Abengoa’s KaXu Solar One project entered into commercial operation

The 100 MW trough plant located in South Africa began commercial operation last month, according to sources at Abengoa.

The plant is located in the Northern Cape region and will provide energy to Eskom, the publicly-owned South African utility, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The plant has 2,5 hrs. of molten salt-based storage and is co-developed by the Spanish company and the Industrial Development Corporation.

Both entities are also developing the Khi Solar One project, a 50 MW solar tower that is being built near Upington town, in the Northern Cape region of South Africa. It is expected to come online this year and similarly it will provide energy to Eskom, under a 20-year PPA.

Algeria targets 2 GW of CSP by 2030

Algeria has doubled its renewable energy target to 25GW to be achieved by 2030, according to the state press agency APS.

Algerian energy minister Youcef Yousfi unveiled the plans on 1 March 2015, which also include the development of 5 GW of wind energy and 13.5 GW of solar PV.

Combined, Algeria hopes to have more than 22 GW of renewable energy capacity installed by 2030, and has targeted the connection of 4,5 GW by 2020. Should Algeria hit its target, renewable energy would – by 2030 – account for 27% of the nation’s power output, which would offset the need for 22 GW of natural gas generation.

To incentivise developers and consumers to take up solar power, Algeria’s government is finalising the details of a 20-year feed-in tariff (FIT), which was first introduced last April for ground-mounted solar plants of 1 MW or more.

Morgan Stanley acquires a 4,63 % stake in Saeta Yield

The US-based investment bank has invested EUR 40 million in ACS’ renewable business unit, Saeta Yield, which began to be listed in the Spanish stock exchanges in February 2015.

Morgan Stanley then becomes the third biggest shareholder in the company, only behind the investment fund GIP, with a 24,4% stake and ACS, with 25,6% of shares.

Morgan Stanley acquired the majority of shares shortly after Saeta Yield’s launch and bought the rest in the market, according to a report presented by the firm to the Spanish Securities & Exchange Commission.

Saeta Yield SA’s properties include 16 wind farms with a combined capacity of 539 MW and three CSP plants totalling 150 MW, all of them located in Spain.

Dow Chemical and NEST AS to work on TES research at Masdar Institute

Dow Chemical has joined forces with the Norwegian firm NEST (New Energy Storage Technology) AS to work on a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) pilot project in Abu Dhabi, in association with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.

According to the press release issued by Dow Chemical, the project will be carried out at Masdar’s ‘Beam Down’ CSP facility, in Masdar City, and will look into “the feasibility and benefits of a novel TES system developed by NEST.”

Dow’s contribution to this project will be to supply 2.6 metric tons of Dowthertm A, a heat transfer fluid and to provide technical support throughout the project.

Masdar’s Beam down facility, a 100 kW CSP pilot plant, is specifically designed to allow researchers to investigate alternatives of employing solar energy in a more accessible way. Its main aim is “to develop flexible, scalable and ultimately cost-effective solutions for the global CSP market.”