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Solar Power in Vietnam grows rapidly.

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Solar power in Vietnam is seeing a huge boom in 2018 as a number of large-scale solar power facilities are in various stages of construction, due to the recent cancellation of two nuclear power plant construction projects deemed too expensive in the initial phases.

Solar Power in Vietnam

Solar Power in Vietnam
Solar Power in Vietnam (source: http://i.dtinews.vn)

Vietnam were planning on partnering with Japan and Russia to build two nuclear power plants in the southern province of Ninh Thuan, but these plans were scuppered late last year due to the large upfront cost of building the reactors (reportedly several billion dollars per reactor, according to Nikkei.com). 

Instead, the Thien Tan Group will spend USD $2 billion on five large-scale solar power plants in Ninh Thuan. The first plant, which will generate 50MW of energy, will start operating in 2018, followed by four more which will generate 200-300MW each – with all five estimated to end up at 1GW (the same as a nuclear reactor). 

They’re planning on attracting 4.85GW of large scale PV solar power plants by 2030.

The Khanh Hoa Province have also got 120MW of solar power plants opening in 2018 – great news as currently solar power only accounts for 0.01% of Vietnam’s total power generation capacity. The government plans to rectify this by bumping the amount of solar generation up to 3.3% by 2030 and 20% by 2050. They currently generate almost 18GW in hydropower, but statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade have shown that wind and solar will become a lot more important in Vietnam’s energy mix in the next ten years. 

There is plenty of sunlight and unused land, especially in southern Vietnam, so as we see the price of solar panels and storage decline there should be a massive increase in the amount of solar generated there. This is similar to what we saw in Thailand, where battery producer Redflow moved their operations last year in order to save on lower production costs. 

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Hivve – Solar powered school classrooms being trialled.

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Solar Powered School Classrooms are being trialled in two classrooms in NSW as part of a $368,115 grant from ARENA. The classrooms are built by a company named Hivve and will be built at St Christopher’s Catholic Primary School in Holsworthy and Dapto High School.

St Christopher’s Principal Tony Boyd was quoted by Fairfax Media talking about the project:

“It’s an exciting prospect where schools can be a generator of electricity,” Mr Boyd said.

Hivve – Solar Powered School Classrooms

Hivve - Solar Powered School Classrooms
Hivve – Solar Powered School Classrooms (source: hivve.com.au)

According to their website, Hivve is an “advanced environmentally responsible education ecosystem that has been thoughtfully designed to create a flexible, accessible and healthy learning environment.”

According to figures from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), school classrooms use an average of 3,800 KWh of electricity, but Hivve classrooms will generate 7,600 net KWh. The school and students will be able to view the results in real-time via an online dashboard. 

A press release about the solar powered classrooms published on the ARENA website had a couple of quotes from CEO Ivor Frischknecht who said the solar classrooms can have a dual purpose, to edify the new generation about renewables whilst actually generating energy:

“This is a great way to get the next generation involved in renewables at an early age and educate them as to what the positive benefits will be as Australia continues its shift towards a renewable energy future,”

“The success of the Hivve project could lead to a nation-wide adoption of the modular classrooms, reducing reliance on the grid and even providing a significant amount of electricity back to the NEM.” Mr Frischknecht said.

Hivve Director David Wrench spoke about the technology and how it will be able to educate the students:

“We are very pleased to be partnering with ARENA on this exciting project. We have carefully designed every element of the Hivve classroom to create the best possible learning environment for students”, Mr Wrench said.

We’ve seen a lot of solar power at universities (e.g. UNSW’s recent pledge to become fully solar powered), but these are some of the first solar school initiatives – hopefully the first of many more!

Click here to view the media release by ARENA: Classrooms powered by renewable energy to be trialled in NSW schools

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Neoen’s Coleambally solar farm construction

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French renewable energy and battery storage developer Neoen has reached a financial close on its 150MW AC Coleambally solar farm in NSW. Construction has already started and, according to the official website, it’ll consist of approximately 560,000 solar panels on 550 hectares of land 5km north east of Coleambally, which is about 65km  from Griffith.

The Coleambally solar farm

Coleambally solar farm
Neoen’s Coleambally solar farm (source: coleamballysolarfarm.com.au)

“We started developing this idea a year ago. We found the land, we signed a PPA (power purchase agreement), and organised the grid connection (and) now we have reached financing and it will be in production before the end of the year. That is less than two years from idea to production.” 

Neoen’s Australian Operations CEO Franck Woitiez told RenewEconomy.

According to their discussion, Woitiez questioned the viability of pumped hydro, referring to the $2 billion turned $4.5 billion turned $8 billion “Snowy 2.0” scheme which has been laid out by Malcolm Turnbull’s federal government and is now being discussed, with an investment decision to be made later this year. After a $29m feasibility study showed it is unlikely the project could operate in the “merchant market” given its size and scope, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Woitiez rubbished and said solar and storage would be a far cheaper and faster option:

“You could build 2,000MW (the amount of power Snowy 2.0 will generate) of solar, add storage, and provide reliable and dispatchable and cheap electricity in half the time of hydro, and at a lower cost.”

Would be be better to let the market dictate terms here rather than handing over an exorbitant amount of taxpayer money for sub standard technology (or, if you believe the government, a ‘nation-building project’), poorly run by public servants? Well, how did the NBN turn out? Obviously sensible policy structure need apply – you can’t trust the private sector to regulate themselves – but the last year or so of solar farms in Australia has proven that large scale renewable investment can be a viable, mutually beneficial option. 

You can follow Franck Woitiez on Twitter via his handle @fwoit or clicking here. 

Neoen, founded in 2008 and currently with 1,125MW of renewable energy ‘in operation or  under operation’ as of April last year. No word on how much they have now as there’s been a lot of movement by them recently, especially in Australia – Neoen are also responsible for the Bulgana Green Power Hub, the Tesla Battery in South Australia (known officially by the grid as the Hornsdale Power Reserve), and Melbourne’s solar powered trams. They also built the 300MW Cestas Solar Park in France in 2015, which was the biggest solar farm in Europe at the time.

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Coal-fired power stations in France to be shut by 2021

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The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that all coal-fired power stations in France will be shut by 2021. Macron’s predecessor, Francois Hollande, had planned to shut down the plants by 2023 but President Macron has decided to move that date forward in an ambitious timeline to help France lead the EU (and the world) on climate issues.

Coal-fired power stations in France

Coal-fired power stations in France to close in 2021- President Emmanuel Macron
Coal-fired power stations in France to close in 2021- President Emmanuel Macron

Although France only produces around 1% of its energy from coal-fired power stations in favour of using nuclear power, President Macron’s commitment to shutting them all down is a great step forward for climate change. In 1960 France had 36.5% of their power generated from dirty coal power stations. They currently generate around 75% of their electricity using nuclear energy due to a long-held policy on energy security, but they have a goal to reduce this percentage to 50% by 2025, with one of the main problems what to do with the radioactive waste. In the Champagne-Ardenne region of eastern France, near the village of Bure, they are talking about storing it deep below ground while the radiation slowly reduces. 

Regardless of the fact that it only represents a very small decrease in coal generated power, Mr Macron called the decision “a huge advantage in terms of attractiveness and competitiveness” in a speech discussing France’s view towards climate change: 

“We should stop opposing on one side productivity, on the other side climate change issues,” he said.

 Compare this to Australia, which had 74.4% coal-fired power stations in 1960 and 63.6% in 2015 (no recent figures, but this should be quite a lot smaller in 2018 due to closures of plants like the Hazelwood power plant early last year and the AGL Energy’s decision to shut down of the Liddell coal-fired power station in 2022). 

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Trump imposes Solar Tariff on Panel Imports

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President Donald Trump has imposed a solar tariff – on solar panel imports, which is expected to have myriad repercussions for local manufacturers and their ability to compete against competitors in China and South Korea. Will this have an impact on solar panel technology, and what will it mean for local manufacturers?

Trump’s Solar Tariff – What Now?

An ostensible slap in the face to the renewable energy, Trump’s idea of raising import tariffs by up to 30% may have a few benefits, at least for USA based companies. 

Donald Trump Imposes USA Solar Tariff
Donald Trump Imposes USA Solar Tariff (source: @realDonaldTrump via Twitter)

First Solar Inc., USA based panel maker saw their shares jump by almost 10% in after-hours trading. Shares of U.S. home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool jumped also 5 percent on Tuesday on the back of the news, as washing machines have also seen a tariff imposed on them.  

According to Time magazine, however, the move will stifle a $28 billion industry not only overseas, but the raised costs of solar panels will also harm the American solar industry. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that currently employs 260,000 people, America wide. These tariffs are on the back of Trump’s administration pulling out of the international Paris climate agreement, and rolling back regulations on power plant emissions. 

According to a statement made by President Trump on Monday, the first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells will be exempt from the tariffs. Four years of tariffs will then start at 30 percent in the first year and gradually drop to 15 percent.

“Developers may have to walk away from their projects,” Hugh Bromley, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview before Trump’s decision. “Some rooftop solar companies may have to pull out” of some states.

CNBC reported that Credit Suisse analyst Susan Maklari told her clients that Trump’s decision wasn’t all that surprising.

“All those producing in the US will now face a similar cost structure, creating a more level playing field,” wrote Maklari. “Based on filings by LG and Samsung, they have a combined roughly 33 percent share in the U.S. suggesting 3 million washers are brought in annually. That said, both have commenced construction of U.S.-based capacity, which is expected to come on line over the next 12-18 months. As such, we expect this decision to become less impactful in time.”

Only time will tell what impact this has on the renewable energy industry as a whole, but these sort of protectionist regulations are rarely a step in the right direction. Watch this space…

 

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