Acciona Joins Solar Flagship Venture After BP Drops Out
Acciona, has joined Pacific Hydro in a venture seeking Australian funds to build the Moree solar farm in New South Wales state after partner BP Solar pulled out.
Acciona will provide engineering and construction services to the solar-power project, while Pacific Hydro and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures will take up the ownership stake previously held by BP. The venture will sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Pacific Hydro, which plans to start its own retail energy group, according to the statement.
While the partners in the proposed A$923 million solar plant won government funds last year, they failed to sign a power-purchase agreement in time to reach a December financing deadline. That prompted the government to reopen the funding competition to other bidders, including AGL.
Minister approves Hawkesdale, Ryan Corner wind farms
Two Victorian wind farm developments at Hawkesdale and Ryan Corner have been approved by Planning Minister Matthew Guy after months of negotiation.
Spanish proponents Union Fenosa announced yesterday that work on the two sites would start as early as next month, ahead of state government reforms of the renewable energy sector. More than $500 million will be pumped into the two projects, one which is located in farmland south-east of Hawkesdale and the other between Yambuk and Orford.
Union Fenosa managing director Domingo Asuero said the company would provide site possession to Portland-based GR Carr Construction. He said early works on the sites would start within weeks. The two projects will generate a combined 196 megawatts of renewable electricity, enough to power the needs of about 80,000 houses.
Abengoa Beats Estimates as Construction Surges
Abengoa net income jumped last year, exceeding analysts’ estimates by 22 percent as sales from its engineering and construction division surged.
The Spanish based company, which develops solar thermal power plants, builds power transmission lines and ethanol refining facilities, posted profit of 257.4 million euros compared with a mean forecast of 210.3 million euros in a survey of 13 analysts.
GE and JP Morgan Chase
GE and JP Morgan Chase & Co. jointly purchased a minority stake in the Capricorn Ridge wind farm in Texas for US$225 million from NextEra Energy Inc.
The 662.5-megawatt Capricorn Ridge wind farm, which began operating in 2007, uses turbines produced by both GE and Siemens AG (SIE) and can produce enough power for about 220,000 homes.
Suzlon
It is rumored that Mauritius’s state-owned Central Electricity Board named a group led by Suzlon Energy Ltd. as the preferred bidder for a 29.4-megawatt wind farm, the Port Louis- based Le Mauricien reported.
This news comes after Suzlon Energy’s convertible bonds have been falling at the fastest pace since 2009 after India’s biggest wind-turbine maker signaled it will fall short of funds to repay debt maturing this year.
Suzlon is exploring options including asset sales to meet $569 million in bond redemptions this year as losses widen, said Chairman Tulsi Tanti.
Fitch Ratings sees “extremely high” risk of default for a fifth of Indian convertible bonds due this year, according to a report dated Feb. 21. Another 17 percent of the debt may need to be reorganized, mostly by extending maturities, Amey Joshi, a Mumbai-based analyst at Fitch, wrote in the report.
The global wind power market rose 6 percent to 41 gigawatts last year, led by China, the Global Wind Energy Council said in a report on Feb. 7. Suzlon currently has orders worth $7.5 billion, according to a Feb. 11 statement. Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Denmark, the biggest turbine maker, announced a loss in 2011 that was four times wider than expected on Feb. 8. Sinovel Wind Group Co., China’s biggest supplier, said Jan. 30 it expects 2011 earnings to fall by more than 50 percent.
