Utility Scale PV

Solar might be more efficient than nuclear energy to supply power for a six-person extended mission to Mars that will involve a 480-day stay on the planet’s surface before returning to Earth, according to new US research.

Developer Renewable Energy Partners has announced plans for a 180 MW solar PV project, possibly with a battery storage system, in the Western Downs region of Queensland.

Singapore-based Sun Cable has submitted its Environmental Impact Statement to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority. The document reveals the full extent of the project’s enormity, specifically a 17-20 GW solar farm tied to 36-42 GWh of battery energy storage, which is set to be transmitted by subsea cables to Singapore.

The floating facility will be built by Japan’s Shizen Energy and will sell power under unspecified conditions to local utility Syarikat Air Melaka Bhd (SAMB).

Developers are moving fast to meet Singapore’s clean energy needs by establishing overseas solar-plus-storage plants, with a strong focus on facilities in neighbouring Indonesia.

Myanmar’s government has announced a plan to increase conventional and renewable energy generation to address electricity shortages. Reports from Burmese exiles, however, detail increasing issues for the construction of large scale solar projects tendered prior to the military coup in February 2021 and Chinese inverter manufacturer Sungrow said the project it secured in the country’s first tender has been canceled.

Developers are moving fast to meet Singapore’s clean energy needs by establishing overseas solar-plus-storage plants, with a strong focus on facilities in neighbouring Indonesia.

For some developers of ground-mounted PV, bifacial modules are already the default technology. The slight cost increase is often outweighed by an increase in energy yield. And yet “agreeing” on the right energy yield of a PV plant has always been the most heated debate between developers, investors, lenders, and technical advisers. Everoze partner Christophe Campistron looks at both sides.

In a big week for solar in the land of the long white cloud, Lightsource bp has announced a 50/50 partnership with New Zealand’s Contact Energy to pursue a large-scale solar portfolio in the country, generation which Contact Energy will purchase through a power purchase agreement.

A collaboration of United States and New Zealand developers, Helios Energy received private investment from Google executive Urs Hölzle and is setting its sights on grid-scale solar developments in New Zealand.