QUICK NEWS, April 4: LOTS MORE SOLAR MANUFACTURING; UK WIND BOOMING; CHINA MOVES TO THE SMART GRID

LOTS MORE SOLAR MANUFACTURING
About 35 GWp of New Solar Cell Manufacturing Equipment May be Purchased by 2017
March 29, 2012 (Yole Developpement)

"In the years to come, the manufacturing cost reduction in the PV industry will be led by equipment and material innovations. As only a part of the whole existing crystalline silicon manufacturing capacity is suited to the production of very high efficiency solar cells and modules, Yole Développement assumes that a part of the manufacturing capacity will be shut down or used at low utilization rates, and new capacities suited for very high efficiency products will be added. This provides an opportunity for PV equipment manufacturers to find customers despite existing production overcapacities…

"Current technology and market consolidation are revealing an increased interest in high-efficiency cell and module approaches…[H]igh PV efficiency enables product differentiation and cuts on manufacturing and system costs and “Levelized Cost of Electricity” (LCOE)…Different very high cell and module efficiency approaches…[show] the opportunities for crystalline silicon as well as for some thin-film PV manufacturers."

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"In order to reach very high cell and module efficiency (respectively over 19% and 16%), specific technology approaches, new materials and new equipment are required….[New materials]include quasi-mono silicon wafers and new equipment (ion implant tools, amorphous silicon deposition tools)…

"Thanks to incentive policies, in the past the photovoltaic market experienced double digit average annual growth rates and more than 27GWp were installed during the year 2011. This resulted in a massive increase of the manufacturing capacities to cover the increasing demand. However, recently, lowered incentive mechanisms resulted in a market demand lower than expected. In consequence, high manufacturing overcapacities and module inventory result in a strong price pressure on the PV market and finally leads to technology and market consolidation…"


UK WIND BOOMING
UK wind production up 55% in 2011
John McKenna, 29 March 2012 (Windpower Monthly)

"Higher than average wind speeds in 2011 helped UK wind farms generate 54.5% more electricity than they managed in 2010, according to government figures…Despite 2011 being the UK's lowest year for wind installations since 2005 — only 403MW was installed onshore and 291MW offshore – wind farms managed to generate 15.53TWh of electricity, up from 10.18TWh in 2010.

"Onshore wind generated 10.42TWh, up 45.9% from 7.14TWh in 2010. Offshore wind generated 5.11TWh in 2011, up 67.9% from 3.04TWh the previous year…The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc)…claimed the increase in generation was due to higher windspeeds in 2011 and increased capacity."

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"According to the Decc data, there was 4.63GW of installed onshore capacity at the end of 2011, and 1.34GW installed offshore capacity…Total energy production in the UK was 136.6TWh, a record annual decrease of 13.6% blamed largely on falling oil and gas generation.

"Renewable electricity generation was 34.75 TWh and increased its share of the overall energy mix by 2.5 percentage points on 2010 to a record 9.5%."


CHINA MOVES TO THE SMART GRID
State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) Swallows the Global Smart Grid Stage, Zpryme Reports
March 28, 2012 (Zpryme)

"…[The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC)]… supplies power to 88% of China and serves an area populated by over 1 billion people. At the end of 2011, SGCC had 286 million customers…According to the SGCC, only 36 million smart meters have been installed as of 2011, but they have an ambitious plan to install over 300 million smart meters by the end of 2015. The sheer enormity of the state-owned transmission company, coupled with streamlined regulatory processes designed to promote rapid construction without barriers…are among the key reasons that China is the largest, most important market for Smart Grid development in the world.

"At the end of 2011, SGCC has implemented 238 Smart Grid pilot projects to solve technical issues, test designs, and develop management systems. These projects covered the entire gamut of Smart Grid implementation, ranging from connecting wind power plants to automating distribution networks to metering households."

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"The projects were implemented across different regions of China, including a highly publicized Smart Grid demonstration project at the Shanghai World Expo. Using the experience gained from these projects, SGCC released a set of industry rules, standards, and favored technologies for 22 criteria of Smart Grid technology in June 2010…

"SGCC, Total Customers Served (2011): 286 million…SGCC, Total Installed Smart Meters (2015): 286 million…SGCC, Total Electricity Sales (2011): 3,093 TWh…SGCC, Total Revenue (2011): $265 billion USD…"