The South African Department of Energy announces financial close of Window 3 and the preferred bidders under Window 3.5

The announcement was made on 12 December 2014. According to the press release issued by the Department of Energy, “the bidders have finalised their contractual arrangements”, resulting in an addition of “1 456 MW of green energy” to be “connected to the national grid from early 2016”.

The CSP projects that achieved financial close under Window 3 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) are Xina Solar One and Ilanga CSP project.

The Department of Energy also announced the preferred bidders under Window 3.5: Redstone CSP Project and Kathu CSP.

Redstone CSP Project is a 100 MW tower developed by SolarReserve and ACWA Power and the EPCs are Técnicas Reunidas and TSK.

Kathu CSP is a 100 MW parabolic trough and is being developed by GDF Suez. The EPCs are Acciona and Sener.

Hybrid CSP-Biomass project to be built in India

A consortium formed by the India’s Center for Study of Science Technology and Policy (CSTEP); Thermax; the Energy Centre of the Netherlands (EC) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (France) is planning to build a 3 MW hybrid solar-biomass plant in Barun, India.

According to the press release, the Scalable CSP Optimised Power Plant Engineered with Biomass Integrated Gasification or ‘Scopebig’, “will be the first of its kind power plant in India”.

The project involves the development of a 3 MW demonstration solar-biomass hybrid power plant and the study of socioeconomic impact. It is funded by the European Union under the Indo European Renewable Energy Program.

The land for the project was granted by the Transmission Company Limited and once the plant is operational, it will be handed over to the Bihar State Power Generation Company Limited.

Additional details about the CSP technology to be used were not disclosed.

eSolar to provide solar collector system for Sundrop's greenhouse expansion in Australia

eSolar has been contracted by Aalborg CSP to provide a solar collector system product for the recently announced expansion of Sundrop Farms’ greenhouse facility in Port Augusta, South Australia.

The announcement was made on 10 December 2014. The construction works will begin this month and the project is due for completion in 2016.

Sundrop Farms is involved in the agribusiness sector and grows crops in state-of-the art greenhouses, “using technology developed to address the food, water, and energy security issues typical to arid regions”.

As previously indicated by CSP Today, the investment firm KKR has partnered with Sundrop Farms and is providing capital to support the company’s international development and to expand its current facility in South Australia. “This will result in a 20-hectare greenhouse facility that will produce more than 15,000 tons of vegetables annually for markets across Australia”, according to the press release.

For the Port Augusta expansion project, Aalborg CSP was selected to develop “the complete Integrated CSP Energy System enabling year-round operation of Sundrop’s greenhouse facilities”.