SOLAR INVESTMENTS - FROM FUNDINGS TO PARTNERSHIPS & ACQUISITIONS: WEEK 6

This is a weekly newsletter to keep you updated on the latest developments in solar investments, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, public offerings within the solar industry. These are select stories that have been published on our website - TaiyangNews. if you are interested in weekly updates, please subscribe. For all news on solar, check our website https://taiyangnews.info/

CHINA

LONGi to repurchase company shares: Chinese vertically integrated solar PV company LONGi said in an announcement that it plans to use its own funds to repurchase some of the company’s ordinary shares (A shares). The company will be doing this via centralized bidding transactions through the Shanghai Stock Exchange system. The funds are expected to be not less than RMB 300 million ($42.18 million) (inclusive) and not more than RMB 600 million ($84.36 million) (inclusive). The company also added that the upper limit of the share repurchase price shall not be higher than 150% of the average trading price of the company’s stock in the 30 trading days before the company’s board of directors considers and approves the repurchase plan resolution. This repurchase is being planned based on the confidence of the company’s growth and development in the future, and also to safeguard the interest of the investors and build investor confidence.

INDIA

India Set To Bring Back ALMM Requirement By April 2024: India is expected to see a surge of solar installation activity this year after the government announced it will exempt projects at an advanced stage of construction from sticking to the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) List 1.?

Such projects will be granted relief provided the developers have placed their module orders before March 31, 2024. Additionally, such projects should have the irrevocable letter of credit (LC) opened before the deadline of March 31, 2024, subject to verification.?

Through ALMM, India aims to support domestic solar PV manufacturing since it includes only locally produced modules to be used for solar energy projects backed by the government.?

ALMM will be back to being imposed on solar projects sponsored or subsidized by the government, including the PM KUSUM and solar PV rooftop schemes. These will apply to all projects from which the government or its agencies will procure power for their own consumption or for distribution to the people via discoms, explained the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).?

It further clarified that the ALMM will not apply to projects set up under open access or as captive by private parties. “In other words, ALMM will not be applicable for people who set up their own capacity,” reads the ministry’s notice.?

The ministry’s clarification puts an end to rumors of the government extending the ALMM deadline by another year. MNRE boss RK Singh had announced an exemption of 1 year from using solar modules listed in the ALMM for government projects to boost solar installations (see India Provides Relief From ALMM Obligation).?

Supported by the global drop in module prices, India’s imports of Chinese modules in Q4/2023 was a total 9 GW, making up 62% of the country’s annual import volume of 14.5 GW, according to InfoLink Consulting. Analysts believe this surge is due to developers stockpiling before the ALMM is back in force, which should increase given the MNRE’s exemption (see China Exported 208 GW Solar Modules Globally In 2023).?

EUROPE

16 European Partners Attempt To Create New Standard In Offshore Energy Farms With North Sea Project: Netherlands-based Oceans of Energy is joined by 15 European partners to launch the development of a standardized offshore solar building block in the North Sea, nestled within 4 offshore wind turbines.?

Through this EU Joint Industry Project abbreviated as BAMBOO (short for Build scAlable Modular Bamboo-inspired Offshore sOlar systems), the partners aim to scale up offshore solar PV farms to standard formats of 150 MW, that will help roll out GW-scale farms in the future.?

Italian certification and engineering firm RINA along with ABS, Aquatera Ltd, Aquatera Atlantico, and WavEC are the 5 technical and environmental consultancies supporting the project.?

Other partners include 4 technology developers namely Solarge, TKF, Pauwels Transformers, SolarCleano; 3 testing laboratories of MARIN, Fraunhofer CSP, SIRRIS; marine science-policy think-tank European Marine Board and offshore wind farm developer Vattenfall as a potential client for implementation.?

According to Oceans of Energy, through BAMBOO they aim to mature the technologies to attract funds for the first-of-a-kind 100-200 MW offshore solar farm at a Vattenfall offshore wind farm before the turn of the decade. The location of the project is yet to be decided.?

The idea is to place offshore solar farms within offshore wind farms to make use of the available sea space, increase electricity output and ensure continuous power supply over the seasons.?

Use of the same electricity infrastructure for both energy generating technologies will bring down costs for green electricity production, it adds.?

The Dutch company says these ‘building blocks’ are an attempt to make such projects a new standard in offshore energy farms.??

“This project will contribute to enable feasible business cases of solar renewable energy offshore,” said Carbon Reduction Excellence Executive Vice President of RINA, Andrea Bombardi. It will pioneer the development of a new predictive yield model for the technology, added Bombardi.??

Oceans of Energy has designed a high wave offshore solar farm system, receiving an approval in principle (AiP) for its system design from France’s Bureau Veritas in January 2023. In April last year, it was picked by CrossWind to install and operate solar panels within the 759 MW Hollandse Kust Noord Offshore Wind Park of Shell and Eneco, off the Dutch coast (see Offshore Floating Solar Farm In Netherlands).?

RWE & PPC Take Final Investment Decision For Last Of 940 MW DC Solar Power Project Portfolio: RWE Renewables Europe & Australia and PPC Renewables have taken the final investment decision to start the construction of a new solar PV project with 450 MW DC/432 MW AC in Western Macedonia. It will come up within the boundaries of the former Amynteo open pit lignite mine.?

This Orycheio Dei Amynteo Solar Plant or the Amynteo Cluster III is last of the 940 MW DC/870 MW AC Amynteo Solar Portfolio that the duo will realize through their joint venture (JV) Meton Energy.?

Amynteo Cluster III is estimated to cost €255.4 million in investment, out of which €127.7 million will come from the European Union’s NextGeneration funds via Greece’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).?

The remaining finance has been secured through a €76.6 million commercial debt financing from Alpha Bank, Eurobank and the National Bank of Greece, along with €51.1 million as equity from the shareholders.?

The 3rd project on the list is scheduled to come online by the end of 2025. Power generated will be purchased under 10-year power purchase agreements (PPA) signed with PPC and RWE Supply & Trading.?

Amynteo Clusters I and II, as 8 large-scale solar projects, with a combined 490 MW DC/434 MW AC capacity, are already under construction. These are expected to be connected to the grid in 2024. Greek EPC company MYTILINEOS has been contracted to build this capacity (see Europe Solar PV News Snippets).?

“With our latest investment decision, we have prepared the ground for an additional 450 MW photovoltaic plant – RWE’s largest solar project under construction to date,” said CEO of RWE Renewables Europe & Australia, Katja Wünschel. “This underpins our strong commitment to the Greek market with nearly one gigawatt of solar capacity under construction and large-scale solar projects of similar size under development.”?

RWE announced its partnership with PPC in October 2021 with plans to launch up to 2 GW large-scale solar capacity via a JV with the latter adding 940 MW DC capacity (see 2 GW Solar Agreement For Greece).?

Recently, PPC Renewables secured financing from Eurobank and Piraeus Bank for its 550 MW DC solar power station in Greece’s lignite mining region of Western Macedonia. It will generate 1 TWh clean energy on completion as one of the largest PV stations in Europe (see Europe Solar PV News Snippets).?

6 Domestic & International Players Offer Bids For 100 MW USAID-Backed Solar Project In Rahovec: The Ministry of Economy in Kosovo has revealed plans to launch a series of auctions for 950 MW of renewable energy capacity over the next 2 years. The 1st of this €1.2 billion exercise comprises a 100 MW solar PV plant for which it has received bids from 6 companies.??

Launched in mid-2023, the 100 MW solar auction has attracted bids from the consortia headed by ?alik-Limak of Turkey, and another led by Guris Insaat Muhendishik also from Turkey. Orllati of Switzerland with a branch in Kosovo is leading another consortium.??

German company with a local branch Notus Energy Kosovo is an individual bidder. France’s Akuo Energy and Egypt’s Elsewedy Electric are also among shortlisted bidders.??

Backed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), bids received for the 100 MW solar auction will be further evaluated against minimum financial, professional and technical requirements.???

The project is planned to be located in the cadastral zone of Kramovik and Petkoviq in the Municipality of Rahovec. Winning bidder will get the land on lease for a period of 30 years.??

In the next round, qualified companies will have the opportunity to lower their initial price by competing against each other Winner will be chosen on the basis of lowest price offered.??

Kosovo’s Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli said the next round of the 950 MW procurement plan will be a 150 MW wind auction to be launched in 2024.

NORTH AMERICA

Sunworks files for bankruptcy: US solar systems installer for agricultural, C&I, and other public entities Sunworks has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the US Code in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. According to a Securities and Exchange (SEC) filing, the company and 3 of its subsidiaries ceased operations on February 5, 2024, after considering all strategic alternatives. Its CEO Mark Trout has resigned immediately along with the company’s board of directors. A trustee appointed by the court will assume control over its assets and liabilities. The assets will be liquidated.?

The company had suffered a 29.5% YoY decline in its Q3/2023 revenues. The residential solar segment registered drops of 44.5% YoY and 25.2% sequentially. On the other hand, the commercial solar energy segment delivered a 105.9% increase in revenue. The management back then had pointed to the drop in residential solar demand following an increase in interest rates and lower activity levels in California following the NEM 3.0 transition. In November 2023, it had lowered headcount and exited several underperforming markets.?

AFRICA

10 MW solar plant for Namibian gold mine: Sustainable Power Solutions (SPS) will develop and fund the construction of a 10 MW solar power plant in Namibia. Due to become operational by 2024-end, it will be constructed for NAD 200 million ($10.6 million). Located on Maxwell Farm in North Central Namibia, the project will be grid connected via NamPower’s new Eldorado substation. Here it will be allocated under NamPower’s Modified Single Buyer (MSB) framework to gold producer B2Gold’s Otjikoto Mine. Under NamPower’s MSB framework, independent power producers (IPP) can produce and sell electricity directly to regional electricity distributors, large industrial and mining companies along with municipalities. SPS explained that this is an improvement over the previous single-buyer model where electricity could only be sold to NamPower.

Solar acquisition in Madagascar and Burkina Faso: Pan-African group AXIAN has acquired solar assets in Madagascar and Burkina Faso from French IPP GreenYellow. AXIAN is acquiring minority shares of GreenYellow in their joint ventures (JV) in Madagascar including the 40 MW solar with 5 MWh storage capacity. This they call as the largest solar power plant in the Indian Ocean. The Madagascar deal also includes 4 hybrid plants in Sava and Menabe with a combined PV capacity of more than 6 MW.

AXIAN is also buying 95% of the shares of GreenYellow’s 30 MW power plant in Nagréongo, Burkina Faso. The company aims to grow its portfolio to 500 MW of renewable energy capacity in Africa over the next 3 years.