Overseas Firms Continue to Expand Involvement in North American, Chinese PV Markets
Spain’s Solarig, a supplier of photovoltaic panels, has signed a strategic deal to take a 25% stake in Zhejinang Shuqimeng Energy Technology, the latest entrant in China’s growing list of PV manufacturers. It has been reported that Solarig is investing around €25 million in the deal, and that Zhejiang Shuqimeng plans to build a new plant in Tianjin.
Solarig has at least six solar projects under development in Spain. It does not manufacture PV panels but rather acts as turnkey contractor to the numerous solar park operators that are popping up across Spain, taking advantage of the current enthusiasm for solar energy as an alternative investment and the guaranteed premium that Spain pays for electricity generated from renewable sources.
The Chinese company, which was only founded at the beginning of this year, plans to be a key player in the increasingly crowded Chinese PV sector and has more than 100,000 sq metres of campus facilities under construction in the Nanyang Economic Development Area near Hangzhou. A 15MW solar module production line is currently being constructed and this will be rapidly followed by a 25MW production line due for completion this September.
Ten Chinese PV companies launched initial public offerings (IPO) on overseas securities markets by the end of July of this year, raising total funds amounting to 1.977 billion U.S. dollars, according to a report released by ChinaVenture Investment Consulting Ltd.. The report said the ten listed companies boast market capitalization of 17.865 billion U.S. dollars, with average P/E standing at 49.47.
Among the five companies with over one billion market cap – LDK Solar Co., Ltd., Yingli Green Energy Holding Company, Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Yuhui Solar Energy Source Co., Ltd – all are dealing in the silicon wafer business.
Meanwhile, Pacific Gas and Electric announced that it has entered into what is described as a landmark renewable energy agreement with Solel-MSP-1 to purchase renewable energy from the Mojave Solar Park, to be constructed in California’s Mojave Desert. The project will deliver 553MW of solar power, the equivalent of powering 400,000 homes, to PG&E’s customers in northern and central California. The Mojave Solar Park project is claimed to be the world’s largest single solar commitment.
The plant utilizes Solel’s patented solar thermal parabolic trough technology. Over the past 20 years, the technology has powered nine operating solar power plants in the Mojave Desert and is currently generating 354 MW of annual electricity. When fully operational in 2011, the Mojave Solar Park plant will cover up to 6,000 acres, or nine square miles in the Mojave Desert. The project will rely on 1.2 million mirrors and 317 miles of vacuum tubing to capture the desert sun’s heat.
Solel Solar Systems of Israel, which claims to be the world’s largest solar thermal company, is the parent company of Solel-MSP-1 LLC. Solel’s leading technology utilizes parabolic mirrors to concentrate solar energy onto its patented UVAC 2008 solar thermal receivers. The receivers contain a fluid that is heated and circulated, and the heat is released to generate steam. The steam powers a turbine to produce electricity, which can be delivered to a utility’s electric grid. The electricity generated by Mojave Solar Park will use some of the transmission infrastructure originally built for the now dormant coal-fired Mojave Generation Station to deliver the power to PG&E’s customers.
