Global Round Up : July 27,2019

1. Lebanon’s 300 MW Solar With Battery Energy Storage Tender Garners Huge Response

An invitation for expression of interest (EOI) floated by the Lebanese government has gathered huge interest from solar project developers. The Lebanese Centre for Energy Conservation (LCEC)’s EoI invitation for the development of 300 MW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Lebanon has been oversubscribed by 25 times. A total of 75 EOIs were received, almost all submitted EOI’s have a proposed capacity of 100 MW plus 75 MW/75 MWh of storage.

2. Lightsource BP Forms JV with HA Utilities for Solar Projects in Egypt

Lightsource BP, a global renewable energy development firm, has formed a joint venture (JV) with HA Utilities, a part of Egyptian construction and engineering group Hassan Allam Holding (HAH), for development and long-term operation of solar projects in Egypt.

“We are very excited to partner with Lightsource BP to further develop our business in Egypt. Renewable energy is a natural fit with HAH’s existing construction, engineering, and building materials divisions,” said Amr Allam, Co-CEO of HAH in a media statement.

Apart from developing and operating solar projects, they will also offer solar energy and energy storage solutions to commercial and residential customers.

3. Xpeng Motors Technology To Raise Over $600 million

The founder of China-based Xpeng Motors Technology Ltd., Henry Xia Xpeng plans to raise more than $600 million this month from investors that include Alibaba, valuing it close to $4 Bn. Xpeng manufactured a batch of SUVs named David 1.0 by October 2017. In January, he revealed cherry-red G3 car for sale that comes with autonomous parking, a smartphone app to unlock the car, and a 360-degree camera ascending from the roof.

By late November, Xpeng plans to start delivering some of the 4,000 pre-ordered G3 cars, which costs $296K-$415K (200K-280K yuan). According to Xpeng, there are 300 EV companies in China.

4. Irish renewable energy support scheme approved with 2019 auction in view

The Irish government has approved the country’s long-awaited Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), and with the first auction set to take place in 2019 after state aid approval has been secured from the European Union. Confirmed by the minister for communications, climate action and environment Denis Naughten yesterday, further auctions are expected to take place at regular intervals throughout the lifetime of the scheme.

The scheme will provide for a renewable electricity ambition of up to a maximum of 55% as part of EU-wide decarbonisation targets out to 2030. Up to 4.5GW of renewable capacity is expected to be procured by 2030, according to February’s Project Ireland 2040, which set out a national development plan for Ireland over the next decade.

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