January 2020

DP Energy Partners with Iberdrola to deliver 320MW hybrid project in South Australia.

Cork based renewable energy developer DP Energy moves toward construction of its Port Augusta hybrid wind and solar project in South Australia (SA) with Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. Construction on the ground-breaking project is to commence in mid-2020.

Established more than 20 years ago, DP Energy has successfully delivered 13 renewable energy projects totalling 400MW in various jurisdictions with a further pipeline of projects totalling more than 2000MW under development across Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK. These projects variously incorporate both on and off-shore wind, solar and tidal energy technologies, with PAREP selected as the first hybrid renewable facility.

With a history of more than 170 years, Iberdrola is a global energy leader, the number-one producer of wind power and one of the world’s biggest electricity utilities by market capitalisation. The group supplies energy to more than 100 million people in the countries in which it operates.

The Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park (PAREP) is one of the new generation of renewable projects designed to provide predictable power more uniformly across the day and when complete will be one of the southern hemisphere’s largest hybrid renewable power stations. The Project is projected to produce approximately 900 gigawatt hours (GWh) per annum, enough to power around 180,000 households each year, with an emissions saving of approximately 400,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually.

DP Energy CEO Simon De Pietro welcomed Iberdrola’s participation in the project. “We are delighted to have partnered with Iberdrola on this project. The company is a global energy leader with a track record of 31GW of renewable capacity amongst other activities. It’s exciting that they’ve chosen PAREP for their first investment in Australia and we are enthusiastic to see the project commence construction. DP Energy will continue to work with stakeholders and the local community and support Iberdrola through construction and commissioning,” Mr De Pietro said. He went on to explain that PAREP is one of the new large scale projects currently being developed by DP worldwide, including a number of utility scale solar projects in Canada and onshore and offshore wind in Ireland. ‘DP Energy is focused on the delivery of renewable energy when and where it is needed to support the transition to a fossil fuel free future’.

Country Manager Fernando Santa Maria said collaborating with the DP Energy team and securing investment for Iberdrola’s first project in Australia was an important milestone. “A 320MW hybrid wind and solar project is of great significance to our team and we look forward to being involved in South Australia throughout the lifetime of the project,” Mr Santa Maria said.

Media Enquiries

Please contact Niamh Kenny, Business Development Manager, 087-6866879 or [email protected]

 

Largest solar energy project in Western Canada could be built within Calgary city limits

By Adam MacVicar
Digital Journalist Global News

WATCH: A 156-acre lot off Barlow Trail S.E. is being eyed for a massive solar energy production facility which would house more than 1,500 solar panels. Adam MacVicar explains.

Despite the lack of heat recently in Calgary, an Irish energy company is banking on a lot of sunshine to fuel a potential new solar energy farm.

DP Energy is proposing a 156-acre solar energy production facility within Calgary city limits. If approved, it would be the largest in Western Canada.

“We do have a number of small (solar) farms that are at the compost facilities and I think some of our landfills have a small array, but nothing of this size,” Ward 12 councillor Shane Keating said.

The company is eyeing a property in the Shepard industrial site off Barlow Trail S.E. which is currently owned by Viterra, which would lease the land to DP Energy.

The site is home to an old tailings pond that has been capped, which means development opportunities on the land are limited, but officials believe the fixed-angle solar panels won’t disturb the land underneath.

“The panels would be installed on a concrete base that would rest on top of the land so as to not disturb the soil cap below,” a report going before Calgary’s planning commission said.

The proposed project would see the construction of 1,576 solar panels arranged in 78 rows and is expected to generate 25 megawatt hours of renewable electricity annually.

“It takes land that is sterile, it puts in a method of producing electricity in the heart of the city,” Keating said. “I think this is the beginning of the future… and I think that’s why it’s a benefit to the city at this point.”

According to Keating, that kind of production could power between 3,500 and 4,000 homes, however, there have already been some discussions on what to do with the power generated at the plant.

The new Green Line LRT is designed to travel through the area adjacent to where the proposed solar farm would be built and Keating believes the accompanying new LRT maintenance facility could benefit from the project.

“The beauty of this is all of our CTrains are run by renewable energy,” Keating said. “So this is the win-win — we’re building something in the heart of Calgary that eventually could be running one of our CTrains.”

Although the project is being labelled a win-win for the city, there is concern for how it will impact the area.

The biggest is the potential for glare from the panels at multiple locations along three airport flight pathways: Deerfoot Trail S.E., Barlow Trail S.E., and 114 Ave S.E.

But an analysis conducted by Stantec Consulting shows only a few areas that could see moderate glare.

“I’ve been assured the way the angle of the panels are and the fact that they can move them at different times a year, that it won’t be a concern,” Keating said.

It remains unclear whether there is any provincial money going toward construction of the project, but Keating believes the solar farm will be 100 per cent privately funded by DP Energy.

Based in Ireland, DP Energy is a renewable energy and sustainable development company with sites operating around the world.

Representatives from the company are expected to be on hand when the proposed solar project is presented to the city’s planning commission on Thursday.

City administration is recommending the planning commission approve the land development, at which point it will go in front of city council and then to a public hearing.

If all goes according to plan, Keating believes shovels could be in the ground later this year.

© 2019 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Original article here: https://globalnews.ca/news/4931598/calgary-solar-farm-proposal/

A substantial grant of CA$29,750,000 under the Emerging Renewable Power Program (ERPP) from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is set to trigger the next wave of tidal energy development at the FORCE facility in the Bay of Fundy Nova Scotia.

Cork based renewable energy developer DP Energy is managing two berths in the Bay of Fundy through its Canadian registered company, Halagonia Tidal Energy Limited.  It intends to develop both berths together as a single project under the banner Uisce Tapa (pronounced Ish ka Ta Pa) which means fast running water in Gaelic. The Project plans to incorporate 5 Andritz Hydro Mk1 1.5MW sea-bed mounted tidal turbines and a single SR2-2000 floating turbine by Scotrenewables Tidal Power Limited. At 9MW this will make it the largest tidal stream array to be deployed anywhere in the world.

DP Energy has been working closely with both turbine suppliers for the past two years, during which time turbines from both manufacturers have been successfully deployed in real sea environments in Scotland. In the case of Andritz, the three Mk1 turbines installed at the MeyGen Project have produced a cumulative output of more than 8.2GWh since their deployment whilst the SR1-2000 prototype deployed by Scotrenewables at the EMEC facility in Orkney has produced more than 3GWh since October 2017.

The Emerging Renewable Power Program (ERPP) administered by NRCAN aims to help Canada to meet the commitments made under the Pan Canadian Framework on Climate Change, by reducing GHG emissions and increasing government and industry experience with new technologies and building supply chains to support emerging renewable energy sectors such as in-stream tidal.

DP Energy CEO, Simon De Pietro commenting on the award said that he is “thrilled that NRCAN has recognised the value and potential of the tidal sector as well as the merits of the project proposed. In 2008 DP Energy added Ocean Energy to its Wind and Solar Energy projects and has been actively involved in the marine energy sector, developing projects in the UK, Northern Ireland and Canada since then. Uisce Tapa represents an opportunity to realise a project of meaningful scale in one of the most energetic tidal sites in the world”. Mr. De Pietro was also keen to acknowledge the backing which the industry has received from the Province of Nova Scotia to date in addition to its ongoing support. “The Nova Scotia Department of Energy and FORCE (Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy) have been driving the development of tidal energy in the province. The establishment of the FORCE facility and provision of an enabling Feed-In Tariff have contributed greatly to bringing us to this important milestone’. Mr. De Pietro concluded that he is excited with the prospect of moving on with the project in consultation with key stakeholders including Indigenous communities and local fishers.

DP Energy has developed 393 MW of wind energy systems, generating enough electricity to power some 117,900 homes every year. The company has a further 1,476MW of projects which are consented, in planning or in late stage development in Australia, Ireland, and the UK as well as a number of large-scale solar PV projects across Canada.

Ends

CEO, DP Energy: Simon De Pietro – [email protected] T: +353 (0) 879722399

Commercial Director, Canada: John Kerr – [email protected] T: +353 862 513899

Media Release
July 11, 2018

International renewable energy company DP Energy has received SA Government approval for Stage 2 of its ground-breaking Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park (PAREP), which when complete will offer most of the services of a traditional fossil fuelled power station but fuelled by renewable energy.

Approved by the State Government in June 2018, Stage 2 of the PAREP allows up to 500MW of solar photovoltaic generation, 400MW of battery storage and 3,000MW seconds of synchronous condenser capacity to be built. This infrastructure will add capability to the existing project, further improving the generation output to match the South Australian demand profile. It also provides the added benefit of actively supporting additional electricity network system stability through the use of synchronous condenser technology.

The addition of batteries and synchronous condensers to the renewable generation capacity gives the project the ability to react to fluctuations in both voltage and frequency which can help stabilise the grid and assist the network in reducing potential black outs.

Established more than 20 years ago, DP Energy has successfully completed 13 renewable energy projects around the world totalling 400MW with a further eight totalling over 1000MW currently under development. The projects variously incorporate wind, solar and tidal energy technologies, with Port Augusta selected as the site for the first hybrid renewable facility due to the region’s unique wind profile and consistently strong solar resource.

DP Energy Business Development Manager, Catherine Way, said the power station represented the next step in renewable technology. “Renewable energy projects are becoming increasingly mainstream, driven by continual technological advances that deliver greater efficiencies and reduced costs. However, the missing piece has always been the ability to provide full grid support and controllable power to match energy demand with energy generation. The unique renewable energy capability of Stage 2 minimises this previous limitation, making this a power station of the future,” she said.

DP Energy CEO Simon De Pietro said Stage 2 approval represented another successful step in the process. “We’ve now received all the necessary government approvals for the project, which is very encouraging. This latest development will contribute to Port Augusta becoming the renewable energy capital of Australia now there is no longer coal generation,” he said.

DP Energy is nearing financial close for Stage 1 of the Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park, which is a hybrid wind and solar plant. The Stage 2 approval will also allow for battery storage and synchronous condenser to be built on to Stage 1.

Media Enquiries
Please contact Paul Tierney, Porter Thomas, on 0415 900 891 or [email protected]

The new appointments will be tasked with uniting the sector behind a strategy to build an ocean energy industry in Europe.
10 April 2018. Brussels. Ocean Energy Europe (OEE) has appointed Simon De Pietro (DP Energy, Ireland) and Laurent Schneider-Maunoury (Naval Energies, France) as its new Co-Presidents. The duo bring a formidable combination of expertise to the table, as representatives of key project developers and OEMs in the ocean energy sector. They will set the industry’s strategy in the coming years, as it aims to deploy pre-commercial farms in European waters.

Mr De Pietro was reappointed after an interim election in 2016. Mr Schneider-Maunoury will serve his first term as OEE co-President. Co-Presidents are elected for a three-year term.

See complete article HERE.