SunPower has begun construction on the 86 MW Prieska solar power plant in South Africa's Northern Cape province.

Expected to be fully operational in 2016, the project is the third solar power plant constructed by SunPower under the South Africa government's renewable energy program (REIPPP). In 2014, SunPower completed two projects totaling 33 MW, located near Douglas in the Northern Cape.

SunPower designed and is constructing the Prieska project and will provide operations and maintenance services once it is operational. The project will sell the electricity it produces to regional public utility ESKOM under a power purchase agreement.

The U.S. solar developer is installing its SunPower Oasis Power Plant technology at the Prieska site. The technology uses single-axis trackers to position the SunPower panels to face the sun throughout the day, increasing energy capture by up to 25% over fixed-tilt solar technology, according to the company.

SunPower secured the project under a project development agreement with South African Mulilo Solar Enterprises and Total, SunPower's majority shareholder. The project company in charge of implementing the project is owned by affiliated companies, including Total with a 27% share and Mulilo Solar Enterprises (18%), along with four other partners including a local community trust.

"With an abundance of reliable, cost-effective solar resources, South Africa is one of the fastest growing solar markets in the world today," noted SunPower President and CEO Tom Werner, adding that the company would continue to serve the region with the opening of its new solar panel manufacturing plant this year.

SunPower expects to produce up to 160 MW of solar panels a year at its new manufacturing plant in Cape Town, which is set to create some 150 new jobs.

SunPower's current global projects include recently announced plans with Apple to build two solar plants in China's Sichuan province totaling 40 MW.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/sunpower-breaks-ground-on-86-mw-solar-plant-in-south-africa_100019150/#ixzz3XvyLcIpI

Krinner Schraubfundamente GmbH received the order to build several photovoltaic plants in Romania with a total capacity of 50 megawatts (MW). The investor is one of the leading electricity providers and energy traders in Romania.

The plants will be erected in the three districts of Gorj, Giurgiu and Dolj in South Romania. Currently more than 20MW are under construction, which for the most part should be completed before the end of 2012. In spite of high snow and wind loads, a cost efficient substructure solution was able to be achieved with the Krinner Flex systems.

The remaining 30 MW are in planning. The construction should be started before the end of the year.
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Kloben, a leading manufacturer of solar thermal vacuum collectors and high performance thermal systems based in Verona, Italy  is looking for a suitable partner in SA, a structured installation company, with which to establish a long lasting collaboration.
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For an introduction/more info contact us.

At the Samsung Africa Forum currently underway in Cape Town, the company unveiled its Solar Powered Healthcare Centre which is designed to provide healthcare in rural areas.

Today at the 2013 Samsung Africa Forum, Samsung Electronics Africa launched its Solar Powered Health Centre model in Cape Town, marking the start of a large-scale medical initiative on the continent. The mobile centres are built for use in remote rural areas, and intended to eliminate the economic and geographic barriers that prevent people across Africa from obtaining quality medical treatment.
 
The Solar Powered Health Centre is designed to reach as many people as possible, as regularly as possible. Mounted on a truck and manned by qualified medical professionals, the centres will move from one area to the next providing a range of eye, ear, blood and dental medical services to the public.
 
“There is still much to be done in South Africa to educate people about the importance of basic preventative medical screening and treatment. What many see as minor health issues will not only get worse over time, but will affect other aspects of quality of life. The child that cannot see properly cannot learn properly” says Dr Mandlalele Mhinga, medical expert, and Trustee and active member of the Nelson Mandel Children’s Hospital. “Mobile solutions help address this issue by making medical services accessible to more people in rural areas, and educating them about health care at the same time. When corporates come on board and partner with government by using their unique expertise to contribute to a better society – we see powerful results”.
 
Samsung has set itself a goal to reach one million people through its Solar Powered Health Centres by 2015 - as part of its broader CSR goal to positively impact the lives of five million people in Africa by 2015.
 
According to the World Bank, more than 60% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa live in rural areas. These people often lack the time and resources to reach clinics for proactive medical care, and particularly if they are ill and unable to make long journeys. In South Africa, only approximately 20% of the population is served by private medical schemes, with the public health sector struggling to cater to the remaining 80% of the population.
 
“We have been providing medical services to rural areas in Africa for a few years now through our annual Employee Volunteer Programmes”, says Ntutule Tshenye, Business-to-Government and Corporate Citizenship Lead for Samsung Africa. “This experience has shown us how desperately medical treatment is needed across the continent, and inspired us to develop a sustainable and innovative solution to reach the people who need it most. While our CSR strategy in Africa is largely focused on education, our efforts to enrich lives will not be felt if people’s basic needs, such as access to healthcare, are not met.”
 
A large focus will be placed on screening people to establish conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, tooth decay and cataracts. The centres will also focus on educating communities about health issues and encouraging people to take tests as preventative measure. Medical products will be provided by Samsung’s partners on this project, including the Department of Health and pharmaceutical companies. Other partners will include medical universities, and organisations that are involved in health care like World Vision, and Doctors without Borders.
 
Samsung Africa’s broader CSR strategy involves a sustained focus on three key areas: education, healthcare, and rural connectivity - in line with the company’s global ‘Hope for Children’ initiative. In addition, Samsung Africa focuses on developing products that are built specifically for African conditions in an effort to improve lives, as seen in its ‘Built for Africa’ product range. To ensure it is able to continue to meet consumer demand on the continent; Samsung’s education programmes, which include the Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy, Samsung Solar Powered Internet Schools, Samsung Solar Power Generator, and Samsung eLearning Centres, are geared at supporting the development of African thought-leadership and the advancement of electronics engineering on the continent.

Globeleq Generation Limited (Globeleq), the emerging markets power company, celebrated the official start of construction of three renewable energy projects in South Africa during February. The projects include the 138 MW wind farm at Jeffreys Bay on the Eastern Cape and 2 x 50 MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities located in the Northern Cape. All projects are expected to be operational in mid 2014.
 "The start of construction of these three projects reinforces the dedication and leadership of the South African government to climate change and the necessity for diversifying the energy supply for the country," said Mikael Karlsson, Chief Executive Officer for Globeleq. "It is yet another significant step for Globeleq in building the leading African power company and clearly demonstrates our commitment to deliver clean and reliable energy to the people of South Africa." The three projects are part of the Government of South Africa's Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Program and are among the very first large scale renewable power plants to be built in the country. Globeleq is the majority shareholder in a consortium comprised of Mainstream Renewable Power, Thebe Investment Corporation, engineering firms Enzani Technologies and Usizo Engineering and local community trusts. Old Mutual is an additional consortium member in the Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm. Paul Kunert, Head of Business Development for Africa added: "These renewable energy projects add to Globeleq's extensive African power generation portfolio and illustrate our ability to mobilize capital for sustainable and productive power generation investments. Globeleq looks forward to working with our consortium partners, the contractors and community to successfully build the project on time, safely and within budget." During construction, the projects are expected to generate hundreds of jobs and, once operational, the project revenues will benefit the local community through socio-economic and enterprise development programmes. Each year the projects are expected to supply enough clean, renewable electricity to power more than 156,000 homes, displacing over 580,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year. The two 50MW solar projects will be constructed by Siemens under a lump-sum turnkey EPC contract. The Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm will be constructed by Siemens and a South African consortium of Murray & Roberts and Conco. Construction will be jointly managed across all three projects by Mainstream and Globeleq. Globeleq is an experienced operating power company, actively developing energy solutions for the emerging markets of Africa and the Americas. The company develops economically sustainable projects that support the continued development of the electric power sector in these regions. Globeleq is solely owned by Actis, the pan-emerging markets private equity firm. For more information go to www.globeleq.com