he Togolese Agency for Electrification and Renewable Energies (AT2ER) has declared 129 rural localities that will be electrified in the first phase of the programme for electrification using solar mini-grids. These localities are spread across five regions of the country, which are the Maritime region, Kara, the Savanes, the Central region, and the Plateaux region.
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BayWa r.e. has announced the successful sale of its Isohara solar farm in Japan to D&D Solar GK, a new venture set up between Osaka Gas and the Development Bank of Japan. The sale of the 35 MWp site in Kita-Ibaraki City follows the sale of the 11.9 MWp Izumi solar farm in December 2020 to D&D Solar GK as well. It will produce enough electricity to meet the average annual consumption of 15,000 households in Japan.
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SunnyCal Solar Inc., a provider of innovative solar products, announces release of a new electric vehicle (EV) solar carport to provide independent charging power for EVs. These carports are by patented Steel Roof Solar (SRS) modules that have crystalline solar cells built into the metal roof sheets. These SRS modules create energy that is stored in a local battery and powers the EV car charger.
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced EUR 38.5 million of new financial and technical support to Burkina Faso for promoting solar power development. The funding will also be used to protect its capital city Ouagadougou from future flooding. Through this financing, EIB aims to improve energy access in the country and address the risks caused by extreme weather.
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AGP has formed a joint venture with Hartree and NaGa Solar to deploy solar projects across the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. The new venture, called AMPYR Solar Europe (ASE), aims to develop at least 4 GW of solar projects in these three nations. With this joint venture, the companies aim to combine AGP’s experience in developing large-scale renewable power projects, Hartree’s cutting edge power trading analytics and zero carbon solutions and NaGa’s in-depth local knowledge and land development prowess.
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Ameresco and Wells Fargo have partnered up to develop about 30 MW of new solar capacity at Wells Fargo retail and administrative locations across seven states in the United States. These onsite solar generation assets will include rooftop, carport and ground mounted systems in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, North Carolina and Texas. The implementation of these projects is expected to begin in April 2021.
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The Kenya Power and Lighting Company have issued an expression of interest from companies to finance, develop, and operate captive solar projects. These solar projects can range between 500kW and 10MW on a lease basis for its commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers. Shortlisted bidders will be issued a detailed Request of Proposal by Kenya Power, which would be selected on the basis of their technical and financial capabilities.Selected bidders also have to operate the project for 20 years. February 10, 2021, is the last date for submission of bids
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Japanese electronics company, Panasonic Corporation has announced that it will look to shut down the production capacity for solar products at its facilities in Malaysia and Japan by the end of the financial year 2022. The company currently manufactures solar wafers, cells, and modules at its facility in Malaysia. It will look to liquidate its subsidiary, Panasonic Solar Energy Malaysia, and lay off its employees by March 2022.
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EDF Renewables North America announced the completion and commercial operation of the Desert Harvest 1 (114 MW) and Desert Harvest 2 (100 MW) solar projects. Desert Harvest 1 provides electricity to MCE under a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA), while Desert Harvest 2 supplies energy and renewable attributes to Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) under a 25 year renewable energy credit (REC) and Index structure contract.
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A unit of GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. defaulted on a $500 million bond after ending an exchange offer with existing bondholders. GCL New Energy Holdings Ltd. announced the default in an exchange filing. The firm, which operates solar power plants, is majority owned by GCL-Poly, one of the world’s leading makers of solar-grade polysilicon, and whose shares have soared 700 per cent since China announced plans to be carbon neutral by 2060.
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The Tunisian government has issued the fifth call for expressions of interest to set up 70 MW of solar power plants. The Tunisian Ministry of Energy, Mines and Renewable Energies plans to develop six solar plants through the latest procurement round with capacities of 10 MW each. These will be in addition to 10 smaller solar plants, each having a capacity of 1 MW in size.
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Spain has announced the allocation of about 3 GW of renewable energy capacity in its first renewable energy auction since 2017. The auction was conducted by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and witness the awarding of 2 GW of solar capacity. Additionally, the Ministry also allotted about 1 GW of wind energy under the auction. The winning bidders must complete the solar projects by February 2023 and wind projects by February 2024.
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The South African government has announced plans to launch three rounds of tenders for the development of 6.8 GW of renewable energy in the country. As per the schedule, the first cycle will be launched by the first week of February 2021. Under the first round, 2.6 GW of solar and wind capacity will be auctioned. Similarly, the second phase of the auction to be held in August 2021 will allot 2.6 GW and the third phase to be held in January 2022 will allot 1.6 GW of wind and solar power.
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Loanpal has announced that it has raised has secured over $800 million in funding in its first external investment round. The investment rounds were conducted by NEA, WestCap Group, Brookfield Asset Management, Riverstone Holdings, and other private investors.The company’s point-of-sale payment platform allows businesses to deploy sustainable home solutions along with its digital tools. It also provides flexible payment options to remove the cost barrier for homeowners and create a channel for financial institutions to deploy their capital in environmental, social, and governance assets.
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EDEN Renewables India, a joint venture of Total Eren and EDF Renouvelables, has successfully secured financing for its 450 MWp SECI III solar PV project. The said project has recently received a green limited recourse project term loan of $165 million from a group of three major international banks – DBS Bank Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (Singapore Branch).
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Boralex Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary has completed a transaction with Delaware River Solar LLC to acquire Sky High solar farm, located in New York, USA. The 20 MW Sky High Solar Farm is located in the town of Tully, Onondaga. The project is ground-mounted and is being developed on three separate parcels of land across 145 acres.
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Pacific Green Technologies, Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Green Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Limited has signed a framework agreement with SINOPEC Star Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SINOPEC, to work on a portfolio of onshore and offshore wind power, solar photovoltaic and comprehensive energy utilization projects.
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First Solar is in the process of selling a 10 GW utility-scale solar project platform to Leeward Renewable Energy Development in a $261 million transaction. Leeward is a portfolio company of OMERS Infrastructure, an investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest benefit pension plans. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
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Iberdrola, a Spanish power developer has signed a long-term power purchase agreement with Danone, a French food company. As per the ten-year agreement, Iberdrola will supply of 73 GWh of power annually from the Francisco Pizarro plant. With this agreement, the entirety of the renewable electricity used in Danone’s plants and factories in Spain will come from this solar project.
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Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has issued a Request for Selection (RfS) of solar developers to purchase power from 500 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic power projects. GUVNL shall enter into a power purchase agreement with successful bidders for 25 years from the project’s scheduled commercial operation date.
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