Everoze

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬?   The SIRs are a new mechanism within offshore wind CfD allocation rounds, that will come into play with AR7. They introduce a novel approach to non-price factors in fixed and floating offshore wind development. The aim is to drive investment in a) deprived areas in the UK (shorter supply chains) and b) more sustainable means of production (anywhere in the world). “Investment” is not clearly defined but crucially includes orders, alongside direct investments, equity stakes, loans, etc. This is in specific Tier 1 components in the DevEx and CapEx phase. There are two key elements: 1. A minimum standard that developers will have to meet to receive a CfD of £100m per GW for fixed and £50m per GW for floating. Given that orders count, this should be relatively easy to achieve. Developers will need to submit a bid pre-CfD but can provide indicative estimates that need to be firmed up at Milestone Delivery Date. 2. A competitive auction for Government support of around £200m, with the budget yet to be confirmed. This potentially creates an economic incentive for developers to choose UK / more sustainable solutions that might (without subsidy) be more expensive than non-UK / less sustainable solutions. This auction runs pre-CfD bid and is valued on the basis of the total investment unlocked against the subsidy required by the developer. Some interesting questions remain: ·       How many developers will ‘bother’ with the competitive auction and instead just ‘tick-the-minimum-standard’ box? ·       How many live opportunities will be suitable for support? ·       How will developers seek to game the system / auction? ·       Will this result in UK taxpayers money being used to fund investment in supply chain facilities abroad? (albeit it more sustainable facilities) ·       With the recent election, will Labour seek to change the rules? ·       How impactful is this for sustainability (social, economic and environmental)? If you want to chat through SIRs or are considering your SIRs strategy get in touch!

I am excited to attend the Australia Wind Energy 2024 Conference & Exhibition (#AuWE2024), the largest and most influential gathering of wind energy professionals in Australia. Join me at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) from July 10-11, 2024, for impactful discussions and networking opportunities.

I've spent a lot of time recently working on understanding the carbon impacts of renewables. Are they getting a free pass on emissions? Well, not quite, but there's a lot being brushed under the rug. For those trying to measure their impacts, we have some tips on navigating the mess of guidance and standards.

❗ We must be vigiliant on module quality as the solar industry booms.   If there’s one thing I learnt at #intersolar this year, it’s that.   I had the pleasure of joining Steven Xuereb and Edurne Zoco PhD to discuss module quality concerns at the pv magazine Global focus session. It’s clear that the trend to larger cells in an effort to chase higher power is pushing modules sizes up which is triggering quality concerns in a number of ways: 🔧 Thinner glass and aluminium frames are needed to keep the weight down for bifacial modules, but these changes come with technical challenges. 🌧 Hail risk is the ‘governing peril’ for insuring solar farms. The IEC standard testing is not robust enough for many regions and hail stow is often not steep enough or suffers from delayed action. 📋 Labs are seeing cracking on backside due to stresses from size and weight and variable pressures under high winds. The IEC standards are clearly not enough on their own and don’t reflect variable pressures over a module that occurs in reality. 🌐 Components are tested in isolation and miss the holistic ‘whole-system’ test that reflects the reality of the installation. 🏷 Some module manufacturers are only guaranteeing the cell element of the BOM, not necessarily reflecting the module that was actually tested. Mitigation comes at every phase including 1) check your supplier, 2) get testing early on and ensure this reflects the site conditions and the combination of module and structure, 3) get post-shipment testing and installation oversight, 4) stock some spares and solidify that warranty!   There are other pieces to this story too, including Molly Morgan’s article on the switch to large wafers becoming the industry standard and her presentation on module inventory levels remaining high over the next year, driving the prices down and triggering cost-cutting measures from manufactures. Check out her article here >> https://lnkd.in/dc5iM2cM #solarenergy #renewables #quality #intersolar2024