Daily News Wrap-Up: Masdar-led Consortium to Develop 300 MW Solar Project

Solaria to inaugurate four solar projects with 64 MW capacity it is building in Portugal

thumbnail

Here are some noteworthy cleantech announcements of the day from around the world:

The Masdar-led renewable energy consortium, with EDF Renewables and Nesma Company, has reached a financial close on a 300 MW utility-scale photovoltaic solar project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Energy awarded the project to the consortium after submitting a bid of SAR 60.9042 (~$16.24 million)/MWh. The consortium signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Saudi Power Procurement Company this January for the project. The consortium will design, finance, build, and operate the project, which will be located in Third Jeddah Industrial City, 50km south-east of Jeddah. The plant will begin operation in 2022.

Solar technology company Solaria will inaugurate four solar projects with 64 MW capacity it is building in Portugal, the first to be built in the 2019 Portuguese auction, on May 17, 2021. To put the plants into operation in the coming months, Solaria has closed a long-term financing agreement with the French entity La Banque Postale under the modality of project finance for an amount of up to €23 million (~$27.82 million) and at interest rates of less than 1.75%.

Industrial gases company White Martins has inked a preliminary agreement with the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex to develop a green hydrogen hub in Brazil. Situated 60 km from Fortaleza, the port complex will be built by Australia’s Enegix Energy following an investment of $5400 million to develop the hub with support from White Martins. White Martins hopes to expand on its current industrial gases plant, situated in the Port, by introducing new facilities that support hydrogen production and distribution, ammonia production, hydrogen liquefaction, and the use of hydrogen in transport.

MPC Energy Solutions NV has signed a power purchase agreement for Parque Solar Los Girasoles, a solar photovoltaic project under development in Colombia. The deal includes the delivery of around 23 GWh a year over 12 years, starting in the second quarter of 2022. The agreement was signed with Grupo Renovatio, a Colombian energy trading firm, and electricity supplier. This is MPC Energy Solutions’ first PPA since its listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange’s Euronext Growth segment in January this year.

A €330 million (~$399.1 million) European Union support for the new Guinea-Mali 225 kV power line aims to provide clean and affordable energy to millions in West Africa. Once complete, the new 225 kV interconnector power line will provide an alternative to expensive and unreliable generators on the electricity grid and supply green power to local villages and the wider region.

Srinwanti is a copy editor at Mercom India, where she writes and edits news stories across the clean energy spectrum. Prior to Mercom, she has worked in book publishing at Macmillan Publishing House and Integra and honed her editorial and writing skills in both online and print media such as Reuters, Times Group Books, The Times of India, and Pune Mirror, covering local to international stories. More articles from Srinwanti Das.

RELATED POSTS