Nov 1, 2013 - During the last week of October, Mainstream Renewable and China Longyuan unveil over 600 MW of project wins in South Africa, First Solar, Suzlon and SunPower report improved third-quarter results and Siemens bags 165-MW wind turbine order in Turkey.
Several of the companies that made it to the preferred bidder list under South Africa’s third round of the Renewable Energy Procurement Programme (REIPP) celebrated their wins this week. Among them, Ireland-based Mainstream Renewable Power and power producer China Longyuan Power Group Corp Ltd (HKG:0916) revealed huge capacity figures.
On Tuesday, Mainstream Renewable said it had won approval, as part of a consortium, for 360 MW of wind farm projects in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. The company is leading a tie-up that will spend around USD 900 million (EUR 658m) on the 140-MW Khobab wind project, the 140-MW Loeriesfontein 2 wind farm and the 80-MW Noupoort wind scheme.
On Wednesday, China Longyuan said it had secured South Africa’s blessing for 244 MW of wind capacity. The specific wind parks, to also be installed in Northern Cape province, are the 100-MW De Aar Phase I wind system and the 144-MW De Aar Phase II North District facility. China Longyuan will be the controlling shareholder in the consortium that is in charge of the projects.
More details on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/mainstream-led-tie-up-to-build-360-mw-of-wind-farms-in-s-africa-386136
and on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/corrected-china-longyuan-led-tie-up-wins-244-mw-of-wind-in-s-africa-386244
SIEMENS TO SUPPLY 165 MW OF TURBINES TO TURKEY, IHS SEES 1,481 MW OF SAUDI SOLAR BY 2017
South Africa was not the only emerging renewable energy market that made SeeNews Renewables top headlines this week -- Turkey and Saudi Arabia were among them as well.
German engineering group Siemens (ETR:SIE) said on Wednesday it had received an order for 165 MW of wind turbines from Turkish diversified group Guris Holding. Siemens will deliver 53 gearless machines with direct drive technology for three wind farms in the Turkish provinces of Mugla, Edirne-Tekirdag and Kirklareli.
On the same day, market research firm IHS (NYSE:IHS) announced that Saudi Arabia is to build 1,481 MW of solar parks between 2013 and 2017, possibly taking advantage of falling costs for photovoltaic (PV) products. According to the market study, the country is set to become the third-largest nation in the Africa and Middle East region in terms of installed PV capacity.
More details on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/siemens-to-supply-turkeys-guris-with-165-mw-of-wind-turbines-386349
and on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/saudi-arabia-to-add-1-5-gw-of-solar-capacity-in-2013-2017-ihs-386555
SUZLON, SUNPOWER, FIRST SOLAR ALL SEE IMPROVED Q3 RESULTS
Several key players in the wind and solar power industries released their financial reports for the July-September quarter of this year in the past few days. In order of publication, Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy (BOM:532667) on Wednesday said it had turned to positive EBITDA for the quarter, excluding currency effects, and posted a smaller net loss of some USD 126 million. The bottom line result for Suzlon’s second fiscal quarter compares with a net loss of USD 131 billion a year ago. The company’s finance head Kirti Vagadia explained that the significant loss in the reporting period was mainly the result of lower sales volumes, restructuring expenses and the effect of the depreciated Indian rupee.
On Wednesday, again US photovoltaics (PV) maker SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) said it had returned to a third-quarter net profit of USD 108.4 million from a loss of USD 48.5 a year back. The turnaround is due to the company’s diversified downstream strategy and also the growing demand for solar systems, president and CEO Tom Werner said.
On Thursday, US-based First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) said it had boosted its third-quarter net profit to USD 195 million from USD 87.9 million a year ago and lifted its 2013 earnings per share (EPS) forecast. First Solar’s third-quarter sales jumped to USD 1.27 billion from USD 839.1 million due to the contribution of the company’s 550-MW Desert Sunlight solar park in California and the sale of 50 MW of Canadian wind parks.
More detail on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/suzlon-posts-positive-ebitda-usd-128m-net-loss-for-q2-fy-2013-14-386409
on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/sunpower-returns-to-q3-profit-386550
and on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/first-solar-doubles-q3-profit-lifts-2013-guidance-386896
LDK SOLAR, SUNTECH SEEK WAYS TO SOLVE DEBT ISSUES
News were also coming from China this week. At the start of the week, LDK Solar Co Ltd (NYSE:LDK) said it had struck a 30-day forbearance deal with certain bondholders in relation to an interest payment that the photovoltaics (PV) manufacturer failed to make on August 28.
On Thursday, Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd (NYSE:STP) said it “intends to challenge” the petition from earlier in October in which several US bondholders of the company insist that it enters involuntary bankruptcy under chapter 7. The petition was filed with the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York by Trondheim Capital Partners LP, Michael Meixler and Longbell Holdings LLC.
More details on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/ldk-solar-seals-another-forbearance-deal-with-creditors-385739
and on: http://renewables.seenews.com/news/suntech-to-fight-involuntary-bankruptcy-petition-in-us-386748
(USD 1 = EUR 0.739)
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