AIKO & ACAP partner: Chinese solar PV manufacturer AIKO Solar has entered into a partnership with the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) as they target exceeding 30% efficiency in interdigitated back contact (IBC) silicon solar cells. The $4 million research and development (R&D) initiative will use advanced photon multiplication (PM) technology and generate multiple electron-hole pairs from high-energy photons. They do not plan to use any tandem structures in this pursuit. Recently, AIKO announced achieving 24.6% solar module efficiency for its all back contact (ABC) Comet 2U modules (see AIKO Announces 24.6% Commercial Solar Module Efficiency).
For ACAP, this initiative is part of its Industry Consortium that brings together academia and industry. Its design allows for the smooth integration of the research work into existing solar manufacturing processes. ACAP is funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to support the latter’s goal to achieve $0.30/W total solar cost by 2030 and achieve 30% solar cell efficiency, dubbed as the 30 30 30 goal (see ARENA’s $45 Million For $0.30/W Solar Cost).
1.3 GW RE project in Pakistan: Oracle Power has completed the Transmission and Grid Interconnection Study of its proposed 1.3 GW hybrid renewable energy power plant in Pakistan, along with its joint venture (JV) partner Oracle Energy Limited. The project in Jhimpir in Pakistan’s Sindh province has the State Grid Corporation of China subsidiary China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. Ltd. (CET) as Oracle’s joint development partner for the project. The study was undertaken by Power Planners International (PPI). The project will include 800 MW solar, 500 MW wind and a battery energy storage system (BESS). On completion, this hybrid project will be connected to the national grid. PPI has proposed to add 260 MW BESS to enhance the project’s reliability and interconnect the entire plant to the 220 kV Jhimpir-II Grid Station via a direct 220 kV double circuit transmission line of 35 km in length. Funded by the State Grid China, the study has now been submitted to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) of Pakistan for its review and approval. Earlier this year, Oracle received environmental approval for this project that aims to generate green hydrogen (see Pakistan Set To Host 1.3 GW Renewable Energy Plant).
Renova’s 18 MW solar PPA: Renewable energy developer Renova, Inc. of Japan has signed a 20-year virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 36 MW DC/18 MW AC solar power plant in Japan. The project operator is the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Second Solar Power G.K. Power generated will be directly sold to ‘domestic consumer’ as non-feed-in-tariff (non-FIT), non-fossil certificates. These certificates will be derived from small-scale, distributed solar PV power plants and the generated electricity sold to the wholesale electricity markets.
Tongwei in Australia: Chinese solar PV manufacturer Tongwei has signed a strategic distribution agreement with Blue Sun Group in Australia at the recent All-Energy Australia 2024 event. Under the agreement, Tongwei will supply 1 GW of its high-efficiency solar modules to Blue Sun over the next 5 years. This is not the 1st cooperation between the 2 companies as they have been collaborating since October 2022. In September 2024, Tongwei signed a cooperation agreement with Blue Sun for its TNC-G12R series products.
Nestlé signs solar PPA in Thailand: French renewable energy company GreenYellow has signed a solar PPA with global food and beverage group Nestlé in Thailand. Nestlé (Thai) Ltd. has contracted GreenYellow to install a 3.2 MW solar power plant at the Nestlé Waters manufacturing site in Ayutthaya province, enabling the factory to reduce its carbon emissions with the help of 4.5 GWh of clean energy produced by the solar project annually. Solar panels here will be installed on the ground and on parking canopies. GreenYellow says this will be the largest solar project among all Nestlé production sites in Thailand. Nestlé targets to use 100% renewable electricity across all its sites by 2025.
Jinko ESS' Australia contract: Jinko ESS, the energy storage solutions company from JinkoSolar, has signed a contract to deploy 22 sets of its SunGiga 215 kWh All-in-One Energy Storage System (JKS-215KLAA-100PLAA). These will be installed across multiple sites in Queensland, Australia. The company says these systems combined the power conversion system (PCS), and LFP batteries into a single, compact unit. This brings down the installation time, while its modular design allows for easy scaling and customization.
.png?w=50&fm=png){kind=logo}