore by a subsea cable, an Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The plan unveiled earlier this year by Singapore firm Sun Cable is to build the world’s largest solar farm in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, which could export 3 gigawatts of power via a 3,800 km (2360 miles) cable to Singapore.

Cannon-Brookes did not specify how much of the “insane” project his family fund, Grok, planned to finance but said he was being joined by other Australian entrepreneurs and an announcement was likely before the end of the year.

Note - Australia and Japan are still working out the details, legislation and safety requirements to ship Aussie sunlight, in the form of hydrogen, in the form of ammonia (probably) to Japan.

Australian shipping sunlight instead of coal, funny ole world.

GreatApe

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Australian billionaire to back $14 billion solar power supply to Singapore: AFR

Note - Australia and Japan are still working out the details, legislation and safety requirements to ship Aussie sunlight, in the form of hydrogen, in the form of ammonia (probably) to Japan.

Australian shipping sunlight instead of coal, funny ole world.

Yeh right

The Japanise are not going to buy ammonia for a penny more than they will purchase LNG for
And LNG prices are falling and will continue to fall thanks to shale gas and more LNG facilities

LNG prices may fall to 2 US cents per KWh
Good luck trying to build a super inefficient solar to hydrogen to ammonia industry at comparable cost

Likewise a HVDC cable from Australia to Anywhere needs to be cheaper than domestic production
Not likely with offshore and onshore wind undercutting solar from quarter of a world away