If you are interested in the photovoltaic industry, you can follow the News section of our website. We will regularly collect global current affairs news in the industry and share it with you.
Hot 1: 2.6GW! Who provides the components, inverters, and mounts for the world’s largest photovoltaic power station under construction?
Recently, Sinosure issued a specific contract insurance policy for the offshore contract part of the Al Shuqaiq 2.6 Gigawatt photovoltaic power station project in Saudi Arabia, undertaken by China National Electric Engineering Co., Ltd., Guangdong Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd., and Northwest Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd. The insurance policy, with a coverage amount of approximately 220 million USD, safeguards the contractors against the risk of receivables loss under commercial contracts.
The project is a joint investment by ACWA Power, Badeel (a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund), and SAPCO.
Located in the Al Shuqaiq region of Jeddah, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, the project covers an area of about 52 square kilometers, with a total installed capacity of approximately 2.6 Gigawatts. It utilizes the world’s most advanced N-type bifacial photovoltaic modules and flat single-axis automatic tracking mounts, making it the largest photovoltaic power station under construction globally.
The project is a general contracting construction led by a consortium comprising China Energy Engineering Corporation’s International Group, Guangdong Electric Power, and Northwest Electric Power Design Institute. It also involves more than ten internal and external enterprises, such as Gezhouba International, Hunan Electric Power, Anhui Electric Power Construction, China Communications Services Corporation, and Zhongjiang International, promoting collaboration and overseas market development.
The project has directly or indirectly procured photovoltaic-related equipment and materials from China through local suppliers, with contract amounts nearing 10 billion CNY. This involves nearly thirty manufacturing enterprises including Zhongtongfu, Jinko Solar, Huawei, Zhongxinbo, Sungrow, Renji Intelligent, Sitor, and Zhongshan ABB, effectively boosting domestic equipment exports and local economic development in Saudi Arabia.
As a crucial part of Saudi Arabia’s “2030 Vision” new energy plan, the project is expected to create 3,000 local jobs during construction. Once operational, it is projected to generate a total of approximately 282.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity over 35 years, equivalent to reducing about 245 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This is comparable to planting 545 million trees in the Saudi desert, significantly contributing to accelerating Saudi Arabia’s energy structure transformation and green, low-carbon development.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/adTYqKwbP4hYNCfjnGxRsg
Hot 2: Silicon Material Prices Increase Across the Board!
On January 24th, the Silicon Industry Association released the latest polysilicon prices. This week, the price of silicon materials increased across the board, with N-type silicon materials rising for two consecutive weeks.
Specifically, this week the transaction price range for N-type silicon materials was 70,000-73,000 CNY/ton, with an average price of 70,900 CNY/ton, an increase of 1.87% from the previous week. The transaction price range for monocrystalline compact material was 55,000-64,000 CNY/ton, with an average price of 58,600 CNY/ton, up 0.17% from the previous week.
The transaction price range for N-type granular silicon was 59,000-63,000 CNY/ton, with an average price of 60,000 CNY/ton, marking an increase of 1.69% from the previous week. Prices for N-type silicon materials continued to rise modestly this week, while prices for P-type silicon materials remained relatively stable. Among them, N-type silicon materials were traded by three companies, all being top-tier manufacturers, including some smaller-scale orders. P-type silicon materials were traded by five companies, most of which had a considerable scale of transactions.
The Silicon Industry Association noted that this week, some companies have signed orders lasting until the end of February, while others have just started signing orders for February. It is expected that there will still be a significant volume of transactions within the week. Recently, the supply of N-type silicon materials has tended to stabilize, but it still falls short of the growing downstream demand, hence the noticeable price increase. The strategy of mixed package sales by companies has also led to a slight increase in the price of P-type silicon materials.
However, from a cost perspective, although the price of industrial silicon has continued to decline recently, alleviating the cost pressure on silicon material companies to some extent, the selling prices of second-tier manufacturers are already close to the total cost, leaving extremely limited profit margins.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/hv6PeOGjW_8aBacYVc5TAg
Hot 3: The Photovoltaic Outlook in Southeast Asia for 2024
Utility-scale solar and wind capacity in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is up by a fifth since this time last year, and the region is on track to easily meet its upcoming renewables commitments ahead of schedule.
But lack of progress in breaking ground on new projects, coupled with a challenging regulatory environment for renewables and continued reliance on fossil fuels, poses an uphill path to a clean energy transition, finds a new report from Global Energy Monitor.
Data from the Global Solar and Wind Power Trackers show that ASEAN countries have grown their utility-scale solar and wind capacity 20% in the last year to over 28 GW.
Vietnam has the largest share of operating utility-scale solar and wind capacity in the region at 19 GW, followed by Thailand and the Philippines each with 3 GW. The Philippines and Vietnam have 99 GW and 86 GW, respectively, of prospective utility-scale solar and wind power, which add up to 80% of the region’s total, and represent the eighth- and ninth-largest prospective capacity among countries worldwide.
The ASEAN region also boasts almost five times more prospective offshore wind power (124 GW) than onshore, which amounts to nearly twice the current offshore operating capacity worldwide (69 GW).
Yet despite an impressive pipeline of prospective projects, only a fraction of this capacity is currently under construction (6 GW, or 3% — one quarter of the global average).
Hot 4: Neoen Shuts Down Seven-Year-Old Solar Energy + Storage Plant in Australia
Neoen, the owner of the DeGrussa Solar and Battery Centre, stated that this facility, located in the remote Western Australia, has reached its retirement age. At the time of its deployment, DeGrussa was Australia’s largest off-grid integrated solar and battery storage facility.
French renewable energy giant Neoen confirmed that the DeGrussa Solar and Battery Centre, situated in the heart of the Goldfields region of Western Australia, is set to be dismantled after seven years of operation.
The DeGrussa facility included a 10.6 MW photovoltaic power generation and a 6 MW lithium-ion battery storage system, supplemented with diesel generators. In June 2016, the facility was officially commissioned at the Degussa copper mine, 900 kilometers northeast of Perth, operated by the Western Australian mining exploration company Sandfire Resources.
Since then, this solar hybrid power system has been able to meet nearly 20% of the mine’s annual electricity demand and has helped reduce approximately 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Sandfire purchased electricity according to the initial 5.5-year agreement, but the term of the agreement was extended due to mining operations exceeding the original closure date of 2021. However, the mine has now ceased operations, leading to the retirement of the DeGrussa Solar and Battery Centre as well.
Neoen stated in a statement published in the “Photovoltaics” magazine that it plans to dismantle the solar panels and other equipment of the facility and restore the site.
Tim Buckley, director of the Australian think tank Climate Energy Finance, commented that the lifespan of the mine was “absolutely known” from the beginning of the solar hybrid power system’s operation, hence the dismantling was anticipated.
He remarked, “This is not surprising at all.” He also added that although the DeGrussa power supply project did not have a long lifespan, it was a “brilliant success.”
