129

Diesel and gas: gensets

Wind Energy

renewable energy

INTERSOLAR EUROPE INTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICA INTERSOLAR SOUTH AMER

The World’s Leading Exhibition Series for the Solar Industry

Being a part of the global Intersolar networkmeans staying informed to secure business success.With more than 20 years of experience Intersolar’sevents cover the issues that move the solar industryand provide exhibitors, visitors and the media withcutting-edge information about its dynamic markets.Instead of merely keeping up with trends, it keepsyou a step ahead!

From Munich to Mumbai, San Francisco to São Paulo,all the way to Beijing, Intersolar exhibitions andconferences unveil the very latest in photovoltaics,PV production technologies, solar thermal technologiesand energy storage.

Network at Intersolar and meet the people whoare shaping the solar markets!

ICA INTERSOLAR INDIA INTERSOLAR CHINA

CONTENTS# 129 - MARCH 2013

ON COVER HIMOINSA

Diesel and gas: gensets

Wind Energy

renewable energy

ON COVER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

DIESEL AND GAS: GENSETS28

WIND ENERGY31

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

36

COUNTRY SPECIAL: CHILE

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

44

45

46

SOLAR PV47

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

52

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

56

ENERGY STORAGE58

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

6. 8. 63.

4 energetica INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13

HIMOINSACtra. Murcia-San Javier, Km. 23.6 30730 San Javier / Murcia (Spain)Tel: +34 968 191 128 Fax: +34 968 191 217www.himoinsa.com

HIMOINSA is a world-leading company in energy generation, with over 30 years’ experience, and is today established as a great multinational, present in over 130 countries and capable of satisfying the demands of the electrical energy market.The central headquarters of HIMOINSA, located in San Javier, Murcia (Spain), currently has a total surface space of 65,000 m2 and its facilities of 40,000 m2

are divided in three important production plants. The technology and know-how acquired has taken the products of HIMOINSA beyond the national territory.

The power of nature is admirable.The power of nature is admirable.Many species can thrive in extremely tough

conditions, for example.Guascor has taken this fact as inspiration for

developing its cutting-edge solutions, which are environment-friendly too.

Like our solutions for bio-energy generation.

new energy where before there was only residual matter or organic waste.

Admiring the power of nature

Get our new eco catalogue at: www.guascorpower.com ®

®

Global scope. Local focus. Guascor is proud to be part of Dresser-Rand.


GERMANYHANNOVER MESSEDate: 8-12 AprilPlace: Hannover, GermanyEmail: [email protected]: http://www.hannovermesse.de/

USACSP TODAY USA Date: 26-27 JunePlace: Las Vegas, USAEmail: [email protected]: http://www.csptoday.com/usa/index.php

UKRAINEELCOM UKRAINEDate: 23-26 AprilPlace: Kiev, UkraineEmail: [email protected]: http://www.elcom-ukraine.com

CHILECSP TODAY LATAMDate: 17-18 JulyPlace: Antofagasta, ChileEmail: [email protected]: http://www.csptoday.com/latam/en-index.php

ARAB EMIRATESMENASOL 2013Date: 14-15 MayPlace: Dubai, UAEEmail: [email protected]: http://www.pv-insider.com

USASOLAR POWER INT.Date: 21–24 OctoberPlace: Chicago, USAEmail: [email protected]: http://www.solarpowerinternational.com/

SPAINBILBAO MARINE ENERGY WEEKDate: 15-19 AprilPlace: Bilbao, SpainEmail: [email protected]: http://www.sinaval-bmew.eu

GERMANYINTERSOLAR EUROPE 2013Date: 19-21 JunePlace: Munich, Germany Email: [email protected]: http://www.intersolar.de/en

USAWINDPOWER Date: 5-8 MayPlace: Chicago, USAEmail: [email protected]: http://www.windpowerexpo.org/

MEXICOTHE GREEN EXPODate: 25-27 SeptemberPlace: Mexico DF, MexicoEmail: [email protected]: http://www.thegreenexpo.com.mx/

MOROCCOMAGHREB RENEWABLE

ENERGY CONGRESSDate: 21-22 MayPlace: Rabat, MoroccoEmail: [email protected]: http://www.greenpowerconferences.com

SPAINEXPOBIOENERGÍA Date: 22-24 OctoberPlace: Valladolid, SapinEmail: [email protected]: http://www.expobioenergia.com/

CHILEIFT ENERGYdate: 17-19 AprilPlace: Santiago, ChileEmail: [email protected]: http://www.ift-energy.cl

CHINACIPV EXPO Date: 3-5 JulyPlace: Beijing, ChinaEmail: [email protected]: http://www.cipvexpochina.com/

ITALYSOLAREXPODate: 8-19 MayPlace: Milan, ItalyEmail: [email protected]: http://www.solarexpo.com/

FRANCE28TH EU PVSECDate: 1-3 de OctoberPlace: Paris, FranceEmail: [email protected]: http://www.photovoltaic-exhibition.com

BULGARYSMART BUILDINGS SOUTH-

EAST EUROPEDate: 29-31 MayPlace: Sofia, BulgaryEmail: [email protected]: http://www.eeandres.viaexpo.com/en/smart-buildings

SPAINEGÉTICA-EXPOENERGÉTICA Date: 13-15 November Place: Valencia, SpainEmail: [email protected]: http://www.egetica-expoenergetica.com

SPAINGREENENERGY INVESTDate: 18 AprilPlace: Madrid, SpainEmail: [email protected]: http://www.greenenergyinvest.ifaes.com/homepage.aspx?menuid=1

USAINTERSOLAR NORTH AMERICADate: 9-11 JulyPlace: San Francisco, USAEmail: [email protected]: http://www.intersolar.us/en/intersolar.html

ARAB EMIRATESENERGY QATARDate: 6-9 MayPlace: Doha, Qatar, UAEEmail: [email protected]: http://www.energy-qatar.com

CHILEEXPOSOLAR CHILEDate: 11-12 OctoberPlace: Santiago, ChileEmail: [email protected]: http://exposolarchile.cl

AUSTRIAPOWER GEN EUROPEDate: 4-6 JunePlace: Viena, AustriaEmail: [email protected]: http://www.powergeneurope.com

SPAINNOVABUILD Date: 13-15 November Place: Valencia, SapinEmail: [email protected]: http://www.novabuild.es

TAKE ADVICE


IN VIEW OF THE TURBULENT SITUATION AFFECTING MANY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES,with governments having chosen to reduce and even eliminate premiums for new renewable energy plants, large companies in the sector are starting to modify their strategies to seek new markets that are attractive for investment and where projects can flourish. The old days of production subsidies and premiums being the main tool for making money in the renewables market are gone – today there is a different logic in play.

Fundamentally, the new strategy that renewable companies are adopting is based on two questions. Firstly, is grid parity a reality? In other words, is renewable energy competitive alone, without subsidies? Following on from this, what facilities are in place for signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), either with major electricity companies or directly with the industrial clients to which the generated power is to be supplied? Com-panies also look at other aspects to assess a market’s suitability, for example the need for a stable regulatory framework and an energy market in which free market principles truly apply.

In this context, all eyes are on Latin America, where such ques-tions meet with positive responses in more than a few cases. Right now, this region offers the characteristics most sought after by multinationals – high energy prices for consumers, creating an environment in which renewables can compete with coal or gas;

markets without feed-in tariffs, where a project’s success does not depend on changing regulations; and lastly a firm commitment to renewables as the future basis of the new national energy mix.

For example, it is worth looking in more detail at Chile, which is the focus of the Country Special in this issue of Energetica International. Although this is a low potential market in compa-rison with its regional neighbours (Chile has less than 17 million inhabitants, compared with over 40 million in Argentina and over 200 million in Brazil), there is little doubt in the attraction of a country with high energy prices averaging over 150/MWh. It is also a totally liberalised and transparent market, where renewable energy has little penetration, but where ambitious plans aim for 20% of consumption to come from renewable sources by 2020. Lastly, this country is convinced of the need for a robust national energy supply to allow it to forget about the ghosts of 2004, when the country experienced serious problems after its neighbour Argentina cut its supply of gas, which Chi-leans had until then bought at bargain prices.

Given these underlying factors, which, as indicated, are not exclusive to Chile but could be extrapolated to other countries such as Mexico, Brazil or Peru, with their respective peculiarities, it should come as no surprise that all eyes in the renewables business are today focused on Latin America.

Change of direction: good bye to the feed-in tariff

EDITORIAL

Energetica XXI is member of the Spanish Editorials and Newspapers publications Association. This association is member of FIPP, EMMA, CEPYME and CEOE.

Editor Eugenio Pérez de Lema. Director Álvaro López. Head of Editorial Department Javier Monforte. Journalist Gloria Llopis. Coordination Gisela Bühl. Financial Director Carlos Fernández. International Department Andrew Callaway. Germany, Switzerland & Austria Eisenacher Medien. Tel: +49-228-2499860. mail: [email protected] USA an Canada: Leslie Hallanan, Avani Media. Tel: + 1 415 331 2150. mail: [email protected]

Layout Contras-t | Webmaster: Francisco José Reina Arana

OMNIMEDIA S.L. C/ Rosa de Lima 1 bis. Edificio Alba, ofic. 104. 28290 Las Matas (Madrid). Tel: +34 902 36 46 99 Fax +34 91 630 85 95 E-mail: [email protected]. Web: www.energetica21.com

CONSULTING EDITORSD. Ángel F. Germán Bueno, Ingeniero Industrial y Profesor de Univ. Zaragoza. D. Ahmed Moussa, Ingeniero Industrial y Presidente de Stratconsult, S.L. D.José Luis García Fierro, Prof. de investigación del Instituto del Catálisis y Petroleoquímica del CESIC. D. Oscar Miguel Crespo, Dr. en Química y Resp. del Dpto. de Energía de CIDETEC. Carlos Martínez Renedo, Ingeniero Industrial. PADE del IESE, Consultor y Director de Proyectos de Cogeneración y Biomasa. Coordinador del Grupo de Usuarios del motor 18V34SG. D. Francisco Marcos Martín, Dr. Ingeniero de Montes y Profesor de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. D. Antonio Soria-Verdugo, Dpto. Ingeniería Térmica y de Fluidos de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. D. Eduardo Collado, director técnico de ASIF. D. Guillermo Calamita, REFUsol GmBH

The views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. The magazine and all of the text and images contained therein are protected by copyright.

If you would like to use an article from Energetica International or our website www.energetica-international.com you may obtain the rights by calling OMNIMEDIA, S.L.

D.L.: M-8085-2001 | ISSN: 1577-7855

Energética XXI is collaborater of Energía sin Fronteras.

Energética XXI is an associated to Solartys.

PV inverters from 2.5 kW up to 1 MW

Avda. Ciudad de la Innovación, 13 - E-31621 Sarriguren - Spain - Tel. +34 948 288 000 - [email protected]

www.ingeteam.com At Ingeteam, we apply the concept i+c, in

every project that we undertake – innovation

to find the best solution and commitment to

provide the best service.

Ingeteam’s INGECON SUN inverters are now

more powerful and efficient than ever. The

1Play and 3Play inverter families (2.5 to 10

kW and 10 to 40 kW respectively) are the

perfect choice for residential and industrial

installations. The PowerMax TL modular

central inverters are the best option for large

PV plants with direct connection to a MV

transformer.

The formula of the new energy

READY FOR YOUR CHALLENGES

Visit us at:Johannesburg

POWER & ELECTRICITY WORLD 9-10 April

Istanbul

SOLAREX 11-13 April

Milan

SOLAR EXPO 8-10 May

Shanghai

SNEC PV POWER EXPO 14-16 May

Munich

INTERSOLAR 19-21 June

Delhi

RENEWABLE ENERGY INDIA 12-14 Sept.

Chicago

SOLAR POWER INTERNATIONAL 21-24 Oct.

LATEST GLOBAL ENERGY NEWS


EU cumulative installed wind power capacity exceeds 100 GW in 2012 Wind power makes further inroads into the world’s electricity mix every year. It looks as though global wind power capacity will increase by another 44,184 MW in 2012, and so raise global installed capacity to more than 281 GW. Growth in 2012 was driven by the United States, which chalked up a new installa-tion record, and Europe, which remains a safe bet in the world market.

The Asian market weakened a little but its potential for this year nonetheless looks bright. For the European Union’s wind en-ergy market 2012 was a good year. According to EurObserv’ER, newly installed and hooked up capacity over the year was 11,840 MW. This took the EU breezing past the 100 GW installed capac-ity landmark (105,635 MW). Considering the installations taken out of service, EU capacity increased by 11,593 MW in 2012, compared to a rise of 9299 MW in 2011. The European Union , per capita wind energy capacity figures now stand at 209.7 kW per thousand inhabitants. This indicator reveals wind energy’s actual weight in a country; leading EU countries are Denmark (745.8 kW/1000 inhab), Spain (488.8 W/1000 inhab), and Portu-gal (429.2 kW/1000 inhab). Also Sweden, Germany and Ireland have a relatively high wind power capacity per thousand inhabit-ants.

Countries with offshore wind power are: United Kingdom (2679 MW), Denmark (922 MW), Belgium (380 MW), Germany (280 MW), the Netherlands (228 MW), Sweden (163 MW), Fin-land (26 MW), Ireland (25 MW) and Portugal (2 MW).

Wind power for 9 million households in Eastern Europe by 2020Wind power in Central and Eastern Europe will become a significant source of electricity production by 2020 and Turkey’s wind power generation capacity will grow even faster - provided there is a stable legal framework in each country.

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) re-cently published a new report, ‘Eastern Winds’, analysing the emerging wind power markets in Central and Eastern European countries, plus Turkey, Ukraine and Russia.

Twelve newer EU Member States in Central and East-ern Europe plan to increase wind power capacity from the 6.4 gigawatts installed at end of 2012 to 16 gigawatts by 2020. This is equivalent to the electricity supply of 9 million households. Turkey wants to increase wind power capacity from its current 2.3 gigawatts to 20 gigawatts by 2023. Poland and Romania almost doubled their an-nual installed wind power capacity in 2012. At the end of 2012, Poland had 2.5 gigawatts, Romania 1.9 gigawatts, and Bulgaria 0.7 gigawatts of wind power capacity in-stalled.

Global wind turbine market can continue to expect turbulenceDespite the ongoing growth expected in global wind power in-stalled capacity, wind turbine manufacturers have several major hurdles to overcome if they are to thrive in a challenging and highly competitive market, states an alternative energy expert for research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The wind turbine market suffers from manufacturing over-capacity, falling subsidies, and uncertainty in some wind power sectors. Vestas’ announcement of its 2012 results brought mixed news, with the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer antici-pating weaker sales and revising shipment forecasts downwards as a result.

The US and China – the dominant forces in the wind turbine production business – currently account for 60% of the global wind power market, but their potential for significant turbine manufacturer revenue generation seems slim.

“On a more positive note,” says the GlobalData consultant, “it looks as though turbine prices have bottomed out – at least for the leading manufacturers. A number of wind turbine manu-facturers are developing new products which are arguably higher priced per MW than conventional wind turbines.”

Scotland’s energy boom continuesNew figures published by industry body, Scottish Renew-ables, has revealed for the first time that Scotland’s offshore wind developers have invested around £165m in the Scot-tish economy so far.

Scottish Renewables asked its members developing offshore wind projects in Scottish waters how much they had invested in the sector to date. The results showed that £164.5m of investment has been made with a significant proportion, £65m, being invested in 2012 alone.

The investment figure represents all contracts awarded by developers with Scottish companies in advance of any consents being awarded to their projects. 2012 really fired the starting gun for large scale offshore wind development in Scotland with projects representing more than 4GW (Gigawatts) of potential installed capacity, enough to pow-er 3 million homes, entering the planning system.

Lightwheel® SLider



Renewable Energy sector begins Action AllianceOn March 8th, around 100 representatives of the renewable energy sector, from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, have joined forces to form an action alliance. Made up of operators, research institutes, universities, journal-ists, communication agencies, companies and associations, this group aims to develop a joint communication strategy. The first workshop took place during the photovoltaic symposium in Bad Staffelstein. Further meetings and political round table discus-sions are planned.

The subsidies for fossil fuels in Germany amount to over 20 billion euros annually, assuming 70 euros per ton of carbon di-oxide. If the German government’s decision of the energy trans-formation to more renewables (the socalled Energiewende) is reversed, carbon dioxide emissions and costs and subsidies for the consequences of climate change will continue to rise.

While the levies for renewable energies are clearly declared, the end user sees nothing of the billions in profit and the exter-nal costs of old energy structures on his or her energy bill. The current plans of the Federal Government, to cut remunerations they had already agreed to, burden the protection of legitimate expectation and are an encroachment upon property rights.

The action alliance is convinced that renewable energies can supply 100 per cent of energy needs even before 2050, because it is technically possible, affordable and citizen-oriented – a number of municipal initiatives even have taken up this goal for the 2020s.

Acciona Group - first wind farm in Croatia and first wind power component manufacturing plant in BrazilAcciona Energy has put the 30-megawatt Jelinak wind farm into service, its first in Croatia thus continuing its expansion in international markets. Acciona is also a pio-neer as the first Spanish wind power company to develop a project in the country.

Located in the region of Split-Dalmatia, in north-western Croatia, the Jelinak wind farm consists of twenty 1.5MW turbines of Acciona Windpower technology. It will produce 81 million kilowatt-hours per year.

Acciona Windpower has in-augurated its wind turbine hub

assembly plant in Simões Filho (Bahia, Brazil). This is Acciona’s first industrial initiative in Bra-

zil, aimed at supplying wind turbines to the country’s fast-growing wind energy sector.

The assembly plant will pro-duce 135 hubs a year for the 3-megawatt AW-3000 wind turbine, the biggest model de-signed and manufactured by Acciona Windpower. The main function of the hub is to join the blades to the power train and transfer the energy cap-tured by the blades.



EU to register Chinese solar imports with immediate effect

On March 5th the European Commission started registra-tion of solar products imported into the EU from China in anticipation of possible anti-dumping and countervailing duties. With immediate effect importers of solar power modules, solar cells and solar wafers must specify at cus-toms whether the products were imported from China or have been produced mainly in China. Importers may pay duties on such registered products if retroactive measures are imposed.

The current anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investi-gations in Brussels follow trade complaints filed by the European solar industry, represented by EU ProSun. The European Commission has been investigating Chinese manufacturers since September 2012, and will make a preliminary decision on anti-dumping in early June.

If anti-dumping tariffs are imposed, they can be col-lected 90 days retroactively, therefore from March 2013.

In 2012 the United States of America imposed anti-dumping duties on solar products from China. As soon as retroactive duties became a possibility, dumped Chinese imports decreased drastically from March 2012. Nonethe-less, the US solar market grew in 2012, with the number of new installations increasing substantially and average prices for consumers falling in line with technical prog-ress.

Barlovento will act as consultant in 26MW of PV projects in Atacama, Chile Barlovento Recursos Naturales is the Independent Technical Consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), fi-nancial entity which is evaluating funding two photovoltaic proj-ects which will be pioneer in the production and sale of energy through PPAs with large consumers. Both projects add up to 26 MW currently being developed at Calama and Pozo Almonte, in the North of Chile. This service rendered by Barlovento to finan-cial entities is the key aspect for the access to credit, especially under the Project Finance method, as it greatly reduces the yield uncertainty. The technical assessor identifies and assesses all tech-nical risks and allows taking the necessary corrective measures for its mitigation and control.

Barlovento has visited the sites and carried out the correspond-ing solar resource and production assessments and has evaluated all technical aspects: design, equipment, permitting, technical studies (environmental, geotechnical, archaeological, drainage, etc.), building and operation and maintenance contracts, finan-cial base cases hypothesis, etc… The rest of tasks consist in the follow-up during the execution of the building works, the accep-tance tests and the verification of guarantees. It is also worth not-ing the technical support permanently provided to the financers.

TenneT awards ‘DolWin3’ project to AlstomTransmission System Operator TenneT has awarded the DolWin3 offshore project to Alstom. This project connects the North Sea wind farms to the mainland supergrid and has an investment volume of more than €1billion. “With this project, we help to take the energy turnaround another step forward and make it possible for offshore wind en-ergy to make an important contribution to our future energy supplies”, says Lex Hart-man, member of the board of TenneT. “With DolWin3 included, we will be able to supply a total of more than 6,000 MW of clean energy from the North Sea – and we will be investing more than 7 billion in the energy turnaround.”

DolWin3 is the eighth grid connection project to be imple-mented by TenneT using direct current technology. Together with three projects based on AC current technology, the Transmission System Operator responsible for the North Sea will then deliver a total of around 6.2 GW of offshore wind energy to the mainland. The DolWin3 project will be the third grid connection in the Dol-Win wind farm cluster in the south-western region of the North

Sea and will offer a capacity of 900 MW. The project will be completed in 2017.

As the general contractor for TenneT, Al-stom will supply and construct both the on-shore and offshore converter stations as well as the connecting cable systems for DolWin3. The project will use direct current technology (with Voltage Source Converters (VSC); ±320 kV, 900 MW) to deliver the energy generated at sea down an 83 km sea cable to the main-

land. From the coast, the wind power will then be transported a further 79 km via and underground cable to the converter station in Dörpen/West in Lower Saxony (Germany). The grid connection will be supplied as a turnkey solution by Alstom.

energetica INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13 15

Chile commits to CSP technology

On February 28th the Chilean Ministry of Energy and CORFO publicly presented the international bidding process for the construction of the first CSP power plant in Latin America. This announcement comes one year after the announcement of the National Energy Strategy, by Chilean President Sebastián Piñera. The Chilean Government has worked intensely in re-cent months to ensure the adequate conditions are in place to make CSP a competitive technology in Chile. The soft-financing loans, grants, and public land in the Norte Grande, which the government will provide, combined with the dramatic drop in CSP prices in recent months, will contribute to bring Chile to the head of solar technologies in Latin America.

The bidding for the 160MW solar thermal plant in Ouarza-zate (Morocco), the first stand-alone solar thermal energy proj-ect in North Africa and the first competitive tender process for the construction and operation of a solar power plant in the world, has evidenced a great cost reduction in the solar thermal industry. The winning consortium formed by ACWA Power In-ternational, Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas, and TSK presented the most competitive offer (190 USD/MWh), 28% lower than the second best bid. For the principal member of the consortium, ACWA Power, a leading Saudi IPP, the Ouarzazate project rep-resents its entry into the solar thermal industry, being techni-cally advised by the Spanish engineering firm Aries.

An example of the innovative nature of this industry is the HITECO project, (New solar collector concept for high tempera-ture operations in CSP applications), a part of the 7th Frame-work Programme of the European Commission, which aims to overcome current limitations in the technology, redefining concepts and seeking flexibility in operating plants. The HITE-CO consortium brings together industrial partners and research centers from Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Re-public, which is coordinated by Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas. HITECO is developing a new concept, aimed at increasing the efficiency of parabolic devices, among other things, because the heat transfer fluid surpasses the current operating tempera-ture of 400°C, which in turn is applicable for use with any heat transfer fluid. This increase in temperature to 600°C, improves the overall performance of the cycle and therefore the energy efficiency of plants with parabolic troughs.



Andrew Garrad new President of the European Wind Energy AssociationThe European Wind Energy Associa-tion (EWEA) has elected Andrew Gar-rad as its new President. Garrad joined the wind energy industry in 1979 and was President and later Chairman of GL Garrad Hassan, the world’s largest inde-pendent renewable energy consultancy, with 1,000 employees in 27 countries devoted to renewable energy.

Garrad built his first wind turbine when he was eighteen in 1971 and was awarded in 2006 the Poul la Cour Prize for his outstanding contribution to wind energy.

“I believe that the wind industry needs to respond urgently to the mar-

ket conditions that face us now to en-sure that we are positioned to become the major provider of Europe’s energy early in the 21st century. I am honoured by my election and humbled by the task ahead”, said Garrad in Brussels.

The election took place after Arthou-ros Zervos announced in February 2013 at EWEA’s annual event that he would stand down as President after 12 years in the post. Arthouros Zervos will re-main a member of the EWEA Board.

The new President will form a new leadership team for EWEA, together with EWEA’s new Chief Executive Offi-cer Thomas Becker who starts in April.

Prysmian secures ‘Dolwin3’ project worth in excess of € 350M

Prysmian Group has been awarded a new major contract worth in ex-cess of € 350 million by Alstom Grid for the connection project DolWin3 linking offshore wind farms in the North Sea to mainland Germany on behalf of the Dutch-German grid operator TenneT.

The project involves supply, installation and commissioning of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) 320 kV extruded subma-rine and land cable power cable connections with a rating of 900 MW and associated fibre optic ca-ble system, comprising of a 78 km land route and of a subsea route of 83 km. The turnkey connection will link the offshore converter platform DolWin Gamma in the ‘DolWin’ cluster zone, located approximately 85 km offshore in the North Sea to the mainland with the purpose of transmitting power from renew-able source into the German Grid.

First joint wind project completed by Siemens and Shanghai ElectricThe onshore wind power plant Guangrao with a capacity of 50 MW was completed at the end of 2012. It is the first project jointly delivered and implemented by the two wind power joint ventures of Siemens and Shanghai Electric. The joint ventures delivered 20 SWT-2.5.-108 wind turbines with an output of 2.5 megawatts each and a rotor diameter of 108 meters. This also marks a key milestone for the two compa-nies after signing their alliance agreements at the end of 2011. Since their beginning in 2013, the two joint ventures called Sie-mens Wind Power Turbines (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, and Shanghai Electric Wind En-

ergy Co., Ltd., are now in full operation and ready to serve the world’s largest wind power market.

Siemens opens world’s largest wind turbine R&D test facilitiesSiemens Energy has opened two major Research & Development test facilities for wind turbine technology in Denmark. The new test center in Brande fea-tures test stands for major components of Siemens wind turbines, including genera-tors, main bearings and complete nacelles.

In Aalborg, seven blade test stands are capable to perform full scale tests of rotor blades, including the world’s larg-est blade in operation with a

length of 75 meters. In combination, the two facilities form the world’s largest R&D test center for wind turbine technology.

Which innovations could boost your business?

At HANNOVER MESSE you’ll benefit from 11 leading trade fairs which span the entire value adding chain and offer insights into cutting-edge technology from all over the world.

See cutting-edge technology which spans the entire industrial value adding chain.

Access the latest know-how in the core sectors of industrial automation and IT, energy and green technology, power transmission and control technology, industrial supply, production technology and services, including research and development.

Don’t miss the world’s most important technology event.You can find out more at hannovermesse.com

ENGINEERSUCCESSNew technologies New solutions New networks A date to remember:

8–12 April 2013

Mahringer Consultores de Ferias Internacionales, S. L.,

Tel. +34 91 71 30 14 6, [email protected]

NEW TECHNOLOGY FIRST8–12 April 2013 · Hannover · Germany



Mainstream completes financial close and starts building $70m wind farm in ChileGlobal wind and solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power has successfully completed Financial Close and has started con-structing its 33MW Negrete Cuel Wind Farm in southern Chile. The wind farm, which is 100% owned by Mainstream, is expect-ed to be fully operational by September this year.

The project has been financed without a Power Purchase Agreement and Mainstream will sell the energy directly into the spot market. China Development Bank has provided USD52 mil-lion in senior project finance for the wind farm. Leading Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind is supplying the project with its GW87 1.5 MW wind turbines.

Mainstream is developing 2,300MW of wind and solar proj-ects in Chile. The company has been active in the Chilean market since 2009 when it partnered with local Chilean developer Andes Energy. Mainstream has recently won a government tender to develop and build the 150MW Calama Oeste wind farm which is located in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile and is currently constructing four additional wind and solar projects in South Af-rica and Ireland.

SunEdison and CAP sign agreement to build 100MW solar PV plant in Chile

SunEdison has signed an agreement with the Chilean min-ing and steel group CAP to construct what is expected to be the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. The plant is designed to have an installed capacity of 100MW (DC) and will be located in the Atacama Desert of Chile. It is esti-mated that the plant will produce as much as 15% of the mining group’s energy needs.

The plant will be built using SunEdison technology. More than 300,000 Silvantis monocrystalline silicon modules will be installed, which are made from non-toxic, non-polluting material that can be recycled at the end of its useful life, to-gether with solar trackers designed by SunEdison, for which steel produced by CAP is expected to be used.

CCIB, Barcelona, generates its own energy by installing a wind turbine

The Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), continu-ing with its firm commitment to improving energy efficiency in its facilities, has installed a 1kW vertical-axis wind turbine on its north-eastern roof in order to generate its own energy.

The project was jointly developed with the engineering com-pany Virtus Nova Enginyers which, after analysing various other systems, opted for a mini urban rooftop wind turbine. Of the different types they looked at, they decided on the silent Tech-nowind vertical-axis wind turbine, designed and manufactured entirely in Catalonia by the Catalan company Ficosa.

Availon signs major full-service maintenance contract

Availon announced that it signed a new full service contract for three wind farms in Germany with NIBC European Infrastructure Fund (NEIF). The projects were built with 19 Vestas V80 2.0 MW wind turbines, with a total installed capacity of 38MW, and will be maintained by Availon for 10 years. The three German wind farms are located in Schnellin (Sachsen-Anhalt), Helmstedt (Nied-ersachsen) and Büddenstedt (Niedersachsen).

Under this multi-million full scope service agreement, known as “WindKeeper Complete”, Availon will perform regular mainte-nance of the Vestas turbines twice a year, as well as unscheduled maintenance when required. With “WindKeeper Complete”, the WTG operator is able to shift virtually all of the risks to the service provider. The scope of performance provided by full service agree-ments of this kind includes the replacement of major components and, depending on WTG type, up to six upgrades designed to enhance its availability or safety.



Moventas expands up-tower service with mobile service unitsMoventas announced the launch of new custom-built Mobile Service Units for wind gears. Moventas unique ability to repair the entire helical side of the gearbox up-tower greatly reduces maintenance costs and therefore the cost of wind energy.

Moventas launched its up-tower repair service last year after successfully completing a multitude of full helical gearbox repairs up-tower. Moventas now offers full helical up-tower service on non-Moventas gears as well as Moventas-made gears. Designed to support Moventas’ up-tower field service program, the self-contained, climate-controlled mobile workshops are outfitted with a retractable roof, a power generator, plumbed air lines, a parts wash basin, and an induction heater. The four units are stra-tegically located throughout North America.

The ability to repair the entire helical side of the gearbox up-tower greatly reduces maintenance costs by utilizing small cranes in place of large capacity boom and tail cranes. Repair times are collapsed by eliminating the need to ship gears to and from ser-vice centers and weather delays are mitigated with fewer lifts and smaller components.

Deutsche Windguard OffshoreHelicopter Underwater Escape Training certified by GL RC

GL Renewables Certification (GL RC) has certified Deutsche WindGuard Offshore GmbH’s Helicopter Underwater Escape Training. Helicopter transport is an important way for techni-cal personnel to reach offshore wind farm installations, but before getting on board, a certified training course must be passed. GL RC certifies training providers to its standards, which set out the fundamental prerequisites for efficient training, such as proper organisation of the training course, careful documentation and high-quality teaching equipment and materials.

Completing a HUET course, as provided by Deutsche Wind-Guard Offshore GmbH, is compulsory for everyone who has to reach his workplace on the high seas by helicopter, such as offshore technicians, maintenance staff and installation ex-perts for the construction of wind farms.

CENER starts the pyranometer calibration season

The National Renewable Energy Centre (CENER) will soon be kicking off the new pyranometer calibration season. CENER’s Solar Thermal Test Laboratory is the only laboratory in Spain to be accredited to calibrate pyranometers according to the international ISO stan-dard 9847:1992 “Calibration of field pyranometers by comparison to a refer-ence pyranometer”.

Pyranometers are calibrated outdoors on a horizontal surface with respect to a standard pyranometer with traceability to refer-ence standards of the World Radiation Center (WRC-PMOD) in Davos (Switzerland). The measurements will be carried out at the BSRN radiometric station that CENER possesses at its facilities in Sarriguren (Navarra, Spain).

Neoenergia starts construction of solar plant at the Arena Pernambuco soccer stadium, BrazilNeoenergia and Odebrecht Energia began the deployment of the solar power plant at the Arena Pernambuco soccer stadium, a project that is part of the Research and Development program of the three distributors of the Neoenergia Group; Celpe (state of Pernambuco), Coelba (state of Bahia) and Cosern (state of Rio Grande do Norte). With 1 MWp of installed capacity, equivalent to the average consumption of 6000 Brazilians, the solar plant will cost about 10 million Brazilian Reals, being 9 million Brazilian Reals invested by Neoenergia, through the R&D stategy project of Aneel, and 1.2 million Brazilian Reals invested by Odebrecht Energia, with completion scheduled for June 2013.

Located in an area of 14.5 thousand square meters, within the Arena area, the installation of the solar plant is part of the Strate-gic Project for Research and Development - “Technical and Com-mercial Arrangements for Insertion of Solar Photovoltaic Genera-tion in the Brazilian Energy Matrix” launched in August 2011 by the National Agency of Electric Energy (ANEEL).


Offshore wind: Denmark reaches 1 GW milestoneOn March 18th, wind turbine number 36 at the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm was connected to the grid. Denmark will thus reach 1 GW of connected offshore capacity. A milestone that cements Denmark’s key position in this area and points the way towards 50 per cent wind energy in 2020. With this connection Denmark’s offshore wind farms will be able to supply the equivalent of approx. 1 million households’ electricity consumption.

“Many years’ targeted innovation in the industry, coupled with ambitious political objectives, makes Den-mark the country in the world that other countries look to when it comes to wind energy. The cost of wind energy generated offshore in Denmark is therefore lower than in any other country in Europe , and Danish wind companies are much in demand when new wind farms are to be built around the world,” says Jan Hylleberg.

Dong Energy, which has constructed and operates more offshore wind farms than any other company in the world, is delighted about the prospects that the Anholt offshore wind farm offers the industry. With its capac-ity of 400 MW distributed on 111 turbines, the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2013, will supply 4 per cent of Denmark’s electricity consumption, equivalent to approx. 400,000 households.



Qatar Solar Technologiesto power Qatar first passivhaus

Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) recently presented Barwa with the first of 136 solar modules that will be used to power Qatar’s Passivhaus-Baytna project. When installed, the SolarWorld-QSTec photovoltaic mono-crystalline silicon panels will provide all of Passivhaus’ electricity requirements, with excess power being exported back into Kahramaa’s power grid.

The QSTec-supplied high efficiency panels have an installed power of 34 kWp and will produce around 58,000 kWh of electricity per year. Using this solar power system to exclusively supply Barwa’s Pas-sivhaus will help avoid approximately 35 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.

Emerson SPV grid inverter solution chosen for UK’s largest sun parkThe Emerson SPV grid inverter solution, chosen for one of the UK’s first ‘sun parks’ generating 1 MW of power, has just completed its first 12 months of gen-eration and has exceeded expectations by some 4%. During this time the sun park has exceeded one million kilowatt-hours of electricity production.

Ecotricity’s 1.95 hectare Fen Farm Sun Park in Lincolnshire has 5,157 solar panels, and feeds into the same sub-station as the company’s 20 MW wind park that has been generating green electricity since July 2008. The sun park alone generates enough electricity to power around 250 homes. These two power sources are complementary – in winter, when there’s less sun there is typically more wind, and vice versa in the summer months. Ecotricity sees this ‘hybrid’ solution as an ideal design for future green energy.

LTi REEnergy acquires abakus solar AGas a major customerIn abakus solar AG, LTi has acquired a major customer for realizing worldwide photovoltaic projects. Abakus solar AG is a leading, internationally active photovolta-ics system house with extensive technical expertise ranging from small units through to megawatt-scale solar parks, and it has already placed orders for the UK (18 MW), South Africa, and the USA with LTi.

The photovoltaic parks near of South-ampton in the South of England are pio-neering projects for LTi in the British Isles. One particular challenge when imple-menting container stations for the UK was

in designing for the 33-kV British medium voltage grid. PVmaster inverter stations are usually designed for typical supply voltages of 10 kV and 20 kV. The size of the trans-former and the switchgear increase signifi-cantly in relation to the mains voltage.

Italy’s 24MW Deliceto wind project grid-connected and operating Leitwind announced on January the com-missioning of the Deliceto wind farm, which is now gridconnected and operat-ing in Apulia, Italy. Leitwind was contract-ed by Elce Energia Spa in 2012 to build the 24MW Deliceto wind farm, which is made of 16 Leitwind’s patented LTW80 1,5MW gearless turbines.

The Deliceto wind farm adds to the 40MW of wind energy capacity already installed by Leitwind in Apulia in the past years. Due to the favorable wind condi-tions, Apulia is one of the leading wind energy areas in Italy.

The energy of knowledge

At CENER we are working on the development of renewable energy.

Because we care about the world we live in.

www.cener.com

e-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +34 948 25 28 00

Applied Research, Development, and Innovation

Carries out studies, energy audits, and resource (sun, wind and biomass) assessment

Highly-skilled services for testing and certifying components and systems

Development and technological transfer

Technical training

It is a member of International Standardisation Committees

NATIONAL RENEWABLEENERGY CENTRE



Deger delivers 1,161 tracking systems to SpainDeger delivers 1,161 DEGERtraker 5000NT tracking systems to Spain. The customer is the Alternativa Energética 3000 (AE3000) company, which pur-chased and installed 3,100 Deger sys-tems in recent years.

Between 2004 and 2008, AE3000 built several solar parks in Spain and in-stalled altogether 3,100 Deger systems there. In the following years the Span-ish market lay almost desolate, due to the uncertainties regarding feed in tariff and political framework conditions. In the meantime, the projects applied for by AE3000 have started moving again.

And: After many years of practical ex-perience, the investor is highly satisfied with the yield as well as the robust, reli-able technology from DEGER.

Satisfied to such an extent that he has now placed a large follow-up order: After delivering and installing 108 DE-GERtrakers type 5000NT in late autumn 2012, AE3000 has now ordered fur-ther 1,053 systems. The first ones are already on the way; the rest are to be delivered until March. AE3000 will use them to build several new solar parks in the northern Spanish region of Catalo-nia near the city of Lleida.

Premo announces EMC filters approval by TÜV SÜDPremo DC Rated EMC filters, series FEDC-600P, FEDCS-1500P-LL & FEDC-1500P-LL, and AC Rated EMC filters, series HCW-MGF-1000HV-LL, HCWMGF-1300HV-LL & HCWMGF-1600HV-LL have been ap-proved by TÜV SÜD company as per EN 60939-2:2005 & EN 60939-1:2005 stan-dards.

Premo DC filters have been specially designed for PV inverters. The FEDC series is a compact solution which allows EMC standards compliancy for entire PV system. The applications of the FEDC filter in PV installations help to increase solar panel reliability, increase immunity in the inverter control phase, and avoid any electromag-netic interference miss function.

Alusin Solar completes four new PV Projects in record time

Spanish Mounting Systems specialist Alusin Solar has completed four of their last projects, before deadline, making a total nominal power of 3.3MW; 2.2MW Ground mounted, 1MW on roof, and 53kWp plus 20kWp on ballasts over flat roofs.

Due to cuts in FIT’s and coming morato-rium, investors in Spain are worried about deadlines so companies with a medium size as Alusin Solar must make a great ef-fort for attend all their customers at the same time respecting the project dates.

Fortunately, Alusin Solar has ended all the projects before deadline, which is a great new for their current and coming projects plans.

The Switch 5 MW drive train packages installed and operating in Chinese offshore wind project

The Switch announced recently that its first 5 MW high-speed drive trains in-stalled in the field in China for CSIC (Chongqing) Haizhuang Windpower Equipment Co., Ltd (HZ Windpower), a Chinese wind power equipment manu-facturer, are now successfully operating. The turbines operate continuously at 5

MW, the highest power rate so far for The Switch.

The new Haizhuang PMG5000 gener-ators and FPC5000 converters have been designed especially for Haizhuang by in-tegrating the latest technology and the 6 GW real-life wind power field experience of The Switch.

safetyPROTECT YOUR PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS

Can Tapioles, c/ Narcis Monturiol nº4 nave 10 · 08110 Montcada i Reixac, Barcelona (SPAIN) [email protected] · www.proat.es · +34 93 579 06 10

ISOLATION MONITOR GROUND FAULTINTERRUPTER

www.proat.es



Spain, world leader in Energy Management Systems (ISO 50001) certificates

Spain is the country with the greatest number of Energy Management System certificates in the world according to the international Standard ISO 50001. So it is stated by the International Standariza-tion Organization (ISO) in its latest report which shows data certification over 32 countries in the world.

According to ISO Survey 2011, Spain leads this ranking with 95 certificates above countries as Germany, United King-dom, Sweden or Denmark, among others. AENOR, the certification body of reference in Spain, has issued near 120 Energy Man-agement recognitions.

This kind of certification evidences that the organization fulfils the requirements of the International Standard ISO 50001 and has adopted an Energy Management System focused to continual improve-ment. It helps to manage and reduce the companies’ energy consumption, the financial costs and the Greenhouse gases emissions. In addition, companies gathering such certification are increas-ingly well positioned in public contracting processes.

The Gibraltar Power Plant reinforces its energy supply

Gibraltar (UK) does not have an elec-tricity network, it produces its own energy with generators. At present it has a power station to guarantee supply to the population.

With an approximate popula-tion of 29,500 inhabitants, Gi-braltar has a constantly increasing energy demand. Gibelec, the Gi-braltar Electricity Authority, reached an agreement with Himoinsa in June 2012, through the company Portman Ltd, to ensure energy sup-port to the current power station.

Along these lines Himoinsa has supplied generators that produce energy on a permanent basis, both to cover peak demand and to pro-vide supply when other station gen-erators experience faults or undergo maintenance checks.

The set-up of Himoinsa genera-tors within the power station is con-trolled by means of the SCADA sys-tem, computer software that allows remote controlling and monitoring of industrial processes.

Positive assessment by UniCredit Leasing strengthens Solar Frontier’s bankability

Creating the world’s largest solar bridge at Blackfriars

Kyocera solar modules generate energy for electric wheelchairs

Wärtsilä to set up new manufacturing plant in Brazil

Rolls-Royce to supply a Trent 60 industrial gas turbine to Mexico

Zigor Corporación performs the commissioning of the first on-grid PV power plant in Ecuador

GPTECH opens a sales-engineering office in Chile

AEG Power Solutions opens a new branch office In Santiago de Chile

First Solar now shareholder in Desertec Industrial Initative

35MW of JA Solar modules are sent to Israel

The Syrian energy sector continues to suffer

China Sunergy begins manufacturing in Turkey

Obama offers no leadership on oil and gas in State of the Union, States GlobalData

American solar manufacturers appeal loophole in trade remedy cases against illegal practices

BIJ, finergia and meeco sign MoU on Japanese market

IEA report sees scope for transformation of Asia-Pacific natural-gas market

Singulus strengthens its PV activities in Korea

World’s first nationwide EV charging network starts

Estonia has become the world’s first country to launch a nationwide fast-charging net-work for electric vehicles, using technology provided by ABB, the leading power and au-tomation technology group.

The network of 165 web-connected direct current (DC) fast chargers, supplied and built by ABB, was officially opened on Wednesday. The chargers are installed in urban areas with more than 5,000 inhab-itants, and on major roads throughout the country, creating the highest concentration of DC chargers in Europe. On highways, the chargers are never more than 60km apart, making it possible for electric vehicles to travel anywhere within the Baltic state with-out running out of power.

Unlike conventional residential power out-lets, which take up to eight hours to charge an electric vehicle, ABB’s Terra 51 DC fast chargers need only 15-30 minutes to do the job. The fast-charging stations comply with the CHAdeMO charging standard and can be used for charging vehicles with DC of up to 50 kilowatts (kW) as well as with alternat-ing current (AC) of up to 22kW. The methods can be used simultaneously, if necessary.

ENERGY NEWS IN BRIEF further information: visit www.energetica-international.com

27energetica INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13

ON COVER

HIMOINSA satisfies the demands of the energy market with its gas and diesel gensets

Its concern for covering the client’s needs has lead it to offer a wide ran-ge of diesel and gas generators. It is

without a doubt a mixed formula that enables it to offer a comprehensive energy solution in the market in which it operates.

To its wide range of diesel products is incorporated the gas generation range with power outputs from 8 kW to 3.5 MW, powered by different gas fuels such as Natural Gas, Biogas and LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), among others.

The gas generators are intended for on-site electrical supply, which is commonly known as distributed generation. This en-ables network transmission losses to be

eliminated, at the same time as reducing pollution emissions when compared to other generation technologies; they are even eliminated when using renewable fu-els such as biogas.

The Cogeneration sales director at HI-MOINSA, Manuel Aguilera, states that the multinational has worked on the de-sign of gas equipment capable of offering important savings in the consumption of electrical energy: “The gas generator tar-gets a continuous, more efficient, more af-fordable and cleaner electrical generation market than other generation systems. In many cases it is more affordable than elec-trical energy from the mains” he adds.

One of the known applications of gas generators is cogeneration, where as well as electrical energy, the heat from the engine is exploited to produce hot water or steam. In cogeneration with a gas engine, an efficiency level of 90% is achieved compared with 35% for mains electricity.

Over the past few years, many clients have shown their concern over the cost of electricity and an interest in gaining efficiency. To this regard, promoting gas generation as a source of continuous and distributed electrical energy has become for HIMOINSA an additional instrument to satisfy the energy needs of its clients

HIMOINSA, is a world-leading company in energy generation, with over 30 years’ experience, and is today established as a great multinational, present in over 130 countries and capable of satisfying the demands of the electrical energy market.

Himoinsa gas power Why Gas? Gas is cheaper. And cleaner. In some countries, its price is even less than one third of diesel and much more stable. It is becom-ing a more and more available en-ergy source all over the world. En-gines are more durable as oil keeps its optimum characteristics for a longer period, so operational costs are lower than in diesel, emissions too. That means that your total

costs of ownership* (TCO) will be less with a gas genset rather than a diesel one.

The energy Base Load, Peak Shaving, Stand-By, Load Share, Back Synch, etc., what-ever the type of power you need, our gas gensets will adapt perfectly to your demands. Thanks to the experi-ence gained during more than thirty

years, our electronics factory has re-leased a specific controller for every need. Rugged, reliable, intuitive.

Blue energyLess emissions, less noise, less vi-brations, less smoke, less oil, less CO

2, SO2 and NOx. More and more countries are increasing their elec-tric power generation with gas en-gines, helping to reduce emissions

and improving our environment. Ask us, we will explain you how your business can benefit from us-ing HIMOINSA Gas Generators.

On-site powerDistributed energy avoids looses on transport and saves costs in electri-cal infrastructures. Be your own de-cision maker and create your own inexpensive electrical energy.

DIESEL AND GAS: GEN SETS

An introduction to motor selection

There are many types of motor, from high cost high performance servos to models at the cheaper end of the

range, including many specialist types of motors. Choosing the right one for any given application depends on many varia-bles, but very often a standard industrial AC induction motor is the best answer. These are relatively low cost, reliable, effi-cient, and well understood by engineers across all industrial sectors. The main con-siderations for selection for this type of motor can be outlined as follows:

Power supplyMost mains power supplies are single phase or three phase, with the latter al-most universal in industrial environments. Single or three phase motors must be used, depending on the supply. Three phase mo-tors tend to be smaller and more powerful.

It is also imperative to consider the mo-tor’s voltage against the supply voltage; it is usual that the selected motor has a ‘nameplate’ voltage about 10 percent less than the supply voltage to allow for distri-bution losses.

Mains supply is alternating current (AC, as opposed to direct current, DC), and its frequency, measured in Hertz, is fixed. The chosen motor is usually matched to the sup-ply frequency, to within about 5 percent.

If the supply voltage and/or frequency fluc-tuate widely, motor performance will suf-fer and its working life may be shortened. However, it should be noted that motors can be used in conjunction with variable speed drives, which make the output speed adjust-able by varying the infeed frequency.

System requirementsThe driven equipment will require a cer-tain performance from its motor, including rated speed (motor output speed), torque and power.

The rated speed depends on the supply frequency and the number of poles (mag-nets) for which the motor is wound. Speed increases with frequency but decreases with pole count. The theoretical speed of a motor is called synchronous speed, but the motor’s actual speed is always lower due to electrical and mechanical losses. This is called the slip and is typically 5-20 percent.

Torque and power determine the size of motor required for each application. Torque is the turning force acting through a radius. Power increases with speed, and so is a measure of work done.

However, the torque characteristics of a motor must be understood. Starting torque is usually higher than full load torque; this typically drops slightly as the motor gains speed, then climbs again to a value in excess of starting torque before suddenly dropping to its full load torque, at which point the motor is producing its rated power (in kilowatts or horsepower). During this ramp up period, the motor will be drawing considerably more than its rated current from the mains, but settles down at full load speed.

The starting characteristics of a motor need to be selected for each application. In fact they can be used to advantage, for example by giving a gentle start to a loaded conveyor, or a rapid start to a ven-tilation fan.

Motor classificationWhile motor classification is a difficult area, some basic rules and common sense will certainly help. There are two main mo-tor classification systems, IEC in Europe and NEMA in America and a good rule of thumb is that industrial applications will use one or other of these (there are spe-cialist classifications for marine, aerospace and other fields). The details of the clas-sifications are beyond the scope of this article, but can be looked up on line or explained by a reputable supplier.

However key points to consider include:The ‘service factor’ or the amount of overload a motor can take.The type of insulation, a critical issue for both safety and longevity

Selecting an appropriate motor, even for a fairly straightforward industrial application, requires consideration of many factors. This article runs through the main points to help first time specifers make the right decision.

JERRY HODEKTECHNICAL & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR,REGAL BELOIT EU


DIESEL AND GAS: GEN SETS


Temperature: motors get hot when running and may need forced draught or even water jacket coolingEnclosures: if a motor has to work in a confined spa-ce, heat build-up can be very significant.

Carbon emissionsEnergy efficiency ratings have been applied to electric motors for some years, but legislation in this field is tight-ening and low efficiency motors no longer comply with today’s regulations.

Furthermore, the European Union has just introduced the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). This measures not the efficiency of the motor but the efficien-cy of the overall drive system, including any mechanical drive train components, variable speed drive or softstart. Thus it is no longer acceptable to simply fit an energy ef-ficient motor; the whole installation has to be certified.

At this point, it should be noted that the old practice of oversizing a motor so that it has extra power for cop-ing with overloads or blockages for example is in effect illegal. One must include a variable speed drive to ensure these issues are properly handled.

MechanicalsThere are also some mechanical issues that have to be considered. The first is that the motor’s internal bearings must be suitable for the duty they are likely to endure (also the seal that protects them requires consideration). This is generally covered by the Standards, but it is worth getting expert advice from your motor supplier if your application is in any way unusual.

The second mechanical issue is mounting. There are two common ways to mount a motor, flange- mounted (end on) or foot-mounted (side-on). In both cases you need to make sure the mounting is firm and will endure possibly years of use; with foot-mounting you also need to check that the motor shaft is at the right height to connect with the driven equipment. You may also need to think about noise and vibration, maintenance and demounting.

This article has covered just the basics of motor selec-tion and installation. But by bearing the fundamentals in mind and using the expertise of reputable supplier, you should be able to make the correct choice.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the purchase price of a motor is likely to be about five percent of the lifetime cost of ownership, so deciding on the cheaper option is not really the best way to save money

KEEPING EUROPE’S POWER

FLOLOWING

Conference & Exhibition 4 – 6 June 2013Messe Wien, Vienna, Austria

POWER-GEN Europe is the largest and most comprehensive conference and exhibition for the European electricity and power technology sector. No other conference and exhibition brings together so many essential elements of power generation strategy and technology under one roof.

Commencing with scene setting keynote presentations by Reinhold Mitterlehner, Austria’s Federal Minister, Economy, Family & Youth, Philippe Cochet, President of Alstom Thermal Power, Alexander Novak, Russian Minister of Energy, Ministry of Energy, Russia and Marc H. Hall Director for Energy, Wiener Stadtwerke, Austria; POWER-GEN Europe 2013 will once again be setting the power industry’s agenda.

The plenary session, moderated by journalist Stephen Sackur, will discuss whether the European Commission’s twin goals of a free power market across the EU and eliminating carbon emissions from the sector are working in the best interests of the industry.

We invite you to benefit from the knowledgwe, networking and cutting-edge technology that attending POWER-GEN Europe offers.

Owned and Produced by:

Presented by: Co-located with Supported by:

UK, Italy, France,Greece, Turkey & Benelux:Gilbert Weir Jnr. T: +44 (0) 1992 656 617E: [email protected]

Asia, Middle East, Southern Germany, Austria & Switzerland:Kelvin MarlowT: +44 (0) 1992 656 610E: [email protected]

Northern Germany, Scandinavia& Eastern Europe:Leon StoneT: +44 (0) 1992 656 671E: [email protected]

For further information please visit:

or contact your local Pennwell representative

www.powergeneurope.com

JOIN US IN VIENNA AND EXPERIENCE THE CREAM OF

THE POWER INDUSTRY IN ONE CENTRAL LOCATION


WIND ENERGY

Assessing reactive power support requirementsfor wind farms with modeling and simulation

Large-scale wind farms with hun-dreds of separate wind turbines and converter models can be simulated

using a physical model of the network and look-up tables for each turbine and con-verter. Parallel computing lets engineering teams run a large number of simulations to measure confidence bounds on reactive power support capacity and operation.

First step is to determine the required level of model fidelity. Gaining insight into equipment ratings and operational re-quirements requires multiple simulations, potentially numbering in the thousands, in order to achieve statistical confidence on the study’s outcome. In this case, models that combine a positive-sequence phasor simulation of physical components of the electrical network with data-driven com-ponents of the wind turbines, lead to the simplest model construct that includes the necessary information to perform the study effectively.

You can model wind turbines as look-up tables with wind speed as the input, and active power and reactive power as the out-puts.You can derive the data for the look-up tables from field measurement of real equipment, or from detailed simulations of an individual wind turbine (simulated over a range of wind inputs) representative of the wind turbines used on the wind farm. This modeling paradigm lets you readily con-struct large-scale wind farm models that include hundreds of individual turbines and are amenable to running multiple simula-tions in a time-efficient manner.

The variable nature of wind farm power production requires that you test multiple simulations of varying wind profile con-ditions to gain statistical insight into the

system’s operational requirements. With parallel computing, you can perform these studies on multiple cores to simulate vary-ing profiles more efficiently than by run-ning a simulation model on a single core. Monte Carlo simulations aim to determine the statistical confidence that a given re-active power capacity will be sufficient to meet operational requirements.

The varying active and reactive power output for each wind turbine in a wind farm suggest that the best location for a reactive support device is not necessar-ily the grid point-of-connection (POC). In this section, we consider formulating an optimization problem that can determine the most appropriate location of a reac-tive power support device along a feeder, a high-level representation of which is shown in Figure 1. This optimization aims to determine the best fixed location for the reactive power support device along the feeder as well as minimizing the reac-tive power requirement to achieve a define voltage profile.

Figure 1. Reactive power support placement.

First, you must develop a modeling con-struct to vary the location of the device. One approach is to consider a number of segments, each containing a reactive power support device whose output is a function of distance. Figure 2 shows an example of three segments with reactive power output based on distance.

Figure 2. Emulating location of a component.

Adding more segments to the feeder model increases the resolution of the study. Engineering judgment will determine the required number of segments for a given study. You can then formulate an optimiza-tion problem to select the location and re-active power output to meet performance criteria. The performance criteria chosen for this article is to determine whether the volt-age profile along a feeder can be maintained within a given boundary for a given operat-ing condition.

A study can be performed to determine re-quired capacity on a low-fidelity model that combines a positive-sequence phasor rep-resentation of the network with data-driv-en wind turbine components. This simple model construct maintains the information necessary for the study while allowing mul-tiple simulations to be performed in a time-efficient manner. Further speed advantage is gained by using parallel computing, where multiple cores distribute the large number of operational profiles required for a given study. We present a model construct that lets you emulate the effect of component location, enabling the use of optimization techniques to determine the most suitable location and rating for a supplemental reac-tive power support device

Determining the best location, capacity, and operational profiles of reactive power support devices in a modern wind farm is a complex engineering problem. This article explores how modeling and simulation provide an indispensable tool for assessing the design variables and performing engineering trade-off studies for gauging reactive power support requirements.

GRAHAM DUDGEONENERGY INDUSTRY MANAGER.MATHWORKS

WIND ENERGY

Wind resource assessment in forest areas

The planning of wind farms in forest areas poses challenges in every res-pect, as practical experience over

past years has shown. Based on the typi-cal situation in forested areas, conditions there are completely different from those at open lowland sites. Challenges faced by planners and manufacturers that may pro-ve critical for project realisation range from complex legal regulations that govern na-ture and landscape conservation or air-pollution control through to development and grid connection of the often remote areas and, in particular, turbulent air-flow and wind conditions above the tree-tops. To make matters worse, many potential sites for forest wind farms are located on minor mountain ranges and characterised by highly complex topography. Depending on wind direction and speed, the number of trees and topographic formations in the direct vicinity such as hills, valleys or fo-rest tracks may significantly influence the wind conditions prevailing at the site. “Jet effects” or wakes may cause these impacts to vary enormously, so that no two pro-jects are the same.

Poor data result in inadequate yield forecastWhile today’s high-performance 2D and 3D simulation models enable very precise forecasts of the potential annual yield to be drawn up, simulation results are only as good as the data used in the calculations. However, many regions in Germany lack validated data as forests have only very recently moved into the focus of stake-holders. In those rare cases where regional measured data are available, these data often do not extend to the required lay-ers of air, as met masts have rarely been higher than 80 metres in the past.

Forested sites, however, require hub heights of at least 120 metres and need ro-tor blades that do not operate in the lay-ers of increased turbulence above the tops of the trees. Increased turbulence extends to heights of three times the tree height (around 90 metres). Swirling winds and critical turbulence cause vibrations of the rotor blades, exposing them to significant stresses, and adversely affect the stability and service life of wind turbines and their components. Given this, forest locations must offer higher profitability than wind sites situated on open land, as yield – which depends largely on the rotor diameter – can only be increased by using larger rotors, which in turn require higher hub heights to avoid the zone of increased turbulence. In view of the greater heights involved, this generates higher purchase, design and con-struction costs and therefore requires a dif-ferentiated cost-benefit analysis.

Standardised wind measurement in accordance with IEC 61400For such an analysis, the experts need detailed information about the wind con-ditions at hub height prevailing at the respective site. Precise measurements in accordance with recognised standards such as the IEC 61400 thus form the ba-sic prerequisite of a reliable yield forecast. To obtain solid data on wind conditions at heights of 140 metres, TÜV SÜD launched its own research project in Upper Palati-nate, a region of Bavaria, Germany. Togeth-er with the local energy initiative Natural Energy Solutions (NES), which is planning a wind farm comprising up to six wind tur-bines in a forest area near Erbendorf, the wind professionals installed a 140-metre

research met mast and put it into service last October. Over the next two years, a total of eight calibrated cup anemometers and further sensors will record all relevant data including wind speed, wind direction, temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity, thus painting a detailed image of the wind profile from the top of the trees to the top of the met mast.

In addition to the calculation of mean an-nual wind speeds and mean annual yield, the measurements also permit analysis of turbulence, wind shear and extreme winds to be carried out for different heights and permit a solid assessment of the profit-ability of the planned wind farm to be drawn up. As reference values, they fur-ther permit measurements conducted at lower heights to be extrapolated and de-tailed studies of the impacts of turbulence and topography to be made. The project will thus also supply valuable findings for wind-farm projects in other forested areas.

Nevertheless, site-specific analysis will continue to be important in the future. Af-ter all, wind resource assessment based on measurements according to the standard is a mandatory prerequisite for a bankable wind and energy yield report, which in turn forms the basis of project-related cost-benefit analysis. For this purpose, the wind profile should be realistically measured – ideally up to hub height – and verified by an accredited certification body. The Ger-man Federation of Wind Power and Other Renewable Energies (Fördergesellschaft Windenergie und andere Erneuerbare En-ergien, FGW) requires long-term measure-ments to be carried out (over at least 12 full months) with a cup anemometer on a wind monitoring mast. However at heights

More and more wind farms are planned in forest areas, a trend for which legal framework conditions, technological innovations and high towers have paved the way. However, profitability analyses for these sites are far more complex than for sites in lowland areas. There is still significant need for additional information.

THOMAS ARNOLDTÜV SÜD INDUSTRIESERVICE GMBH, WINDCERT SERVICES


of over 100 m, the design and construc-tion of such a wind monitoring mast is relatively expensive.

Using LIDAR systems to look at the skyInstead of a wind monitoring mast that reaches up to hub height, a smaller wind mast can be used and the data measured by this mast supplemented with additional measurements carried out by other sys-tems. The FGW standard recommends us-ing a measurement mast that reaches up to at least two-thirds of the hub height. However, vertical measurement based solely on such a ‘two-thirds measurement’ involves a higher level of uncertainties, particularly in forested areas, as there may still be a vertical distance of as much as 40 to 50 metres between the top mea-surement point and the planned hub height. In this case, a LIDAR (light detec-tion and ranging) system can be used to measure and supplement the missing wind data from higher atmospheric layers. A LI-DAR system installed at ground level en-ables wind velocities and directions to be measured at heights of between 40 and 250 metres. Measurement points can be defined in the vertical plane at a resolution of approximately 20 metres and put into relation to the calibrated reference values of the measurement mast. By combin-ing measurement mast and LIDAR system data, the wind profile can thus be deter-mined in detail at distances beyond the hub height.

The device is based on the vertical propa-gation of ultra-short laser pulses in the atmosphere. The photons emitted by the system are scattered by aerosols and dust particles in the air flow. The backscattered photons are collected on the LIDAR tele-scope and registered by a highly sensitive detector. The LIDAR system uses these sig-nals to make high-precision calculations of wind direction and velocity based on changes in frequency and signal runtime (Doppler effect). In combination with the simultaneously determined exact refer-ence data of anemometer measurements, the wind profile can be extrapolated up to the heights of the upper tip of the rotor blade. The data thus offer a reliable basis for subsequent wind-resource and profit-ability analyses, enabling the possible en-ergy yield to be predicted and quantified with maximum accuracy.

Two are better than oneHowever, when using LIDAR systems to analyse wind conditions some aspects must be taken into account. Purely rela-tive measurement values, for example, are not very informative. Only when the data are linked with those supplied by the calibrated sensors can the calcula-tions for wind, turbulence and extreme wind reports deliver exact results. Precise reference values are also required for the subsequent measurement and verifica-tion of the wind turbine’s power curve. Since long-term measurements with the mobile and flexible LIDAR systems are relatively expensive, the period for which measurements must be performed to rep-resent a solid measurement series must be determined. Professionals recommend continuing measurements until all atmo-spheric conditions, i.e. unstable, neutral and stable weather conditions, have been covered. For this purpose, three months of LIDAR measurements may be suffi-cient.

In hilly terrains, stakeholders must take into account that the LIDAR system emits its laser pulses into the sky in a cone shape, while the measurement points are at one and the same horizontal level and thus lie in the cone’s circular cross-section. In un-even terrain this may result in incorrect val-ues since wind speeds at various heights follow the topography. Given this, the val-ues at the centre of the cone measured by a LIDAR system installed on a hilltop, for example, would be too low. Because of this, it is important to include the topogra-phy and ascents in the terrain in the calcu-lations by applying correction parameters.

ConclusionGenerally, wind farm projects in forest

areas are more costly and the wind con-ditions prevailing at those sites are more complex. Yield forecast and profitability analysis therefore play a significant role. Today, standardised wind measurements complemented by modern laser methods supply adequate tools to generate a sound set of data in the medium term, including for the forest areas throughout Germany. However, more research measurements and studies such as those carried out by TÜV SÜD will be necessary to further im-prove the quality of yield and profitability analyses

WIND ENERGY


WIND ENERGY

Lower maintenance costsand failure rate in wind turbine generators are possible

Wind Turbine Generators (WGT) up to 2.5 MW were developed by using technologies and mecha-

nical components based on theoretical cal-culations. A few successful endurance tests, brief operation experiences, and thousands of reports and marketing actions, entailed to new engineering projects in order to design bigger and more powerful WTGs. It was a needing of the market and governments worldwide, due to a lack of alternative ener-gy sources. Renewable energy – and parti-cularly wind energy – is absolutely indeed to become the mayor source of power gene-ration in short future. Yes, it is. Nowadays, companies involved in this market have to face off lower efficiency than expected and a longer return of investment than state-of-the-art reports assured time ago.

Multi megawatt WTGs new develop-ments try to take this into account. Wind farm owners and mayor WTG manufactur-ers have actually realised about the impor-tance of reducing maintenance costs, as well as to decrease failure rates due to me-chanical wear, in order to achieve the re-sults expected. Furthermore, the trends in the wind energy market – such as offshore WTGs – increase the rotor dimensions and extend life-cycle. These facts join to gov-ernment reductions of public subsidies, lead to an immediate increasing of price/Kilowatt. World population cannot afford it; therefore it’s absolutely mandatory to optimize the wind energy production as well as inherent costs of unexpected lack of energy generation or too expensive maintenance operations in Wind Turbines.

Meanwhile WTG dynamic operation, there are six main mechanical parts inside which suffers compression stresses that cause mil-

lions of micro movements between physi-cal components. These parts are pitch gear, pitch bearing, main bearing, gearboxes, yaw gear, yaw bearing and generator bearings. Heavy loads, environmental factors, vibra-tions and corrosion, cause wearing even to the highest quality mechanical components. It implies as essential a proper and better lu-brication, in order to avoid more than 35% of the failures which still happens nowadays due to mechanical breakdowns of these components. In particular, gearboxes are so sensitive to breakdowns that – also due to other factors – new designs of WTGs have been developed under the concept of direct drive, that is, without gearboxes.

LubricationIn order to achieve the best performance of any WTG, it is essential to trust the lubri-

cation methods and systems to specialised companies. Best decision implies to install automatic lubrication systems for those weak parts of WTGs. Latest developments also allow to perform this task manually, by using a grease pump and external devices, to deliver a prescribed volume of lubricant to pitch (or yaw) bearings at the same time through every lube point, meanwhile pitch system is activated. This way grease is better distributed inside the bearing, overpressure is avoided, and as consequence the seal-ing does not suffer any damage. The key of this new development is to balance the operating pressure and the grease flow to every lube point of the bearing under any environmental condition, and to allow the maintenance operator a permanent moni-toring of this task. This method might be acceptable for small or medium size WTGs with no automatic systems installed.

It must not be forgotten that lubricant is the main actor at this performance. Grease physical properties and weaknesses – if any – should be analysed before designing every automatic lubrication system. Pump-stations, metering devices, instrumentation and interconnection accessories are not enough by themselves. The behaviour of each system must be studied and tested in advance, as well as lifetime calculation, lu-brication cycles, physical and environmental conditions inside each WTG model. These factors join to integration, accessibility for maintenance staff, electrical monitoring, and in-house installation of lubrication systems, will determine the right – or not – grease supply at pitch, rotor, yaw and gen-erator bearings and gears. As consequence, it will directly affect to the failure rate, main-tenance cost, loss of energy generation and

Wind farm owners and mayor Wind Turbine Generators (WGT) manufacturers have actually realised about the importance of reducing maintenance costs, as well as to decrease failure rates due to mechanical wear, in order to achieve the results expected.

EDUARDO VICENTEG.T.RIVI (LINCOLN SPAIN)


37

WIND ENERGY

energetica INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13

definitively it will set if the theoretical return of investment is feasible.

Another important consideration about operation and maintenance companies is the qualification and specific training of the technical staff. It is supposed a com-plete knowledge about electrical, mechani-cal, hydraulics and structural components of the WTG to maintain. I wonder what about lubrication systems and tools. Grease equipment knowledge must belong to the skills of maintenance operators. Investing in training is always profitable.

Breakthrough solutionsIf you keep doing the same, why do you expect different results? The target of cost reduction should not imply lower quality. Moreover, better quality does not only imply the right products, but it also needs outstanding design of the lubrication pro-cesses, tasks and systems. That is the key.

It implies to study the lubrication needs of the bearing or gear from its design. Common mistakes come from inherit the lubrication systems from a WTG model by adapting it to a similar one. Just the modifi-cation of the lubricant might require modi-fying the entire lubrication system. First of all it is mandatory to define the lubricant to be used, mode of control desired, fre-quency of lubrication cycles according to operation requirements, volume of grease injected, recovering of waste grease and the layout of lubrication points. Engineers specialised in lubrication system for WTG will be able to determine the most suit-able technical system, and to develop a first draft. Depending on the lifetime expected, resources available in the WTG, corrosion is-sues and integration, the appropriate prod-ucts can be chosen. Later on, it is necessary to perform operation and endurance tests under working conditions. To complete the process, logistic and installation instruc-tions must be taken into account. Labelling, pre-assembly, protection devices and right packaging are as important as the design of the system, due to serial manufacturing of WTGs requires plug-and-play subcom-ponents to complete the installation of the automatic lubrication systems. Technicians in charge of erection and commissioning in every wind farm should receive proper training and instructions about how lube systems work, and how to fix eventual

problems which might happen during the start up. Last but not least, the maintenance company contracted should receive training and components information, directly from the designer of lube systems.

Next stepsWind energy market is nowadays focused on Offshore WTGs, mainly under the concept of direct drive. The huge (and expensive) resources necessary for maintain operations and repairing tasks, implies to suit automatic lubrication systems into every bearing and gear to protect them from the wearing. In

fact, it is expected a tendency of unify lube systems as long as it becomes technically possible. The design and deliveries of lubrica-tion systems – not only the products – must be guaranteed by expertise companies.

Technical systems for automatic lubrica-tion, products improvements, as well as specific tools and devices for transferring grease, are currently being developed to offer a solution to the powerful new WTGs to come. Retrofits of lubrication sys-tems for onshore WTGs are going to be installed within next years, mainly for yaw drives and generators

Failure ratio per component at wind turbines.


COUNTRY SPECIAL | CHILE

JAVIER MONFORTE

The large energy multinationals have had their eye on Chile for several years, and see it as an ideal place for their proj-ects, especially in the renewable sector (Non-Conventional Renewable Energies, NCREs). What advantages and conditions does this country offer for getting an initiative of this kind up and running?The advantages that Chile offers to com-panies wanting to invest in the energy sec-tor fall into two areas. Firstly, Chile offers foreign investors an open market, with clear regulations, political stability and sus-tained economic growth.

Secondly, the demand from the country’s electricity sector is continuing to grow at an annual average rate of over 5%. The entire country also has significant solar, wind and geothermal resources and strong water flows, making it possible to develop NCRE projects able to compete with their thermal plant equivalents.

What kinds of policies and regulations do the Government and the Ministry of Energy use to encourage the develop-ment of NCREs? The State of Chile provides incentives for re-newable energies by virtue of Law 20.257. This sets the goal of NCREs achieving a 10% participation rate in the total power generation mix by 2024. To meet this goal, there is a 5% requirement for supplies made under contracts signed or modified since September 2007. After 2015, this re-quirement will increase by 0.5% per year until the 10% level is reached.

In addition, by means of its various agen-cies, the Government of Chile has also designed some sectorial programmes to encourage NCREs. We feel the most im-portant of these is the international ten-der launched by the Government to award a subsidy and financing package for the construction of a commercial-scale con-centrating solar power plant.

Chile set the objective of 20% NCRE ca-pacity in its local energy matrix by 2020. Is this viable? How does this objective fit in with the National Energy Strategy?Unfortunately, our current government has given up on the objective of 20% NCRE by 2020. However, this does not mean to say this goal has been completely ruled out, because there is no agreement with the legislative branch. The Senate has approved an amended version of Law 20,257, which proposes meeting the 20/20 target.

ACERA has conducted studies that show the 20/20 goal is not just achievable but also beneficial for the country in terms of energy costs. This concept is totally com-patible with the National Energy Strategy. We hope this matter will be resolved in coming months, and that Government au-thorities will realise the benefits that 20/20 offers the country.

Is the Chilean grid ready to integrate a larger amount of power from renewable sources?There are some parts of the interconnected Chilean systems (SIC and SING) where the technical capacity to connect new genera-tion is limited. However, the NCREs’ inher-ent characteristic of distributed generation can – in many cases – be seen as a partial so-lution to this problem, as in some cases their injection points could reduce flow on certain lines already suffering from over-saturation.

How can the development of NCREs help to offset the high energy prices current-ly affecting Chile?The current energy prices for SIC and SING clients hold the unfortunate record of being the most expensive in the region. ACERA believes there are two causes for this situation – low market competitive-ness, with only three large agents in each system having a combined market share of over 80%, and dependence on fossil fuels, which are almost 100% imported.

We firmly believe that accelerating NCRE development is the Government’s most powerful tool for solving this situation. The recent NCRE tenders launched by private companies in various fields (mining, retail, conventional electricity firms) have led to participation by dozens of companies oth-er than those that currently dominate the market. In addition, the prices that NCREs

Carlos FinatExecutive Director of ACERA (Chilean Association of Renewable Energy)

“The 20/20 objective is achievable and will benefit energy prices”Nobody is any doubt about the future growth of renewable energy in Chile and the excellent conditions it offers as an emerging market for clean energies. However, the journey will not be easy. Despite the ‘no’ from Sebastián Piñera’s government to the objective of generating 20% of power from renewable sources by 2020, Carlos Finat says “this does not mean this goal has been ruled out, because there is no agreement with the legislative branch”. In fact, the 20/20 proposal has already been approved by the Senate and is currently being discussed in the Lower House.


can offer right now are competitive and cheaper than those for energy produced by plants powered by natural gas and, of course, diesel.

What future is there for net metering and distributed generation in Chile?The results of the law on home generators, also known as the law on net metering, re-main to be seen. The regulation of this law has not yet been announced, and ACERA hopes it will not entail any administrative barriers or unnecessary costs for connect-ing up to this kind of power.

What is the current situation with the electricity interconnection between Chile and other neighbouring countries in South America?We believe this issue is still being discussed at the level of international political-eco-nomic relations, and that it will still be a few years before it will be discussed in the nec-essary bilateral or multilateral agreements and the respective laws passed. We should not forget that the situation Chile experi-enced halfway through the last decade due to the breach of natural gas supply con-tracts from Argentina sets a precedent that private players will take into account before signing agreements dependent on the sup-ply of imported electricity.

What role do the large Chilean mining companies – Codelco, BHP Billiton, Colla-huasi and Freeport – play in developing renewable energies?The large mining companies are major re-cipients of NCREs, both for electricity supply and for producing heat for processes and camps.

Chile’s first solar thermal plant solar has been inaugurated in recent months, and other solar thermal projects have been an-nounced by the mining industry.

Similarly, electricity generation contracts have been awarded over recent months for 125 MWp, all of them by mining companies

IFT ENERGY 2013: meeting point for the energy, mining and infrastructure industries What is the profile of the companies exhib-iting at the trade fair and visitors to it?Our aim as the or-ganiser of the event is to create a node for business, where direct networks for contact can be generated be-tween the energy and mining industries and the infrastructure sec-tor. In this regard, the companies coming to IFT ENERGY 2013 will be exhibiting their gen-eration, transmission, distribution and NCRE products and solu-tions, as well as those relating to logistics and infrastructure transpor-tation. We are anticipat-ing around 130 exhibi-tors from 30 countries and over 5,000 visitors over the three days of the forthcoming event. In terms of visitors, we are expecting govern-ment officials and rep-resentatives from the private sector; authori-ties, committees, as-sociations, unions from various fields, profes-sionals and technical experts from associ-ated fields; suppliers operating in the area of energy resources; na-tional and foreign com-panies that use energy in all their processes; financial entities, enter-prises, companies and potential buyers; and consultants and ana-lysts working in related areas. We will also be

extending an invita-tion to technical studies centres, universities and confederations, as well as the media, specialist journals, websites, radio and TV.

What particularly in-teresting parallel events, lectures and technical forums will be held as part of IFT ENERGY?“Over the three days that the fair runs (17, 18 and 19 April), some of our exhibitors will be giving more than 50 lectures and technical talks on specific issues, such as the financing of NCRE projects, the energy market in Latin America, public policies on regional electricity in-terconnection, and effi-ciency and sustainability.

These sessions will be run by leading national and foreign experts, who will describe the latest technological ad-vances in the energy field, as used in Latin America and the rest of the world.

As at the previous edi-tion of IFT ENERGY, this

event will be attended by investors, consul-tants, technology sup-pliers, project develop-ers and representatives of public and private bodies, universities and international study cen-tres, among others.

There will also be two international seminars. The first of these will be run by the National Mining Society (SON-AMI), a body that brings together small, medium and large companies from the Chilean min-ing sector. It will discuss the energy demands of the mining sector, which is a problem area that extends beyond the country’s borders to other countries in the region, such as Argen-tina, Peru and Brazil.

The second Inter-national Seminar will be held by the Energy Board of the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), and will discuss issues relating to cooperation between Chile and the United States, primarily focusing on encourag-ing NCRE projects.

Ricardo OrtegaChairman of Kallman Chile, the organiser of IFT ENERGY 2013

“Current energy prices

hold the unfortunate

record of being the most

expensive in the region”



Starts market expansion of renewable energy

The Chilean market for renewable energy is full of possibilities for generation companies. Its development is scarce in this industry, and this is the precise moment when its development is getting underway.

MIGUEL PÉREZ DE LEMA

Chile has very attractive conditions for foreign investors: the country with the highest economic growth

in the region and one of the most politi-cally stable and legally secure. Chile is a country with a high level of development in the field of environmental innovation, and new energy projects. But so far no conventional renewables (Mini hidro, Wind, Biomasa, Solar, Geothermal) contri-bute only 3% to the Central Interconnec-ted System (SIC).

Chile has become an important business objective for companies providing prod-ucts, technologies and services in the re-newable energy sector. The starting point was the launch of the National Energy Strategy 2012-2030, Energy for the Fu-ture. The starting point was the launch of

the National Energy Strategy 2012-2030, Energy for the Future. This plan indicates the Energy Efficiency and Renewable En-ergy Non Conventional, as first and sec-ond priorities -the Non Conventional Re-newable Energy category excludes large hydro-.

The Government aims to reduce by 12% the expected energy demand by 2020. It will create an energy efficiency label for companies that excel in this activity and es-tablish minimum standards for appliances and equipment that go on sale.

As non-conventional renewable energy, aims to raise its contribution of 3% today to 20% in 2020. There are various types of support that the country can start. New rules that allow sell renewable energy pro-duction and blocks collectively for better prices, creating a new database with infor-mation to assist the investor in the location

of their projects, a new renewable energy facility and financial instruments to sup-port sector growth, introduction of subsi-dies and incentives for pioneering projects.

In addition to developing these renew-able unconventional will boost hydro-power. There are plans to build five mega dams in Patagonia, which accompany a transmission line of 1,200 kilometers DC, to connect the power plant to the grid, near Santiago.

The country has a strong tradition of us-ing imported coal, which is used in tradi-tional central and underhand. This use is expected to gradually correct. To do this, the National Energy Strategy supports in-vestment in clean coal technologies such as carbon capture and storage of carbon, and coal gasification for use in combined cycle plants.

Exchange timeThe trend has changed recently and this is the take-off of renewable energy. In the first half of last year were submitted projects for the generation of 3,874 MW. 264% more than in the first half of last year. These figures show that we are fac-ing an escalation as already experienced in countries like Spain.

Senior officials of the Administration of Chile visited Spain in March to see first-hand how Spain has integrated renewable energy in the grid. Chile is in a period of expansion of renewable energy, and is en-countering technical problems similar to those found Spain at the end of the nine-ties. Moreover, it is a country with electric-ity networks that need to be extended and complex geographical distribution, which further complicates the task of network integration.


The expedition visited different control centers, wind farms, photovoltaic and so-lar thermal power plants in the country. His aim was to find solutions to the network connection of facilities of different size and renewable technology. As network codes and laws that have allowed connect in Spain a lot of electricity from unman-aged sources in appropriate conditions of security and network reliability.

Chile is seeking solutions to the reli-able operation of the system with large amounts of renewable energy, both tech-nically and economically. His analysis of Spain will allow them to improve voltage control, centralized operation, prediction and deviation of the programs, and the impact on regulatory services.

The race for renewable energy is gradu-ally accelerating since 2008. Since then the country has doubled its capacity and now the rate is soaring.

In late 2012, Chile had more than 70 active renewable energy projects. These projects contributed 880 MW to the four major electrical systems in the country, to-taling nearly 5% of the total installed ca-pacity. The biomass was more renewable energy production, followed by the mini hydro, and wind. The sun was very under-developed and geothermal was nonexis-tent. This situation has changed radically. Approved plans and study of new plants show a scenario in which the mini hydro power and biomass will have a slight in-crease, and conversely, the wind and solar energy will grow dramatically.

Spanish companies have been quick to turn to compete to the Chilean market, and are already getting major contracts.

SolarSolar power was until recently almost non-existent in this country, but has started to grow strongly. If the first half of 2011 there were only two solar projects in the same period in 2012 the number increased to 21 projects.

It has also recently launched the first so-lar power plant in the country, in the area of Calama. It is an institutional support project, created to supply the copper min-ing facility Chiquicamata, which belongs to the public mining company Codelco.

The development of solar energy will be very strong in the coming years. New 3107

MW have already been approved, and an-other 908 MW are pending approval.

In the field of solar power, Spanish com-panies are taking positions quickly. A good example is the LKS Energy & Services, part of the Mondragon Corporation, which to-gether with the Chilean group Fotones will develop five photovoltaic projects with an installed capacity of 690 MW.

This partnership between Mondragon Corporation and the Photon Group com-petes for market leadership Chilean re-newable in one of the largest photovoltaic power worldwide operations. Once up the alliance for the photovoltaic industry, the two groups plan to develop other markets in the Green Economy, in renewable en-ergy, water and waste.

Another good example is GPtech, which already operates in Peru and Argentina, and has recently opened an office in Chile. GPtech has participated in the launch of the first floor of a large scale photovol-taic generation in the country, of 1 MW (Calama 3).

The Spanish company has been the sup-plier of power conversion equipment by providing photovoltaic inverters. GPtech in Chile supports the management of net-work access permissions, focuses on the evaluation of the proposed technical solu-tion internally, impact studies or studies of network faults.

As has happened in other countries with high penetration of renewable energy, the system operators in Chile could make changes to the networking requirements in existing plants. Companies like these provide studies and techno-economic analysis of the possible solutions and mod-ifications.

The case of this company is also interest-ing for its collaboration with local univer-sities –Universidad Federico Santamaría Valparaíso, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad de Chile and Universidad de Santiago– on research projects related to their specialty.

Chile intends to be at the forefront of international technology solar energy. Has launched an international competition to build the first plant solar power concen-tration in Latin America. Worldwide, there are currently 2,500 MW plant operat-ing Concentrated Solar Power and other 3,400 MW under construction.

The government will grant subsidies of up to $ 20 million additional funding and manages important global actors, for an amount exceeding $ 350 million.

Among them, a European Community grant of up to $ 18.6 million. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in turn, provides loans for at least $ 66 mil-lion and up to 25% of the total project cost. The German Development Bank KfW, will provide a further 100 million eu-ros in loans, which will channel resources through Corfo and local banks.

The bid may involve both domestic and foreign companies, as well as associations and unions of domestic and foreign tech-nology companies with expertise in power plants from solar radiation. The reception

1.900-2.200

1.700-1.900

1.500-1.700

1.300-1.500

1.000-1.300

900-1.000

kWh/m2 y año

1.510 kWh = 200 l de petróleo1.510 kWh = 250 m3 de gas natural

Solar radiation distribution in Chile.



will be held consultations to date May 6, 2013 and the deadline for submitting pro-posals is 22 August 2013.

WindWind energy has been the pioneer in re-newable energy turnaround. In no time, has increased its production by 10, from 20 MW to 200 MW of installed capacity. And that growth has only just begun. Accord-ing to the Center for Renewable Energy in Chile have approved new 3250 MW, and studies the adoption of other 2718 MW.

The good environmental conditions of the Coquimbo region have enabled it to be the star of the country’s wind power. In 2011 Coquimbo concentrated 97% of wind energy.

In this region there are eight major proj-ects in various stages of development. Tali-nay, which generate 500 MW, The Arrayán with 101 MW of power, The Cachina (26 MW), Punta Palmeras (104 MW), La Geor-gina (76 MW), Pacific (72 MW) and El Quijote with 26 MW, and Punta Colorado in the town of La Higuera, which has 18 generators.

The Arrayán is the largest wind project under construction in the country, and is expected to become operational later this year 2013 or early 2014. The plant will have 50 Siemens turbines of 2.4 MW each. The total investment will be about $ 270 million, by a joint venture between Pattern Energy and Ashmore Energy International (AEI). All electricity from this plant will go to the Los Pelambres copper mine, Antofa-gasta Minerals.

The experience of Spanish companies is a valuable asset to enter and compete in this market. And there are several that are already there. Ibereolica Group works on a project in the Atacama region, formed

by Cabo Leones parks I, II and III. The first phase, with an output of 170 MW, will start work soon. The second phase has al-ready been approved (204 MW) and the third will provide another 124 MW. There are also plans to build the park Loa, An-tofagasta region, with an output of 528 MW, with favorable Environmental Quali-fication Resolution.

Endesa Eco is present in the wind energy market with Renaico wind farm in the prov-ince of Malleco. Obtained environmental approval late last year to build and operate 44 wind turbines 130 meters high, with an investment of $ 240 million. Expectations of the company are to inject 80 MW in 2015. Endesa also build a substation lift and elec-tric transmission line to deliver wind power to Sitema central grid (SIC).

Mini hidro, Biomass, GeothermalThe small hydro power seems to have guaranteed a certain level of growth in the coming years. 107 MW are under con-struction, 228 MW have already been ap-proved, and another 93 can be approved.

Biomass seems to have lost the appeal and its growth prospects are slim. This en-ergy will soon cease to be the more renew-able MW in operation (394 MW in 2012). In Chile there are only 58 MW under con-struction and another 86 MW have been approved. Its development is pending for new impetus to renewables that may oc-cur later.

Geothermal energy has not yet begun to unfold in Chile. There are currently no active installations or in-built, but have ap-proved the first 50 MW, and 70 MW are pending approval.

Sources:- Un Análisis de la Nueva Estrategia Nacional de Energía

de Chile (2012-2030), pulsoverde.nrdc.org/- GPTECH abre una oficina técnico-comercial en Chile,

N. de P.- LKS Energía y Servicios y el Grupo FOTONES suscriben

un acuerdo de desarrollo de proyectos fotovoltaicos para 690 Mws en Chile, N. de P.

- Autoridades chilenas visitarán España para conocer de primera mano la integración de renovables en la red, N. de P.

- AEG Power Solutions Opens A New Branch Office In Santiago de Chile Targeting Solar Market, N. de P.

- Ministerio de Energía y Corfo lanzan concurso interna-cional para construir primera Planta de Concentración Solar de Potencia de América Latina, Portal Minero

- Parque eólico de 106 MW en Renaico con 44 aerogene-radores, N. de P.

- Ocho proyectos eólicos se alistan en la Región de Coquimbo, La Tercera.

Operation MW Construction Approved In qualifying

Mini hidro 278 114 228 93

Wind 205 107 3.250 2.718

Biomass 394 58 86 0

Solar 2,4 2,5 3.107 908

Geothermal 0 0 50 70

TOTAL 880 281 6.721 3.778

Source: Centro de Energías Renovables de Chile


CSP, Chile and the mining companies: A harmonious trio

Abengoa, a Spanish CSP com-pany has recently commissioned a 14MW solar thermal plant for

Minera El Tesoro. This is currently the lar-gest CSP plant in Latin America and opens a very interesting market for developers and EPCs based in Spain, which are facing a dark period following recent legislative announcements.

The Chile solar market is a CSP develop-ers dream. Mining companies remain the largest energy consumers for both extrac-tion and production processes, making CSP a perfect energy solution:

CSP dispachability and storage: CSP can provide energy 24 hours 7 days a week. This means that both PV and wind are out of the game, as they do not have competitive storage techno-logies.Location: Many mines in Chile are in desert areas (like the Atacama desert) with low population levels and great solar resources (DNI of 2,900MW/h, in some areas up to 3,800).Access to grid infrastructure: The lack of access to grid infrastructure and natural gas means that CSP gains a competitive edge as the plants can be built on the actual mining land, directly supplying electricity to the mine.Solution to ‘clean pressures’: CSP is a renewable technology which will help the mining companies to achieve their ‘green’ status.

Solar energy serving – Minera El Tesoro and CODELCO two of the main minesThe Abengoa plant in Minera El Tesoro comprises of 1,280 PT-1 solar thermal col-lector modules which supply process heat for the copper electro-extraction process in mining production. The plant is expect-ed to replace more than 55% of the die-sel fuel currently used in the process and also incorporates thermal energy storage. The process of copper electro-mining is very intensive, requiring enough energy to heat the electrolyte up to a temperature of around 50 ºC.

CODELCO, the National Copper Corpo-ration of Chile will implement a thermal solar plant for copper separation process. The Chilean company Llaima, SpA, and the Danish Sunmark were awarded the contract to build the solar plant. In this case the technology selected was not CSP but low temperature solar thermal. This plant will cover 80% of the heat require-ments of Minera Gaby avoiding the emis-sion of 15,000 tons of CO

2 per year. This will save the mining company $7 million and also will prevent the movement of

250 trucks transporting fuel to the mine each year.

The Chilean government and CSPOn 28th February the CSP tender process was announced and was received with great enthusiasm by the industry. The Chil-ean government, through CORFO, sup-ports CSP with a subsidy of $20 million plus the land where the plant might be constructed. It has also negotiated a series of soft loans from the European Commis-sion ($18.6 million), the BID ($66 million) and the German Bank KFW ($100 million).

The plant will be over 10MW and the technology selected will come from tower, parabolic trough, dish or fresnel. The plant will have to get connected to SIC or SING (the two main grid lines), and will symbol-ise the Chile’s first step towards energy in-dependence.

The tender is currently open and Inter-national developers have already started working on their proposals. The company selected will be announced by mid-No-vember.

The trio: Chile, mining companies and CSP looks promising

Currently the mining industry operates in more than 100 countries around the world, and as part of their growing needs they require a large and a constant supply of energy. Additionally mining companies are receiving pressure to be as clean as possible during the extraction processes. With these requirements CSP can play an important role in supporting mining facilities in Chile, and developers have spotted the immense opportunity.

BELÉN GALLEGO AND BEA GONZÁLEZCSP TODAY

About CSP Today: CSP Today is the reference point for CSP professionals and a cornerstone for communications within the industry. We provide business intelligence to the industry with focused news, events, reports, updates and information for the Concentrated Solar Thermal Power industry in markets such as India, South Africa, Spain, USA, Chile and the MENA region.



SERGIO CEBALLOSCHILE COUNTRY MANAGER, GPTECH

Since 2012, GPtech has looked at Latin America as one of its main objectives due to its favorable conditions for the renewable energy sector. The efficiency in providing the most suitable integral solutions to comply with any technical requirement has made GPtech becoming the leader supplier company in the region, collaborating in the construction of the first PV plants: Calama Solar 3 (Chile), Cañada Honda (Argentina), Majes, Repartición, Tacna Solar and Panamericana Solar (Peru). In total, GPtech has achieved more than 100 MW of installed capacity.

GPtech’s solutions for PV grid integration challenges in Chile

The most paradigmatic exam-ple is Calama, placed in Ata-cama Desert, where the alti-

tude and the hardness conditions in density of dust hinder the operation of the equipment. GPtech has pro-vided PV inverters which offer full operation at 2400 m above sea level, as well as a number of daily hours of operation above the mean. Additionally, they work at Power Levels higher than the rated, with a maximum performance over 98% to achieve plant factor of 31%.

Its experience in the development of integral solution meeting highly complex requirements makes GPtech the most suitable partner to work with in Latin American renewable energy projects. In or-der to consolidate its position, GPtech has opened a sales engineering office in San-tiago to cover important areas, as giving support to the management of grid connec-tion license, carrying out the technical evalu-ation of projects or participating in working groups and research projects related to new technologies and power electronics. In this sense, GPtech has come to an agreement with Federico Santamaria de Valpariso Uni-versity, and is already in contact with Con-cepcion University and Santiago University.

For the Chilean PV solar market, GPtech of-fers Smart PV inverters and Advanced Power Integrated Stations for fast and easy grid in-tegration. Apart from that, it has developed three different solutions based on its exhaus-tive knowledge of the electrical system of the country: PVdiesel solutions, Power Plant Controller and Battery Energy Storage Sys-tem (BESS).

GPtech PVdiesel solution has been designed to be applied in isolated hybrid systems, hy-

brid system connected to the grid and hybrid systems for ancillary services. In isolated hy-brid systems, the PVdiesel solution improves isolated power generation minimizing fuel consumption while working with PV and/or wind farms, and other non-conventional energy sources. In hybrid systems connected to the grid, it favors the power generation in self-consumption facilities connected to the grid, operating with diesel systems, PV inverters and other energy sources. Finally, in supporting hybrid systems, the PVdiesel solution helps with ramp rate regulation and frequency primary regulation.

Originally developed for controlling pow-er RE power plants with multiple genera-tors, and running globally for many years, GPtech’s Power Plant Controller is also a central control system to guarantee opti-mum performance of hybrid power plants. It coordinates different energy sources, thus enhancing the grid-integration capabilities of hybrid plants, as well as controlling reac-tive power supply, regulating system voltage, and stabilizing weak grids. Additionally, the PPC allows different operators to modify the

systems according to different specif-ic objectives, as minimizing the total cost of grid energy consumption or the power exchange with the grid.

GPtech’s Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) has as a main function to provide spinning reserve in the event of power plant or transmission line equipment failure, with the aim of maintaining generations and load balance. Battery Energy Storage Sys-tem equipped with own developed power electronics and controlled by a Power Plant Controller, all sup-plied by GPtech, allows the plant to provide essential spinning reserve

services. The company offers complete solu-tions to be connected to the Chilean high voltage grid, using modular energy storage banks in the MW range, during at least 15 minutes, and the possibility of symmetrical charge and discharge. This system might run at increased maximum charging power in or-der to be adapted to the customers’ needs. Apart from projects related with PV energy, GPtech is also participating, as a sponsor, in the construction of the first smart city of Latin American, placed in Buzios (Brazil). For this project, the company has carried out the development and supply of the GPtech SmartCom solution, aiming at large consumers, as industries and big office buildings, for the management of PV and wind energy and the maxim exploitation of its consume.Continuing with its bet on Chile and Latin America, GPtech is present as Expo Partner in IFT Energy 2013, taking place in Santiago, from the 17th to the 19th of April. The com-pany also expects to consolidate its leader-ship by collaborating in new PV projects to be announced in the coming months

TRUSTED PARTNER FOR MANY OF THE WORLD’S LEADING UTILITIES, WIND TURBINEAND SOLAR MANUFACTURERS AS WELL AS INVESTORS AND DEVELOPERS

With more than 30 years of experience, an unmatched record of renewable projects around the world, a global presence and over 4,000 employees and presents in 20 countries with local staff and execution capacity, GES is proud to be a trusted partner for many of the world’s leading utilities, wind turbine and solar manufacturers as well as investors and developers.

GES is the global market leader in construc-tion and services for the wind and solar indus-try. We are also a leading services provider for the electricity and process industry in Spain and Portugal.

Having served the onshore wind sector since 1992, GES has a unique track record. In total, GES has provided BoP services for 10,800 MW of wind capcity and installed wind tur-bines for 20,600 MW of wind capacity, which represents about 8 per cent of the worldwide total. In addition GES has operation and main-tenance contracts for 12,500 MW of wind ca-pacity.

GES has been serving the solar sector since 2004. Our track record includes EPC services for 260 MW of capacity and O&M services for 350 MW of capacity. GES is reconised as a leader in construction and maintenance of solar plants in Southern Europe and the US, with a client base consisting of top renewable companies.

A provider of multi-technology services, GES has worked with solar panels from leading suppliers and with different manufacturers of inverter and tracker equipment.

GES enhances its presence in ChileChile is living a special moment in its history by facing up to the generation of electric en-ergy required to support the country develop-ment in the coming years. The growth should be accompanied by an electric energy growth and the challenge for the coming decades is to count on competitive and sufficient energy resources to support this economic growth.

GES is conscious about the potential of the

Chilean market and has decided to reinforce its presence in this country by setting up GES Chile based in Santiago and naming Marta Alonso Pelegrín as new Managing Director for South America.

GES success cases in ChileGES has participated in various projects in Chile. In 2012 GES constructed the Wind Farm of Talinay for Vestas in a time record of only 6 months and got assembled in 33 days with an average of 4 turbines per day.

At present, GES is constructing two new Wind Farms: Chiloé and Negrete. Chiloé, for Gamesa, has set up an objective to satisfy the energy growth for the industry and residen-tial Interconected Central System sectors by generating wind energy. Negrete Cuel´s Wind Farm is located in the South, at 560km of San-tiago and is being constructed by the Chilean and Irish company Mainstream. With the con-struction of this Wind Farm, they will avoid the emission of 45.000 tonnes of CO2 per year.


Pol. Fátima Edif. EnekurimendiCtra. Bilbao - Asúa (Alto Enekuri)48950 Erandio - Vizcaya - Spain

www.services-ges.com


OUTSTANDING GROUTH OF POWER ELECTRONICS CHILE IN MINING SECTOR BASED ON A COMPRENHENSIVE AND CUSTOMER ORIENTEDSTRATEGY – POWER ON SUPPORTPower Electronics is a family-owned multina-tional who began manufacturing and selling power electronics for the industrial sector 25 years ago. With subsidiaries in over 30 coun-tries, the company counts with more than 500 employees who truly share the commitment for customer satisfaction and technical service assistance 24/7 worldwide.

Power Electronics expertise is divided into two main fields; the solar business by manu-facturing solar inverters, and the industrial where they manufacture VSD (Variable Speed Drives) and soft starters, both in low and me-dium voltage.

One of the company´s fastest delegation is Chile, where Power Electronics established in 2007 two important offices located in Santiago de Chile and Antofagasta. These offices focus their activity on sectors such as Mining, Water Treatment, Oil & Gas, being these the country´s main sources of business. During these past years, Power Electronics has emerged as one of the leading manufacturers of electronic de-vices in low and medium voltage, being the reason behind this the company´s reliable product quality and outstanding on-site 24/7 technical customer service offered. Due to these heavy reasons, important Industrial Mul-tinationals such as Codelco have taken this Spanish Family-Owned Company as partners for their main projects; Ministro Hales, Andina, Chuquicamata, El Teniente, Radomiro Tomic, etc. This POWER ON SUPPORT Strategy turns challenges into opportunities.

Power Electronics Chile delivered all the me-dium and low voltage drives for Ministro Hales, mining project located in the North Chile region of Antofagasta. CODELCO (National Copper Chilean Corporation) operates this new open pit mine, which will produce around 170.000 cubic tones of fine copper and 300 tones of sil-ver per year. In a first stage Power Electronics will deliver 18 medium voltage units of the XMV660 Series, ranging from 400kW up to 2.7MW at 4.16kV and small and medium

power low voltage and low harmonics 600V variable speed drives of the SD700 Series. In the following months Power Electronics’ technicians, backed for international Technical Service will carry out Ministro Hales commis-sioning. This situation is a friendly milestone when working with a customer oriented com-pany like Power Electronics. Continuous sup-port and attention during critical time frames is highly appreciated by customers allowing the company to create long term relationships.

Power Electronics is also developing one of the longest conveyor belts Codelco owns in their mining exploiting centers. Division Andi-na’s 5km length conveyor belt, used to move up to 45% of the mineral capacity is powered by SD700s configured with the latest OLTQ master-slave control system. This ultimate open loop torque control system allows an accurate and synchronous traction of multiple motors. Drives are communicated through fi-ber optics without the need to install process or motor encoders. This topology reduces the maintenance cost of any facilities and speeds

up commissioning and drive’s setting.Another successful experience of Power

Electronics in Chile is Mina Invierno, which actions a carbon conveyor belt in the closest industrial point to the South Pole (Isla Riesco).

A diesel generator station powers two SD700 Freemaq FL (650A) low harmonics drives which are synchronized to move up to 3000t/h of carbon 800m offshore and 20m in height. Two twin motors are installed in the middle of the conveyor and share a common shaft that receives an identical torque from both motors thanks to the unique encoder free OLTQ control.

Since Power Electronics establishment back in 1987, the company has not ceased to grow and compete against worldwide corporations. However, the companies philosophy of offering maximum service where others fail to do so, has taken them to where they are now. Power Electronics rapid growth pace continues year by year, which allows them to approach their international strategy with high hopes, adding some new horizons to their company´s future.

Tel. (+56) (2) 244 0308 · 0327 · 0335www.power-electronics.com



SOLAR PV

The Strategic Research Agenda of the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform

The European Commission created the European Photovoltaic Techno-logy Platform (EUPVTP) on 2005.

The main objective of the Platform was to contribute to a rapid development of a world-class cost competitive European photovoltaic sector for a sustainable elec-tricity production.

At that moment, it was absolutely nec-essary to ensure links and coordination between industry, research and market, involving all the stakeholders in the formu-lation of research programmes. Thus the Platform should be the body.

It was clear that R&D had to be an integral part of a plan for ambitious and intelligent deployment of PV. If we tried to accelerate the deployment of this technology, inten-sification of R&D efforts would be the key.

It was necessary to position photovoltaic as an attractive energy technology, an at-

tractive business opportunity, an attractive employment option and an attractive edu-cation challenge.

So, based on this premises the main doc-ument to be developed was the Strategic Research Agenda for Photovoltaic Technol-ogy. The Platform published the first SRA in 2007, recognising that a strong R&D activity was needed to underpin the Euro-pean Photovoltaic industry development.

In 2009 the European Commission cre-ated, under the implementation of the SET-Plan, the Solar Europe Industry Initia-tive (SEII), in which the EUPVTP has a fun-damental role. In this respect the Platform defined its new Mission as: “To create, implement, support and stimulate a coher-ent and dynamic strategy to take forward and further consolidate the maximum con-tribution of PV to the EU SET-Plan (morethan 10% of EU electricity in 2020). Taking

the responsibility to ensure a rapid devel-opment of a world class, cost-competitive European Photovoltaic sector”.

Due to the rapid development of this technology it was necessary to update and address the SRA with a second edition on 2011.

The updated SRA serves as a reference document for both, European Commis-sion and Member States. The alignment between EC and MS is envisaged in the frame of the SEII-Team, so the priorities and topics outlined in the SRA serve as a guidelines for the SEII-team.

The Strategic Research Agenda faces the following challenges:

Economy: Competitiveness of the Eu-ropean PV industry.Energy and ecology: Role and contri-bution of PV in the energy mix.Government and society: Benefits and unique features of PV.

There are some defined governing prin-ciples in this document such as the SRA considers all parts of the value chain and defines research that will have short, medi-um and long term impact, dedicating short term research to competitiveness of Euro-pean PV industry. It is not selective about PV technologies (no exclusivity). A balance of “revolution” and “evolution” is required to ensure that advances can be developed from basic R&D to cost-effective manufac-ture with an implementation as rapidly as possible. Finally and what it is more impor-tant, it establishes indicative cost targets as a function of time for all technologies.

Nevertheless and due to the incredible development of the market and the unex-

Although Europe has lost it leadership of the Photovoltaic Industry, it maintains the leadership in technology process and equipment. Photovoltaic has multiple benefits as electricity supplier and what it is also very important as economic sector.

EMILIANO PEREZAGUAVICECHAIRMAN OF THE EUROPEANPHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM


pected price reduction, the indicative price targets chart created on 2011 is currently surpassed. In the SRA appears the follow-ing data for 2020:

Typical turn-key price for a 100kW sys-tem (€/Wp excl. VAT): 1,5.Typical electricity generation costs in southern Europe (€/kWh): 0,10.Typical system energy payback time southern Europe (years): <0,5.

It seems acceptable that the above price targets for 2020 have been achieved nowa-days.

The Strategic Research Agenda contents R&D issues related to:

:Wafer-based crystalline silicon; existing thin film technologies (TFSi, CIGSS, CdTe and organic PV); emerging and novel technologies.

: Mate-rials, conversion principles and devices, processing and assembly).

: System components and installation materials; installation; ope-ration and maintenance and grid inte-gration into the built environment.

-

Different targets depending on the ap-plication

: There are some common topics for all type of module technologies:

Efficiency, energy yield ( /kWh), stabili-ty and lifetime.High productivity manufacturing, in-process monitoring and control: Re-duction of manufacturing cost.Environmental sustainability: Saving energy and reducing payback time.Materials: inexpensive, safe and abun-dant.Applicability.

: Strong development has been observed since 2007, in terms of efficiency improvements, reduction in wafer thickness and increases in manufacturing capacity.

The R&D efforts must be focussed on ad-vanced manufacturing processes: Selec-tive emitters; laser buried cells; back con-tact cells; N type cells, multilayer cells. Typical total area module efficiency: 14-18% now; in longer term 18-22%.Main R&D topics: Consumption of sili-con and other materials (silver...); new and improved silicon feedstock; increa-sing efficiency; integrated process and industrial equipment development. It is also recommended a continued re-search on embedded energy content, lifecycle, environmental impacts and product standards.

Common R&D issues for all existing : Since 2007, manufac-

turing capacity has increased strongly and there have been significant efficiency ad-vances. R&D should be focused on:

Reliable and cost effective production equipment: High productivity deposi-tion techniques, encapsulation proces-ses and quality control techniques.Modelling of heterostructures and trans-fer of novel high efficiency concepts.Recycling materials.Alternatives for scarce or critical mate-rials.

With regards to inorganic technologies, the efficiency targets have been increased and cost targets reduced which leads to a long-term cost <0.3 €/W at GW produc-tion level.

New short and long-term targets have been defined for organic cells and mod-ules, as well as for inorganic devices on flexible substrates.

There is increased emphasis on material sustainability, light trapping and spectrum conversion, processing, encapsulation and

modelling.There are some efficiency targets for

each thin film technology. For Thin film sili-con (TFS) above 15% at laboratory scale; for CIGSS module efficiency higher than 16% or above 20% at laboratory scale; for advanced CdTe devices up to 20% at laboratory scale.

:Substitution of expensive elements (high-est efficiency solar cells) with other poten-tially much cheaper (optic elements):

Low concentration (<100 suns): High efficiency crystalline silicon has rea-ched 27.6% efficiency. It is necessary to assure large-scale production.High concentration (>500 suns): multi-junction cells III-V semiconductor com-pound. The target is to assure large quan-tities production at efficiencies > 45%.

The main R&D tasks for CPV are:Develop materials and industrial produc-tion for very high efficiency concentrator cells: Si cells >26% and multijunction > 45%. Identify the optimum concentra-tion factor for each technology.Optical System: reliable, long-term sta-ble and low cost lenses.Module assembly: materials and pro-cess for assembly the components into highly precise modules, using low cost fully automated methods.Tracking: Optimize size, load capacity, stability, stiffness and material.Optimize design, testing routines and integration of all CPV system compo-nents. Establish criteria for evaluating their cost.

: This category is defined as potentially disruptive technologies aiming for very high efficiency. There are some different categories:

Novel active layers: Quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots- Decoupling the basic relationship

between output current and output voltage.

SOLAR PV

49

SOLAR PV


- Quantum confinement effect to ob-tain higher band gap.

- Use the excess of energy of exci-ted carriers before they thermalize to the bottom of the energy band (hot carriers cells, multiple exciton generation).

Tailoring the solar expectrum to boost existing cell technologies:- Up-down conversion- Photonic structures

Extend the cell spectral response be-yond the limits imposed by the band gap of the host semiconductor: i.e. Metallic Intermediate Band (MIB) cells.

-: Photovoltaic systems can be imple-

mented in a range of applications, sizes and situations, meeting a wide range of power needs. The user encounters PV technology at the system level and re-quires it to be reliable, cost-effective and look attractive.

The research agenda concentrates on topics that will achieve one or more of the following:

Reduce the cost of all elements within the photovoltaic system.Increase overall performance, efficien-cy and component lifetimes, reduce losses and maintain performance levels throughout system lifeImprove functionality, so adding value to the electricity producedImplement innovative approaches in the grid-connected system design (e.g. storage), inverter design and technical standards in order to broaden the hos-ting capacity of the gridImprove the integration of systems in the built environment (BIPV) to redu-ce overall costs and environmental impact and ensure public support for large-scale deployment. Enlarge the range of BIPV elements available to facilitate innovative archi-tectural approaches, including enhan-cement of multifunctionality.

:Research and development should focus on the following issues:

Linking PV systems to grid communi-cation systems, energy management and building automation.Pre-standardisation including develop-ment of smart grid integrationDevelopment of advanced and harmo-nised grid connection rules for high PV penetration levels.Development of (decentralised) ener-gy management systems that support the efficient use of fluctuating power sources.Improvement of controllability and forecasting of PV system output con-cerning active and reactive power, fre-quency behaviour and decentralised voltage regulation.

More specifically, the areas of research can be divided into two groups, grid-side measures and PV system- and consumer-side measures.

On the PV systems side, the expected high penetration of PV into the grid will require research with several approaches:

Grid codes with appropriate require-ments on distributed generation de-vices in terms of reactive and active power control, fault-ride-through ca-pabilities, etc.Consumption of electrical energy at the point of generation in order to re-duce the grid loads.Implementation of smart-metering concepts in order for system operators and end-consumers to visualise local energy generation and consumption.Finally and in order to increase the utilisation of PV, the potential storage

capability of electric vehicles should be taken into account.

Regarding environmental aspects the main tasks are:

Further develop performance, ener-gy rating and safety standards for PV modules, PV building elements and PV inverters and AC modulesHarmonise conditions for grid-connec-tion across Europe, including in rela-tion to smart grids. Develop quality assurance guidelines for the whole manufacturing chainDevelop recycling processes for thin-film modules and BoS components.

It is important to take into account that Photovoltaic is currently suffering a period of transition from a very small niche to a mainstream electricity supplier and from incentive driven to self-sustained markets.

From Europe as focal point to global action both in market development and installation as well as in manufacturing. R&D needs to address both modules + BoS:

Enhancing Performance – research that leads to higher device outputs and improved system performance.Improving Manufacturability & Redu-cing Cost – research that addresses the ease and cost of manufacture.Promoting Sustainability – research that is aimed at ensuring the sustaina-bility aspects of the technology from manufacture to use.Addressing Applicability – research that develops products and technology to meet specific market needs-

But... very rapid and very large-scale de-ployment of innovative PV may lead to a variety of bottlenecks: skilled labour force; suitable materials; high-throughput manu-facturing equipment; standardised and qualified products for different markets (PV hardware); dedicated financial and other “software” products.

In any case although Europe has lost it leadership of the Photovoltaic Industry, it maintains the leadership in technology process and equipment.

Photovoltaic has multiple benefits as electricity supplier and what it is also very important as economic sector

The Strategic Research Agenda for Photovoltaic Solar Energy SectorSee it at www.eupvplatform.org

Although Europe

has lost it leadership

of the Photovoltaic

Industry, it maintains

the leadership in

technology process and

equipment

SOLAR PV

Future’s energy is generated where it is consumed. A vision which has already become reality for some pri-

vate households and medium-sized com-panies. Small, decentralized solar energy production units, energy storage devices and a battery management system, can help you to a large extent to become inde-pendent from the public power grid and the constantly rising electricity prices. First systems for self-supply prove: It works.

While the change of energy policy is be-ing debated publicly, more and more con-sumers are taking their electricity supply into their own hands. They thereby follow two objectives: the produced solar energy is environmentally friendly, and it provides them with tangible financial benefits. With an investment of less than 25,000 Euro a single-family house with office and electric car can completely cover its own demand with self-produced solar energy – and freeze the electricity price at today’s level for about 25 years. The first MSS1 systems are already running and their yield shows: it is paying off.

The problem: Unbalanced load profileOn the one hand, self-supply of private houses, apartments or whole companies with solar energy previously failed, due to

the issue of storing the generated energy. On the other hand, the unbalanced load profile of fixed photovoltaic installations opposes the targeted ideal of using the generated energy immediately. Both prob-lems can be elegantly solved by using pho-tovoltaic tracking systems. For both the efficient storage and the immediate con-sumption, a balanced load profile is neces-sary – in other words: a constant produc-tion of solar energy the whole day long.

As an explanation: Fixed photovol-taic systems reach their production peak around midday but produce relatively little energy before and after. This means: In the morning and in the evening, when a normal household really needs a lot of electricity, fixed systems usually do not provide enough energy. This is different with tracking systems such as the MLD2

tracking systems from DEGER (MLD stands for Maximum Light Detection): They usu-ally provide enough solar energy for direct consumption even during these times of day.

The second significant factor when us-ing a self-supply system are the electricity storage devices. They supply the consumer with energy even when the photovoltaic modules are not generating enough elec-tricity or no electricity at all.

Tracking conserves electricity storage devicesFor storage, too, tracking systems have one decisive advantage. The batteries used as energy buffers can be recharged much more sparingly with a constant input than with short, high voltage peaks, which are typical for fixed systems. The system thus requires less battery capacity – which sig-nificantly increases the life span of the electricity storage devices. A rule of thumb is: MLD tracking saves about 30 percent battery capacity.

In addition, the effect already described applies: When the sun is in the sky – which, by the way, also applies for days with an overcast sky – tracking systems generally supply enough energy for direct consump-tion. So the batteries are not used during

SELF-SUPPLY OF SOLAR ENERGY IS POSSIBLE – WITH PHOTOVOLTAIC TRACKING SYSTEMS

DEGERENERGIE GMBH


Change of energy from the base up

51

SOLAR PV


these times. Both have a positive effect on the profitability of the whole system.

Use excess energy sensiblyThe battery management system enables the user to control the self-supply system according to his individual wishes and re-quirements. First, the solar energy which is not directly used is routed into the electric-ity storage devices. When the batteries are full, the excess energy can be fed into the power grid or used for another purpose – e.g. for the treatment of waste water or to power a heating system. This, too, is con-trolled by an excess manager in the control cabinet according to the demand or the user’s priority.

Assuming that there is generally still a con-nection to the public power grid, the bat-tery management system can be set in such a way that the batteries are only discharged by a maximum of 50 percent. Once this minimal value has been reached and there is no directly-produced solar energy avail-able, the system automatically obtains elec-tricity from the power grid. The battery buf-fer can be set higher or lower. 50 percent make sense, considering that during power cuts the system should provide the house-hold or the company with electricity even when solar energy is not directly available.

The way to a self-sufficient energy supplySomeone who decides to use a self-supply system usually does not want produced electricity to be fed into the power grid and profit from the feed in tariff. Even more so because the days of feed in tariffs are num-bered – a trend which has already begun worldwide. In Germany they will drop be-low 10 Cents per kilowatt hour in the near future; today the production costs for solar energy using tracking systems are already at approximately 10 Cents per kilowatt hour.

The direction is obvious: The users of such systems mainly want to become inde-pendent from public power grids and the rising energy costs. A self-sufficient power supply can be a means of future secu-rity, especially for small and medium-sized companies, which do not benefit from the attractive major customer tariffs of the en-ergy suppliers. They can soundly calculate their energy costs on the long term – and freeze them at today’s level permanently.

That means: Their competitiveness grows with every price increase by the public en-ergy suppliers.

There is no doubt that the electricity prices will not stay at the current level. The Karl-sruhe Institute of Technology estimated in a report of mid-May 2012, that the electricity prices in Germany will increase by 70 per-cent until the year 2025. A figure which, by the way, applies for major customers. For private households and smaller companies the price increase will surely be even higher.

Positive energy balanceIn the meantime, the DEGER test system, which was installed in autumn 2011, and other systems, which have been installed since then, have produced reliable yield and consumption measurements. They show: 22 square metres of tracked solar module surface cover around 115 percent of the energy needed by a single-family house with office and two electric vehicles.

In detail: In the first 5 months of the year 2012, the test system produced around 3,000 kilowatt hours of solar energy. The energy consumption of the connected household including office and electric vehicles was about 2,600 kWh during the same period.

The positive energy balance is seen in the relationship between electricity obtained from the power grid and the electricity fed into the grid: Between January and May around 610 kWh were taken from the power grid. In the same time period 930

kWh were fed into the grid. The test system features 18 solar modules

type Sanyo 240 with a total output of 4.320 watt peak. Within the first complete calen-dar year it produced 7.525 kilowatt hours of solar energy – a sensational outcome, which significantly exceeds even the DEGER’s ex-pectations. Certainly a part of this is due to the location: the system has free visibility from the eastern to the western horizon. And it is usually very seldom foggy in this re-gion. Thus, the site not only delivers enough solar energy for its own consumption, it also supports the warm water treatment of the house to a considerable extent.

Notable detail: Both electric cars travelled a total of around 6,000 kilometres during the first measurement period. To achieve this, they consumed approximately 900 kWh electricity at a purchase price of about 200 Euro. When taking this used energy out of the calculation, it would not have been necessary to obtain any electricity during the whole measuring period. At the same time, though, 400 litres of petrol was saved by the cars which would have cost more than 600 Euro at the current prices.

A functioning complete system for self-supply, including installation, costs less than 25,000 Euro. On this basis users can freeze their electricity price at the current level for the next 25 years. This calculation includes all costs – from the installation it-self and the costs of financing, as well as maintenance and service including costs for spare parts over a period of 25 years.

The MLD principleThe MLD or Maximum Light Detection Principle is based on the accurate tracking movement of solar modules to the most energy-rich positions. This is due to the pat-ented control module. It continually mea-sures the intensity and angle of incident light beams and, based on these measured values, constantly realigns the system’s solar modules according to the current light con-ditions. This enables modules to generate energy from diffuse light which penetrates through clouds or reflects off water and snow surfaces. This process generates on average a surplus yield of 45 percent com-pared to fixed solar modules

1 MSS = Maximum Solarpower Storage2 MLD = Maximum Light Detection

SOLAR PV

SMA MULTICLUSTER TECHNOLOGY

The path to your own power grid

Why alternating current?So-called AC coupling forms the basis for modular off-grid power supply with ca-pacities of up to 300 kW. In contrast to DC coupling, all energy sources and loads are connected through an AC power grid, which offers a number of advantages: Commercial and therefore affordable AC power devices can be used on the consum-er side. On the generator side, any kind of renewable or conventional energy sources can be incorporated. Alternating current grids can be expanded without special-ized expertise and using standard compo-nents that are available everywhere. Com-pared to components for direct current grids, these components are considerably cheaper because they normally have to carry higher voltages but also much lower currents. There is also much more plan-ning flexibility involved since even large distances between the generators, batter-ies and consumers can be implemented. Moreover, the connection of generators and consumers of alternating current grids

is possible practically at any random point in the network – thus providing optimum conditions for subsequent expansion.

Multicluster technology – less expense for large systemsThe special advantage of SMA’s off-grid system technology lies in its modular de-sign: PV plants of any performance class are built using comparatively small and manageable components, which makes transport and installation easy even at remote locations. By dividing the inverter capacity into clusters (i.e. groups of three devices each), the planner is extremely flex-ible with respect to system performance. This is almost infinitely scalable thanks to the parallel connection of multiple clus-ters, and a subsequent expansion of the off-grid system is also easy to implement.

Since the basic design is identical and the devices used are always the same, ser-vice personnel once trained can configure, operate and maintain plants of any size. Besides the Sunny Island battery inverter,

the core element of the modular system is the Multicluster Box which is responsible for the simple connection of all compo-nents into one battery-supported AC grid with a variety of power generators. The Multicluster Box is available in three power classes, comes fully wired and contains all of the necessary switching elements and monitoring devices. It allows the imple-mentation of any off-grid system ranging from 5 kW to 300 kW in capacity.

Multi-level security: Generator and load-shedding contactorsA power contactor is integrated into the distribution board for both load and gen-erator connections. The generator contac-tor connects grid-forming generators such as those used in more powerful diesel generating plants or combined heat and power plants. In contrast to generators in grid-parallel operation, they cannot syn-chronize with an existing grid, and there-fore in this case, the generator specifies the grid parameters.

Off-grid systems on AC basis open up new possibilities for providing a stable and powerful energy supply which is entirely independent of the power distribution grid. This kind of stand-alone power grid not only provides the customary supply quality usually associated with large power distribution grids. Due to its modular structure, it is also very simple to install and can be expanded as required. Through the integration of renewable energy sources which avoid fuel costs and at the same time are becoming ever more efficient, such systems are today more costeffective than conventional systems running on diesel generators.

SMA


At a state of charge under 90 percent, power surpluses can be absorbed by the battery at any time. When the battery is fully charged and power surpluses are produced, the Sunny Island increases the AC frequency. The generators then continuously reduce their power.

SOLAR PV


The cluster group of Sunny Island invert-ers adjusts accordingly, meaning the con-nection is established as soon as voltage and frequency with the pre- and post gen-erator contactor are synchronized. If the Sunny Island cluster fails or is switched off, the generator contactor closes automati-cally, so that the generator is directly linked to the connected loads. In the case of a generator failure, however the system rap-idly disconnects and maintains supply with battery power and the available renew-able-energy generators. Thus, even when one component fails, a secure operation is assured. If a long-term generator failure occurs and the renewable energy sources are not sufficient to fully power all the loads, the energy stored in the battery will be used initially. Once a lower discharge threshold is reached, the contactor on the load side opens and unlocks the line in order to safely prevent the batteries from deep discharge and the cluster group from disconnection. Instead, the system remains active and uses all available sun, wind or hydro power to recharge the battery. The loads are automatically reconnected once the battery’s state of charge is high enough. Conclusion: Even in cases of se-vere faults, the maximum possible power supply reliability and battery protection are guaranteed.

Flexible in normal operationThe modular design of off-grid systems of-fers an amazing degree of flexibility that provides advantages not only in terms of

planning, but also for system expansion and maintenance. The modular design makes it easy to incrementally expand and upgrade any small system. Additional clusters can be connected to Multiclus-ter Box at any time so that the capacity of renewable energy generation can be expanded in accordance with demand. The only limiting factors are the number of Sunny Island connections possible on each Multicluster Box and the ampacity of their switching devices (see the technical data for the Multicluster Box). In fact, the availability of the entire system is also en-hanced by the modular structure based on compact standard devices. With

the exception of the main cluster, main-tenance or replacement of individual Sun-ny Island inverters can take place during system operation – the only difference being that the total power of the system is correspondingly lower during this time. The same is true for the individual sub-batteries that are assigned to the various Sunny Island clusters. The intelligent bat-tery management of the cluster group en-sures all battery segments have regained the same charge within a very short time.

The Island Solution – modern electricity supply on Eigg IslandAn example of a high-performance, off-grid power supply system can be found on Eigg Island. The island is part of the Scot-tish Hebrides, about 30 km2 in size and with a population of 90. The island has yet to be connected to the power distribution

grid from the mainland, which is about 16 kilometers away. The costs are simply too high. Until 2008 the island was sup-plied with electricity by diesel generators. This form of power supply was always very expensive. On top of this, there were dis-connections at night due to the noise pol-lution and all electricity had to be switched off when maintenance work was required.

A power grid of their ownSince 2008, the islanders have been reap-ing the benefits of a modern three-phase electricity grid, 95% of which is supplied by renewable energy sources. This hy-brid off-grid system uses three renewable sources integrating hydroelectric, wind and photovoltaic power, and only uses a backup generator at times of poor gener-ating capacity.

Although electricity is now available 24 hours a day costs for the residents have fallen by more than 60 percent. The cen-tral element of the stand-alone grid is the group of four Sunny Island clusters which is connected to various generators and loads via a Multicluster Box 12: Three wa-ter turbines with a total of 110 kW, four small wind turbines with 24 kW and a PV plant with 31 kW peak power ensure a supply of environmentally sound electrici-ty. Thus, the Sunny Island inverters with 60 kW nominal power face a power genera-tion capacity from renewables of around 144 kW. This power ratio is typical for off-grid systems since the maximum capacities

of different generators are only rarely available at the same time. Two diesel gen-erators with 64 kW nominal power each serve as backup in case the renewable ener-gy source is deemed insufficient. However, only one of the generators is ever in opera-tion at any one time, so that the system can switch over to the other generator during maintenance work or troubleshooting.

The battery bank has a storage capacity of 212 kWh – this alone can keep the island supplied for around twelve hours. In order to avoid transmission losses resulting from the distance of several kilometers between loads and generators, the local power dis-tribution grid operates partially at a medi-um-voltage level of 11 kV. Locally gener-ated power further relieves the distribution grid, as some of the energy produced is consumed directly in the vicinity


SOLAR PV

Hybrid generation technology for renewable distributedgeneration and deployment of micro grids

HIS CompactSingle-phase modular hy-brid inverter for Solar and wind generation, batter-ies and grid or generator

The HIS Compact Hy-brid Inverters are based on State-of-the-art ar-chitecture, capable to generate AC grid from different energy inputs: renewable (solar PV and small wind turbines), bat-tery and fossil based gen-eration. A set of modular converters allows dif-ferent patterns of solar, wind, battery and gen set or ac grid.

The HIS Compact Hybrid Inverters allow building mini-grids from 4kW to 6,6kW of output power. It could be built for dif-ferent output voltages: 230V, 120V, 108V, 100V+100V and 50Hz or 60Hz. The bat-tery controller is capable to handle differ-ent battery technologies and capacities: Lithium, Lead-Acid, NiCd and Flow Batter-ies. Multiple Controllers could be installed in parallel to satisfy different PV and Wind Generation capabilities. PV solar panel ranges from 6,6kWp to 33kWp. As for wind turbines, several units with nominal power of 600W, 2kW and 6kW could also be connected.

DescriptionThe HIS Compact Hybrid Inverters series has been designed to provide stable and secure power supply for those applications

where accessibil-ity to grid or cost of electricity is a big issue: off-grid areas, rural elec-trification or elec-tricity provided by diesel generators.

The main feature of Zigor HIS Compact series of Hybrid Inverters is the capability to manage energy from various and different sources like pv field, wind turbines, batter-ies, diesel generator and/or grid.

In addition to this, the HIS Com-pact Hybrid Systems are able to ac-commodate and sum-up the energy from various sources at the same

time while controlling all of them through its unique management system. Likewise, the HIS Compact systems are capable to manage the functioning of the assigned gen set, keeping it stopped when their en-ergy in not needed.

The Zigor HIS Compact series of Hybrid Inverters have a modular and scalable con-cept where it is very easy to increase the capability by increasing the size of the PV field, the number of wind turbines, the power of AC input and/or the size of the battery bank.

FeaturesBest possible efficiency (over 96% from solar field to AC output)Competitive distributed generationProfessional rural electrificationHybrid solar, wind, battery, grid, GSReliable energy micro grid, with stable

voltage and frequency all the time.Maintainable, modular and scalableEasy to transport, install and repairCompatible with lithium batteriesMaximum power point tracking (MPPT) for renewable inputsGalvanic isolation through transformerRemote communication: web server integrated (optional)

The HIS Compact Series of Hybrid Invert-ers could be equipped with an internal Web server program to provide full access to the whole system, to monitor in real time the status and variables of the opera-tion as well as to communicate with them.

The beauty of this communication facility is that the user doesn´t need any special software and/or licence to be loaded into the computer or special communication hardware to be configured for it. By hav-ing an Ethernet network (TCP/IP), giving a valid IP address to the hybrid inverter and launching an internet browser, the user gets direct access to all information about the HIS Compact System, this is:

StatusParametersEvents and energy production logAlarms

This unique tool provides the user a graphic and friendly environment to com-pletely monitor and manage the HIS Com-pact system. The Web server is also ca-pable to advise the user by sending mails, about any possible dysfunction of the sys-tem. This allows not only to reduce inop-erative time of the system but to improve maintenance tasks and the availability of the system

In order to attend the growing demand for rural electrification and distributed generation based on hybridizing renewable and fossil power sources, Zigor presents in this technical article some concerns with world sustainability and innovation along with our offer of solutions and technology. The aim is to support our customer’s in their projects for hybrid generation technology for renewable distributed generation and deployment of micro grids, with and without different available EES solutions, both mature and innovative ones.

ZIGOR

SOLAR PV

Southern European markets are reaching grid parity despite the situation

A look at Southern Europe2011 was a boom year for the solar PV industry if we look at Italy, where the mar-ket exceeded the 7 GW of installed capac-ity. The 2020 targets were met ahead of schedule and the PV industry also created many jobs. The Quinto Conto Energia de-cree in Italy, which entered into force in August 2012, led to the further reduction of incentives for large-scale systems and promotes small-scale, decentralized pro-duction, mainly in the form of projects for commercial and residential roofs. The de-cree established that incentives would no longer apply after 30 calendar days from reaching an aggregate incentive cost of

6.7 billion euros (almost reached as of to-day’s date) communicated by the Author-ity for Electricity and Gas (AEEG) through the GSE Photovoltaic Counter. Yet 3.4 GW were installed in Italy in 2012 despite the instability, crisis and incentive cuts (infor-mation from Atlasole GSE).

The situation in Spain was slightly more devastating and the blow dealt by the moratorium gave us a 2012 with just 330 MW installed. The enactment of Royal Decree-Law 1/2012 clearly and directly suspended the plant pre-allocation in the subsidy registry procedure without provid-ing another alternative. It should be noted that the best year for solar energy in Spain

was 2008, when 2.4 GW were installed. In this stalemate situation, we need a

regulatory shift so that grid parity has an impact on the solar PV market in Spain. Grid parity is an almost natural “tipping point” where self-produced energy from solar installations becomes viable without incentives or subsidies and can compete with the electric supply grid on price. This famous and much-anticipated net-meter-ing would allow to consume part of the solar-generated electricity and in return benefit in the electricity bill.

Greece is suffering similar uncertainty with unclear regulatory laws Greece regard-ing photovoltaic, and in addition retroactive taxes have been imposed to systems in-stalled before 2012. Despite of this, Greece has an excellent number of daylight hours, in 2012 was one of the largest European markets with almost 800 MW produced.

The hope placed on grid parityGrid parity is already a reality in South Italy. With almost 6.7 million in subsidies from V Conto, the Italian PV industry should now be able to stay on its feet without further aid. The challenge that the Italian market faces going forward will be funding.

The European Photovoltaic Industry As-sociation (EPIA) recently announced that Italy would be the first country where renewable energy technology would be more competitive than fossil fuels. The EPIA report also notes that solar energy is less expensive than people think, with

While it’s true that the Southern European markets have been hit hardest by the economic crisis we mustn’t forget that they’re also the markets with the highest solar radiation and that fact alone makes them a promising place for the industry. But we need more stable regulatory frameworks that enable the development of distributed power as beneficial for society and the environment.

ÁLVARO GARCÍA-MALTRÁSSOUTHERN REGION SALES MANAGERTRINA SOLAR


Photovoltaic solar plant in Rivisondoli (Italy).

57

SOLAR PV


prices continually falling in free competi-tive markets. The report also predicts an increase in the cost of traditional energy sources like coal and gas.

It’s clear that grid parity, while it won’t be reached at once, nor in terms of countries or regions or economies, will soon become widespread. The revolution is happening, but it will happen in steps. Obviously, grid parity is easier in areas with high degrees of sunlight that increase output and decrease the average cost of energy production.

Energy mix is an important factor influ-encing grid parity, as each country has an average production price according to its energy mix. For example, according to Red Eléctrica de España (REE) only 26.5% of the kilowatts consumed in Spain in 2011 were from renewable sources (sun, water, wind and biomass). The lack of stable regulations mentioned before, is another difficulty to-ward the widespread use of photovolta-ics. And finally the key factor is funding; to practice, financial costs are a significant part of the cost kWh (in the price of genera-tion must include the amortization of the asset). We should also take into account that residential customers pay a different rate for electricity than commercial or large industrial consumers, which will result in different grid parity access speeds; in gen-eral, the residential customers first and then the remaining clients.

The Southern markets are and must be promising in spite of the challenges posed by the macroeconomic situation and by the solar PV industry itself. I’m optimistic and I believe that there will be a satisfactory evolution. Grid parity is here, many efforts have been made from manufacturers to reach that clean energy competes with the conventional energy and we have to take advantage of it, as it translates into a clear benefit for the society and the environment.

Optimizing the sun’s efficiencyTrina Solar is making great efforts to lower its costs, increase the efficiency and reli-ability of its products and thus do its part to achieve grid parity. “Our investments in R&D—the highest of the industry—help us to continue working to improve pro-cesses and materials and reduce costs. As manufacturers we have incorporated the latest advances in multicrystalline cell technology, for example in our new Honey

modules, which deliver higher efficiencies and record-setting power outputs. These results strongly position Honey panels at the top of its class, and combined with Trina Solar’s warrantees—a standard 10-year product warranty and 25-year linear power output warranty— Honey cells are an investment in high performance and sweet returns.

Unsurprisingly, Trina Solar’s Honey mod-ules have set two world records for mul-ticrystalline module power. A 156x156 mm 60-cell module powered by Honey cells reached a 274 W peak in laboratory tests. The results have been confirmed by Germany’s TÜV Rheinland in a September 2011 report. The second record was also set with a 60-cell module with 284.7 W peak reached in May 2012.

The extreme efficiency of Trina Solar prod-ucts has been repeatedly evidenced in vari-ous photovoltaic plant field studies, where it has been demonstrated that our panels

reached a higher energy output than expect-ed, resulting in higher efficiency and greater returns. These results have been monitored and certified by external organizations.

Moreover, all of these innovations are aimed at minimizing environmental im-pact. Among other recognitions Trina Solar tops the ranking of the Silicon Valley Tox-ics Coalition (SVTC) Solar Scorecard in the category of PV manufacturers.

Trina Solar is the manufacturer with the highest market share in projects of 10 MW and above installed in 2012. This figure supports objectively the fact that the Com-pany is a reliable partner for investors and customers, who see Trina Solar as a long term sustainable company that will over-come its current phase of consolidation. We’re actively striving to find the “sweet spot” between cost and return. Trina Solar will not enter into the price war because besides being profitable, we aim to be sus-tainable and to be around in 20 years

Training Academy (Spain).

Photovoltaic solar plant in Calasparra (Spain).

ENERGY STORAGE

Trojan’s commitment to solar industryTrojan is in an interesting position as the leading deep-cycle battery company that has been in the market for almost 100 years. Because Trojan serves a variety of in-dustries, the company has the opportunity to continue to invest in emerging markets such as renewable energy, telecom and backup power.

Trojan expects expansion of all our mar-kets to increase in 2013, and the renewable energy, telecom and backup power markets in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America are particularly poised for growth. To address this expected increase, Trojan has created sales and technical teams to specifi-cally focus on supporting renewable energy customers throughout these regions.

Potential market growthOver the course of the next 2 - 3 years, Trojan sees market growth in the off-grid and grid-backup and telecom market seg-ments in developing regions of the world. Countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America where there is no pow-er or the grid is unstable offer the most op-portunities for expansion of solar power.

Trojan expects to see continued demand in these regions for our high-quality, deep-cycle flooded lead-acid batteries and inter-est in our maintenance-free AGM batter-ies, depending on customer budget and application requirements. The adoption of Trojan’s new line of high amp hour Indus-trial batteries is growing rapidly, particular-

ly in telecom, mini-grid, remote resort and AC coupled applications.

Having shaped the world of deep-cycle battery technology for more than 85 years, Trojan’s pioneering research, development and manufacturing expertise has firmly established the company’s legacy of ap-plying focused engineering and innovative technology to address the needs of the global renewable energy marketplace. The company’s comprehensive line of deep-cycle batteries are tested to meet both IEC and BCI standards and features advanced battery technology which delivers reliable power, high-capacity performance and rugged durability required by off-grid and grid-tied renewable energy systems.

Trojan Battery Company maintains an ex-tensive research and development program focused on improving current deep-cycle battery technologies and enhancing energy storage solutions for the solar, Telecomand inverter backup markets. Trojan concen-trates its research efforts on advanced lead-acid technologies and the company is seeing very positive results. Trojan also continues to monitor other types of tech-nology for the industry, and maintains de-velopment partnerships with firms explor-ing other battery technologies. In addition to implementing technology advancements to its deep-cycle batteries, Trojan focuses on enhancing its manufacturing processes. These research and development activities focus on bringing to market high-quality, cost-effective batteries that provide opti-mum performance in the field.

Technology Investment at Manufacturing FacilitiesOver the last two years, Trojan has made several capital investments, including Cast-on-Strap (COS) equipment, at its U.S. manu-facturing facility in Lithonia, Ga. The process of assembling a deep-cycle battery plays just as an important role as do the materials that go into creating the battery. The manufac-ture of deep-cycle batteries takes precision, accuracy and succinct methods to ensure the proper assembly of its delicate internal com-ponents. The use of COS equipmentis critical toensuring that Trojan battery components are properly placed and connected during the manufacturing process.

While COS is used by many battery man-ufacturers, the technology was originally designed for production of automotive bat-teries. Recognizing the importance of prop-erly designed COS equipment for deep-cycle battery manufacturing, Trojan commissioned the development of completely new COS machines specifically engineered for use in the production of its industry-leading, deep-cycle battery products. Trojan’s automated COS machines play a critical role in ensuring the correct placement and connection of key battery components for reliable operation. The battery plates are stacked automatically into groups and each group is then moved down to the COS machine where it is lev-eled and aligned several times in various pro-cesses to properly position the lugs of each plate. These precise leveling techniques en-sure proper connection of the plates is estab-lished in the final COS process

TROJAN BATTERY COMPANY


Emerging markets: renewable energy, telecom and backup powerOver the course of the next 2 - 3 years, Trojan sees market growth in the off-grid and grid-backup and telecom market segments in developing regions of the world. Countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America where there is no power or the grid is unstable offer the most opportunities for expansion of solar power.


The project began in 2010 when the first model of the Fronius Energy Cell came onto the market. The first

system was built at the end of 2012, with the first data being studied now. The Fro-nius Energy Cell has been available for sale for the past two years, functioning as an H2 cell that converts H2 into electricity.

The two-way Fronius Energy Cell (Elec-tricity à H2 à Electricity) to be marketed for the first time next year.

Although all the equipment used for this project is already a reality and being mar-keted, we believe it will hit the market on a mass scale in around 2020. In Europe, it will initially enter the market in northern and central Europe, two areas where the dif-ference between summer and winter solar irradiation levels are much greater than the countries of southern Europe, and the heat-ing requirements are also greater.

Description of the project Fronius has set itself the task of creating a sustainable future through research into renewable energies. It is also contribut-ing to the development of full energy in-dependence, an area that it believes to be of utmost priority. The self-sufficient house shows how the Fronius Energy Cell is used to provide a completely autonomous source of electricity and heat by means of cogenera-tion, achieving the highest possible level of energy efficiency in a single-family dwelling.

The energy concept: the sun as the sole source of energy Solar energy is converted into direct cur-rent electricity by means of solar modules installed on the buildings’ roofs. The in-verters transform this direct current into

alternating current, for use. This makes it possible to use the energy received from the panels immediately during the day. The system’s novel concept is based on the different ways in which any surplus electricity produced is used. For example, the cells can be charged in order to pro-vide energy required at night, while the daily energy surplus generated in summer months can be used to supply energy to the Fronius Energy Cell.

By using this device, hydrogen is pro-

duced, and this is stored in an external tank. In winter, the stored hydrogen is once again converted into electricity, using the fuel cell function of the Fronius Energy Cell. The process whereby the equipment converts the hydrogen into electricity pro-duces residual heat, and this is used to provide domestic hot water and reduce the energy requirements of the heating system. The energy management system guarantees optimal electricity use by effi-ciently distributing the energy throughout the entire system. This permits the self-sufficient house to be totally independent in energy terms. All the photovoltaic en-ergy generated is instantaneously put to a more efficient and economic use.

As explained, the self-sufficient house is already a reality. It has been made opera-tional for the first time in a Fronius build-ing, in collaboration with the project’s partners (Sauter, Linde, Banner, EcoScien-cie and Samsung).

Project dataHouse situated in Central Europe for a family of four.Connection to the public electricity supply network.Size of home heated: 170 m².Electricity consumption (without heat pumps): 3,000 kWh/year.Energy used for heating: 2,500 kWh/year.Energy used for domestic hot water: 1,500 kWh/year.Photovoltaic generation: 6,000 kWh/year.The photovoltaic power produced is used on the following basis: 1/3 for im-mediate use, 1/3 for storage in battery for night-time use and 1/3 for storage in hydrogen

ENERGY STORAGE

The self-sufficient house: renewable energy with storage systems

The Fronius Energy Cell pilot project, developed in Central Europe, uses renewable energies with storage systems to help achieve the objective of making buildings and single family homes energy self-sufficient on a distributed basis.

MOISES LABARQUILLATECHNICAL AND SALES MANAGER SOLAR ELECTRONICS - FRONIUS SPAIN

Technical data:“Fronius Energy Cell”

FUEL CELL ELECTROLYSIS

Max. Power 2.6kW 8kW

Voltage 48VDC48VDC (400

VAC 3~)

h el./H2 >47% >60%

h total >80%

Max H2

Input / Output~2,2 Nm3/h5 - 15 bar

1,2 Nm3/h> 150 bar

Temp. range Wasted heat

+80%

Ambient temp.

+3 to +40º C

Certification EN62282-3-100, ISO22734-1


PRODUCTS

MAN 35/44G makes successful debutMAN Diesel & Turbo recent-ly showcased its new range of gas engines and turbines at its Augsburg facility with the company’s 35/44G en-gine, the latest addition to its four-stroke power port-folio, featuring prominently.

The newly developed Otto gas engine has an electrical efficiency of 47.2%, and is available for Combined Heat & Power (CHP) and/or jointly with an MAN steam turbine of the MARC series – in a

combined cycle mode reach-ing high total plant efficien-cies with low emissions. It also features a single-stage turbocharger with variable turbine area (VTA) technol-ogy and many innovative technological elements. The spark-ignited unit, which is ideal for combined cycle and combined-heat and power configuration with waste-heat utilisation, complies with all current emission limits solely by in-engine measures.

IBC AeroFix – a solid lightweight mounting system

IBC Solar AG presents its IBC AeroFix, a PV mounting sys-tem especially developed for flat roofs with low load capac-ity. The aerodynamic, material-optimized system features top-level stability, optimum surface utilisation and ease of instal-lation. IBC AeroFix is available in three different versions and suitable for a wide variety of PV system sizes and roof align-ments. Its installation does not require any screw fitting with the roof, so the roof skin re-mains totally intact. Therefore, IBC AeroFix can also be used for PV installations on bitumi-nous and foil-sealed roofs.The self-supporting IBC AeroFix is made of corrosion resistant aluminium and stainless steel.

It is especially designed for all flat roofs with a solar system which do not tolerate addition-al ballast. The innovative, aero-dynamically optimised solution showed impressive results in tests carried out in approved boundary-layer wind tunnels which simulate realistic envi-ronmental conditions accord-ing to the strict specifications of the Windtechnologische Gesellschaft e.V. (WTG), a Ger-man wind engineering society.

Protection for the Motor Control Centers of Spain’s largest Biomass plantFanox, manufacturer special-ized in protection and control devices, has again been selected to supply its latest generation of motor management relays to control and protect the motors of large important installations.

This time the largest biomass plant in Spain, located in San Juan del Puerto (Huelva) have opted to use Fanox for the sup-ply of its reliable and important

protection & control system.The Biomass power genera-

tion plant will have a capac-ity of 50 megawatts, and will be equipped with Fanox’ PBM system. The PBM is a modern and advanced protection and control system for Motors, of which flexibility and versatility ensures its perfect adaptation to the needs of any type of motor control centers.

Highly decorated - the DeltaSol SLThe DeltaSol Sl- the first controller from RESOL’s new series of the same name- has just been hon-oured with the coveted Plus X Award in the cat-egories High Quality, Ease of Use and Functionality. let us convince you of the award-winning Plus X fac-tors of the DeltaSol Sl:

High Quality: TÜV-certified Germany-based manufac-turing, 100% quality control for an optimum reliability.

Ease of Use: lntuitive through the new oper-ating concept with the lightwheel adjustment dial; Micro buttons for the quick access to the manual mode and holiday function menus; Comprehensive dis-play for a quid< and easy overview.

Functionality: Function control according to VDI 2169; Multi-coloured con-trol LED for extensive sta-tus visualization.


Energy SolutionsSolutions beyond the product onlyEnergy Solutions are Development, EPC and O&M services based on our technological platforms (Engines, Steam Turbines, Echogen) in combination with Renewable Energies (Solar PV) and Hybrids systems (Engine + Solar PV) focus on Self consumption Distributed Energy & sustainability concept (energy efficiency, CO2 footprint reduction, alternative energy use).

THE SCOPE…Development- Tech/Economic Feasibility Studies- PLA (Permitting, Licensing & Authorizations)EPC Construction (Engineering, Procurement & Construction)- Engineering- OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) - SCM (Supply Chain Management)- Construction- CommissioningO&M (Operation & Maintenance)- Preventive & Corrective Maintenance- Regular reporting- Operational & Real Time Monitoring - Spare Parts, Repairs

APPLICATIONS…Energy Solutions for Industrial Customers- Waste Heat Recovery (Steam/ Echogen)- Cogeneration (Engines)- Biomass (Steam)- Solar PhotovoltaicIsolated Areas Energy Solutions- Diesel/Engines- Solar Photovoltaic- Hybridization (Engines+ Solar Photovoltaic)

EPCEngineering, Procurement & Construction

DEVELOPMENT Permitting, Licensing & Authorizations,Feasibility Studies

O&MOperation & Maintenance

Parque Tecnológico Zamudio. Ibaizabal bidea. Edif. 50048160 - Derio (Bizkaia), SpainT : +34 94 431 78 26

Uniflex presents hose skiving machine at Hannover Messe Industrie

In many cases setting up the machine to accomplish a task takes a high proportion of the time to actually produce a product. Using pre-set tools, the new hose skiving machine USM 10 S by Uniflex dramati-cally reduces set up time. The result: Increased productivity for a more rapid return on in-vestment. At the “Hannover Messe Industrie” (8th to 12th March 2013) the experts show their new machine at stand C39 in hall 21.

Uniflex presents a new hose skiving machine which under-lines the company’s slogan “The Best Return on Invest-ment”. Due to its pre-adjust-able tools, the skiving of differ-

ent types of hydraulic hoses up to 2 inches in diameter is com-pleted in significantly shorter times than with previous so-

lutions. The skiving tools may be exchanged in the machine quickly and easily by means of a catch bolt. This eliminates

complicated adjustment and setting procedures for each hose change as had been pre-viously required. The machine is capable of internal skiving from 5/8” and external skiving from 3/16”.

Consistent with all Uniflex machines, the USM 10 com-bines user-friendly operation and maximum safety for opti-mum results. The CE-compliant machines are designed to be safely mounted on a work-bench and operated by means of a foot pedal. The machine guarding ensures operator safety. Gas springs assist for easy opening and closing of the guarding minimizing effort by the operator.

PRODUCTS


Icosolar backsheets with innovative 3rd generation polyamide certified worldwide Isovoltaic has further enhanced its polyamide backsheets which are already used suc-cessfully throughout the world and can offer an outstanding price/performance ratio with the Icosolar 3G product range. The backsheets using 3rd gen-eration polyamide are about to conquer the global market.

Icosolar APA 3G is UL recog-nized and TÜV type approved and has already been certified by several module manufactur-

ers for use in their modules.Icosolar FPA 3G and Icoso-

lar TPA 3G were also certified for the Japanese market with the JET Component Registra-tion in February 2013. This is a certification which, in addition to the successful existence of strict conformity testing, also includes auditing of the pro-duction processes and the pro-duction environment.

The certification of solar modules in accordance with

standard IEC 61215 specifies 1,000 hours of weathering in the damp heat test. Isovoltaic, however, is not satisfied with that. The benchmark for Ico-solar products is 3,500 hours of damp heat. A test which is passed without delamination, blisters, wrinkles or cracks.

As a result, both relevant pub-lic certification institutes and also the stability and quality tests confirm the outstanding properties of Icosolar products.

The fastest single-track system in the worldThe teamtechnik Group presents its Stringer TT1200 HS which solders solar cell strings in a 2.5 second cycle on just one track. It thus outpaces its predecessor by 200 cycles and is currently the fastest single-track stringer system on the global market. A single track means one single soldering process per stringer, less complexity, a lower require-ment for replacement parts and fewer operators.

With a proven availability at

over 95%, the system ensures stable production 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “Our com-

petitors’ machines only achieve the per-formance of Stringer TT1200 HS with two tracks.

Latest AC Moog wind turbine pitch system Innovative modular systems and products from Moog for wind turbine pitch control provide extra advantages in safety, reliability and reduc-ing the overall cost of energy. A pitch system monitors and adjusts the angle of the wind turbine blades that controls the rotation speed of the ro-tor.

Moog’s pitch platform provides several innovative features that will benefit tur-

bine manufacturers and op-erators. Moog set four goals when developing the new pitch systems and products: 1) Improve turbine reliability 2) Reduce the overall cost to the turbine operator of pro-ducing energy 3) Meet glob-al safety certification require-ments and 4) Create modular designs which are easy to integrate into the customer’s turbines.

Some enhancements to the

existing pitch system plat-form are the additions of the proven Moog Ruggedized Motion Controller and Re-mote Terminal Software to the wind energy portfolio. The IP67 class motion con-troller has an extended tem-perature range from -40 °C up to 70 °C (-40 °F up to 158 °F). It is designed for extreme environmental conditions such as high shock, vibration and humidity.

Delta launches a new 10 kW transformerlessinverter

Delta Energy Systems (Germa-ny) GmbH has extended its ad-vanced transformerless inverter series for the European market with a 10 kW inverter ideal for residential or small to medium commercial PV systems.

The three-phase Solivia 10 TL inverter has been designed to extract maximum profit-ability from the PV system. With a maximum efficiency of 98.3%, combined with 2 MPP trackers that support asym-metrical loading (33/67%), the 10 TL can increase the yield in such applications as east/west roof installations, where mod-ules are orientated in different directions. The asymmetrical loading operating with dual MPP trackers is a new standard feature for the complete three-phase TL-series, including the updated Solivia15 TL, 20 TL and the new Solivia 30 TL.

The wide input voltage range of 250V to 1000V gives the system planner a high flexibility in combining mod-ules and strings for a PV sys-tem without a compromise on the efficiency of the inverter.

The Solivia 10 TL is compat-ible with major types of PV modules and the IP65 rated enclosure protection class al-lows outdoor installation in harsh environments.

energética INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13

RENEWABLE ENERGIES

CLASSIFIED

+INFO: +34 902 36 46 99

Single module

Double module

Dimensions

55 mm. width x 65 mm. height

Price

600 euros / year

Dimensions

55 mm. width x 150 mm. height | 117 mm. width x 65 mm. height

Price

800 euros / year

ENERGÉTICA INTERNATIONAL offers the most practical way to locate your suppliers. The most comprehensive service pages with manufacturing and service companies in the sector of power generation.

¿INTERESTED IN PLACE YOUR ADV HERE?4 issues per year / 10.000 printed copies / 75.000 professional reading digital versions

Smart ideas for responsible comfort

HEATINGHOT WATERCLIMATE CONTROLRENEWABLES

www.ariston.com

Market representation for special system producers

Dispatching Center certified by REE

Electricity and gas supply

Leader in energy trading in the Iberian Market

Management and logistic of biomass

Axpo IberiaPº de la Castellana n° 66, 6ª pl. | 28046 Madrid T +34 91 594 71 70www.axpo.com

63

64

CLASSIFIED

energética INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13

RENEWABLE ENERGIES

RENEWABLE ENERGIES

La energía del conocimiento

NATIONAL RENEWABLE

ENERGY CENTRECENER

The energy of knowledgeApplied Research, Development, and Innovation

Carries out studies, energy audits, and resource (sun, wind and biomass) assessment

Highly-skilled services for testing and certifying components and systems

Development and technological transfer

Technical training

It is a member of International Standardisation Committees

www.cener.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +34 948 25 28 00

65energética INTERNATIONAL · Nº 129 · MARCH13

RENEWABLE ENERGIES

RENEWABLE ENERGIES

HERE YOUR

ADVERT

FOR 600 €

YEAR

SUBSCRIPTION FORM AND ADVERTISERS

energética XXI · Nº 129 · MARCH1366

VISIT www.energetica21.com

ADVERTISERS

ONLINE ADVERTISERS

ARISTON THERMO Classified

AROS SOLAR Classified

AXPO Classified

BORNAY Classified

CENER 23

CENER Classified

CHAUVIN ARNOUX Classified

DEHN IBERICA 15

DRESSER RAND 5

DRESSER RAND Classified

EGÉTICA-EXPOENERGÉTICA 7

EU PVSEC 2013 35

FILTROS CARTÉS 12

FILTROS CARTÉS Classified

FLIR 17

GES 33

GES 45

GES Classified

GPTECH Backcover

GRUPO CLAVIJO ELT 19

GUASCOR SOLAR CORPORATION 61

HANNOVER MESSE 17

HIMOINSA Cover

IBERDROLA INGENIERÍA Y CONSTRUCCIÓN Inside backcover

INDUSTRIAS ELÉCTRICAS SOLER 21

INGETEAM POWER TECHNOLOGY 9

INGETEAM POWER TECHNOLOGY Classified

INMESOL 13

INTERSOLAR 2013 Inside cover + 3

INTERSOLAR INDIA 53

POWER ELECTRONICS ESPAÑA 46

POWERGEN EUROPE 30

PRAXIA ENERGY Classified

PROAT 25

RESOL 11

SANTOS MAQUINARIA Classified

SAUNIER DUVAL Classified

TOGNUM AG 29

VAILLANT Classified

ZIGOR CORPORACIÓN 19

ZIGOR CORPORACIÓN Classified

CENER Web

FC BUSINESS Web

FLIR Web

Subscribe to our magazine

Spain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 euros/yearRest Europe . . . . . . . . 160 euros/yearRest world . . . . . . . . . . 280 euros/year

Use our on-line form: http://www.energetica21.com/suscripcion

Subscribe free to our e-newsletter:More than 80.000 professionals

are already receiving our e-newsletters.Join our e-subscribers groups.

http://www.energetica21.com/boletines/suscripcion

Visit our Web sites:

Spanish languagewww.energetica21.com

www.guia.energetica21.com

English languagewww.energetica-international.com

www.energetica-india.net

Our goal is to overcome all challengesAnd to apply all our technical know-how to drive those projects that once seemed impossible.

Iberdrola Ingeniería, one of the most important energy engineering companies in the world.

Combined Cycle Qatar (3000 MW)One of the largest in the Middle East.

129

Documents

Transcript of 129