Foreign firm secures $244m solar deployment contract in Lagos

A China Energy Engineering firm has secured a 24-month, US$244 million engineering, procurement and construction contract for a 360 Megawatts, MW solar plant in Lagos, Nigeria.

The Polysilicon maker and inverter company, known as TBEA, said the soaring polysilicon price driven by shortages of the solar panel raw material this year will lift its first-half profits to more than treble the amount booked in January-to-June last year, with the company expecting RMB3-3.2 billion (US$463-494 million).

TBEA also credited income from its solar and wind power plants, polysilicon is the main driver in the profits leap, with the company’s Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Xinte Energy predicting its profits will rise from RMB1.74 million (US$269,000) in January-to-June last year to RMB1.15 billion (US$178 million) this time around.

Manufacturer Trina Solar has secured permission from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue convertible bonds worth up to RMB5.25 billion (US$811 million), with the proceeds to be spent expanding its production capacity of 210mm-wafer-based solar cells and modules.

PV developer and manufacturer Canadian Solar has secured the tender for a 45 MW/45 MWh energy storage facility in Barranquilla, northern Colombia, with the plant expected to enter operation by June 2023. The tender was held by the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Colombia and Canadian Solar secured 15 years of contracted income from the facility.

HongKong-listed renewables investor Kongsun Holding announced plans at the weekend to sell seven solar farms, with a total generation capacity of 209 MW, to state-owned entity China Xinhua Power Development Co Ltd for RMB1.29 billion. The deal will book a net loss of RMB346 million (US$53.4 million) for Kongsun but will reduce its liabilities and enable it to pay down debt. The transaction will leave the project developer with a 620 MW solar portfolio.