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Answering tough questions
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News/Analysis
lating R&D costs, vessel availability for deployment and servicing, limited weather windows for installation and inadequate operation and maintenance strategies. He also said that “insurance is a key driver for a lot of risk adverse banks.” He therefore urged the industry to get insurers involved at an early stage in project development.
Answering tough questions In a round-table discussion lead by journalist and broadcaster Stephen Sackur, also taking place at RenewableUK’s wave and tidal event, industry specialists and representatives faced some challenging questions in confirming that the wave and tidal industry is still able to validate its technologies.
Anton Milner recently resigned from the company’s management board, echoing the demise of another renewable energy visionary in 2008, Hans-Martin Rüther of Conergy Neil Kermode, Managing Director of the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), said it is not possible to give a time scale for wave and tidal. He pointed out that we still do not know enough about the physics, corrosion, and wear and tear of wave and tidal devices. Siân McGrath, Head of Commercial Development at Aquamarine Power, was more upbeat however. She pointed out that over the last five years there has been an exponential growth in support, political will and interest. Companies are starting to see a return on their investment and marine energy firms are beginning to scale up. But she warned that continued support is needed as wave and tidal has long time-frames for commercialisation. At previous sessions during the day, the discussion touched upon securing manufacturing in the UK. Henry Jeffery, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh said: “The UK is seen as a leader in this field – both in terms of technology and policy. The Marine Action Plan needs to cement that position to create ‘a strong home market’”. Competition will be a good thing for the industry as a whole, but Kermode said that the example of Pelamis being set up in Portugal rather than in the UK “woke up the UK industry”.
As Andrew Mill, CEO at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), pointed out regarding potential opposition to marine energy: “Environmental impact is important, but if we don’t do anything, the consequences will be far worse.”
Solar Photovoltaics: clouds on the horizon? 2010 was predicted by many to be the year that solar PV recovered some of the ground lost over the past 18 months after the industry’s welldocumented problems – the global recession combined with the collapse of the Spanish market; this resulted in oversupply, price decreases and margin pressures, something the PV industry had not been used to and, more importantly (in many cases) were not ready for. And as if to add to this pressure, oversupply gave the lower-cost Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers a major shot in the arm for their own exports. Major organisations have been busily adapting to this new marketplace, restructuring and positioning themselves to address issues such as costs, labour, innovation and scale. Of note is SunPower’s recent acquisition of SunRay which will give it a pipeline of PV projects totalling more than 1,200 MW in Italy, France, Israel, Spain, the UK and Greece, not to mention a local presence and workforce in those markets, markets that all have positive incentive schemes in place which should – theoretically at least – give a boost to PV sales in these countries. And then there’s Q-Cells, whose well-known ceo Anton Milner recently resigned from the company’s management board, echoing the demise of another renewable energy visionary in 2008 - Hans-Martin Rüther of Conergy (who presided over a period of incredible success but then over extended the company, tying it to a series of long term contracts that proved unsustainable). Q-Cells has certainly not been shy of making punts on various technologies, but is now struggling with the industry-wide tightening of prices and emergence of cheaper alternatives, and is now engaged in a complete restructuring programme, having decided to write down three of its investments to zero – Solaria, Sunfilm and Sovello – while focusing on its core competencies of crystalline silicon, and CIGS thin film modules (through its start-up Solibro). Such high profile casualties serve to focus minds, so where do the experts think we are at present in terms of the markets that the industry hopes will absorb modules as we move forward?
Markets It would be remiss not to start with Germany, where all the talk is of the reduced tariffs that will come, well, sometime this year, probably around the beginning of July with a one off reduction in the
Click through Political support
Further information:
Sackur asked the panellists whether they feared a potential change in Government, with UK elections expected to be called this year. Aquamarine’s McGrath said a change in Government would not be a problem. “We have got support across all parties. They all recognise the potential of wave and tidal.”
8
renewable energy focus
March/April 2010
■ UK Marine Energy Action Plan launched:
http://tinyurl.com/ylzg2hg ■ 1.2 GW Scottish wave and tidal leasing round announced:
http://tinyurl.com/ykpcdg4 ■ UK Budget 2010: http://tinyurl.com/yzt6rxa
News/Analysis
lating R&D costs, vessel availability for deployment and servicing, limited weather windows for installation and inadequate operation and maintenance strategies. He also said that “insurance is a key driver for a lot of risk adverse banks.” He therefore urged the industry to get insurers involved at an early stage in project development.
Answering tough questions In a round-table discussion lead by journalist and broadcaster Stephen Sackur, also taking place at RenewableUK’s wave and tidal event, industry specialists and representatives faced some challenging questions in confirming that the wave and tidal industry is still able to validate its technologies.
Anton Milner recently resigned from the company’s management board, echoing the demise of another renewable energy visionary in 2008, Hans-Martin Rüther of Conergy Neil Kermode, Managing Director of the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), said it is not possible to give a time scale for wave and tidal. He pointed out that we still do not know enough about the physics, corrosion, and wear and tear of wave and tidal devices. Siân McGrath, Head of Commercial Development at Aquamarine Power, was more upbeat however. She pointed out that over the last five years there has been an exponential growth in support, political will and interest. Companies are starting to see a return on their investment and marine energy firms are beginning to scale up. But she warned that continued support is needed as wave and tidal has long time-frames for commercialisation. At previous sessions during the day, the discussion touched upon securing manufacturing in the UK. Henry Jeffery, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh said: “The UK is seen as a leader in this field – both in terms of technology and policy. The Marine Action Plan needs to cement that position to create ‘a strong home market’”. Competition will be a good thing for the industry as a whole, but Kermode said that the example of Pelamis being set up in Portugal rather than in the UK “woke up the UK industry”.
As Andrew Mill, CEO at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec), pointed out regarding potential opposition to marine energy: “Environmental impact is important, but if we don’t do anything, the consequences will be far worse.”
Solar Photovoltaics: clouds on the horizon? 2010 was predicted by many to be the year that solar PV recovered some of the ground lost over the past 18 months after the industry’s welldocumented problems – the global recession combined with the collapse of the Spanish market; this resulted in oversupply, price decreases and margin pressures, something the PV industry had not been used to and, more importantly (in many cases) were not ready for. And as if to add to this pressure, oversupply gave the lower-cost Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers a major shot in the arm for their own exports. Major organisations have been busily adapting to this new marketplace, restructuring and positioning themselves to address issues such as costs, labour, innovation and scale. Of note is SunPower’s recent acquisition of SunRay which will give it a pipeline of PV projects totalling more than 1,200 MW in Italy, France, Israel, Spain, the UK and Greece, not to mention a local presence and workforce in those markets, markets that all have positive incentive schemes in place which should – theoretically at least – give a boost to PV sales in these countries. And then there’s Q-Cells, whose well-known ceo Anton Milner recently resigned from the company’s management board, echoing the demise of another renewable energy visionary in 2008 - Hans-Martin Rüther of Conergy (who presided over a period of incredible success but then over extended the company, tying it to a series of long term contracts that proved unsustainable). Q-Cells has certainly not been shy of making punts on various technologies, but is now struggling with the industry-wide tightening of prices and emergence of cheaper alternatives, and is now engaged in a complete restructuring programme, having decided to write down three of its investments to zero – Solaria, Sunfilm and Sovello – while focusing on its core competencies of crystalline silicon, and CIGS thin film modules (through its start-up Solibro). Such high profile casualties serve to focus minds, so where do the experts think we are at present in terms of the markets that the industry hopes will absorb modules as we move forward?
Markets It would be remiss not to start with Germany, where all the talk is of the reduced tariffs that will come, well, sometime this year, probably around the beginning of July with a one off reduction in the
Click through Political support
Further information:
Sackur asked the panellists whether they feared a potential change in Government, with UK elections expected to be called this year. Aquamarine’s McGrath said a change in Government would not be a problem. “We have got support across all parties. They all recognise the potential of wave and tidal.”
8
renewable energy focus
March/April 2010
■ UK Marine Energy Action Plan launched:
http://tinyurl.com/ylzg2hg ■ 1.2 GW Scottish wave and tidal leasing round announced:
http://tinyurl.com/ykpcdg4 ■ UK Budget 2010: http://tinyurl.com/yzt6rxa