France officially opened the first solar power road in the world

The 1km road, made from electricity-generating panels runs through the village of Tourouvre-au-Perche, in Normandy. Developed by Colas over a five-year period, the road, called a ‘wattway’, will power all of the streetlights in the village, and expects to see 2,000 motorists per day. 

One of the issues with solar power is its expense. Marc Jedliczka, vice-president of Network for Energetic Transition, told Le Monde: "It’s without doubt a technical advance, but in order to develop renewables there are other priorities than a gadget of which we are certain that it’s very expensive than the fact it works".

Investing in solar panels depends on the amount of sunshine a country receives, meaning that building them in Spain, for example, might be more cost-effective than in the UK. 

According to Bloomberg, each square metre of the solar road costs €2,500 (£2,168) coming to a grand total of €5 million (£4.3 million) for its entirety. 

There are plans to build more wattways in Calgary, Canada and Georgia, USA.

If the panes prove successful, there are plans to roll them out globally. 

FG to target 2000mw from solar energy – Onu

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has said that the Federal Government has concluded arrangements to generate at least 2000 megawatts of solar energy, The Sun reports.

Onu, who addressed a World press conference on the outcome of his recent tour to the 7th General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in Abu Dabi, United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia, said out of the 2000 megawatts to be generated this year, 1000 will be off grid while the other 1000mw will be on grid.

He disclosed that the world for the first time spent about $300 billion in 2016 to promote renewable energy, while countries were also increasing percentage of contributions to their energy mix. 

IRENA is an inter-governmental organization involving many countries from all the continents that emphasise the importance of renewable energy.

FG accesses $67m W’Bank loan to develop hydro power dam in Jigawa

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Water Resources, Sen. Ubale Shittu, on Sunday said the Federal Government has accessed a $67m World Bank loan to rehabilitate Hadejia Valley Dam to boost electricity generation in Jigawa State, ecoFIN agency reports.

Shittu told reporters in Dutse that $60m would be used to rehabilitate and expand the dam by 1,000 hectares. He said that the remaining $7m dollars would be spent on dredging of the river from Tiga Dam in Kano State to Koli in Kirikasama Local Government Area of Jigawa.

According to him, the contract for the project would be awarded next month while work is expected to commence by the end of first quarter.

PPP critical to tackling power deficit – Dangote

The President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote yesterday told an audience at the World Economic Forum (WEF) holding in Davos Switzerland that a joint effort between government and private sector to tackle the power deficit remained a key element in boosting the economy of Africa, The Nation reports.

He said part of his $12 billion refinery and petrochemical project in Lagos involved the laying of sub-sea gas pipelines from Niger Delta to Lagos to provide 3 billion cubic feet of gas that can generate 12, 000 mw of electricity. Dangote said government must galvanize the private sector in the provision of stable power in Africa “and that at the end it would be a win-win situation because when power is available a lot of people will put to work and government revenue will also increase.”

According to him, his company also signed a $5 billion collaborative agreement with Blackstone to generate power and added that while the private sector is investing, the role of government would be to provide the operational framework and conducive environment for the investments to thrive. He stated that given the abundance of resources needed to generate power like gas and coal which he said the continent is blessed with, more had to be done to close the power deficit.

BoI launches N1bn solar energy fund

In pursuance of its Green Energy Project, the Bank of Industry on Friday in Lagos launched its 1 billion naira solar energy fund to boost its off-grid electricity generation project, Leadership reports.

The fund would be made available to firms partnering with the bank in the development of solar energy services across the country. Speaking at the event, acting managing director of the bank, Waheed Olagunju, explained that the fund is a concessional financing project initiated by the bank as a result of poor cash flow in the rural areas.

The bank according to him, spent about N240 million for six pilot solar projects in the geo-political zones of the country in 2016. According the managing director, Many Nigerians and Nigerian businesses that can afford other alternative energy sources have resorted to the use of electric generators at exorbitant costs.

A robust mix of energy sources combined with an improved end-use efficiency, would be required to meet the country’s energy needs, and this is where the utilization of renewable energy sources come into play” he said. He stressed that it is therefore important to support the provision of sustainable and reliable energy for MSMEs, which is why the bank has decided to provide the Solar Energy Fund to MSMEs.

THE NEVADA SUN WILL POWER TESLA'S GIGANTIC 'GIGAFACTORY'

Since kicking off the project in 2014, Tesla has claimed its massive “Gigafactory” near Reno, Nevada, will be the largest lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility in the world, and that it will achieve that feat using renewable energy. Now we have some idea of the scale of Tesla’s commitment to that.

Tesla began producing battery cells at the Gigafactory earlier this month, and gave a tour to investors to show it off. A document handed out to investors on that tour, obtained by Electrek, mentions a huge rooftop solar array for the factory, along with additional solar panels installed at ground level.

“We will be using 100-percent sustainable energy through a combination of a 70 MW solar rooftop array and solar ground installations,” the Tesla document said. “The solar rooftop array is ~7x larger than the largest rooftop solar system installed today,” it said. Whirlpool has a 10-MW array on the roof of a distribution center in Perris, California, and there is reportedly an 11.5-MW rooftop array in India. Tesla also discussed other aspects of the Gigafactory meant to reduce its carbon footprint. Most of the building’s heat will be supplied by waste heat from the production process, and the factory will feature a water-recirculation system that Tesla claims will cut fresh water usage by 80 percent. The company is also constructing an on-site recycling center for batteries.

The Gigafactory is currently building battery cells for Tesla’s Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy-storage battery packs. It began assembling these packs last year, but just began manufacturing the cells that go into them at the beginning of this month. Cell production for electric cars will start in the second quarter of this year, Tesla says. That will coincide with the start of production of the Model 3, Tesla’s $35,000, 215-mile, mass-market electric car.

While Tesla is already making things at the Gigafactory, the plant itself isn’t finished yet. Besides the yet-to-be-completed rooftop solar array and battery recycling center, Tesla claims the factory is only 30 percent of its final size. When complete, it believes the Gigafactory will be the largest building in the world.

Dulas to deliver solar fridges for vaccine storage in northern Nigeria

Leading British solar refrigeration manufacturer and renewable energy specialist, Dulas is in the process of delivering over 300 of its VC150SDD solar refrigerators to Nigeria. These World Health Organization (WHO) accredited refrigerators will be used to safely store vaccines in Yobe, Bauchi, and Kaduna states, Alternative Energy Africa reports.

With the WHO aiming to achieve 90% immunization coverage in each of its target countries by 2020, reliable storage of vaccines at the correct temperature is of crucial importance. Although the WHO believe that they will soon be able to rid Nigeria of polio, immunization programs can often be hindered by storage issues. This is most often the case in more remote areas with only sporadic access to the national grid. In the absence of a reliable source of electricity, temperature-sensitive vaccines will spoil and go to waste.

The Dulas solar-powered refrigerators use an advanced non-corrosive phase change material for the energy store, which cannot be damaged by over-charging or discharging, thereby ensuring there is no need to replace it. Combined with Dulas’ intelligent variable speed controller, this extends the usability of SDD fridges and makes them more resilient in low-sun conditions.

FG working with China on local production of solar cells in Nigeria

The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, while visiting NASENI Solar Energy Ltd., revealed that the Federal Government was working to intensify efforts to increase power generation through solar energy, VON reports.

Onu said the ministry would facilitate access to the 85 per cent offer from China for the approval of the 15 per cent counterpart funding to guarantee local production of Solar Cells in Nigeria. “This will facilitate advanced research, drastically reduce the cost of solar power installation and increase clean energy local content in the power sector,” he said. Onu promised that the ministry would make a strong case for the patronage of NASENI Solar Energy Ltd.

Earlier, Prof. Sani Haruna, the Executive Vice Chairman, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), said the objective of setting up the company was to inject local content in the power sector. The objective also includes developing and demonstrating local capacity; creating business; generating revenue and building capacity in renewable energy generally.

Nigeria’s grid capacity currently at 7,200Mw – Fashola

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola during a courtesy visit to the Editorial Board of The Guardian, has argued that the failure of the 2006 census has left the country with less than credible data for effective socio-economic planning while also adding that Nigeria’s grid capacity is currently at 7,200Mw, The Guardian reports.

Lack of accurate population figures for Nigeria, as admitted by the minister means that government planning could go off-track and undermine genuine efforts at budget implementation and social welfare schemes. Government agencies and private sector operators have continued to guess population numbers — ranging from 160 million to 180 million. “It is even difficult to know the amount of power Nigeria uses because we do not really know how many we are,” Fashola remarked.

On Nigeria’s transmission infrastructure, Fashola explained that government has completed some grid projects in Alagbon, Okada, Benin and Sokoto to bring the total carrying capacity of the grid to 7,200 megawatts. “So, it can’t be correct to argue that the grid can only carry 5,000 megawatts. Our grid expansion projects are in Kaduna, Kano and Oshogbo. It is an underutilised capacity yet someone is paying for it. Grid capacity is also a function of simulation and requires consultation with anybody using it. 7,200 mega watts is now the grid capacity. At worst it is 6,500. So, it is no longer 5,000.”

New Study Shows How Solar Can Enhance Grid Reliability

President Obama’s publication in Science is just the most recent reiteration of how far we have come with clean energy development in the last decade. The question now is not whether we should transition to cleaner sources of energy, but rather how do we do so in the most reliable and cost-effective way?

In California, where we are planning to satisfy at least 50% of our electricity needs with renewables by 2030, we are working on accelerating the solutions that will enable us to integrate large quantities of clean energy onto the grid. One of the most exciting strategies—using renewables to provide the grid reliability services traditionally provided by natural gas—just got a little closer to reality.

A new study released by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) (aka the grid operator for most of the state) finds that large-scale solar plants, with the right type of inverter technology, can provide many of the essential grid reliability services the grid needs. The study concludes that “It may in this way mitigate the impact of its variability on the grid, and contribute to important system requirements more like traditional generators.”

In a nutshell, the CAISO is saying it has found a strategy for operating renewables in a way that supports further integration of renewables onto the system. Renewables can now be part of the integration solution.

The test was conducted in August on one of First Solar’s 300 MW PV plants. According to the CAISO, the data demonstrates the capability of PV plants to provide various grid services. From the report: “This data showed how the development of advanced power controls can leverage PV’s value from being simply an intermittent energy resource to providing services that range from spinning reserves, load following, voltage support, ramping, frequency response, variability smoothing and frequency regulation to power quality.”

This finding is a real-world validation of research we completed last year which found that enabling renewables to provide grid reserves, especially in the downward direction, could be a particularly useful and cost-effective way to reduce grid management issues and greenhouse gas emissions. After all, gas plants have to be running to provide these services, which means they are emitting carbon, and potentially crowding out renewable generation.

At the time we published this report, the CAISO was skeptical. This pilot project has been very helpful to help them seriously consider renewables as part of the integration solution. I am beyond thrilled with the results and will be working with my clean energy colleagues to identify the economic and contractual incentives that will encourage large-scale solar plants to provide more of these grid services in the future. If we are serious about dramatically ramping up renewables and ramping down natural gas, we will need these grid services to come from carbon-free technologies, including large-scale solar plants.

Cost of Solar Energy Continues to Fall

It is estimated that in 2025 an average 1 MW ground mounted solar energy system will have an average cost of 73 cents per watt, 36% less than the current cost.

Q24N – Advances in technology and growing experience in the manufacture of solar energy systems are contributing to the gradual reduction of their cost, giving them an advantage over other sources of power generation, such as fossil fuel. Solar power is now cheaper than coal in some parts of the world. In less than a decade, it’s likely to be the lowest-cost option almost everywhere.

It is estimated that in 2025 an average 1 MW ground mounted solar energy system will have an average cost of US$0.73 cents per watt, compared with US $1.14 now, 36% less than the current cost.

An analysis published by Bloomberg.com states that economies of scale are also contributing to reducing the cost of implementing solar energy systems. “.. The solar supply chain is undergoing a ‘Wal-Mart effect’ of highervolumes and lower margins, according to Sami Khoreibi, founder and CEO of Enviromena Power Systems, a developer from Abu Dhabi. ”

In 2016, countries from Chile to the United Arab Emiratesbroke records with deals to generate electricity from sunshine for less than US$0.03 cents a kilowatt-hour, half the average global cost of coal power. Now, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Mexico are planning auctions and tenders for this year, aiming to drop prices even further. Taking advantage: Companies such as Italy’s Enel SpA and Dublin’s Mainstream Renewable Power, who gained experienced in Europe and now seek new markets abroad as subsidies dry up at home.

Since 2009, solar prices are down 62 percent, with every part of the supply chain trimming costs.

“These are game-changing numbers, and it’s becoming normal in more and more markets,” said Adnan Amin, International Renewable Energy Agency ’s director general, an Abu Dhabi-based intergovernmental group. “Every time you double capacity, you reduce the price by 20 percent.”

Bloomberg.com says the speed at which the price of solar will drop below coal varies in each country. Places that import coal or tax polluters with a carbon price, such as Europe and Brazil, will see a crossover in the 2020s, if not before. Countries with large domestic coal reserves such as India and China will probably take longer.

In Costa Rica, almost all of the country’s electricity was produced by renewable energy in 2016. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) – state power utility – said that around 98.1 per cent of the country’s electricity came from green sources.

These included large hydropower facilities, fed by a myriad of rivers and heavy seasonal rains, geothermal plants, wind turbines, biomass plants and solar panels.

ICE president Carlos Manuel Obregón expects renewable power generation to stay “stable” in Costa Rica in 2017.

But, for Costa Rican clean development adviser Dr. Monica Araya, despite the country’s fantastic achievement, “It hides a paradox, which is that nearly 70 per cent of all our [Costa Rica’s] energy consumption is oil.” The 98.1 per cent figure only refers to electricity usage, not gas used for heating or fuel used in vehicles, for example.

China to invest £292bn in renewable power by 2020

China will plough 2.5tn yuan (£292bn) into renewable power generation by 2020, the country’s energy agency has said, as the world’s largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power towards cleaner fuels.

The investment will create more than 13m jobs in the sector, the National EnergyAdministration said in a blueprint document that lays out its plan to develop the nation’s energy sector during the five-year 2016 to 2020 period.

The NEA said installed renewable power capacity including wind, hydro, solar and nuclear power would contribute to about half of new electricity generation by 2020.

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The agency did not disclose more details on where the funds, which equate to about £58bn each year, would be spent.

Still, the investment reflects Beijing’s continued focus on curbing the use of fossil fuels, which have fostered the country’s economic growth over the past decade, as it ramps up its war on pollution.

Last month, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s economic planner, said in its own five-year plan that solar power will receive 1tn yuan of spending, as the country seeks to boost capacity by five times. That is equivalent to about 1,000 major solar power plants, according to experts’ estimates.

The spending comes as the cost of building large-scale solar plants has dropped by as much as 40% since 2010. China became the world’s top solar generator last year.

“The government may exceed these targets because there are more investment opportunities in the sector as costs go down,” said Steven Han, renewable analyst with securities firm Shenyin Wanguo.

About 700bn yuan will go towards wind farms and 500bn to hydro power, with tidal and geothermal getting the rest, the NDRC said.

The NEA’s job creation forecast differs from the NDRC’s in December that said it expected an additional 3m jobs, bringing the total in the sector to 13m by 2020.

Concerns about the social and economic costs of China’s air pollution have increased as the northern parts of the country, including the capital Beijing, have battled a bout of hazardous smog.

Illustrating the scale of the challenge, the NEA repeated on Thursday that renewables will still only account for just 15% of overall energy consumption by 2020, equivalent to 580m tonnes of coal.

More than half of the nation’s installed power capacity will still be fuelled by coal over the same period.

Kwara to spend N450m on solar power in hospitals

The Kwara state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Atolagbe Alege, said the state government has released N450 million for the provision of solar power in all state-owned General Hospitals across the three senatorial districts, The Nation reports.

The Commissioner said this was part of an effort to enhance health care service delivery in the state and also to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

He explained that the solar power project would pave way for efficiency and productivity in all the hospitals. He added that the new project will afford the medical personnel the opportunity to provide patients with effective intensive care services.