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Green Globe: Vestas proposes 6-GW wind, solar hybrid project in Australia

Vestas Wind Systems A/S and a group of renewable energy developers have proposed an up-to-6-GW wind and solar hybrid power plant in Australia that would export its electricity to Indonesia. Along with CWP Energy Asia and InterContinental Energy, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer wants to build the Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with undersea cables to deliver the energy to Indonesia, Vestas said in a Nov. 29 company announcement. The first phase of the project would cost an estimated US$10 million, and construction would start in 2023.

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According to Vestas, the renewable energy companies have conducted feasibility studies, received a development license from the Western Australia government and hosted discussions with the Nyangumarta people, an Australian aboriginal tribal nation native to the country's northwest coast. They expect to have a financial investment decision by 2020.

"The Asian Renewable Energy Hub can compete over the long-term as a cost-effective means of supplying energy. It can also provide the foundation for a strong Indonesian renewable energy technology manufacturing hub, driving investment, job creation and a local value-added supply chain," the companies said in a statement.

The project will require a nearly 2,175-mile-long undersea cable route in order to export the electricity, Vestas spokesperson Andrew Hilton said in an email to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Prysmian, the world’s largest supplier of subsea power cables, and Swire Pacific Offshore, an offshore construction company, are working with the companies to develop and install the cables.

"Much like wind and solar, HVDC cable technology is advancing rapidly," Hilton said. "Running cables to transport electricity over long distances isn’t new, but longer distances are now in play."

Australia has historically been a big coal exporter, accounting for nearly one-third of the world's coal trade, but the government's renewable energy agency and the country's chief scientist, Alan Finkel, have suggested that clean electricity sources like energy storage could become a valuable export industry.

A United Arab Emirates renewable energy company signed a deal to build the world's largest floating solar photovoltaic farm off the coast of Indonesia. Masdar, also known as Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, will develop the 200-MW project as part of an agreement for Indonesian power company Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali, according to ME Construction News. Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said the project marks the company's entry into the Southeast Asia market and demonstrates its "ambition as a global renewable energy leader."

China is home to the world's largest floating solar farm. Huainan, a former coal hub, hosts the 40-MW, $45 million renewable energy project.

The European Parliament's Industry and Energy Committee voted Tuesday for more aggressive, binding targets to reduce energy consumption across the European Union. The plan would call for each EU country to create national energy-efficiency targets in order to cut the EU's overall energy consumption 40% by 2030. The binding target would mean member total energy demand for all 28 countries in the EU would be at most 13.2 million kWh a year, while end users' total energy consumption would be capped at about 9.9 million kWh. The European Parliament also approved a measure stating that by 2030, a minimum of 35% of all energy consumed in the EU has to come from renewable energy sources. At least 12% of the energy consumed in each individual country's transport sector would also have to be produced from renewables.

The new laws will follow the EU's 2020 renewable energy goals, which required the 28-country union to collectively increase the share of renewable energy in its energy consumption mix to 20% by that time.

Elsewhere

* France's president, Emmanuel Macron, inaugurated a 33-MW solar power plant in Burkina Faso, the largest solar energy project in West Africa, Reuters reported.

* India's government predicted that a push for electric vehicles will lead to a $300 billion market for domestic battery manufacturers by 2030, according to CleanTechnica.

* Statoil ASA awarded Germany-based Younicos AG a contract to deliver a 1-MW battery storage system to its Hywind offshore wind project off the coast of Scotland, Offshore Engineer Digital reported.

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