L R AS Published on Monday 6 July 2020 - n° 327 - Categories:Thread of the Week
Le Fil de la Semaine n°327 of July 6th
THIS WEEK'S NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
If there were only five texts to read this week :
FRANCE
* Electricity feed-in tariff in the 3rd quarter
* CVE's big ambitions. Does the company have the means?
THE WORLD
* US solar power plants last 11 years longer than in 2007
PRODUCTS
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* Should we go for green hydrogen or should we go for blue hydrogen?
* What kind of hydrogen do you want? Green, blue, turquoise?
Other interesting articles :
FRANCE
* Engie disposes of 49% of its US RE facilities
* EDF wants to expand in the UK
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THE WORLD
* PV systems in Germany ready to go again
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THE PRODUCTS
* In turn, LONGi offers a panel of more than 500 watts
* Canadian Solar introduced its new panels (Series 5)
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE TITLES
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FRANCE
*Electricity feed-in tariff in the 3rd quarter
The electricity feed-in tariff for photovoltaic installations on buildings with a capacity of 9 kWp and 100 kWp (V12 tariff) is reduced to €0.027. The V13 coefficient does not vary for the 3rd quarter.
The Energy Regulatory Commission wishes to recalibrate the automatic quarterly adjustments according to the evolution recorded over the last thirteen quarters. The Commission will make proposals to this effect.
PV Magazine of July1st
* Engie disposes of 49% of its US RE facilities
Engie sells 49% of its interests in wind and solar power plants in the United States to the investor Hannon Armstrong. This concerns the 2.3 GW that should be completed this year. Engie will continue to manage the plants.
In April 2020, the Frenchman had obtained financing of $1.6 billion for the construction of its power plants.
Since 2018, Engie North America has acquired distributed solar power developer SoCore Energy and large-scale wind power builder Infinity Renewables.
The majority of the plants' energy sales are to commercial customers.
GreenTech Media of 2 July
NDLR It is not said, but the purpose of the operation is to obtain cash to be able to continue the construction of new plants
* EDF wants to expand in the UK
EDF is launching a programme to install storage systems on the solar power plants it owns in England and Wales. EDF Renewables intends to double its installed base of renewable energies, which currently stands at around 1 GW in the UK.
The EDF Group aims to operate a portfolio of 50 GW of renewable energy by 2030 and to become the European market leader in energy storage with an additional 10 GW by 2035.
EDF was successful this year with the winning bid alongside JinkoSolar in the Abu Dhabi tender for the 2 GW Al Dhafra project. An energy purchase agreement should soon be signed.
PV Tech of 29 June
* CVE's big ambitions. Does the company have the means?
CVE (formerly Cap Vert Energie) is buying a 5 MW power plant project in Mayenne. The company aims to to acquire 400 MW within 5 years, of which 76 MW has already been secured.
PV Magazine of 3 July
NDLR Note that the company had an installed capacity of 295 MW and a project portfolio of 500 MWp at the end of 2019. It will require significant capital to complete these acquisitions, not including construction. The shareholding will have to change.
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THE WORLD* US solar power plants last 11 years longer than in 2007
US solar power plants are now expected to operate for 32.5 years, up from 21.5 years in 2007, according to a survey of developers, sponsors, asset owners and consultants conducted by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
This is the result of halving project operating costs. Operating costs over the life of a plant have been reduced from an average of $35 per kilowatt-year for projects built in 2007 to $17 per kilowatt-year for projects built in 2019 (all kW values shown are DC).
The average cost of energy for US PV projects built by electric utilities has decreased. It has fallen from an average of $305 per megawatt-hour for projects built in 2007-2009 to $51 per MWh for projects built in 2019. This is the result of lower unit construction costs. The other aspect that explains the lower costs is that the plants have a longer life span and are less expensive to operate. These two factors (project life and operating expenses) on power plants built in 2019 explain the decrease in the average cost of energy from $73/MWh to $51/MWh.
As long as ongoing revenues are higher than ongoing costs, the life of the plants will be extended. This provides many benefits to facility owners. They have more years to recover capital costs and component replacement / refurbishment costs. This extension translates into a lifetime beyond the initial 20 years provided for in the power purchase agreements. The period in excess of 20 years provides results without depreciation or financial expenses. This allows for aggressive pricing in the markets and provides unexpected profits.
This longer life span can result in higher operating and maintenance costs, especially as prices have been pulled down with little scope for further reductions.
For this reason, the study envisages an increase in the costs of solar energy. This would come from higher property taxes or increased security costs at the site. It is even possible that the postponement of certain maintenance services in the past could result in additional costs in the future.
The attitude of managers could change: it would gradually move towards optimising the long-term performance of an installation rather than ruthlessly reducing costs. They could accept higher operating and maintenance costs, in order to increase the overall availability of the plants, and thus the energy production.
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-plants-expected-to-operate-30-years
GreenTech Media of 29 June
* PV systems in Germany ready to go again
Covid 19 left Germany relatively unscathed. The last hurdle, the 52 GW ceiling, was removed by the Bundestag. Even if we still have to wait for the Bundesrat's agreement, we can estimate
that this ceiling is removed. Therefore, it is expected that applications will pick up significantly in the coming weeks. German developers and installers have impressive project reserves. The only obstacles are a rapid final non-ratification and falling feed-in tariffs, which are falling at a rate of 1.4% per month, reducing the possibilities of profitability.
In recent weeks there have been considerable price reductions by panel and inverter manufacturers. The price reductions that began in May have increased in June.
In recent months, the transport of panels from Asia to Europe has been much slower than usual due to the coronavirus. Raw material prices in the spring were significantly higher than they are now. In addition, the stoppage and then resumption of production increased costs considerably. Now, if the panels are available, the prices of these products are often linked to the extra production costs in the spring.
Panel prices are now falling, especially for high-efficiency monocrystalline, black and bifacial panels. The latter have apparently fallen by only 3%, due to a change in the range from 300 W to 310 W. If this factor is taken into account, the price reduction is in the order of 4 to 6%. There is also a change in panel size (increasing in size) with a marked increase in power but without any noticeable improvement in efficiency.
The six main producers Trina Solar, Hanwha Q Cells, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, Jinko Solar and above all LONGi Solar are aggressively marketing their products at attractive prices that nobody thought possible until recently. It is certain that many small manufacturers will not be able to withstand this price war. It is likely that we will see the beginning of a market shake-up in the second half of the year, particularly among Asian producers.
Following the ruling in favour of Hanwha Solar in Germany, JinkoSolar has announced that it will no longer use the products affected by the lawsuit.
The market should be flourishing in the second half of 2020, with strong demand, good availability, attractive prices and a stable political framework.
https://www.pvxchange.com/en/market-analysis-june-2020-a-new-boom-or-the-same-old
pvXChange of 30 June
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THE PRODUCTS* Should we go for green hydrogen or should we go for blue hydrogen?
Green hydrogen makes the headlines, but the prospect that it alone will fuel Europe's future economy seems increasingly dubious. Blue hydrogen is gaining supporters in the European Union. It is produced from natural gas, with carbon capture and storage.
The problem arises because green hydrogen requires cheaper electricity costs than at present and an end market that can absorb the high production rates of electrolysers. Blue hydrogen, on the other hand, is dependent on natural gas and thus on price volatility and geopolitics.
The debate is not neutral because green hydrogen allows carbon to be reduced in the economy, whereas blue hydrogen would allow rapid development of installations and uses, thus preparing the transition to green hydrogen! The different governments are divided. Speaking of blue hydrogen is badly perceived by environmentalists, but the leaders know that it will be necessary to go through blue hydrogen before going green!
One of the main challenges of blue hydrogen is that, with the current state of technology, carbon capture and storage is not enough to make the net balance zero. The efficiency rate is in the order of 60-70%, whereas 95% would be needed to be zero carbon emitted. For green hydrogen, the rate of use of electrolysers and the cost of electricity are considerable obstacles. So a number of companies are launching blue hydrogen projects based on carbon capture and storage.
For a better understanding of the benefits of and obstacles to the development of hydrogen, cf.What kind of hydrogen do you want? Green, blue, turquoise? or https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/green-hydrogen-explained
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/europes-green-hydrogen-revolution-is-turning-blue
GreenTech Media of1 July
Editor's note The popularity of hydrogen is curious because all the specialists point out the cost and the complexity of the infrastructures to be implemented to exploit a highly explosive gas. This indicates at the same time the receptivity (which could be called intoxication) of the public opinion for an energy that is said to have a future.
* What kind of hydrogen do you want? Green, blue, turquoise?
There is green hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water using renewable energy. There is blue hydrogen obtained by fractionating natural gas. Turquoise hydrogen is produced by the decomposition of methane into hydrogen and solid carbon through a process called pyrolysis. The production of carbon with pyrolysis may seem relatively low in terms of emissions because the carbon can either be buried or used for industrial processes such as steelmaking or battery manufacturing, so that it does not escape into the atmosphere.
A detailed description indicates the qualities and difficulties in achieving green hydrogen under current conditions. Read at :
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/green-hydrogen-explained
GreenTech Media of 29 June
* In turn, LONGi offers a panel of more than 500 watts
LONGi launches a 540 watt, bifacial Hi-MO5 panel, using the 182 mm M10 wafer, with 72 cells. The company would have a production capacity of 12 GW.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/06/29/longi-launches-540-watt-hi-mo5-module/
PV Magazine of June 29th
* Canadian Solar introduced its new panels (Series 5)
Canadian Solar presented its new panels (Series 5). The bifacial panel uses 182 mm side wafers, has a power of 590 W, and a conversion efficiency of 21.3%. The single-faced panel uses 166 mm wafers and has a maximum power output of 500W. These panels will be industrially produced in 2021.
PV Magazine of 3 July
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