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RE production recovering after low-wind dip


Worldwide Power production The latest International Energy Agency Monthly Electricity Statistics report, which includes June 2021 data, shows that for total OECD *activity: ● In June 2021, total electricity production in the OECD was 894.2 TWh. Production was 5.8% higher than in June 2020 and 6.8% higher than in May 2021.


● Renewable electricity production was 271.0 TWh, 0.9% higher than in June 2020 and 8.9% lower than in May 2021. Renewable power was responsible for 30.3% of total electricity production. The drop in renewable production compared to May 2021 was caused by lower wind production, at 55.9 TWh in June 2021, 29.4% lower than in May 2021.


● Conventional thermal production was 500.2 TWh in June 2021, 19.0% higher than in May 2021 and 9.6% higher than in June 2020. In the first semester of 2021, conventional thermal production was 2805.2 TWh, 7.2% higher than in the period in 2020. This increase in


production was driven by higher coal power output, at 1035.7 TWh in the first semester of 2021 up by 15.3% compared to the first semester of 2020. In the United States, coal production was 90.4 TWh in June 2021, 33.0% higher than in June 2020. In the first semester of 2021, coal power production was 453.5 TWh, up by 33.6% compared to the same period in 2020. In the first semester of 2021, coal power output was similar to the output in the first semester of 2019. In the first semester of 2020, coal production was the lowest recorded since 1965 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Demand for coal plummeted as electricity demand dropped and natural gas prices were historically low. In the first half of 2021, natural gas prices were higher and coal power production became more competitive.


*The IEA’s Monthly Electricity Statistics features electricity production and trade data for all OECD Member Countries, and can be downloaded from the IEA website.


OECD electricity production by fuel type, year-to-date comparison


January – June 2020 4.3% 9.5% 17.9% 15.9% 17.9% 5.1% January – June 2021 4.8% 9.2% 19.7% 15.0% 0.8% 28.6% Total = 5072.6 TWh 0.9%


17.0% 5.4%


28.1% Total = 5272 TWh


■ Coal ■ Natural Gas ■ Other Combustibles ■ Nuclear ■ Hydro ■ Wind ■ Solar ■ Others


1500 MW Sudair solar attains financial close


Saudi Arabia Solar energy ACWA Power has announced financial close for the 1500 MW Sudair solar plant, one of the world’s largest single-contracted solar PV plants and the largest in Saudi Arabia. It is a key project under the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) renewable energy programme, which aims to support Saudi Arabia’s ongoing energy transition and diversification, and to deliver 70% of the country’s renewable energy under the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP). The launch of the Sudair Solar project was announced at the inauguration of Sakaka PV


project in April this year. ACWA Power also announced that SAPCO, a fully owned company of Aramco, have joined the consortium with ACWA Power and Badeel, a company fully owned by PIF.


ACWA Power – in which PIF holds a 50% stake – and Badeel will each own 35% in the special purpose vehicle ‘Sudair One Renewable Energy Company’, which was incorporated for the project, with SAPCO holding a 30% stake. With an investment value of SAR 3.4 billion, the Sudair project, which is located at Sudair Industrial City, is set to become one of the largest single-contracted Solar PV plants in the


world. A 25-year power purchase agreement for the plant was signed with the Saudi Power Procurement Company, with the tariff being among the lowest for solar PV projects globally.


The financing group includes Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Riyad Bank, Korea Development Bank, Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation, and Standard Chartered Bank as senior lenders and Mandated Lead Arrangers. The equity bridge facilities are provided by Bank Al Bilad, Saudi British Bank and SMBC International Plc.


Siemens to supply first HL-class gas turbine to Taiwan Taiwan Combined cycle


Siemens Energy, together with its consortium partner CTCI Corporation of Taiwan, is to build the 1100 MW Sun Ba Power Phase II combined cycle power plant for the IPP Sun Ba Power Corporation.


It will be located in Tainan, SW Taiwan, and be fired with regasified liquefied natural gas. Siemens will also provide long-term service for the plant’s core components.


Sun Ba II, scheduled for completion in 2024,


is designed as a multi-shaft combined cycle power plant, in which two gas turbines and one steam turbine each drive its own electrical generator. Siemens Energy’s scope of supply includes the plant’s power island, consisting of two SGT6-9000HL gas turbines, one SST-5000 steam turbine, three SGen6- 2000P generators, two heat recovery steam generators, and the SPPA-T3000 control system. The HL-class turbine has been designed to incorporate advanced


4 | September 2021 | www.modernpowersystems.com


technologies and is based on the H-class fleet that has more than two million operating hours.


The service contract includes long-term service over 25 years for both gas turbines, the generators, the steam turbine, and the heat recovery steam generators. It also includes an option for digital service solutions. CTCI Corporation is responsible for the construction and installation, and the entire EPC contract for the balance of plant.


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