Data PointsUnderstanding the importance of the Power Africa initiative.

WindMitigation strategies for underwater noise when building offshore wind farms.

GeothermalCan geothermal exploration enable the energy storage industry?

p. 34 p. 36 p. 43

Te Solar

IssueTechnology, Policy, Finance and More

JULY/AUGUST 2015VOLUME 18 ISSUE 4

HydroHow it can help rebuild a stronger Nepal.

p. 48

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contents

features

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 1

PROJECT PROFILE

The PV Salvador

Solar Project.

21SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

Ensuring Your Solar Array Doesn’t Get Caught in the Wind

Solar PV racking

manufacturers explain

the design considerations

needed in order to

keep solar arrays from

getting blown away.

Charles W. Thurston

27SOLAR POLICY

Is the Spanish Government Putting the Brakes on Solar PV?

Spain recently auctioned

bids for renewable power

capacity from wind and

biomass, not PV. This

isn’t the first time the

government has turned its

back on the abundant solar

resource leaving some to

believe that darker forces

are at play Ilias Tsagas

30SOLAR FINANCE

Making a Match: How Solar Companies and Banks Hook Up

Solar EPC companies

often partner with a bank

to secure financing for

their projects. Our article

explains how they do it.

Jennifer Runyon

ON THE COVER

Summer sun and solar

go hand-in-hand. Our

issue pays tribute to that

great resource in the sky.

15

46

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On RenewableEnergyWorld.com

departments & columns

features

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 3

RenewableEnergyWorld.com keeps you updated

on news, opinion and technology for the renewable

energy industry. Visit us on the web to:

• Check out our new look! We re-launched

with a sleek new design.

• Read our editor’s picks – popular articles highlighted for you.

• Visit our supplier and product directory

and get your company listed!

• Nominate a Project or Woman of the Year.

• See who will be presenting at Renewable

Energy World Conference.

36WIND

Reducing Construction Noise at Offshore Wind Farms

Building an offshore wind farm can

create quite an underwater racket.

Monitoring and mitigation of noise is

key to keeping marine wildlife safe.

Holly Waterman

43GEOTHERMAL

Energy Storage and Geothermal Markets Team Up for Lithium

Developers explore exciting

opportunities to extract lithium from

geothermal brine. Meg Cichon

48HYDROPOWER

Mini-hydro Making a Big Impact in Nepal

In the wake of the earthquake that hit

Nepal, development of its 83 GW of

hydropower potential may be essential

for the future. David Appleyard

5 Editor’s LetterHere Comes the Sun

6 Regional NewsNews from the Global

Renewable Energy Industry

17 Te Big QuestionCan the US Commercial

Solar Industry Survive

with a 10 Percent ITC?

34 Data PointsThe Power Africa Initiative

46 Project ProfleThe PV Salvador Solar Project

53 Trainings and Educational

Events

54 Calendar

54 Advertiser’s Index

55 Last WordWhy Smarter Grids

Demand Smarter

Communications Networks

1507REW_3 3 6/25/15 2:30 PM

15,000 QUALIFIED ATTENDEES.

600 EXHIBITORS.

100 EDUCATION SESSIONS.

24 HOURS OF DEDICATED

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES.

1 LOCATION.

Register today at solarpowerinternational.com

Solar Power International is a top 100 trade show (as ranked by Trade Show Executive)

and is the only trade show with the support of leading national solar associations,

Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA).

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A

From the Editor

Jennifer Runyon, Chief Editor

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 5

Ahh summer! Hopefully the longer days and stronger sunshine bring

with them time for you to sit back, relax and read your latest issue of

Renewable Energy World, which sits before you now. In it, we bring

you updates from the solar industry — new technology, policy debates

and financial information that we hope will help you do your job.

There’s more to this issue than just a tribute to solar, however. So

if you are in the wind, energy storage, bioenergy, hydropower or geo-

thermal industries, don’t despair — we have you covered, too. On page

36, you can read about how the offshore wind industry must use noise

mitigation strategies when constructing offshore wind parks. Our fea-

ture on page 43 looks at how the geothermal industry could enable

the energy storage industry to mine more lithium. And remember the

devastating earthquake that hit Nepal in April? We have photos and

an update on how it affected the power sector there. Opportunities for

renewable energy development are far and wide and I hope you’ll put

your knowledge to work bringing power to places in the world where

it is most needed. Our Data Points on page 34, hones in on the Power

Africa initiative.

It’s also time to start making plans to attend Renewable Energy

World Conference that will take place in Las Vegas, December 8-10. At

the show, you can attend our educational sessions to learn more about

all of the topics I just mentioned. Finally, if you have completed a great

project over the past year, don’t forget to nominate it for consideration

as a Project of the Year. You can nominate projects here. ◑

CHIEF EDITOR Jennifer Runyon

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Meg Cichon

SENIOR OPERATIONS MANAGER

Stephanie Kolodziej

EDITORIAL OFFICES

REW Magazine

PennWell Corporation

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PRODUCTION

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While every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this magazine, neither the Publishers nor the authors accept any liability for errors or omissions.

1507REW_5 5 6/25/15 2:30 PM

newsREGIONAL

6 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

NORTH AMERICA

Rail-Free Mounting

System Now

AvailableEcoFasten Solar announced that it

launched a new mounting “Rock-

It System” that it would be display-

ing during Intersolar. Product com-

pliance was determined through

testing per UL Subject 2703, which

reviews integrated grounding and

bonding, fire classification and

mechanical loading.

EcoFasten Solar’s solar roof

mounts and components are

designed, engineered and man-

ufacturered in Morrisville, VT.

Working closely with leading solar

developers, racking system pro-

viders, roofing manufacturers

and commercial installation com-

panies, the company said that

its products are fast and easy to

install and “were designed with the

installer in mind.” ￮

Credit: EcoFasten Solar.

Icebreaker Offshore Wind Project To Incorporate Innovative Foundation DesignThe Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo)

announced that the Icebreaker offshore wind project planned for

the Ohio waters of Lake Erie will use an innovative foundation

design that was developed in Europe. Mono Bucket foundations,

developed by Denmark-based Universal Foundation (UF), will sig-

nificantly reduce installation costs for the pilot project compared

to the modified monopile concept LEEDCo developed in 2013. 

The Mono Bucket foundation is an all-in-one steel structure con-

sisting of a monopile shaft attached to a large-diameter bucket.

It is installed with a suction system that requires no pile driving

FIAMM and Northern Power Team Up To Deliver Energy Storage SolutionsNorthern Power Systems is partnering with FIAMM Energy Storage

Solutions to target the growing demand for energy storage systems

(ESS) in the market, especially for North America. A recent Navi-

gant report indicates the global installed energy storage capacity for

the grid is expected to grow from 538.4 megawatts in 2014 to 20.8

gigawatts in 2024.

Northern Power Systems’ FlexPhase power converters comple-

ment FIAMM’s SoNick (sodium nickel chloride) storage technology,

offering control features such as load shifting, low/zero voltage ride

through, voltage and frequency droop control, islanding and seam-

less transition, and black start, and providing extremely low DC bus

ripple. FIAMM SoNick batteries have a track record of safety and

reliability, large energy capacity with a minimal impact on the envi-

ronment due to the absence of toxic materials, and are 100 percent

recyclable, according to the company.

Diego Tebaldi, senior director of global business development at

Northern Power Systems, said that the integration of the company’s

power converter into this particular chemistry opens up access to a

global market with strong potential. ￮

1507REW_6 6 6/25/15 2:30 PM

[ cont >]

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 7

EUROPE

or dredging — eliminating noise and soil distur-

bance. A prototype has been supporting a 3-MW

turbine in Denmark since 2002. A second proto-

type has been supporting a met mast at Horns

Rev 2 in Denmark since 2009.

“Universal Foundation’s Mono Bucket founda-

tion recently emerged as one of the most promis-

ing technology developments in the European off-

shore wind industry,” said Lorry Wagner, president

of LEEDCo.  According to Wagner, the Mono Bucket

“is lighter than our original concept, requires sig-

nificantly less time on the water during construc-

tion, and can be fabricated locally.”

UF will join LEEDCo’s team to complete the

detailed design of the Mono Bucket foundations for

the Icebreaker project. The team will work closely

with U.S. steel fabricators to ensure the design is

optimized for fabrication in the United States. The

final design will be complete in early 2016.

“This is yet another innovation we are bring-

ing to the U.S. offshore wind industry that will

help meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s cost

of energy targets,” Wagner said. “Not only does it

move Icebreaker forward, it enables the Lake Erie

region to become a central hub of the U.S. off-

shore wind industry.”

In addition to Icebreaker, Mono Buckets are

also being considered for a number of European

projects. ￮

For more on eliminating noise during offshore wind

farm construction, see our feature on page 36.

HIWave Concept. Credit: KIC InnoEnergy.

Wave Power Device Receives Further FundingHiWave, a wave-power system developed by Cor-

Power Ocean and nurtured by KIC InnoEnergy’s

Highway Programme, has secured in excess of €2

million in investment from the Swedish Energy

Agency. The funds will be used to run tests in the

Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Scotland.

HiWave has demonstrated promising efficien-

cy rates in wave energy absorption, delivering five

times higher energy density compared with previ-

ously developed technology, and at a third of the

cost. This new investment is in addition to €6 mil-

lion already invested by KIC InnoEnergy and the

Swedish Energy Agency.

 KIC InnoEnergy has invested a total of €3 mil-

lion in the technology since its inception in 2009.

The company has also provided support by con-

necting CorPower with Iberdrola Engineering

and WavEC for collaboration, developing its sup-

ply chain, putting forward partnerships with

established drive train and cylinder

1507REW_7 7 6/25/15 2:30 PM

Solar Independence Plan (SIP) For Britain

CREDIT: Solar Trade Association

£1,160M 12.1 GW£1,360M

20.3 GW

Solar capacity in 2020

DECC Strategy SIP Minimum Ambition SIP Higher Ambition

£1,510M

25.3 GW

Total cost in 2020

newsREGIONAL

8 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

manufacturers, and helping to

structure the company’s product

verification methodology.

“CorPower has grown from

a one person company with

a small-scale prototype to a

12-person team with a prov-

en device that can tap into the

under-utilized power of the

ocean,” said Patrik Möller, CEO,

CorPower Ocean. 

“The ocean has enough power

to cover more than 10 percent of

the world’s energy demand,” says

Kenneth Johansson, CEO, KIC

InnoEnergy Sweden, adding that

he is proud that “the KIC InnoEn-

ergy innovation model, based on

our international network com-

plementing national funding

agencies, such as the Swedish

Energy Agency, has enabled the

HiWave project and the company

CorPower to get to this point.” ￮

UK Solar Could Rival Fossil

Fuel Electricity by 2020

The Solar Trade Association (STA) published its

“Solar Independence Plan for Britain,” setting out

how the new government could steer rooftop solar-

generated electricity to parity with retail electrici-

ty prices and utility-scale solar farms to

parity with new gas CCGT power station

prices, both by 2020.

In the report the STA looks at sever-

al different scenarios, and recommends

the government adopt a scenario with a

target of 25 GW by 2020. If adopted, the

Plan could see 2.1 million solar homes,

24,000 commercial rooftop and commu-

nity schemes, 2,300 good quality solar

farms and almost 57,000 jobs in solar

and its supply chains. Achieving this

breakthrough would in 2020 cost house-

holds around £13 per year. Experts from Imperial

College London have independently verified the STA

modeling behind the plan. The Centre for Econom-

ics and Business Research provided job estimates.

The report outlines six changes to existing poli-

cy that would double the amount of solar-generat-

ed electricity in 2020 — from 10 TWh under DECC’s

Solar PV Strategy to 21 TWh under the STA’s Higher

Ambition scenario. This would bring solar to a total

of 6.9 percent of U.K. electricity demand in 2020 as

opposed to the 3.4 percent as per the government’s

current plan with little extra cost.

The STA’s recommended policy steps include

adjusting the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) in the forthcom-

ing review to allow more growth and gradually

bring tariffs for new installations down to zero by

2020. The STA is also seeking to ensure the Renew-

ables Obligation is safeguarded for big rooftops and

smaller solar farms until March 2017, and that bar-

riers to the grid are addressed decisively. 

The Plan also explains the importance of back-

ing the U.K.’s domestic industry today with stable

and predictable policy support rather than waiting

for international module prices to fall, since mod-

ules form an increasingly small fraction of the cost

of installed solar. ￮

1507REW_8 8 6/25/15 2:30 PM

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newsREGIONAL

10 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Latest SE4All Initiative To Encompass BioenergyThe Sustainable Bioenergy High-

Impact Opportunity (HIO) was

launched in May at the 2nd UN

SE4All Forum to facilitate the

development and deployment of

sustainable bioenergy solutions.

At the event, partners for

Euro-African Green Energy (PAN-

GEA) and the Alliance for Rural

Electrification (ARE) presented

a paper with information about

how to implement business mod-

els that utilize bioenergy for elec-

trification and provided policy

recommendations to encourage

the uptake of biomass as part of

decentralized energy production.

Due to the sheer abundance of

biomass often available in devel-

oping countries, the paper aims

to encourage interested stake-

holders from public and private

sectors to work towards devel-

oping bioenergy technologies for

electrification in areas where

there is no conflict with nutri-

tion and other issues. The paper

looks at modern uses for solid

biomass, liquid biofuels and bio-

gas along with practical exam-

ples and best practices of the var-

ious bioenergy-based business

models currently being imple-

mented for rural energy access as

well as opportunities for further

expansion.

“Power from sustainably pro-

duced biomass can contribute in

meaningful ways to increasing

the energy access essential for

rural economic development. The

ARE-PANGEA report highlights

nicely the potential for biopow-

er production in different ecologi-

cal and developmental contexts,”

said Gerard Ostheimer, Global

Lead, Sustainable Bioenergy UN

SE4All Initiative ￮

Credit: Masdar.

Solar PV Costs on Par with Fossil Fuels in Emirates

The UAE’s solar energy pricing has now reached

parity with fossil fuel models, making it econom-

ically attractive and commercially viable for the

first time ever in the nation’s history, according to a

recent “REmap 2030” report published by the Inter-

national Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in con-

junction with Masdar Institute and the UAE Min-

istry of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate of Energy and

Climate Change. Solar PV is on par with gas at pric-

es of US $4.50-8.00 / MBtu, which currently makes

solar PV economically viable in the UAE.

The REmap 2030 puts solar as a critical resource

for the UAE, with different forms of solar energy

accounting for more than 90 percent of renewable

energy use in the region. Additionally, the IRENA

report highlights policy as a key enabling factor for

renewable energy adoption and urges government

1507REW_10 10 6/25/15 2:30 PM

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 11

ASIA PACIFIC

agencies to take holistic, comparative views of ener-

gy costs and act on them.

Solar power, together with other renewable

energy sources, could save the country billions of

dirhams annually while introducing innumera-

ble health and environmental benefits, while also

acting to preserve precious existing fossil fuel

resources.

“We believe that, for the UAE and wider Arabian

Gulf, solar power is perhaps the most promising of

all renewable energy sources — creating jobs while

preserving existing energy reserves,” said Naji El

Haddad, Group Event Director of the annual World

Future Energy Summit (WFES) hosted by Masdar

and part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. In 2016,

the event will launch the “WFES Solar Expo,” a ded-

icated area on the show floor for showcasing solar

technology and innovation. More than 150 exhib-

itors have already confirmed their participation,

with global companies from the wind and solar

industries to take part in the exhibition and discus-

sion proceedings. The World Future Energy Sum-

mit (WFES) 2016 will take place at the Abu Dhabi

National Exhibition Centre 18-21 January 2016. ￮

More Solar for Japan with 92-MW Solar Project AnnouncedKyocera, Kyudenko and Century Tokyo Leas-

ing Corporation announced a joint investment in

Kanoya Osaki Solar Hills LLC, a solar power oper-

ating company, to construct and oper-

ate a 92-MW solar power plant on a site

stretching across Kanoya City and Osaki

Town in Kagoshima Prefecture. Once

complete, the project will be one of the

largest solar installations in Japan. 

The project, which is sited on a nev-

er-built golf course, will accommodate

340,740 Kyocera solar modules, and is

expected to generate roughly 99,230

MWh annually — enough electricity

to power approximately 30,500 typical

households.

Kanoya Osaki Solar Hills LLC will

operate the site, and a joint venture

established by Kyudenko and Gaia

Power will undertake the design, construction and

maintenance of the solar installation. Kyocera will

supply the modules and Century Tokyo Leasing will

arrange financing for the 35 billion yen (approx. US

$290 million) project.

Construction is set to begin in late 2015 or 2016

and should take about 18 months. ￮

Rendering of the Proposed Plant. Credit: Kyocera.

1507REW_11 11 6/25/15 2:30 PM

newsREGIONAL

12 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

LATIN AMERICA

Companies Eye Chilean Renewables MktChile holds significant potential

for renewable energy develop-

ment, with a long-term shortage

of power and industries that con-

sume large amounts of power,

like mining.  The wind and solar

resources in Chile are plentiful,

creating many opportunities for

the growth of renewables.

To harness this potential,

renewable energy company

SgurrEnergy formed partnerships

with two South American ener-

gy companies to develop renew-

ables opportunities in the Chil-

ean market. SgurrEnergy, a Wood

Group company, will combine its

global renewable energy exper-

tise with the local knowledge

and experience of new partners,

Coener and Mankuk, to drive for-

ward the renewable energy mar-

ket in Chile. 

Coener and Mankuk both pro-

vide engineering solutions to cli-

ents on projects in Chile. 

SgurrEnergy has a wealth

of experience working in Chile

including performing the role of

lender’s engineer for an onshore

wind farm, which required that

the company perform an inde-

pendent energy yield forecast,

review of financial models, site

visits and contract reviews. ￮

EV Market Set for Big Gains As Asian

Manufacturers Drive Down Li-ion PricesThe electric vehicle opportunity is set to expand, as battery devel-

opers like Panasonic drive down prices of lithium-ion (Li-ion) bat-

tery packs by 35 percent to US $172/kWh in 2025, according to Lux

Research. However, only the best-in-class players will achieve that

cost threshold, while others lag at US $229/kWh.

 The estimate is based on a new bottom-up cost model built by

Lux Research in an industry known for being highly secretive about

its costs. The model accounts for differences in battery chemistry,

form factor, production scale, location and other nuances.

 “High battery prices have led to some huge missed opportunities

in the electric vehicle market. Now if developers can drive down pric-

es to $200/kWh or less at the pack level, they have a chance of selling

millions of EVs by the mid- to late-2020s, and reap great revenues,”

said Cosmin Laslau, Lux Research Senior Analyst and lead author. 

Lux Research analysts used interviews and research to build out

a cost model for Li-ion batteries and evaluate the new opportunities

emerging for developers and OEMs. Among their findings: 

• Competitive gap is widening. Technological innovation and scale

are helping leaders like Panasonic, in partnership with Tesla,

widen their competitive advantage. While Panasonic-Tesla and

China’s BYD will achieve $172/kWh and $211/kWh at the pack

levels, respectively, the Nissan-AESC partnership risks falling

behind at $261/kWh unless it changes technologies and produc-

tion strategies. 

• Disruptive Li-rich NMC will deliver more gains. In 2025, a dis-

ruptive Li-rich NMC would bring in cost gains of $17/kWh over

conventional NMC/graphite cells. While scale-up efficiencies like

Tesla’s “Gigafactory” remain a key strategy, geographical location

and technology like high-voltage cathodes are also key factors.

• Some benefits will reach stationary storage market, too. Li-ion

cost reduction will positively impact the stationary storage mar-

ket as well. However, it will not address added costs like the power

conditioning system, land, construction and integration. Therefore,

installed stationary systems spanning from residential to grid-

scale will range from $655/kWh to $498/kWh in 2025, respectively.

The report, titled “Crossing the Line: Li-ion Battery Cost Reduc-

tion and Its Effect on Vehicles and Stationary Storage,” is part of the

Lux Research Energy Storage Intelligence service. ￮

1507REW_12 12 6/25/15 2:30 PM

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Brazil and Chile To Install More than 15

GW of Renewables by 2017Brazil will spearhead renewable energy additions in

South America to 2017, with the country’s cumula-

tive installed capacity expanding from 19.8 GW in

2013 to over 32.9 GW by 2017 according to Global-

Data. The company’s latest report also states that

Chile will see the fastest increase in renewables

over the forecast period, with cumulative installed

capacity rising from 1.06 GW in 2013 to 5.37 GW by

2017, at an impressive CAGR of 50 percent

GlobalData’s Ankit Mathur said “Brazil is looking

to increase power generation from renewable ener-

gy sources and is aiming for 10 percent of its annu-

al generation to come from these sources by 2020.

In order to achieve this target, the Brazilian gov-

ernment introduced the Program of Incentives for

Alternative Electricity Sources (Programa de Incen-

tivo a Fontes Alternativas de Energia Elétrica; PRO-

INFA) in 2002 to boost renewable energy adoption.

“The first phase awarded auctions for 3.3 GW of

wind, biomass and small and medium-sized hydro-

power plants.”

While biomass accounted for the largest share of

Brazil’s renewable energy mix with 50.1 percent in

2014, wind power capacity is expected to become

the new leading sector with a 41.4 percent share in

2017, up from 27.3 percent in 2014.

Meanwhile, renewables are expected to see the

largest growth in Chile’s overall power sector, with

the country beginning to harness its significant

potential in solar, wind and geothermal power. ￮

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1507REW_13 13 6/25/15 2:30 PM

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1507REW_14 14 6/25/15 2:30 PM

The Renewable Energy World Solar Issue

17Our Big Question looks at how the U.S.

commercial solar industry will fare when (and if)

the ITC steps down to 10 percent.

Our Technology feature examines how

the wind impacts solar installations both on the

ground and on the roof and the technology involved

in making sure they stay firmly in place.

Our Policy feature brings us to the Spanish

renewable energy market, which has been plagued

with so many problems that some fear the country

is turning its back on solar PV altogether.

Our Finance feature looks at matchmaking

between solar companies and financial

institutions. How do they get together to help grow

the industry?

21

27

30

Summer is upon us and with it comes lots and lots of

sun. In this issue we pay tribute to that great orb in

the sky and spotlight the industries that it supports.

As always there’s more great news and information about the solar industry

on our website, RenewableEnergyWorld.com. Can’t get enough solar news?

Subscribe to our twice-weekly solar e-newsletter here.

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 15

Image: Sunshine Illustration. Credit Shutterstock.

1507REW_15 15 6/25/15 2:30 PM

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1507REW_16 16 6/25/15 2:30 PM

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 17

✺✺ The Big QuestionStakeholders weigh in on worldwide renewable energy issues

Can the US Commercial Solar Industry

Survive with a 10 Percent ITC?

The U.S. Investment Tax Credit, which is a 30 percent federal tax credit for solar systems on residential

and commercial properties, remains in effect through December 31, 2016. After that time it

drops to 10 percent for commercial systems and zero for residential systems. For our Big Question

this month, we wanted to hear from bankers, commercial solar installers, developers, fnanciers,

potential hosts and other stakeholders. Read the comments below to gain insight on this issue’s big

question: Can the U.S. commercial solar industry survive with a 10 percent investment tax credit?

Gary LeBer, General Manager, SolarTyme, North Carolina

Unfortunately, I believe that it will substantially reduce the commercial installa-

tions and virtually eliminate the residential side.

Yes, it is still a viable market but we need costs to come down

and we need electricity rates to continue to go up and we need

policies outside of the ITC that don’t impeded our progress. So

if all of that was the way it needs to be then we’re fne but as

we all know there are probably going to be some fghts and

some hurdles.

Some states almost overnight become problematic. I think

the biggest [state hit] in the solar industry will be California

and non-RPS states. Georgia is a good example where without

the 30 percent ITC there is no mechanism in place to make

up any shortfall. Whereas in RPS states that have SRECs that

are fair-market traded and if the compliance payment is high

enough and there is enough delta between where they are currently trading and

that penalty payment then there is at least a mechanism in place to make up

some of the shortfall if the ITC goes away.

Chas Learned, Energy Sales Consultant, PhotonWorks Engineering, Hawaii

I am currently a commercial solar developer in sales in Hawaii. I think we will

sign a lot less deals when it downshifts to 10 percent. The reason being is busi-

ness owners so often have such a short-term view. I have had several clients turn

Scott Wiater

President,

Standard Solar,

Maryland

1507REW_17 17 6/25/15 2:30 PM

18 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

✺✺ The Big Question

18 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

away from the current offering, which often shows approximately a 2-year

return. So many properties are not owned but rather leased, you can forget

about signing them up after the reduction.

It’s really not about effciency improvements. It’s the cost of running busi-

nesses, paying rent, all the many line items in a commercial development.

The cost of panels is just one line item in a few dozen and those few dozen

are not likely to change. It’s similar in the food industry, if the price of grain

drops to zero, little or no change would occur in the price of a box of cereal.

Solar will slow down. My employer told me when there was no federal tax

credit there was nothing happening on the island ...just a slow crawl of solar

integration. And they had in place the 35 percent state tax credit. When the

30 percent federal came on board it took off like a rocket.

Lisa Lee Morgan, President, Calor Energy, North Carolina

By the end of 2016, the low-hanging fruit in solar development will have been

done, at least a large portion of it. If the Feds extend the sunset date, the solar

work will continue. After, solar will fall off, as will most renewable invest-

ments, because of the extremely low natural gas prices here in the U.S. NG

is just over $2/MMBtu; it is about $8 in the EU. That differential is a windfall

for those who can fgure out how to ship Liquefed NG around globe for least

cost. You will fnd energy investment dollars migrating into the LNG sector

and away from solar and wind after the ITC drops. However, solar and wind

will still make good fnancial sense in many situations, and will be an easy

sell especially to corporate industrial facilities as a hedge against future NG

spikes, which of course, are inevitable, too. 

I think if it is renewed at 30 percent that would be great.

There is going to be a huge push to get as much done as pos-

sible in the next year or so with the expectation that the ITC

will drop to 10 percent. That activity and the pace at which

these projects are being developed are creating effciencies

in project development and installation. For example, some

developers in NC are projecting to have achieved grid par-

ity by 2016 as a result of drops in hard costs and effciencies

in installation. So what we are going to see across the U.S. in

the next several years is a huge run up in projects and devel-

opment from now until 2016 followed by a cooling off peri-

od in early 2016 should the ITC not be renewed at 30 per-

cent. During this “cooling off” period many believe there will be consolidation

between some of the smaller developers and EPC frms.

Matt Wright

Senior VP, National

Cooperative Bank,

Washington, DC

1507REW_18 18 6/25/15 2:30 PM

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 19

✺✺The Big Question

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 19

However in the long term it will really be benefcial because I think the

desire is still out there for solar energy and consolidation will bring even

more effciencies and scale to the market. Additionally, many states still have

utilities under RPS mandates that they really need to hit. So while there may

be a slowdown, there will be a rebalancing across the industry throughout

the year while people fgure out the new world order. Generally speaking I

don’t see the solar industry going away anytime soon, then again I’m a glass

half-full kind of guy.

Mickey Toro, President C-TEC Solar, Connecticut

As a developer of both residential and commercial PV projects, I feel that

although we have come a long way with sustaining our industry with innova-

tion, cost reductions and product improvements, the commercial development

will suffer greatly without the tax credit remaining at 30 percent. Business

owners view these projects very differently than homeowners and expect

very different returns. When you are in business with budgets and forecasts

and obviously running your business, you will not spend the time, effort or

money on a separate “business opportunity” if it does not at least offer the

same return as your everyday business. When the ITC goes down it will not

offer the same opportunity therefore business owners, municipalities and

fnanciers will not be interested. We need to extend the ITC.

Dr. Jeffery Lee Johnson, President Excelencia Solar, Mexico

Solar globally will still do much better if there is no tax incentive. For exam-

ple, PV hit grid parity in Jordan, UAE and MENA capacity is surging. The

Mexican distributed generation market is growing by 300 percent. Domestic

rates there hit grid parity two years ago and industrial tariffs will make grid

parity by 2016 – 2017.

Steve Kahl, Former Director of Sustainability, Unity College, Maine

I agree that the industry should eventually wean itself off subsidies. But going

from 30 percent ITC to 10 percent overnight in the U.S is a big problem for the

industry in the short-term. Our government should recognize that a phase-out

of the ITC makes more sense. Say, drop it by 5 percent per year until it is gone

by 2022. Now with the GOP in power in Congress, one might think that the ITC

has no chance of being extended, but Google this: in 5 states, the Tea Party has

aligned with the solar industry to support solar incentives because it is good

for employment and the economy. Let’s not give up on Congress extending a

modifed ITC just yet. ◑

1507REW_19 19 6/25/15 2:30 PM

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RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 21

S O L A R

Ensuring Your Solar Array Doesn’t Get Caught in the Wind

Solar PV racking manufacturers explain the design considerations needed in order to

keep solar arrays from getting blown away.

The SunLink Precision-

Modular RMS aluminum

system is available for 60

and 72-cell modules and 10

degree tilt. Credit: SunLink.

CHARLES W. THURSTON

Solar power arrays are often exposed to the worst weather

that the planet can dish out, including hurricane force winds

that can gust up to 200 miles per hour on the U.S. Eastern

seaboard and on islands like Hawaii and Guam. Whether the

solar panels are mounted on the roof, in a stationary ground

array or in moving trackers, calculating wind load is a major

factor in the system design.

Wind is one of the most frequent causes of damage to solar

arrays, said several industry offcials. In Spain, in the mid-

dle of the last decade, several large dual-axis solar trackers

failed as a result of wind, according to Dan Shugar, the CEO of

NEXTracker, based in Fremont, CA. “But horizontal trackers

as a category have been very reliable since then, so the solar

industry converged on the

horizontal track as the best

practical way to get energy

gain, avoiding all the steel it

would take to protect a dual-

axis,” he said.

Designing To Withstand High

Winds

Wind defection on solar

trackers may be the most

complicated design calcula-

tion in crafting the product

since the tracker parts move

in a variety of directions

1507REW_21 21 6/25/15 2:31 PM

22 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

simultaneously. “If you don’t

have a mitigation system, such

as a torsion limiter or dampers,

the wind can make an array

oscillate wildly,” noted John

Williamson, director of engi-

neering at Array Technologies,

based in Albuquerque.

Various designs attempt to

limit wind impact on trackers.

“We have gone to a round tube

unlike most others manufac-

turers that use square or other

shaped steel — so we pick

up 30 percent more torsion-

al strength,” said Shugar. “We

also have gone with a balanced

design,” he said, noting that the

array will return to a stow or

fat position under gravity. “And

our stowing speed is fast —

from full rotation to stow in one

minute,” he said. “Since wind

builds quickly, we want to stow

quickly,” he added.

It’s important to note that

stowing may be a prescribed

response to wind on the edge of a feld, and not be necessary

within the more protected center. In fact, stowing a solar panel

is not necessarily the best solution for a rapid build-up, others

argue. “We’ve never relied on stow for our systems; we design for

no stow. Wind forces on a tracker at a zero degree position still

can have a signifcant load on the array and near-peak torque on

the system,” pointed out Array Technology’s Williamson. “With

our new V3 design, we have come up with a passive stow design

and added a torsion limiting device that allows it to move to a

position where there is less torsion on the array,” he said. “Our

previous generation was typically built to 115 mph, but the worst-

case install was built to handle up to 175 mph. This was prov-

en in the feld at multiple sites including an installation located at

the NREL Wind Technology Center, in Boulder, Colorado. The new

version would be able to handle 135 mph standard, and similar-

ly confgurable to withstand higher speeds,” he said. Wind micro-

bursts, or downbursts, can cause winds up to 175 mph on dry

land, so exposure to the wind is a given regardless of location.

Since wind can affect the outer edges of a solar array feld

much more intensely, outer rows need to be built to be both stiff-

er and stronger. NEXTracker, for example, uses thicker steel on

the outer rows to help design for this effect. Wind, nonetheless,

is diffcult to predict. “What some solar companies assume is

that wind continues to decrease the further that you get into an

array, which is not necessarily the case. Arrays are in a turbulent

layer of the atmosphere, and wind is very random and chaotic in

nature,” said Williamson.

Multiple DuraTrack HZ v3 tracker rows

are connected by a rotary drive shaft and

driven by a single industrial 2 HP, 3-phase

A/C motor. Each v3 motor can drive up to

28 rows of 80 modules each. Credit: Array

Technologies.

1507REW_22 22 6/25/15 2:31 PM

S o l a r

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 23

Testing and Analysis

Crunching the numbers for

such wind variables requires

a set of tools that includes both

computer models and full-scale

models. “Computational fuid

dynamics will calculate wind

load but nothing beats the wind

tunnel from the standpoint that

you are testing a scale model,”

said Shugar.

A host of wind tunnel test-

ing facilities, including govern-

ment labs, in the United States

and Canada, permit the anal-

ysis of a full-scale solar array

to meet certifcation or build-

ing code requirements. Some

companies make extensive use

of them. “We have an industry-

leading 120 mph wind rating

and are the only manufacturer we know of to conduct an in-tun-

nel, full (dual) tracker wind load test. We wanted to demonstrate

to the industry our design strength and commitment to engineer-

ing a tracker that will withstand the elements,” noted Andrew

Savage, the chief strategy offcer for AllEarth Renewables, based

in Williston, VT.

Array Technologies also has conducted extensive wind tunnel

testing, including tests at the Langley Full-Scale Wind Tunnel, in

Hampton, VA, which has since closed. Work there has been taken

up by Old Dominion University’s Frank Batten College of Engi-

neering and Technology, Norfolk, VA.

PV Wind Standards Still Emerging

Not all jurisdictions accept wind tunnel testing as suffcient,

however. Until 2013, the city of Los Angeles, required tradition-

al anchored mounting solutions for rooftops rather than non-

penetrating ballasted designs, because the LA Department of

Building and Safety did not accept wind tunnel data to justi-

fy lower ballast requirements. It was not until PanelClaw became

the frst mounting system company to have its full wind tunnel

data results approved and permitted by LADBS for use in ballast

AllEarth Renewables conducted an

in-tunnel, full (dual) tracker wind load

test. Credit: AllEarth Renewables.

1507REW_23 23 6/25/15 2:31 PM

24 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

S o l a r

designs that the regulation

changed. The North Ando-

ver, MA-based company’s

Polar Bear Gen III ballasted

design will withstand winds

in excess of 120 mph, equal to

a Category 3 hurricane.

The solar industry follows

wind load provisions that are

currently promulgated by the

American Society for Civil

Engineers (ACSE), based in

Reston, VA. The latest stan-

dard is the 2013 ASCE/SEI

7-10. But that standard relates

more to buildings than to

solar arrays, several manu-

facturers complain. In a 2012

statement to Renewable Ener-

gy World, SunLink CEO Chris-

topher Tilley said, “while

there are established snow

and seismic load standards

that can be applied to PV sys-

tems in a fairly straightfor-

ward manner, there is very

little guidance on wind loads.

Engineers and permitting

offcials have therefore been

left with the choice of applying

the building code in ways not

intended or accepting designs

based on wind tunnel testing

without a standard means to

validate the testing approach or

results. Neither method assures

that appropriate wind design

values are used.”

The Underwriters Labora-

tory, based in Northbrook, Ill.,

nominally covered wind load for

PV installations in the 2015 ver-

sion of UL 2703, but is also criticized for falling short. “UL 2703

has been good for the industry but it is not an absolute standard.

Having a true code in place would level the playing feld by weed-

ing out the companies that don’t address important safety and

performance factors, such as wind and snow load testing, corro-

sion testing and fre resistance,” said John Klinkman, VP of engi-

neering at Applied Energy Technologies, in Clinton Township, MI.

The Structural Engineers Association of California

(SEAOC), based in Sacramento, has done much work toward help-

ing to set an industry standard for PV wind loading requirements,

said Rob Ward, the chief structural engineer for SunLink. The

SEAOC PV committee conducts on-going work in development of

code change proposals to the wind design provisions in ASCE. The

group has produced its own guidelines for wind load and solar,

Solar panel modules

displaced by wind forces.

Credit: CASE Foresnics.

Solar panel modules

displaced by wind forces.

Credit: CASE Foresnics.

1507REW_24 24 6/25/15 2:31 PM

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RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 25RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 25

Rutherford & Chekene, based

in San Francisco, Calif. to

develop software that will help

product designers test their

designs against the standards

of ACSE 7-10.

While consistently strong,

heavy winds are a blessing

for wind farm owners, the

same is not be true for PV sys-

tem owners and operators. But

with careful design consider-

ations, increased focused on

standards and technology that

responds well to all wind loads,

PV installation companies can

ensure that their arrays will

not be blown away. ◑

including the most recent SEAOC PV2-2012, Wind Design for Low

Profle Solar Photovoltaic Arrays on fat Roofs.

SunLink began testing its line of PV products in 2006 with the

help of Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory (BLWTL) at the

University of Western Ontario, based in London, ONT. BLWTL

has recently upgraded its facilities with four new wind tunnel

control and data acquisition systems that allow for completely

automated tests capturing data at speeds up to 100,000 samples

per second each.

SunLink ran 70 models and confgurations through more than

1,000 tests at the BLWTL lab, developing a unique database. The

tests included variations in tilt angle, roof height, row spacing,

building height, set-backs from the roof edge, and various defec-

tor/shrouding strategies that are affected by wind. The company

has shared this database with SEAOC, and as a result, the orga-

nization is closer to developing a wind load norm with a broad

industry consensus, Ward said.

SunLink also worked with BLWTL and the engineering frm of

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RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 27

S O L A R P O L I C Y

Is the Spanish Government Putting the Brakes on Solar PV?

Spain recently

auctioned bids

for renewable power

capacity from wind and

biomass, not solar PV.

Are darker forces at play?

ILIAS TSAGAS, Contributor

Spain’s Ministry of Indus-

try, Tourism and Transport

announced this spring that it

would hold an auction for the

installation of 500 MW and 200

MW of new wind and biomass

power capacities, respectively. The date for the auction was

not announced but it is expected that the call for submis-

sions will be published in the State Offcial Bulletin in the

near future. Bids for solar power capacity need not apply.

The Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF) was upset by the

news and is currently working to have solar PV technology,

which it called “the most competitive in the world,” includ-

ed in the auction. “The attempted eradication of the pho-

tovoltaic industry from the government does not have any

explanation,” said Jorge Barredo, President of UNEF, adding

that solar is highly competitive “not only between renewable

energies, but also compared with traditional fossil fuels.”

The exclusion of solar PV from the recent auction

announcement was not the only blow against the solar

PV sector. Pedro Palencia, energy policy director at UNEF

explained that earlier this year Spain’s government

announced an auction for new power

capacity for the Canary Islands that only

sought wind. The Canary Islands complex

is located in the North West Africa and has

the highest solar irradiation in Spain. 

Self-Consumption “Sun Tax” In Te Making 

There are other concerns regarding

Spain’s current policy framework for the

self-consumption of PV power and the lack

of net-metering. The current self-consump-

tion policy framework is very general and

applies to both on- and off-grid systems.

The government said it would publish the

detailed regulations soon, adding that it is

considering imposing a tariff that UNEF

calls a “sun tax.” Effectively, this would

mean that PV system owners will be taxed

for the power they produce even if it is

solely for their own use and not fed into

Sun Edison project in Caravaca de la Cruz (near Murcia),

Spain. Credit: UNEF.

1507REW_27 27 6/25/15 2:31 PM

S o l a r P o l i c y

28 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

the grid. 

UNEF said that a “sun tax”

like that would make solar

uneconomical even for self-

consumption. Net-metering,

a policy found in almost all

other Mediterranean coun-

tries, including Portugal,

Italy, Greece and Cyprus, is

not available in Spain.

Te Flawed Spanish

Energy Market

The Spanish energy sector

faces serious problems stem-

ming from caps on retail elec-

tricity prices, which have

lead to market distortions.

According to David Robin-

son of the Oxford Institute for

Energy Studies, since 2001

the Spanish electricity sys-

tem has accumulated a €30

billion defcit resulting from

inadequate tariffs that were

not high enough to cover

electricity transmission and distribution

costs, renewable and conventional ener-

gy subsidies and other regulated costs. All

Spanish governments have been unwilling to pass the full costs

on to customers, and the current situation has worsened due to

a decrease in energy demand, the high costs of renewable subsi-

dies and more specifcally a terribly wrong remuneration policy

for solar PV systems in 2007 to 2012, said Robinson. 

According to Robinson, the accumulated debt, “accounts for

about 55 percent of a typical customer’s electricity cost, with

the remaining 45 percent associated with the wholesale price

of energy.” 

UNEF’s Palencia confrms this. “The actual costs covering the

electricity generation in Spain count for less than half of the con-

sumer’s electricity bill and vary according to the power pric-

es. The biggest chunk of the electricity bill covers a huge list of

other costs, non-related to the

fuctuating power prices of the

wholesale market. Such fxed

costs are set by the government,

which aims to increase them

further,” Palencia said. “Under

these circumstances, we [UNEF]

don’t see how self-consump-

tion can become competitive in

Spain,” Palencia remarked. ◑

This article continues online.

Click here to read it.  

Solar on a residence in Spain.

Credit: UNEF.

Large solar installation

in Spain. Credit: UNEF.

1507REW_28 28 6/25/15 2:31 PM

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30 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

S O L A R F I N A N C E

Making a Match: How Solar Companies and Banks Hook Up

Solar installation or EPC companies often partner up with a bank to secure fnancing

for their projects. Here’s how they do it.

Finding a match.

Credit Shutterstock.

JENNIFER RUNYON, Chief Editor

The announcements are fairly frequent: SunPower Partners

with Admirals Bank for $200 Million Solar Loan Program,

Deutsche Bank to Lend $1 Billion for Japanese Solar Projects,

Financing Partnerships Drive North Carolina’s Solar Boom.

The reasons for the deals are clear. Solar developers

need money to build projects and rather than going to the

bank again and again with deal after deal, it makes sense

to have a fnancing partner and a set of criteria you need to

meet already in place so that you can be sure the money will

materialize when you need it.

Indeed, as the indus-

try continues to mature and

especially in light of a 10 per-

cent ITC set to go into effect

at the end of 2016 for com-

mercial projects, fnding a

secure, reliable fnancing

partner may just be what

makes or breaks a solar

developer or EPC company.

1507REW_30 30 6/25/15 2:31 PM

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 31

Getting Squeezed

from Both Sides

Scott Wiater, president of

Standard Solar, explained that

in the traditional third-party

ownership model his company

was getting pinched on either

side of their deals. Basically

Standard Solar would develop

a project for a host, such as a

municipality or a corporation,

and then set up fnancing with

another entity. “We would

go to somebody like NRG or

Washington Gas and Electric

and we would basically devel-

op and build the project,” he

said, adding “since we are a

developer and also an EPC we

would [then] package that up

and partner with somebody

like SunEdison who would

fnance the project and then

we would provide the O&M on

the backside.” Wiater believes

there isn’t anything wrong

with this approach and proj-

ects will continue to be struc-

tured like that going forward.

For Standard Solar, how-

ever, problems were start-

ing to arise. “Just being in

the middle of that transaction

we were getting squeezed

both on the customer side —

the host side where we have

to come up with the low PPA

rate — but also on the fnanc-

ing side where the fnancing

companies are putting more

and more of the risk back

down on us as the EPC while

they are enjoying their return with less risk.”

In an effort to fx this issue, Standard Solar went out and

sought project fnance partners. “We decided that to create

more shareholder value we should develop our own fund in

house and that is what brought us to where we are today.”

In early July, Standard Solar announced a brand new $250 mil-

lion fund comprised of construction debt, term debt, tax equity and

sponsor equity. The fund is the frst of its kind in the C&I (commer-

cial and industrial) space and will enable Standard Solar to close

projects more quickly, effciently and with lower costs. “We brought

in the whole capital stack so we have a debt provider that provides

the construction debt which then fips to long-term debt when we

place it in service and we have a tax-equity investor that provides

all the tax equity,” Wiater explained. What’s more, because there

are three partners involved, Standard has more fexibility going for-

ward. “Because we control so much of the deal, we have several

levers we can pull to be very competitive: whether that is our asset

management fee, our O&M fee, our EPC fee, we have many pieces of

the pie that we can get aggressive on,” he said.

Courtship and Marriage

Matt Wright is senior vice president at National Cooperative Bank

(NCB) and oversees the bank’s renewable energy group. NCB has

The 865-kW solar project on the Knorr Brake Corporation

manufacturing facility in Westminster, Maryland developed by Standard

Solar. Credit Standard Solar.

1507REW_31 31 6/25/15 2:31 PM

S o l a r F i n a n c e

32 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

been lending money into the

solar industry since before

the crash of 2008 and is on

track to lend upwards of $400

million into the solar space

by the end of this year. He

explained that for NCB, the

commercial solar space offers

attractive, stable returns.

After the 2008 crash, Wright

said the market was “lumpy”

and his group didn’t put any

money into the market, but

once the crisis was over that

changed. “When we came

back, we looked at all of our

businesses and said ‘you

know, the solar line of business has been rock solid. It’s been

great.’ So we just started making a renewed commitment to it,”

he said.

Wright said he primarily fnds companies to work with

through word of mouth and that once he fnds a reliable part-

ner, he tries to do repeat deals. “We try to fnd a couple of devel-

opers a year that we can work with and try to achieve scale,” he

said. NCB has been working with Strata Solar to build projects

in North Carolina with Duke as the offtaker. To date they have

done about 30 deals together, he said. “We have a great relation-

ship with them,” he added. “Those are the kinds of things we try

to duplicate.”

Wright meets potential partners at shows or through word of

mouth. “Chances are you would meet me at a conference or you

would hear me speak,” he said.

While it isn’t as simple as Match.com, Wiater likens fnd-

ing a fnancing partner, especially for a huge deal like the one

The 6.4-MW Arndt solar farm

developed by Strata Solar.

Credit: Strata Solar.

1507REW_32 32 6/25/15 2:31 PM

S o l a r F i n a n c e

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 33

Standard Solar just announced, to courting. “There’s a dating

period where everybody gets to know each other and then [if]

the chemistry is there, we decide to go to the next step and get

engaged,” he said. It’s during the engagement that all of the due

diligence takes place, which is a very long, very costly process.

“We think it’s going to cost just in legal expenses somewhere in

the neighborhood of $800,000,” he explained.

Robert Banaski, chief administrative offcer with Admirals

Bank, which provides fnancing for residential solar projects

agrees that large deals take a long time to execute. For exam-

ple, in 2014, the bank announced a $200 million fnancing com-

mitment that would be available for SunPower’s residential solar

customers. The deal was the product of “a series of meetings to

investigate SunPower’s needs and couple them with a fnancing

product,” he explained.

According to Banaski most solar installers are able to offer

Admirals fnancing to their customers. Further, Admirals

has a channel program that allows pre-qualifed solar install-

ers to offer its Fast Track Loan Program to potential custom-

ers much in the same way car dealerships offer fnancing to car

buyers. Installation companies that may not ft the criteria for

the fast track program can still offer their customers fnanc-

ing through the FHA Title I program. “What is nice about our

loan programs is we have a wide array of product offerings that

meet the many needs of our customers throughout the country,”

Banaksi said.

On partnering, Banaski

said a conversaton might take

place between the bank and

the dealer on the bank’s prod-

uct suite, to determine which

one would ft with the dealer

and its customer base. With

Admirals there is a nation-

al business development

team that seeks potential

solar companies to do busi-

ness with. “We have a large

account team both inside, and

outside, the organization that

develops new business oppor-

tunities,” he said.

Banaski, Standard Solar’s

Wiater and NCB’s Wright

all agree that attending

conferences and network-

ing are extremely impor-

tant for making connections

in the solar industry. They

also agree that solar growth

won’t be throttled anytime

soon. Wright explains, “you

know we’re just excited about

this [the solar industry] as a

bank.” Once other banks or

large insurance companies

who might want to purchase

loans from NCB get over their

initial concerns about solar,

“they realize that once it’s up

an running, there is very lit-

tle risk,” he said, adding, “if

it was engineered proper-

ly and you are working with

reputable developers, install-

ers and managers, these

things are just built to work.

And long term.” ◑

The 5-MW solar project at the

Washington Suburban Sanitary

Commission developed by Standard

Solar. Credit Standard Solar.

1507REW_33 33 6/25/15 2:31 PM

CREDIT: AEEP Status Report 2014

PERCENTAGE

OF POPULATION WITH

ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY

BY COUNTRY

SWAZILAND35.2%

LESOTHO17.0%

MALAWI8.7%

UGANDA14.6%

RWANDA10.8%

BURUNDI5.3%

DJIBOUTI49.7%

ERITREA32.5%

CENTRALAFRICAN REPUBLIC

9.5%

SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE56.9%

CAPEVERDE67.0%

MAURITIUS100%

Réunion(Fr.)

SENEGAL56.5%

THE GAMBIA31.0%

GUINEA-BISSAU57.0%

GUINEA20.2%

SIERRA LEONE12.1%

LIBERIA4.1%

CÔTED’ IVOIRE58.9%

BENIN27.9%

COMOROS48.3%

Mayotte(Fr.)

BURKINA FASO13.1%

GHANA60.5%

WesternSahara

(under UNmandate)

SEYCHELLES29.2%

SOUTH SUDAN1.5%

Cabinda(Ang.)

ANGOLA34.6%

SOUTHAFRICA82.7%

ETHIOPIA23.0%

SUDAN29.0%CHAD

3.5%

NIGER9.3%

MALI16.6%

ALGERIA99.3% LIBYA

100% EGYPT99.6%

NIGERIA48.0%

MADAGASCAR14.3%

BOTSWANA43.1%

ZIMBABWE36.9%

ZAMBIA18.5%

TANZANIA14.8%

KENYA19.2%

DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC OF

CONGO15.2%

GABON81.6%

NAMIBIA43.7%

CAMEROON53.7%

TUNISIA99.5%

MOROCCO98.9%

MAURITANIA18.2%

SOMALIA29.2%

TOGO27.9%

EQUATORIAL GUINEA29.2%

REPUBLIC OF CONGO(BRAZZAVILLE)

37.1%

MOZAMBIQUE15.0%

Percent of populationwith access to electricity, 2010

60.0 – 100%

40.0 – 59.9%

20.0 – 39.9%

10.0 – 19.9%

Less than 10%

POWERING THE VAST

AFRICANCONTINENT

34 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

pointsidat

a

1507REW_34 34 6/25/15 2:31 PM

CREDIT: The Shift Project

ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN EACH AFRICAN COUNTRY

IN TERAWATT-HOURS (TWH) BY SOURCE

Comoros0.005

Equatorial Guinea0.007

Cape Verde0.007

Equatorial Guinea0.007

Sao Tomeand Principe

0.011

Burkina Faso0.086

Sierra Leone0.107

Togo0.111

Mauritania0.139

Rwanda0.139

Benin0.146

Central AfricanRepublic

0.160

Burundi0.160

Swaziland0.160

Eritrea0.317

Mali0.320

Botswana0.350

Guinea0.554

Mauritius0.584

Madagascar0.736

Lesotho0.746

Réunion0.923

Congo1.307

Uganda1.536

Namibia1.687

Gabon1.755

Malawi1.929

Senegal2.818

United Republicof Tanzania

5.286

Ethiopia5.442

Angola5.774

Côte d'Ivoire5.986

Cameroon6.145

Sudan7.334

Zimbabwe7.456

Kenya7.909

Democratic Republicof the Congo

8.310

Ghana11.401

Zambia12.047

Tunisia16.022

Mozambique17.762

Nigeria26.065

Morocco26.101

Libyan ArabJamahiriya

27.908

Algeria53.795

Egypt152.914

South Africa239.166

Solar tide wave

Geothermal

Biomass and waste

Wind

Nuclear

Oil

Hydroelectric

Gas

Coal

in December. Click here for more information.

has multiple banks and organizations in place to help the private sector develop power projects in every African country.

There will be a session about the Power Africa Initiative at Renewable Energy World Conference

that make up this region is extraordinarily low as outlined in the map.

Both the U.S. and the EU have announced huge initiatives aimed at doubling energy generation and access in Africa by 2020, and each

The difference between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is no starker than the comparison between access to energy in the developed world and the developing world. The percentage of the population with access to energy in the countries

http://www.theshiftproject.orgCCRRREEEDDDIT:: TTThe Shhiftt PProjecct

http://www.renewableenergyworld-events.com/conference/renewables-in-the-developing-world-track.htmbbeeeeeeerrrr.r. CCCCCCCCClllliiiccccckkkkkkkk hhhhhhheeeeeeerrrrrreeeeeee

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 35

1507REW_35 35 6/25/15 2:31 PM

36 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE 36 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

W I N D P OW E R

Did You Hear That? Reducing Construction Noise at Offshore Wind Farms

Building an ofshore wind farm can create quite an underwater racket as monopiles are driven into the seafoor. Monitoring and

mitigation of noise is important in order to adhere to environmental regulations that are designed to keep marine wildlife safe.

HOLLY WATERMAN, Baker Consultants

Marine mammal monitoring and underwater noise mitiga-

tion is an integral part of the development of offshore wind

farms, which, along with many other developments, generate

underwater noise that can negatively impact marine mam-

mals. For instance, servicing vessels used during construction

and operation can generate continuous noise at low frequen-

cies, which overlap with the communication signals of many

marine mammals, such as baleen whales. In fact, each oper-

ation in the development of offshore wind farms has its own

acoustic signature that must be identified and quantified in

order to assess its impacts on species present in the area.

The introduction of noise into the marine environment

is a major concern, given that numerous marine species

including dolphins and porpoises rely on sound as their

principal means of communication and navigation. Noise

can be particularly disruptive in the marine environment

because sound travels great distances through water. Fur-

ther, although some of the impacts of underwater noise on

marine mammals and fish have been quantified into specific

thresholds that cause hear-

ing loss, either permanent-

ly or temporarily, and noise

thresholds set according-

ly, the thresholds that lead

to changes in behaviour and

wider population impacts are

still largely unknown.

Regulation

The EU Marine Strategy

Framework Directive (MSFD)

1507REW_36 36 6/25/15 2:31 PM

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 37RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 37

The pectoral fin of a Humpback

whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

Credit: Shutterstock.

requires member states to achieve Good Environmental Status

of their seas by 2020 and part of it includes a criterion specifying

that underwater noise such as what is generated during offshore

wind farm installation, should be at levels that do not adversely

affect the marine environment.

Two recent offshore wind farms — Borkum Riffgrund 1,

which just begun exporting power, and Gode Wind 1 and 2,

which is currently under construction and has marine mammal

monitoring and underwater noise mitigation in place — are

based in German waters in the North Sea. The German govern-

ment’s BSH (Bundesamt FÜr Seeschifffahrt und hydrographie)

maritime agency has established strict noise thresholds for

Sound Exposure Level (SEL),

which must not be exceeded

during piling activities.

Consequently, an SEL limit of

160 dB re 1 µPa2 s outside a

750-meter radius for pile-

driving operations appears in

the licence conditions for

offshore wind farms.

In order for the govern-

ment to approve monopile

foundations for offshore wind

1507REW_37 37 6/25/15 2:31 PM

38 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

farms, evidence that under-

water noise has remained

below this threshold must be

given at set intervals during

installation before approval

is given for any future instal-

lations. In the case of Borkum

Riffgrund 1, the licence initial-

ly only allowed the installation

of the first 12 monopiles, with

consent for additional mono-

piles subject to the outcome of

noise measurements.

How It Works

These two large offshore

wind farm projects in the

North Sea, with 77 and 97

turbines respectively, needed

evidence that noise thresholds

were met and required mon-

itoring of marine mammal

activity (harbour porpoises in

W i n d P oW e r

Noise Mitigation at the Borkum Riffgrund 1 Offshore Wind

Farm. Credit: DONG Energy, KIRBI A/S and Wommian

Demant Invest A/S.

both instances) via passive acoustic record-

ers during wind turbine foundation instal-

lation. It was also necessary to assess the

effciency of the noise mitigation strate-

gy which in both cases, used the IHC Noise

Mitigation System.

For Borkum Riffgrund 1, a methods state-

ment for the monitoring campaign was

drafted and approved by the German gov-

ernment in the early phases of the project.

After that the installation company (GeoSea),

the piling company (IHC Hydrohammer) and

the consent managers at DONG Energy were

monitored to ensure mitigation protocols

were followed and given advice on optimiz-

ing the piling strategy to minimize noise.

The weather played a role in the project.

Servicing of acoustic recorders in the North

Sea is challenging when a specific sched-

ule must be adhered to, particularly in winter, as the instruments

used are very sensitive. To ensure safe working conditions and

avoid accidents, servicing must usually be carried out in sea state

2 or lower, which meant that most servicing had to be completed

before weather conditions changed, whilst simultaneously fitting

Construction of the Borkum Riffgrund 1 Offshore Wind Farm. Credit:

DONG Energy, KIRBI A/S and Wommian Demant Invest A/S.

1507REW_38 38 6/25/15 2:31 PM

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award is given each year to a woman who has, through hard work, vision,

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1507REW_39 39 6/25/15 2:31 PM

40 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

W i n d P oW e r

around the piling schedule to

ensure no data was lost.

Acoustic Monitoring and

Mitigation Strategy

At Borkum Riffgrund 1, Pas-

sive Acoustic Monitoring

(PAM) devices were installed

at set distances from each

monopile and rotated on a

regular basis, following the

BSH guidance. PAM devic-

es measure noise and record

porpoise activity in the area.

A part of the acoustic mon-

itoring included an innova-

tive method for monitoring

porpoise activity using full-spectrum recorders instead of click

detectors. This allowed investigation of the data waveforms to

minimize uncertainty in the results. Specialist bioacousticians

designed automatic classifiers to detect the porpoise clicks more

efficiently and the results were manually inspected and verified

by experienced observers.

The aim of the mitigation strategy was to reduce the underwa-

ter noise and keep harbor porpoises outside of the piling zone.

Overarching guidance on noise mitigation traditionally follows

three separate lines of approach: material noise control mea-

sures along the propagation path, at the receiver and at the noise

source location; and modification of operational procedures.

In the cases of Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Gode Wind (and other

similar projects), the vast area of the underwater environment

affected by localized, noise-producing activities negates the option

of using the first noise mitigation strategy, as this would not

meet best practicable means (BPM). Therefore, material control

Pingers like these are used for

marine mammal deterrence.

Credit: Baker Consultants.

1507REW_40 40 6/25/15 2:31 PM

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Baker Consultants at work performing

passive acoustic monitoring for noise.

Credit: Baker Consultants.

measures were adopted at the source of noise and involved the use

of the IHC Noise Mitigation System, which is a double walled cyl-

inder filled with a bubble layer, to ensure that the right trade-off

between piling energy and

blow count was attained.

Operation procedures, too,

were modified through the

adoption of a “ramp-up” pro-

cedure.  This procedure was

used as a mitigation measure

(along with the acoustic deter-

rent devices) to warn marine

mammals about the upcom-

ing anthropogenic activity and

encourage them to leave.

Costs

Monitoring underwater noise

can be extremely challenging

and the costs of these survey

[continued on page 53]

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1507REW_41 41 6/25/15 2:31 PM

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RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 43

GEOTHERMAL

Energy Storage and Geothermal Markets Look To Team Up in the Hunt for Lithium

As the lithium-ion battery market heats up, developers are seeing exciting opportunities to extract sought-

after lithium from spent geothermal brine.

MEG CICHON, Associate Editor

In today’s fast-paced tech envi-

ronment, no one can make a

splash quite like Elon Musk. So

when he decided to enter the

energy storage game in 2014,

he did it with gusto. Musk is

now in the process of building what he coined a “gigafacto-

ry,” which is a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in

Nevada. Of course, the plant is being built at such an eff-

cient pace that its ahead of schedule and is now set to start

production in 2016.

Since the gigafactory plans were revealed, Musk has

continued to wow the industry with

announcements like the unveiling of

Powerwall, a residential storage system

that pairs with rooftop solar, which can

be fnanced and installed by his other

company that you may have already

heard of, SolarCity.

Musk has certainly shined a light on

the lithium-ion battery, and analysts

expect the industry grow at an exor-

bitant clip within the next few years

alone. However, big growth like this

does not come without its challenges,

and in this case, some industry insid-

ers have begun murmuring about

resource concerns.

“If you take a look at [lithium] sup-

ply and demand dynamics over the

next few years, [in] 2015, you’re already

looking at a possible supply of 300,000

tons and possible demand of 480,000 The Salton Sea. Credit: Shutterstock.

1507REW_43 43 6/25/15 2:35 PM

Turbine

Geothermal power plant

Generator

Productionwell

Injectionwell

Geothermal zone

Coolingtower

Steam Brine

H2O

H2O

CO2Product conversion

Packaging

Separation

Return

Steam

CO2

Water

Brine

Geothermal

44 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

tons,” according to Alix Steel

of Bloomberg. “We are seeing

a 7-10 percent annual growth

for demand, so we would not

have enough lithium as proj-

ects stand right now.”

However, Steel also said

that there are more than

13 million tons of lithium

reserves — plenty to satisfy

our growing need — but the

problem is extraction: it takes

lots of time and, in some

cases, lots of money.

Lithium is commonly

extracted from either hard

rock via an energy-intensive

roasting and leeching pro-

cess, or from salty brines.

The brine is laid out in pools

where it evaporates, leav-

ing behind lithium and other

minerals. Though it is relatively low-cost, the evaporation pro-

cess can take up to two years and it is diffcult to get most of the

lithium out of the brine.

In order to avoid this process, some developers have turned to

the Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, California, which sits on a mas-

sive geothermal resource. If developed, it could potentially unlock

nearly 3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity. Developers have taken notice,

and the Imperial Irrigation District has created a plan to develop

1.7 GW by 2032 — if they can get some fnancial backing. While it

sounds like a no-brainer, the project faces several hurdles, includ-

ing a lack of transmission and long permitting processes.

What does this have to do with lithium? While the Salton Sea

has huge geothermal potential, it’s also considered one of the

world’s most mineral-rich environments, and developers have

taken notice. To pair these two resources, several companies

around the world have created a

lithium extraction process from

geothermal brine. This technol-

ogy allows companies to bypass

the traditional evaporation pro-

cess, because once a geothermal

plant uses up hot brine to pro-

duce energy, rather than pump-

ing it back into the ground, this

new technology snaps it up.

Then, using a series of flters

and absorption techniques, it

separates materials, and even-

tually extracts lithium.

One company that has caused

quite a stir in the U.S. is Simbol

Materials, which has demon-

strated this technology’s viabil-

ity at one of the lone geothermal

plants located in the Salton Sea

area. In 2012, Simbol established a demonstration plant at the

49.9-MW John L. Featherstone geothermal plant, which was a

2012 winner of the Renewable Energy World Project of the Year

Awards partly due to this innovative technology.

“The Salton Sea geothermal feld is among the world’s larg-

est and highest temperature resources because it lies directly

inside an active plate tectonic boundary,” said ACORE’s Dennis

Graphic: Simbol Materials lithium extraction process. Credit: Simbol

Materials.

1507REW_44 44 6/25/15 2:35 PM

Geothermal

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 45

McGinn during a press call. “In addition to generating thermal

power, Salton Sea geothermal brines are well-known for their

exceptionally high concentrations of minerals. These minerals

include lithium, manganese and zinc, which are important to

battery and energy storage technology, and are truly a national

strategic asset.”

Simbol has since produced the world’s frst battery grade

Li2Co3 lithium from geothermal brine. The company said that it

is currently able to process 6 gallons of brine per minute, but it

believes it can increase to 6,000 gallons per minute to produce

more than 15,000 tons of battery-grade lithium per year.

Salton Sea initiative supporters are hoping that this extrac-

tion technology coupled with the growing demand for lithium

in nearby Nevada, and Musk’s desire to only use materials pro-

duced in the U.S. will bring an extra incentive to develop more

geothermal plants, and ultimately boost the local economy and

protect the environment.

In fact, Simbol was reportedly planning to build a commer-

cial-scale plant that would create to up to 150 permanent jobs in

an employment-weary area, according to The Desert Sun. How-

ever, it couldn’t happen soon enough and in early 2015, the com-

pany laid off the majority of its employees citing fnancial diff-

culties, leaving its bright future in question.

Meanwhile, other regions

are investigating the viabili-

ty of this technology, includ-

ing geothermal-rich New

Zealand. The Ministry of

Business, Innovation and

Employment commissioned a

two-year study to determine

if and how mineral extraction

could succeed. The April 2015

report stated that though “the

composition and volume of

geothermal fuids in New Zea-

land also offers considerable

potential for the extraction of

various metals and minerals,”

the report questions the tech-

nology’s economic viability.

“While extracting prod-

ucts from geothermal fuids is

technically feasible, positive

economics is the key driver

for commercial success.” ◑

The John L. Featherstone Plant in California. Credit: Geothermal Resources Council.

1507REW_45 45 6/25/15 2:35 PM

the

heproject Profling Stand-out

Renewable Energy

Projects Worldwide

46 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

Located near Diego de Almagro

in Chile, the PV Salvador project

delivers energy to the Siste-

ma Interconectado Central grid,

where it is sold on the spot mar-

ket in direct competition with

traditional sources of electricity

without government subsidies.

Salvador is jointly owned

by Etrion, Total and Solventus

Energías Renovables; the major-

ity fnancing was done through

non-recourse project debt from

the Overseas Private Investment

Corporation (OPIC); and it was

built by SunPower on approxi-

mately 328 acres leased from the

Chilean government.

The PV Salvador Solar Project

By the Numbers

70mw160,000

300

solar

power

capacity

SunPower modules

jobs created

during

construction

Credit: @Total – Laurent Zylberman.

Credit: @Total – Laurent Zylberman.

1507REW_46 46 6/25/15 2:35 PM

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Create Brand Awareness.

Generate Leads.

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1507REW_47 47 6/25/15 2:35 PM

48 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

HYDROPOWER

Mini-hydro Making A Big Impact on Nepalese Power

In the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal in April, development of its 83

GW of hydropower potential has emerged as a key opportunity for rebuilding a country that was already struggling to meet its electricity demand.

The earthquake that struck Nepal

in April 2015 left Kathmandu city

in ruins. Credit: My Good Images /

Shutterstock.com.

DAVID APPLEYARD, Contributor

Renowned for its vast hydropower resources, the Himalayan

nation of Nepal has nonetheless long struggled to meet its

growing power demand. Now though, the devastating earth-

quake that struck the country in April 2015 is placing even

more emphasis on the development of hydropower at a range

of scales.

The quake not only killed an estimated 8,000 people and

destroyed parts of the country, it also had a profound effect

on the national infrastructure. As one of the world’s poorest

developing nations, even

before the magnitude 7.9

earthquake hit, Nepal was

subject to signifcant load

shedding, with rolling black-

outs right across the country

for some 12 or more hours a

day. With a number of exist-

ing hydropower projects dam-

aged in the seismic event,

1507REW_48 48 6/25/15 2:35 PM

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 49

capacity margins have fallen

still further.

Putting this in context, the

latest available fgures from

the Nepal Electricity Author-

ity (NEA) — from its 2014

annual report — reveal a

peak power demand estimat-

ed at 1201 MW, which refect-

ed a growth of almost 10 per-

cent over the previous year.

However, the peak generating

capacity was just 791 MW,

leaving a 410 MW estimated

shortfall — something over

20 percent. [See sidebar for

more information on electrici-

ty in Nepal today.]

Raghuveer Sharma, Chief

Investment Offcer of IFC,

explained that a sizeable por-

tion of the current installed

capacity of Nepal consists of

small hydropower projects

and with the earthquake hav-

ing damaged larger hydro-

power projects, the coun-

try has set further focus on

small and micro-hydropower development. “As many as 2000

MW capacity worth new power purchase agreements (PPAs) have

been signed, which goes to show the potential and promise of

small hydropower projects,” he said.

For example, last May the World Bank Group signed off on

$84.6 million in fnancing for the Kabeli-A Hydroelectric Project

— a peaking run-of-river hydroelectric plant with an installed

capacity of 37.6 MW. It will be built in Panchthar district in the

east of Nepal together with the Kabeli Corridor Transmission

Line, a separate project under construction that also has World

Bank fnancing.

Key to the development of Nepal’s hydropower potential is

the issue of fnance. But this is not insurmountable, said Shar-

ma. “Attracting fnance for hydropower projects is not depen-

dent on size of the project whether small, medium or large. Rath-

er, it is the bankability of the project that determines fnancing.

The bankability criteria include techno-economic, environmen-

tal, social, legal and commercial aspects. Each of these has risks

inherent in them, and it is how the risks are assessed and miti-

gated that determines bankability.”

Sharma said that access to transmission is also key: “If small

hydropower projects are near a transmission line, they become

more viable,” he said, adding that needing to build out transmis-

sion could mean that capital costs “render the projects unviable.”

Small and Smaller Still

Micro- and pico-hydro plants of a few tens of kW upwards are

also attracting interest where transmission system connection is

One of the many

rivers in Nepal.

Credit: Shutterstock.

1507REW_49 49 6/25/15 2:35 PM

Hydropower

50 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

Electricity in Nepal Today

Nepal has an annual energy demand estimated at 5910 GWh, of

which only 4632 GWh could be supplied. Nevertheless, Nepal

continued to export power to India last year. NEA fgures give

2013-2014 sales to India as 3.32 GWh, down from the 3.6 GWh

exported in the previous year.

While this may seem paradoxical, power sales represent

a valuable — if not vital — source of revenue for the national

treasury coffers. In fact, just two weeks prior to the earthquake

— Nepal’s investment board cleared China Three Gorges Corp to

build a new $1.6 billion 750-MW hydropower project on the West

Seti River.

Of the available generating capacity actually supplied, 436.4

MW came from NEA-owned hydropower plants, 22 MW from

state-owned thermal capacity and 216.4 MW was generated by

hydropower from independent power producers. The rest was

imported from neighboring India, which supplied something on the

order of 20 percent of Nepal’s total power demand over the year.

According to the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre of

Nepal, about 85 percent of the total energy consumption in

Nepal is met through traditional biomass. The rest is met through

imported commercial sources such as petroleum and diesel.

Out of the total biomass, frewood contributes about 89 percent,

animal waste 7 percent and the remaining 4 percent from

agricultural residues. ◑

unlikely even in the longer term. With an inclusive communi-

ty-driven model, micro-hydro initiatives in Nepal are meeting

the energy needs of rural communities and powering econom-

ic development.

To date, the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has

facilitated the construction of more than 1,000 micro-hydro

plants in 52 districts under the auspices of the National Rural

and Renewable Energy Programme (NRREP) launched in 2012.

A consortium of fve governments, two multilateral banks and

three intergovernmental organizations support the US $184

million budget to execute this

fve-year program that aims

install close to 7,000 kW of

micro-hydro capacity.

Among the micro and pico-

hydro fnancing projects

administered by AEPC are

the Micro Hydro Debt Fund

(MHDF), which is support-

ed by GIZ, the German devel-

opment bank. Initially bud-

geted at EU €500,000 and

later increased by €42,000,

the fund envisages more than

400 kW of additional capaci-

ty to bring electricity to about

19,000 individuals.

Further, in 2012 AEPC —

with the support from United

Nations Capital Development

Fund (UNCDF) and UNDP —

launched its Clean Start pro-

gram. The program plans to

invest US $1.3 million over

a period of four years (2012-

2015) to develop business

models for scaling up microf-

nance. By the end of the pro-

gram, more than 150,000

low-income households will

have access to energy.

Similarly, a program called

Scaling up Renewable Ener-

gy Program in Low Income

Countries (SREP) aims to

provide electricity access to

250,000 households through

30 MW of mini/micro hydro-

power. Further, the Micro

Hydro Village Electrifcation

Program (MHVEP) is anoth-

er joint initiative of AEPC and

1507REW_50 50 6/25/15 2:35 PM

Hydropower

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 51

the World Bank and fund-

ed by the Power Development

Fund (PDF).

During 2012-2013, the lat-

est year for which fgures are

available, some 133 pico- and

micro-hydro projects with

a total capacity of 3.2 MW

were supported. Further-

more, an additional 125 proj-

ects are under construction

with a combined capacity of

4.3 MW.

There are around 42 small

hydropower projects current-

ly operating in Nepal with a

combined capacity of some

16.3 MW. These projects are

joined by around 1300 micro-

hydro plants with a combined

output of more than 24 MW

and some 1600 pico hydro-

power plants generating 3.7

MW, collectively.

However, the NEA noted that hydro alone “is not suffcient

to minimize load shedding,” and added “other probable sourc-

es of renewable energy, including solar power will [need to] be

connected to the national grid.” In December the World Bank

approved a US $130 million credit for the Nepal Grid Solar and

Energy Effciency Project. The project aims to increase electricity

supply to the national grid through grid-connected solar, which

should reduce distribution losses. It includes the design, sup-

ply, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of

grid-connected solar, with a total capacity of 25 MWp.

As Johannes Zutt, the World Bank country director for Nepal,

had previously observed: “Nepal will need rapid and sustained

growth to continue reducing extreme poverty and increase the

incomes of the bottom 40 percent [of the population]. This will

require the country to boost investment and narrow a mas-

sive infrastructure gap, which is the single most important con-

straint to growth.”

It seems clear that while Nepal’s massive hydro resources do

offer an attractive route to lift much of the population beyond

energy poverty and reliance on bioenergy for domestic heating

and lighting, the needs of this developing country are such that

other renewable energy technologies will also experience a sig-

nifcant uptick in growth in the coming years. The key, as ever, is

in achieving a market for attractive and sustainable fnance. ◑

Rice fields around the Nepalese village

of Shivalaya. Only some 5 percent of

Nepal’s rural population has access to

grid electricity. Credit: Shutterstock.

1507REW_51 51 6/25/15 2:35 PM

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RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 53RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 53

Renewable Energy

Tra ining Event s

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Forecasting & Modeling the

Future Energy MixGreen Power ConferencesLondon, UK20-24 July 2015

Solar PV Mastery TrainingKaplan Clean Tech EducationArlington, TX, USA20-25 July

Renewable Energy and Communication

Tower Technician ProgramAirstreams Renewables Tehachapi, CA, USA3 August – 11 September

Introduction to Wind SystemsMidwest Renewable Energy AssociationOnline27 July – 23 August

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[continued from page 41]

techniques have to be balanced with the added

value of gathering this information. However, in

recent years, the technology available for mon-

itoring underwater noise and marine mam-

mal presence has improved dramatically, with

several affordable and good quality instru-

ments now readily available. This means there

are now multiple ways in which surveys can

be conducted, depending on individual needs.

Most importantly, instruments are now avail-

able that allow the monitoring of sound under-

water both short and long term, autonomously

or from a boat, and allow real-time data trans-

mission to a remote location.

As Passive Acoustic Monitoring requires

minimal human intervention and can be used

when weather conditions are highly adverse, it

therefore reduces time and costs over more tra-

ditional methods. ◑

Holly Waterman is a communications manag-

er with Baker Consultants, based in the UK.

1507REW_53 53 6/25/15 2:35 PM

54 JULY/AUGUST 2015 RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE

The Adveritser’s Index is published as a service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.

Renewable Energy Wor ld Calendar 2015

Adver t iser ’s Index For more information on the products and services found in this issue click here.

Distributech 2015…41

Ecofasten Solar…52

Everglades University…41

Nexans…14

Northern States Metal…25

Nuscale Power…9

Power-Gen Middle East 2015…29

Projects of the Year/Woman of the Year 2015…39

REW North America 2015…42

REW Asia…26

Shoals Technologies…20

Siemens…2

Smarter Shows…53

Socomec…52

Solar Energy Trade Shows…4

Spice Solar…16

Surrette Battery Co. …13, 52

Trojan Battery…CV2

UK AD & Biogas Exhibition

1 - 2 July 2015

Birmingham, United Kingdom

W: http://adbioresources.

org/uk-ad-biogas-2015

Energy Storage USA 2015

7 - 8 July 2015

San Diego, CA, USA

W: www.energystorageupdate.com/usa/

Intersolar North America

14 - 16 July 2015

San Francisco, CA, USA

W:www.intersolar.us/

HydroVision International

14 - 17 July 2015

Portland, OR, USA

www.hydroevent.com

POWER-GEN Africa

15 - 17 July 2015

Cape Town, Republic of South Africa

W:www.powergenafrica.com

Wind Power Central America

15 - 17 July 2015

Panama City, Panama

W: http://www.

greenpowerconferences.com/

Green Building Brasil

11 - 13 August 2015

Sao Paulo, Brasil

W: http://www.expogbcbrasil.

org.br/2015/en/

Guangzhou International Solar

Photovoltaic Exhibition

18 - 20 August 2015

Guangzhou, China

W: www.chinaexhibition.com

MED GREEN FORUM

26 - 28 August 2015

Florence, Italy

W: www.wrenuk.co.uk/congresses

Renewable Energy World Asia

1 - 3 September 2015

Bangkok, Thailand

W: www.renewableenergyworld-

asia.com

POWER-GEN Asia

1 - 3 September 2015

Bangkok, Thailand

W: www.powergenasia.com

POWER-GEN Asia Financial Forum

1 - 3 September 2015

Bangkok, Thailand

W: www.powergenasiafinance.com

Intersolar South America

1 - 3 September 2015

Sao Paulo, Brasil

W: www.intersolar.net.br/en/

Solar Power International

14 - 17 September 2015

Anaheim, CA, USA

W: www.solarpowerinternational.com

Husum WindEnergy

15 - 18 September 2015

Husum, Germany

W: www.husumwind.com

Selected multi-day conferences, expos and events for the Renewable Energy Industry

1507REW_C3 3 6/25/15 2:37 PM

LastWO R D

the

RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2015 55

Why Smarter Grids Demand Smarter Communications Networks

Historically, utility networks and com-

munications networks have had little

in common. These two types of net-

works have intersected, of course —

utilities have relied on communica-

tions networks for decades to support

a variety of critical capabilities, which

have generally run on equipment

leased from telecommunications car-

riers. Similarly, these carriers relied

on power grids to power to their com-

munications networks. However, these

intersections were few, and the two

types of networks were built, managed

and operated in very different ways.

The world has changed since most

grids were built. Today utilities face

challenges that aging infrastruc-

ture cannot support. In fact, the car-

rier networks that utilities have relied

on for remote monitoring, control and

grid automation will soon be shut

down in favor of IP-based networks.

Meanwhile, the need to man-

age renewable energy resources,

such as wind and solar, have intro-

duced additional demands. Notably,

this renewable component typically

involves small-scale, distributed ener-

gy resources that tend to be connected

to the least automated part of the grid

— the medium-voltage and especial-

ly the low-voltage parts of the distribu-

tion network. Utilities need to modern-

ize their grids to make them smarter.

Part of this transformation is the tran-

sition to a more modern and reliable

communications network.

This transition is similar to the shift

that is taking place in communica-

tions networks. IP and Multiprotocol

Label Switching (IP/MPLS) technolo-

gy was developed to serve as the foun-

dation for next-gen communications

networks. Carriers have used IP/MPLS

networks to consolidate a variety of

services and applications — voice,

data, video — onto a single, converged

infrastructure, making it possible to

deliver a variety of services to cus-

tomers. Not surprisingly, IP/MPLS has

emerged as the chosen path for T&D

utilities globally to connect substa-

tions, operation centers, data centers

and remote grid devices. This is due

to its deterministic performance, effi-

cient support of packet-based traffic

and ability to support legacy traffic. IP/

MPLS enables utilities to support mul-

tiple application-specific operation-

al networks on a single network while

optimizing the performance of the

growing number of real time IP-based

smart grid applications.

All of the capabilities carriers and

utilities must support — from movie

streaming to linking sensors for sub-

station automation — can be served

using a dynamic, secure, and mission-

critical communications network. ◑

Mark Madden

is the Regional

Vice President for

Utility Markets in

Alcatel-Lucent’s

North American

Region where he

is responsible for

Alcatel-Lucent’s utility

market strategy,

strategic partnerships,

and business

development. Mark

joined Alcatel-Lucent

in 1996 and has

more than 30 years

of experience with

leading companies in

the Information and

Communications

Technologies industry,

with the last 10 years

directly engaged

with power utility

communications. 

1507REW_C4 4 6/25/15 2:39 PM