Stockyard Hill
Origin Energy has received development approval for their Stockyard Hill wind farm project. The proposed $1 billion, 471 MW project will be the largest wind farm in the Victoria and will be built at Stockyard Hill, 35 km west of Ballarat.
The project received planning approval for 157 turbines, which was reduced from the proposed 242, due to the potential impact to wildlife and neighbouring houses. Planning Minister Justin Madden said the impact on the Brolga population and neighbouring Mawallock homestead were strong factors in the reduced turbine approval number.
Suzlon
Suzlon Energy, posted a smaller-than-expected loss in the second quarter as increased domestic orders helped offset weak demand in Europe.
Demand from India and Brazil have helped compensate for a slowdown in the wind sector in other markets, such as Europe. Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world’s largest wind-turbine maker, said last week it will cut 3,000 European jobs because orders may decline next year.
Suzlon expects to win orders in the next few months from Brazil and South Africa, Banerjee said. Brazil completed two government auctions for 2.9 gigawatts of renewable energy projects in August. Suzlon is also bidding for 800 megawatts of orders in South Africa.
South Africa
South Africa is to unveil plans this week for what it claims will be the world’s biggest solar power plant—the project, expected to cost up to 200 billion rand ($28.9 billion), with a capacity of 5 gigawatts. In the initial phase it would produce 1,000 megawatts, or 1GW, using a mix of the latest solar technologies.
South Africa currently consumes 45–48GW of power per year. It is estimated this will double over the next 25 years.
Taiwan
Taiwan is introducing a policy of direct assistance for offshore wind as it prepares an open tender early next year for bidders to develop wind farms off the western coast.
There is a rumour that the Taiwan government may give turbines to developers as an incentive to enter the market.
India
Companies shortlisted to qualify for incentives under India’s program to boost solar power generation will have to submit final bids by Nov. 16, a government official said. Since the applications exceeded the capacity to be awarded, developers are being selected based on the discount they’re willing to offer for the rate at which they sell their electricity. The commission set a price of 17.91 rupees ($0.40) a kilowatt-hour for solar photovoltaic projects and 15.31 rupees for solar thermal projects.
Under the program, power trading company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd. will buy the output of the solar plants and bundle it with cheaper coal-fired electricity from its parent NTPC Ltd. The bundled power will be sold to distribution companies.
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