Czech Republic came out with a Renewable Energy Framework which will finish off the Solar Sector in the country if passed in the current form.Czech despite its small size has become the 3rd largest market for Solar Energy in Europe driven by high Feed in Tariffs.These guaranteed electricity rates have led to a Boom in […]
Countries around the world have always managed to shoot themselves on the foot while designing and implementing Feed in Tariff Schemes.Spain did it in 2008 resulting in a Boom and Bust Cycle,Czech is going through the Boom Phase currently while UK seems to be in the starting stage of the Boom.A Bust inevitably follows the Boom,as Bureaucrats never manage to prepare a good incentive scheme to promote Green Energy.It always surprises me how a developed nation government regularly manages to botch up these schemes.
Although the global financial crisis has pushed governments to sharply cut aid to the renewable sector, it has had little effect on costs in the solar mirror power sector compared with the photovoltaic (PV) sector, which uses solar panels to generate power.
“We’ve see some reduction in prices, but nothing like in the PV sector. Costs per megawatt are between 4 and 5 million but they can reach up to six depending on the kind of power storage system you use,” Seage said.
Sector analysts put the average cost of CSP per megawatt at about 5 million euros before the global financial crisis, about six times more than for conventional gas-fired power generation.
The high cost of CSP makes it unlikely to be competitive with conventional energy until the next decade, and that also depends on reasonable charges for carbon dioxide emissions.
“We see CSP power becoming competitive between 2020 and 2030, depending on a country’s levels of radiation,” Seage said.
Korean Shipbuilders are facing the twin problems of increased competition from Chinese companies as well as a global glut in Ship Supply.They are looking to diversify away from the ship building industry into newer faster areas of growth.Wind Energy has been growing at above 20% CAGR over the last several years and makes a good area to invest in.Daewoo Shipping has bought a small firm in the USA DeWind to acquire Wind Turbine Technology while Hyundai has already made plans to open Wind Farms.With same skills required in Offshore Wind Farms and Shipbuilding,Daewoo Shipping has set a target of $800 million from Wind Energy by
Note the Solar EPC business typically is a low margin business like the general Enginereering Procurement and Contract (EPC) Sector.A number of Solar Companies like Q-Cells,MEMC,Sunpower and First Solar in recent times have entered this segment to generate a captive demand for their solar products.Nobody derives significant profits from this part of the supply chain due to its lower margin structure.With low barriers of entry and little bargaining power,this part of the Solar Food Chain is the last place you would expect a high technology company like Toshiba to enter.The Nikkei report says that Toshiba wants to enter the Smart Grid business by leveraging its experiece of the Solar EPC business.
Even Germany has imposed yearly changes on FIT , still it has managed to become the solar capital of the world.2010 was an exception due to a mid year change,still Germany is going to install more solar capacity in 1 month than US’s entire historical installed capacity.This is due to a well laid out policy which instills confidence in investors.The French Government’s FIT cut has good reasons since ground mounted plants have lesser costs and most European countries like Spain are trying to boost residential solar installations.However rapid fire changes are not the answer to a well thought of careful FIT policy.