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[waldron] 23/2/2018 09:19

Thursday 22 February 2018 4:47pm
BlackRock snaps up three UK solar assets for £15m with Lightsource BP
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BlackRock's solar portfolio is growing (Source: Getty)

US-based investment giant BlackRock has added 13.5 megawatts (MW) of solar assets to its growing UK renewables portfolio after agreeing a deal with partner Lightsource BP worth £15m.

Through its Kingfisher partnership with Lightsource, BlackRock Real Assets agreed to buy three solar assets from China-owned CTF Solar.

The acquisition was made through BlackRock's Renewable Income UK Fund, and Lightsource BP will be responsible for the asset management and long-term maintenance of all three sites, which are located at Wormit Farm in Fife, Scotland (5 MW), Stanton under Bardon Farm in Leicestershire, England (3.6 MW) and Gretton in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire (4.9 MW).

Read more: BlackRock is adding to its UK solar investments

BlackRock Real Assets manages more than $4.9bn (£3.5bn) of equity assets globally, including investments in more than 40 solar projects in the UK, representing about 350 MW of capacity.

“We are delighted to add these three solar project acquisitions to our growing UK solar portfolio," said Rory O'Connor, managing director and head of renewable power for Europe at BlackRock. He said the fund aims to continue building its portfolio of solar projects in the UK.

“Kingfisher has now established itself as one of the most competitive acquisition platforms in the UK for utility scale solar assets," said Paul McCartie, group chief investment officer of Lightsource BP.

Lightsource rebranded as Lightsource BP late last year after the British oil major announced it would invest $200m in the solar company over three years for a 43 per cent stake in the business.

[waldron] 23/2/2018 08:34

Engie SA (ENGI.FR) subsidiary Engie Italia has signed a power-purchase agreement with brick maker Wienerberger AG (WIE.VI) for renewable energy, the companies said Thursday.

Under the agreement, Engie Italia will supply electricity for Wienerberger's four brick-production plants in Italy.

The contract will last five years, with an applied price for the full duration, the companies said.

The electricity supplied will be produced by photovoltaic farms owned by Engie Italia.

"We are proud to be the first operator in Italy to have signed a 'Green PPA' contract that virtually connects our renewable production plants to an end customer," said Olivier Jacquier, chief executive of Engie Italia.



Write to Sonia Amaral Rohter at [e-mail]



(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 22, 2018 11:57 ET (16:57 GMT)

[waldron] 22/2/2018 07:50

Feb 22, 2018 11:04 AM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
Shell may acquire major stake in Hyderabad-based solar firm
Shell has been looking at the clean energy space in India for quite some time now.
Moneycontrol News @moneycontrolcom

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Royal Dutch Shell Plc is looking to acquire a major stake in Hyderabad-based rooftop solar firm Fourth Partner Energy, according to a report in Mint.

The firm is looking to buy a "significant stake" in the solar company. Shell's interest comes amid the Centre's plans to set up 175 gigawatt (GW) of clean energy capacity by 2022. Out of the 175 GW, 40GW is to come from rooftop solar projects.

Shell runs a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Hazira on the west coast of India. It is also the operator of the Panna-Mukta-Tapti field, which is a joint venture with state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Shell is also among the few foreign oil companies to have a fuel retail licence in India.

Shell has been looking at the clean energy space in India for quite some time now.

Fourth Partner Energy's Senior Manager Aditya Gupta denied the reports while Shell also didn't acknowledge the report.
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The Indian government is conducting an anti-dumping investigation on solar equipment imports from China, Taiwan and Malaysia and is planning to levy 70 percent provisional safeguard duty on imported solar panels and modules from China and Malaysia. However, a final decision on the matter is yet to be taken.

[waldron] 15/2/2018 08:46

Renewable/Other Energy
Shell’s pivot to renewables sharpens with California deal

Written by Bloomberg - 15/02/2018 7:40 am

Solar panels stand in this aerial photograph taken above the Enbridge Inc. Sarnia Solar Farm in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, on Friday, July 21, 2017. The Sarnia Solar Farm, which became fully operational in the fall of 2010, was at the time one of the largest photovoltaic solar farms in the world. It was also Enbridge's first ever foray into solar energy, costing $400 million. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg
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Shell, the world’s second-biggest oil company, is expanding its bet on renewable energy.

Shell’s North American unit agreed to provide a credit line for trading and a revolving loan facility to Inspire Energy Holdings LLC, according to a statement Wednesday. The Santa Monica, California-based clean-power, smart-home and energy-management company will use the funds to expand its reach. Terms weren’t disclosed.

While Shell and its major rivals still have the bulk of their investments in oil and natural gas, they are taking steps to diversify. Shell agreed in January to buy a 44 percent stake in Nashville-based Silicon Ranch Corp., which owns and operates about 100 U.S. solar plants. A month earlier, the Anglo-Dutch company bought First Utility Ltd., the U.K.’s seventh-largest power provider. And that followed deals last year for electric-car charging networks in Europe.

The Inspire deal is “further confirmation that it is taking the risks to long-term oil demand seriously amid accelerating electrification of the transport industry and emerging policy pressures to de-carbonize global energy,” Will Hares, a London-based analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, said in an interview.
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Shell’s pivot to renewables sharpens with California deal

Big Oil has some specific targets for this transition: charging points alongside gasoline pumps, as well as apps and smart-home devices that generate energy-use data. Shell has announced plans to spend as much as $2 billion a year for what it calls “new energies” — the most among the super majors. BP Plc, for example, has allocated about $500 million a year.

Shell said more than half of Americans intend to buy “smart” and “energy efficient” products in 2018, citing a survey.

Inspire, which is backed by investors including CrossCut Ventures, offers clean energy services to monthly subscribers in seven states. Users can manage their power consumption through a smart-phone app. Shell’s support will help facilitate Inspire’s purchase of clean-energy products.

“The average American homeowner burns 8,000 pounds of coal annually,” Patrick Maloney, Inspire’s founder and chief executive officer, said in an interview Monday. “If we could give them a simple solution to avoid that, they would take it.”

[maywillow] 07/2/2018 08:43

Engie 'powering' Bahrain's utility sector
MANAMA, 1 hours, 53 minutes ago

Engie, a French multinational utility company, is a dominant player in Bahrain's utility sector supplying 90 per cent of the potable water and 70 per cent of the power in the kingdom, said a top official.

Engie has a number of sites and plants in Bahrain, stated Laura Thomson, the Head of Asset Management UAE, Middle East, South and Central Asia, Turkey, on the sidelines of the Gulf Industry Fair (GIF).

Engie, which is making its debut at the Northern Gulf’s leading specialist business-to-business (B2B) event for industrial products and services, said the Gulf Industry Fair was “very well attended, strategic and important for Bahrain.”

With a regional head office in Dubai, UAE, Engie has been active in the Gulf region for more than 30 years generating 30 GW of power and around 5 million cu m of desalinated water.

It operates 22 power plants in the region including three in Bahrain, one in Kuwait, six in Oman, two in Qatar, four in Saudi Arabia and six in the UAE.

"It was very important to bring solar to Bahrain as it is obviously an important energy resource within the region," observed Thomson.

“We are sponsor for a number of power suppliers in the region including Al Dur, Al Ezzel and Al Hidd in Bahrain,” she stated.

"We basically power Bahrain and provide the water,” she added.-TradeArabia News Service

[maywillow] 07/2/2018 08:31

World’s largest virtual power plant to be built in South Australia
Posted on 7 Feb 2018 by Michael Cruickshank

A new 'virtual' solar power plant will be built in South Australia (SA) following a deal between the state government and Tesla.
A worker inspects a solar panel prior to installation - image courtesy of SunPower
A worker inspects a solar panel prior to installation. Image courtesy of SunPower.

The South Australian government plans to use rooftop solar panels on up to 50,000 households to generate power which will then be stored in batteries located in each building.

These batteries will then be networked together using smart meters, and will dispense electricity whenever it is in demand. By working as a networked system the solar panels together form what is known as a ‘virtual power plant’.

Each home involved in the network will host a 5kW solar panel system and 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 battery.

All up, the virtual power plant will generate a total of 250MW and is expected to drive down the price of electricity for the homes involved in the project.

“My Government has already delivered the world’s biggest battery, of now we will deliver the world’s largest Virtual Power Plant,” said SA Premier Jay Weatherill.

“We will use people’s homes as a way to generate energy for the South Australian grid, with participating households benefitting with significant savings in their energy bills.”
Phased roll-out

The SA Government plans to install the panels and batteries in several stages over the course of the next four years.

In the first phase of this roll-out, 1100 publicly-owned housing properties will be outfitted with the hardware and networked together as a small-scale trial. This will then be expanded to a further 24,000 public housing properties.

After this, the local government plans to open up the system to participation by any SA household which wishes to join and expects at least 50,000 households to be integrated into the system over a 4 year period.

While the project will receive a small $2m AUD grant from the Australian government to get it off the ground, the total estimated cost of the virtual power plant is expected to be around $800m AUD.

As such, where the remainder of the funding for the project will come from is so far unclear, with the SA Government only going so far as to say that it expects ‘investorsR17; will provide this cash.

[waldron] 05/2/2018 17:16

Solar Innovation Could Solve Africa’s Water Problem
By Llewellyn King - Feb 05, 2018, 11:00 AM CST Australia solar

Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most beautiful and green cities in the world, will run out of water in April. On “Day Zero” (April 16 by the latest calculation), municipal water supplies from the six dams that feed the city will be exhausted and only hospitals and other vital institutions will have piped water. Everyone else will be scrounging.

Already, there have been long lines and fights at the city’s two natural springs. Bottled water is being hoarded. The prognosis is grim -- and very dry. The first hope for rain is June, a traditionally wet month. But the weather has been so aberrant that nobody knows when it will rain and how much will fall.

Cape Town is not alone but it is one of the most dramatic of the water crises, occasioned by climate change. That change has been most brutal in Africa. Droughts have millions starving and drinking putrid water. The same story in the Caribbean, after the double whammy of two hurricanes.

Much of Africa is in pitiable condition from drought and potable water is just not there for many. Two lasting memories of Africa for me are women walking great distances with water containers on their heads and men with bundles of sticks for cooking fires on theirs. Marry the water with the firewood and a warm meal may be possible.

The Western approach to these problems, since the colonial era, has been big infrastructure: central power stations, dams and water pumped great distances from one of Africa’s big rivers. (It should be noted that Africa has few of these.) Sadly, that solution favors mega-cities over towns, towns over villages and villages over farms.

That is why I was gripped with excitement hearing about a new product that, if deployed widely over the next half century, could help Africa immensely, but in short order can help the stricken Caribbean.
Related: Tajikistan’s Newest Hydropower Project

It is a Swiss Army knife of a power unit, made with off-the-shelf components, that harnesses solar energy to wring water out of the air and make electricity. Anyone who has had to empty a dehumidifier daily knows how much water there is in the air; the more humidity, the greater the water resource.

Aldelano Corporation, an imaginative, minority-owned company with manufacturing in Jackson, Tenn., is making the units. Although there are other air-to-water systems using solar, generally these are small and aimed at single family use. Aldelano is integrating water, power and even ice production in a Solar WaterMaker -- a 40-foot-long box with an industrial design life of 20 years.

Al Hollingsworth, CEO of Aldelano, has been providing solar-powered cold rooms for food processors as part of the company's business in packaging for decades. Hollingsworth founded the company in 1967 and its clients are biggies like Kellogg’s and Procter & Gamble.

Now he is in the midst of shipping the first 100 water-makers to buyers in the hurricane-ravaged islands of the Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, and the British Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico, where 30 percent of the inhabitants, mostly rural, are without power and clean water is a candidate but has not yet ordered any units.

Hollingsworth told me that each unit produces up to 1,000 gallons a day and can produce electricity to light seven homes. This gives “off- the-grid” a new dimension.

I have been writing about energy for decades, and longer than that about Africa, and here is a melding of old products into a new one, which is something that can make a difference there. The technology of the wind0w air conditioner meets the technology of solar arrays, batteries and the latest compressors.
Related: How Globalization Will Create An Energy Crisis

Much of the world has looked to ease its potable water shortage with seawater desalination. There are two big problems, though: It takes a lot of power to do it -- whether with reverse osmosis or flash boiling -- and, the biggest problem, its by-product is salt. Millions of tons of the stuff presents a potential environmental catastrophe.

Where there is sun and humidity, there can be safe drinking water. Few things are more needed and the World Health Organization says 2 billion people are without it.

The people without clean drinking water are the same ones without electricity. Water from air and electricity from solar will not solve the problem but can help, one light bulb and one glass of water at a time.

By Llewellyn King for Oilprice.com

[waldron] 02/2/2018 16:40

ENGIE PARTNERS WITH TFL TO EXPAND SOLAR PV & BATTERY ENERGY USE
Web_ENGIE_TfL-Solar
Engie will work on other energy-saving measures
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2 February 2018 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal

Transport for London (TfL) has awarded Engie a contract to install solar panels with associated battery storage and to implement energy conservation measures on TfL’s estate.

The contract, awarded under the RE:FIT framework, will be delivered alongside the Mayor of London’s Energy for Londoners programme and builds on an existing strategic partnership between the two organisations, in which some 300 Engie staff are already supplying technical services to TfL.



The continuing first phase of the programme, estimated at £5 million, will be delivered across 24 locations including depots, river piers, bus stations, train crew accommodation and the Acton Railway Engineering Workshop. The initiative forms part of the London Environment Strategy to be a zero-carbon city by 2050.



The first new panels will be installed from early 2019, potentially providing 1.1 MW of solar generated power for TfL, adding to the 245kW of power provided by existing solar panels on the TfL estate. Combined, they are expected to cut TfL’s CO2 emissions by about 480 tonnes a year.



In parallel, Engie will be engaged in a range of other energy-saving measures, such as upgrading heating and lighting systems.



Graeme Craig, director of commercial development at TfL, said: “Across TfL, we are committed to doing whatever we can to be as energy efficient as possible. Improving London’s air quality and reducing our impact on the environment are key elements of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and expanding our solar capability across the business will ensure that we do this in a cost efficient and technologically advanced way.”

[waldron] 23/1/2018 13:21

Kocher says Engie re-positioning is complete
01/23/2018
By Diarmaid Williams
International Digital Editor

Engie chief Isabelle Kocher says the French firm’s concern is now with the scale of growth it can produce after declaring that the business’s ‘repositioning’ is now complete.

Kocher has presided over the transformation of the company away from conventional and nuclear power technology to renewable energy.
Isabelle Kocher
Since 2014, ENGIE has operated a strategic shift, by reducing future exploration in fossil fuels and investing massively in green energies (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, and natural gas) and energy efficiency services, and this has accelerated under the guidance of the present chief executive.

“It’s [now] more about the pace of growth,” said Ms Kocher, who took over the group in 2016. “Fundamentally we have done the most important part in terms of repositioning. And we have been extremely clear on the businesses we intend to make a difference on.”

Financial Times reports that as part of her three-year plan that will run to the end of 2018, the company has cut costs, reduced its exposure to carbon-intensive industries and from markets most exposed to fluctuating prices. At the same time, it has increased its exposure to renewable energy, regulated markets and digital technologies.

Since the start of 2016, Engie has sold or closed more than 10 GW out of 16 GW of coal production, brought 6 GW of renewable energy online and secured a further 6 GW. Low-carbon activities now represent more than 90 per cent of earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation, ahead of target, says the company.

As part of its plan, Engie aimed to sell off €15bn of fossil fuel-focused assets between 2016 and 2018 and reinvest the proceeds in renewables and energy services. Following the sales of liquefied natural gas assets to Total for $1.5bn in November and of a coal plant in Australia in December for $800m, 90 per cent of those disposals are now complete

The cash from the disposals has already mostly been spent or committed with the majority going towards internal growth, rather than large acquisitions.

“I have been pushed, to be honest, to make big acquisitions because it was the traditional way,” said Ms Kocher. “It’s not a question of size, it’s more a question of really being able to bring something. The best way to create value is to really bring organic growth.”

The market has also given Ms Kocher and Engie a vote of confidence on the new strategy: since the start of 2017, the share price has risen 19 per cent.

Some analysts have told the FT that 2018 is a critical year, in terms of the success of the strategy.

Vincent Gilles, analyst at Credit Suisse, said: “If this is a bad year, then you can put the blame on her. So far you could put the blame on exogenous factors and former management. This is the first year where you have the majority of assets which have either been brought in or shaped by Ms Kocher.”

“The very important thing is that she has a lot of credit with the market . ;. . a lot of kudos in what she says. That is good and it gives her time, but not infinite time,” he added.

[marcus wanky] 23/1/2018 08:55

Planet X is getting nearer, Raven said so

[shalder] 22/1/2018 21:35

Yes, hiding behind the sun. Allegedly.

[uppompeii] 22/1/2018 18:45

Is it still out there?

[solsticefire] 22/1/2018 18:37

You can't handle the truth.

[la forge] 22/1/2018 14:56

BP Weighs Bid for $1.8 Billion Italian Solar Company
By Chiara Albanese
, Anna Hirtenstein
, and Kelly Gilblom
22 janvier 2018 à 14:36 UTC+1

Sale said to also attract interest from Abu Dhabi to China
RTR’s sale process is expected to kick off mid-February

BP Plc is considering a bid for one of Italy’s largest collection of solar assets, according to people familiar with the matter.

Private equity company Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd. will kick off the sale of Rete Rinnovabile Srl next month, the people said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly. Rete Rinnovabile, known at RTR, is valued at about 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) by Terra Firma.

BP returned to the solar power market with a $200 million investment in British company Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd. last month, six years after it closed a unit that made panels. Oil companies are expanding their interests in renewables as they look for ways to make money in a world increasingly seeking cleaner forms of energy.

The sale is also attracting interest from companies from China to Abu Dhabi, the people said. Potential suitors for RTR, which operates 130 sites nationwide, include Enel SpA, Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. and German utilities EON SE and Innogy SE, people familiar with the matter said in November.

[shalder] 21/1/2018 17:32

Are those MkII Nibiruan Phasers as secretly recovered from the Roswell crash site?

I think we should be told!

[solsticefire] 21/1/2018 16:08

Ya cannae change the laws of physics.

[pvb] 21/1/2018 15:14

Arrrgh!

It's alive! It's alive!!!!

[jonc] 21/1/2018 09:45

Standclear please.

[norman the doorman] 20/1/2018 20:36

Someone please restart this thread

[solsticefire] 20/1/2018 18:32

Took the long way then?

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/1/2018 12:45

Royal Dutch Shell Joining the Renewable Energy Bandwagon
Shell is the latest oil major to buy into renewable energy.
Travis Hoium
(TMFFlushDraw)
Jan 20, 2018 at 6:46AM

The oil majors have had a love-hate relationship with renewable energy over the past decade. Some (BP (NYSE:BP)) once saw it as a key to their future, only to divest from the business, and others (Total (NYSE:TOT)) have been slowly wading into renewables without taking any big risks. But it's become clear that renewable energy isn't going anywhere, and it might be the biggest threat facing the oil business long-term.

Not only is renewable energy eating away at traditional fossil fuel consumption at utilities, it's becoming a fuel for transportation as millions of electric vehicles hit the road around the world. Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-A)(NYSE:RDS-B) is the latest to realize it needs a foot in the renewable energy business, buying a 44% stake in renewable energy developer Silicon Ranch for up to $217 million in cash. And Shell may still be getting started building out its renewables strategy.
Solar farm with a setting sun in the background.

Image source: Getty Images.
Shell joins the renewables business

Silicon Ranch is a solar developer that has about 880 MW of projects under contract in the U.S. with a 1 GW pipeline of projects. It's not the biggest developer in the country, but it has a growing footprint and can leverage Shell's capital to grow. In 2021, Shell can increase the ownership stake beyond 44%.

Shell also acquired MP2 Energy last year, an owner of natural gas and distributed solar assets like demand-response and solar.

While these two deals don't make Shell a leader in renewable energy just yet, it could show a shifting attitude to renewable energy, a transition other companies have already gone through. And if Shell pushes both companies to grow it could build a sizable renewables business.
Old energy companies are making plays for new energy assets

Shell isn't the first oil company to make a move into renewables. The oil major making the most news in renewable energy is Total, the majority owner of solar manufacturer SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR). Total has also acquired a stake in developer EREN Renewable Energy and acquired energy efficiency company GreenFlex, among others. Total has also begun to buy renewable energy projects on its own, essentially building an energy generating business under the Total banner.

Utility AES (NYSE:AES) spent $853 million last year to buy sPower, developer of utility-scale solar systems. The company is in the midst of a strategy to sell off coal and other legacy fossil fuel assets and double down on renewable energy and energy storage.

After divesting a solar manufacturing business a few years ago, BP has even gotten back in the renewable energy game with a $200 million investment in renewable developer Lightsource.

You may notice a trend: oil and utility companies are beginning to invest in renewable energy developers rather than manufacturers. This is partly because asset ownership in the energy industry is a more stable business for them to invest in, but it also allows them to leverage their own development expertise and access to capital in renewables, rather than develop a new technology understanding in renewable manufacturing.

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The holdout in renewable energy

One oil company's name is notably absent from the renewable energy business: ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM). The company has intentionally stayed out of wind and solar, and has focused investment in alternative energy in fuels and carbon sequestration, although with very little commercial success.

With major competitors Total, Shell, and BP investing billions in renewable energy to transition their business, ExxonMobil may eventually see that's where the future is. Shell is finally coming around and maybe just in time to build a sustainable renewable energy business to replace the aging oil business.

[pvb] 18/1/2018 22:59

Yep! Via Morrison's.