Sunday, March 10, 2024

Norway’s Energy Major Equinor Starts Up Solar Plant in Brazil

Equinor has put into operation a 531-megawatt solar plant in Brazil, which boosts its power production in the South American country by 30%, the Norwegian major said on Friday.

The 531-MW Mendubim solar plant will produce 1.2 terawatts per hour (TWh) of power annually, of which some 60% will be sold on a 20-year US-dollar-denominated power purchase agreement (PPA) with Alunorte, one of the world’s leading suppliers of alumina for the aluminum industry. The remaining power production from Mendubim will be sold in the power market in Brazil, Equinor said.

The solar power project is being developed and operated as a joint venture between Scatec, Hydro Rein, and Equinor.

“Equinor has conducted business in Brazil for over two decades, and we see the country as a core area for long-term profitable growth,” said Olav Kolbeinstveit, senior vice president for onshore and markets within Renewables at Equinor.

The plant is expected to deliver real base project returns in the middle of Equinor’s guided range for renewables of 4-8%, it said.  

The Norwegian energy company is one of the international majors that have invested directly in solar and offshore wind power project development and generation, although the profitability of its renewables division is still significantly trailing the oil and gas profits.

In solar energy, Equinor has operations in Brazil, Poland, and northern Europe.

Last year, Equinor bought Brazilian onshore renewables company Rio Energy, including the 0.2 GW Serra da Babilonia 1 producing onshore wind farm and a pipeline of onshore wind and solar projects.

In offshore wind, the Norwegian firm is active in Norway, the UK, the U.S., and Poland, including a stake in the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the Dogger Bank Wind Farm in UK waters. 

In the United States, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has just said that Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 project is one of the conditional winners in its fourth offshore wind solicitation round.

Equinor and NYSERDA will now negotiate an Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) Purchase and Sale Agreement, with contract execution expected in the second quarter of 2024.  

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com


Saudi Investments Spark Surge in Central Asian Renewable Development

By Eurasianet - Mar 10, 2024

ACWA Power is implementing two wind power plants in Uzbekistan and a 1-gigawatt wind power plant in Kazakhstan, marking a substantial investment in the region's renewable energy capabilities.

Uzbekistan aims to raise the share of renewable energy sources to 25 percent by 2030, with ACWA Power and Masdar leading wind power development efforts.

Kazakhstan's renewable energy goal is to have at least 15 percent of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2030, aiming for a 50 percent share by 2050, with ACWA Power playing a significant role in reaching this target.

When it comes to wind power in Central Asia, companies from the Persian Gulf have taken the lead.

This week, Riyadh-based green energy company ACWA Power made the news in two countries in the region for it efforts in laying the ground for major projects to come.

In Uzbekistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed off on March 5 on a decree on the construction of two wind power plants, or WPP — both projects are being implemented by ACWA Power.

One 500-megawatt WPP, along with associated power lines, will be built in the autonomous Karakalpakstan republic, near the remote western town of Kungirot. Another 300-megawatt capacity plant is set to appear in the Bukhara region’s Gijduvan district.

An agreement signed by ACWA Power and the Uzbek government in November envisions $1.1 billion in investments.

ACWA Power has committed to selling the electricity produced at the WPPs to the Uzbek national grid for a period of 25 years.

Mirziyoyev’s office stated in November that ACWA Power is currently implementing projects collectively worth $7.5 billion.

The company is doing more than just wind. In March 2020, it signed an agreement with Uzbekistan on investing $1.2 billion into the development, construction and operation of a 1500-megawatt combined cycle gas-turbine power plant in the Syrdaryo region. ACWA Power claims the benefit of that plant will be that its design will enable twice as much power to be produced with gas as is done at existing electricity-generation facilities.

In neighboring Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met on March 7 with the visiting Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Al Saud. The encounter produced an agreement on the implementation of a project to construct a 1-gigawatt wind power plant in the southeast of the country, in the Jetisu region.

The work there too will be done by ACWA Power. Company chairman and founder Mohammad Abunayyan was on hand in Astana to talk about ACWA Power’s role in this project and other green energy initiatives in Kazakhstan.

This is all of a part with the commitment by both countries to dramatically increase how much electricity they produce with renewables.

Uzbekistan’s stated goal is to increase the share of renewable energy sources in its total electricity production to 25 percent by 2030. In 2022, the figure was 10 percent. The plan for the coming decade is to install solar power plants with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts and wind power plants with a total capacity of 3,000 megawatts. On the wind front, most of the running is being done by ACWA Power and its Abu Dhabi-based peer Masdar.

Kazakhstan’s renewables agenda is on paper more modest than that of Uzbekistan in the short term. Under current plans, at least 15 percent of all electricity generated must be provided by renewable energy sources by 2030. The grander target is for that share to reach at least 50 percent by 2050.

By Eurasianet.org

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