Small countries, great potential

Transcription

1 Benelux Country Special Small countries, great potential The Energy-Arch is a showcase of Photovoltech, the key solar cell manufacturer in Belgium. While the Netherlands continue their pioneer role as most advanced country in pellet firing within the Benelux region, Belgium is making rapid progress in the development of solar energy. Offshore wind is becoming increasingly important in both countries. Luxembourg is too small to keep pace. Photo: Photovoltech In Belgium and the Netherlands, the utilization of biomass has a long standing tradition. In 2006, biomass accounted for 96 % of the total renewable energy production in Belgium, says Peter Rechberger, energy expert of Brussels-based European Biomass Association (AEBIOM). In the Netherlands, the share of biomass at that time accounted for 90 % of the total renewable energy resources. The two examples demonstrate that biomass will in the future continue to play an important role in both countries even outreaching the weight of wind and solar energy. The combustion of pellets is getting more important every day in the Benelux countries, adds Rechberger. Pellet imports: Made in Australia A glance at Belgium confirms this estimation. In May this year, a three-year agreement was signed between Belgian-based energy corporation Electrabel and Plantation Energy Australia. The Australian pellet manufacturing company and exporter was contracted to supply pellets worth 39 million to the largest utility within the Benelux region and one of the principle energy producers in Europe. Electrabel maintains power plants in Belgium, the Netherlands and in Poland. Almost 85% of the company s green energy is generated from pellets in Belgium. Electrabel s electricity production currently relies on about 2 million tonnes of biomass per year including 1 million tonnes of pellets, according to company spokesman 28

2 Rudi Willemse. Until 2014, the share of pellets in the electricity production is expected to rise to 3 million tonnes. Electrabel currently operates two power plants in Belgium with wood pellets. While the facility in Rodenhuize blends pellets with 60 % hard coal, the company s other plant located in Awirs, a former coalfired plant, is run 100 % on wood pellets. With an annual capacity of 80 MW, the plant still lies in the lower range, says Willemse. Competition is arising from Germany. E.ON, one of the major energy corporations in Germany, announced that the construction of a large coal-fired plant with a capacity of 1.1 GW is currently under planning for the area around the port of Antwerp. The project is scheduled for completion somewhere between 2014 and 2015 and will in part be fired with biomass in a later phase. With the green electricity obligation in Belgium, the national utilities are obligated to provide proof that the costumers in each region (Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels) receive a fixed share of renewable energy in their energy mix. Co-combustion of biomass and coal has therefore become popular among the utilities. Tradable green certificates granted by the regulatory bodies in each region provide proof of the share of renewable energy. In 2009, the green electricity obligation in the Benelux region was expressed in the following quotas: Wallonia 9 %, Flanders 6.25 % and Brussels 2.5 %. Netherlands: ahead of the game However, Electrabel is not the only utility to recently have entered an agreement with Plantation Energy Australia. In the following days, the Australian company announced to have signed a second agreement with the energy trading firm Essent Trading, a 100 % subsidiary of Essent NV, the leading energy provider in the Netherlands. The agreement obligates Plantation Energy to supply pellets worth 34.7 million over a period of three years. With this, the Australian company has turned into the largest pellets supplier within the Benelux region. We are very content about the agreement with Essent. The collaboration underlines our vision for the future, says Jarrod Waring, Business Development Manager of Plantation Energy. According to Waring, the company reaches even higher aiming at becoming Europe s key pellet supplier. By 2012, Plantation Energy Australia expects to reach a pellet production of 1.65 million tonnes per year. At the end of 2008, the worldwide pellet demand in comparison already ranged at more than 8 million tonnes and is expected to reach 16 million tonnes by In the Netherlands, the technology of pellet firing is highly advanced, reports energy expert Peter Rechberger. The largest electric utility in the country, Essent NV, is leading on the market and maintains the two largest cogeneration plants in the Netherlands with coal and pellets. However, here again, E.ON is on the rise. In the neighbourhood of the port of Rotterdam, the German utility has begun with the construction of a dual fuel plant that can be fired with coal or pellets. Joost van Dijk, Chairman of E.ON Benelux announced that the plant with a capacity of 1.1 GW is expected to be connected to the grid by In the Netherlands, the production of electricity through pellets is promoted with 0.56 /kwh making the technology form immensely lucrative. In light of the industrial uses of biomass in the Netherlands and Belgium, the situation in Luxembourg is rather poor. The country currently maintains 25 small or mid-sized biogas systems with an average capacity of 249 kw mainly run on residual materials. The development of biomass in Luxembourg is slowed down by a complicated regulatory framework, extensive licensing procedures and low tariffs, explains Jean Schummer, CEO of L.e.e. s.à r.l, a leading biogas company based in Luxembourg. Depending on the size of the system, each kwh generated is eligible Biogas applications prevail in Luxembourg. Photo: Renewable Energy Agency 29

3 Country Special Benelux Good prospects for Plantation Energy Australia: in Belgium and the Netherlands, the firing of pellets is a popular method of electricity production. Photo: Paradigma Running out of space: The mainland of the Netherlands is already home to a large number of wind farms. Photo: Renewable Energy Agency for a basic compensation of 0.12 to 0.15 and in some cases a power heat coupling bonus of But the owner of a biogas system can in addition apply for an investment grant of up to 50 %, which then makes up for the low tariff, says Marc Jakoby, a collegue of Schummer. Biomethane systems do not receive any incentive at all. But this situation could soon change. A bill has already been proposed that envisages a degressive tariff of / kw produced. Capturing wind power: German RWE In the Netherlands as well as in Belgium, offshore wind is becoming an increasingly important topic for the sector. Especially, Germany-based utility RWE has been demonstrating a lot of activities along the coasts of continental Europe. By the end of 2008, the total installed wind capacity in Belgium ranged at 384 MW of which 104 MW had been installed in 2008 alone. In contrast, the cumulative capacity in the Netherlands arrived at 2,225 MW. In 2007, the newly installed capacity was only 186 MW. One year later, the amount already grew to MW, states Ton Hirdes, Director of the Netherlands Wind Energy Association (NWEA). In August 2006, the government stopped the incentive for wind energy for financial reasons. By April 2008, a new incentive scheme for sustainable energy (SDE) became effective that subsidizes electricity generated from wind energy systems with /kwh over a period of 15 years. In March 2009, the tariff was raised to /kwh. In Belgium, offshore systems with a capacity below 216 MW are eligible for 1.07 /kw over a period of 20 years and 0.90 /kw for the years thereafter. Onshore systems in Belgium benefit from a tariff of 0.50 / kw. Offshore wind systems are becoming increasingly important in the Netherlands, says Hirdes. The country is densely populated and this puts a natural limit on the number of projects that can be realized on land. But with wind speeds of 9 m/s at about 80 m elevation, the Northern Sea provides ideal opportunities for wind energy production. Offshore: sandbanks under consideration But also along the Belgian coastlines, wind activities are picking up. Although the coast stretches no more than 67 km, Belgium benefits from a number of offshore sandbanks where water depths reach only about several metres. Some wind pioneers are now beginning to consider these shallows. The realization of four projects incorporating a number of about 200 turbines is already under planning, says Jade Charouk at APERe, an association for the promotion of renewable energies in Belgium. One example is C-Power. The company wants to erect 60 wind turbines with an installed capacity of 300 MW on the Thorntonbank, 28 km off the coastal cities Ostend and Zeebrugge. In this area, the Northern Sea has a depth of 16 m. Eldepasco plans to construct 30 offshore wind turbines (150 MW) for the adjacent sandbank Zonder 30

4 EVENTS ONE MODULE just like any other? EXPERT FORUM Branding for the PV sector Programme Block 1: Theoretical basics of branding Prof. Klaus Brandmeyer; Brandmeyer Markenberatung (consultancy) Block 2: Branding in practice Methods and examples of brand creation Martin Moschek, Faktor 3 Creating brands for an international market Ian Stephens, Principal at Saffron Consultants Block 3: Case studies A new name a new game: new positioning in photovoltaics Stephan Heyn, Marketing Director Sovello AG An old name a new game: a new run with a known brand Lars Waldmann, Press Spokesperson Schott Solar Block 4: Special aspects of marketing PR in times of crisis and brand name protection n.n., expert from BP Solar Brand strategy and the Internet Podium discussion Following the event we would like to invite you to an informal evening dinner with the opportunity to make and strengthen contacts and to meet the editors of SUN & WIND ENERGY. We have also organised a special highlight that fits the occasion: Louis Palmer will give a slide show presentation of his trip around the world with the Solar Taxi. This is not just living marketing for the whole photovoltaic sector it is primarily also a highly entertaining and informative account of this journey. For those who do not wish to travel home again on the same evening, we will be most happy to help in booking a hotel room. Further information and booking Mareike Leismann Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (FHM) Tel: 0049 (0)5 21/ Fax: 0049 (0)5 21/ leismann@fhm-mittelstand.de 15th October :30-17:00 Uhr Bielefeld, Fachhochschule des Mittelstands Registration fee: 595 Euro

5 Country Special Benelux The first six wind turbines of the Thorntonbank wind farm are already completed. Photo: RWE Naam and the project company Belwind has 66 turbines (330 MW) under planning for the Bligh Bank sand bank, 46 km off the Belgian coast. The planning also comprises another wind park with a so far unspecified number of turbines. Different from the other three projects, the renewable energy company Aspiravi plans to construct turbines in deep water between Thorntonbank and Zonder Naam. C-Power was the first to receive a license for the construction of its wind farm, reports Hilde Fredricks, spokeswoman of C-Power. Accordingly, the company was able to announce the grid connection of the first six turbines on the Thorntonbank as early as May Recently, RWE Innogy, a subsidiary of Germanybased RWE, announced the acquisition of % of C-Power shares from the Belgian investment companies Ecotech and Socofe that continue to hold shares of 20 %. Another 6.5 % of C-Power was acquired by RWE through the shareholding companies DER Energies nouvelles, Nutsdedrijven Houdstermaatschappij and DEME. Thorntonbank not only is one of the world s first wind farms to be constructed up to 30 km off the coastline and in water depths of about 28 m. The project is also the first commercial wind farm that incorporates turbines in the 5 MW range. Six of these turbines have already been installed, says Fritz Vahrenholt, Chairman RWE Innogy. The participation is an outstanding opportunity for us to integrate and enhance our experience in the offshore sector. The experience from this project will be an invaluable asset for our ambitious expansion plans in the offshore sector. Filip Martens, Chairman C-Power demonstrates equal contentment. We are very satisfied to have found an experienced partner in RWE for the further development of the Thorntonbank. With the completion of this project, we will have arrived at a new standard in the offshore sector. Compared to its neighbouring countries, Luxembourg continues at slow pace with the development of wind energy. According to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the newly installed capacity in the country was down to zero in 2008, even though electricity generated from wind energy systems is eligible to a tariff of per kwh. The total installed capacity in Luxembourg currently ranges at about 35 MW. Photovoltaics: Belgium coming out ahead In the area of PV, Belgium is ahead of the game and has about the most promising prospects within the Benelux region. At the end of 2008, the country was home to PV systems with an installed capacity of 71 MW. In the Netherlands, the PV capacity reached 59 MW and in Luxembourg 24 MW at that time. In a recent prognosis issued by the European PV Industry Association (EPIA) for the global market, Belgium is expected to grow with a newly installed capacity of 125 to 175 MW per year in course of the next five years. Neither the Netherlands nor Luxembourg is expected to follow up with the development as the amount of newly installed capacities in these countries has been limited with a cap. 32

6 While Flanders began to profit from an incentive programme as early as 2006, the Walloon region followed up with comparable measures only in The Belgian PV market is now really starting up, says Johan Nijs, CEO of Photovoltech, the key solar cell manufacturer in Belgium. Photovoltech s cell production currently reaches a capacity of 80 MW. However, a new factory is expected to be launched in 2012 to raise the capacities to 500 MW, says Nijs. Other major market players in Belgium include Soltech, Issol and Droben, according to Denis Thomas, economic expert at EPIA. Suddenly, PV has become in fashion in Belgium. Everybody wants to have it, adds Thomas. In Belgium, the year 2008 has been very good for the development of PV. In the last year, 41 MW were newly installed in Flanders. In 2007, the newly installed capacities had barely arrived at 9.7 MW. In Wallonia, 8 MW were added in In the year before, the country had seen only minimal growth. Prior to the introduction of the new incentive scheme, the PV capacity in the region was almost down to zero, reports Thomas. In the scope of the Solwatt programme, the Walloon government has been making 7 million available in 2008 and 2009 for the exclusive promotion of private PV installations. According to Walloon law, the owner of a solar system is entitled to 40 % of the investment sum or to receiving a maximum of 3,440 of the income tax in the respective year. The Walloon government also provides a premium in form of a one-time payment of 20 % of the acquisition In Belgium, the application of PV has grown to considerable weight. Photo: Renewable Energy Agency

7 Country Special Benelux Experts believe that the newly installed solar thermal surface in Belgium will reach more than 110,000 m² in Photo: Paradigma costs. The payment is limited to a maximum of per system for systems below 6,500 /kw. In addition, the Walloon Commission for Energy (CWaPE) is responsible for issuing tradable green certificates for electricity produced from certified installations. In Flanders, the introduction of an incentive scheme goes back to as early as 2006, which explains the higher amount of installed capacities in the region. According to Flemish law, the owner of a PV system is entitled to 0.45 /kwh over a period of 20 years based on green certificates. The incentive can be combined with valid subsidies from previous years. The electricity production from solar systems below 10 kw is annually set off against the private consumption. Accordingly, homeowners benefit from an additional bonus in size of the regular electricity tariffs for private households currently about 0.15 /kwh. The bonus, however, is not guaranteed over a certain period of time. Many experts expect that the demand for rooftop systems in Flanders will again rise dramatically in the second half of 2009 as the price for electricity produced from private PV systems will then drop to 0.35 /kwh. Netherlands: cap for PV systems Such a positive trend is unlikely to appear in the Netherlands, says solar activist Peter Segaar. From his perspective, the Dutch government simply entertains too little interest in the expansion of PV. Until recently, the incentive was restricted to systems below 3 kw. This rule has meanwhile been abandoned. According to EPIA, the incentive compensates electricity produced from PV systems with a capacity of 0.6 to 15 kw with 0.29 /kwh. Systems of up to 100 kw will in the future also be included. However, EPIA currently has no information on the size of the tariff. New installations with a capacity between 15 and 100 kw are subject to a cap of 5 MW. Smaller installations received a cap of 15 MW in From 2011 on, this limit will annually be raised by 5 MW. The incentive is supplemented with tax relieves and low-interest investment credits. The present caps demonstrate that the Dutch government is still conservative with the promotion of PV. The most attractive market for PV in the Benelux region continues to be Belgium. In Luxembourg the cap for newly installed capacities is without differentiation and set to 5 MW in Luxembourg also introduced an incentive, but only applicable for rooftop systems. The tariff for PV systems with a capacity below 30 kw is currently fixed at 0.39 /kwh and at 0.36 /kwh for installations between 30 kw and 1 MW. Solar thermal has to catch up In comparison to its European neighbours, solar thermal still plays a minor role in the Benelux region. Today, the installed surface accounts for no more than 2.4 % of the total installed surface in Europe. According to the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), the total solar thermal surface installed in the Netherlands at the end of 2008 arrived at 363,341 m², followed by Belgium with 268,947 m² and Luxembourg with an estimated 22,500 m². Belgium is ahead in the Benelux region, analyzes Werner B. Koldehoff, Management Consultant and Member of the Board at the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar). In 2008, the newly installed surface was at about 91,000 m² and, in my opinion, more than 110,000 m² will be reached before the end of the year. With this estimation, the solar expert makes reference to the incentive programme Soltherm for Wallonia. The objective of Soltherm is to promote 200,000 m² of solar thermal in course of the next two years. According to the law, Walloon households are eligible for an incentive of 1,500 for the first 4 m² installed and 100 for every m² thereafter. The tariffs can be combined with local incentives that range between 124 and 750 depending on the region. I expect that growth in the Netherlands will be similar to the previous year with 25,000 m², adds Koldehoff. I cannot say much about Luxembourg. The country is simply too small to keep track of the development. With the new incentive law in place for Wallonia at the beginning of 2008, Belgium has entered the first league of PV countries in Europe. Even though the incentive for Flanders will in 2010 remain low with 0.35 /kwh instead of the expected 0.45 kwh, the investment in a PV system continues to be attractive. Even foreign industry players are meanwhile convinced by the potential in the Benelux region. One example is the supply of pellets from Australia. But also the commitment of German utilities in the production of wind power is exemplary. Off the Benelux coast, the wind industry is now gaining momentum. Markus Grunwald Further information AEBIOM: Electrabel: Plantation Energy Australia: Essent Trading: E.ON Benenlux: L.e.e. s.à r.l.: NWEA: APREe: RWE Photovoltech: EPIA: 34

8 SWE World-class equipment New production facilities with a capacity of 600MW Our experts continuously search for even the smallest improvement As a leading photovoltaic manufacturer with a fully integrated production line, Yingli Green Energy delivers world-class products and services covering the entire value chain from polysilicon through poly-crystalline ingot casting, wafer slicing and solar cells to solar modules. We are committed to the sustainable development of the photovoltaic technology with a focus on the research, design, manufacture and sales of solar modules for grid-connected and off-grid solar power systems. Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. commerce@yinglisolar.com Hotline (0)