Round-up of renewable energy PPA news (May 20 - 31)

Author: Gerry Machen. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic.

In the second half of May we were flooded by power purchase agreement (PPA) announcements from different parts of the world, including several contracts for powering mines, retails chains and data centres with renewables.

MINES TURNING TO GREEN POWER

-- Engie inks 11-year PPA to power Chilean copper mine

Chilean mining company Minera Antucoya Ltda signed a PPA with Engie Energia Chile SA to procure 100% renewable energy for its copper production. Read more ..

-- Poland's PGE to build 5-MW solar park with corporate PPA

A unit of Polish power group PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA (WSE:PGE) will build a 5-MW solar farm in Osiek and sell the output to the local sulphur mine under a corporate PPA. Read more ..

-- Swedish miner Boliden buying 415 GWh of wind power

Swedish mining and smelting company Boliden AB (STO:BOL) has agreed to purchase 415 GWh of wind power to supply some of its operations in Sweden and Finland. Read more ..

MORE RENEWABLES FOR DATA CENTRES

-- Facebook to power Utah data centre from 122-MW solar park

Social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will be sourcing electricity for its Eagle Mountain Data Centre in Utah from a 122-MW solar park that will be installed by First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR). Read more ..

-- QTS buying wind power for 2 data centres

US data centre solutions provider QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS) has agreed to buy enough electricity from huge wind farms in Illinois and Texas to cover 100% of the expected demand of two of its data centres. Read more ..

-- Microsoft to buy power from 731.5-MW Dutch offshore wind park

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) will be one of the off-takers of the 731.5-MW Borssele III & IV offshore wind projects in the Dutch North Sea. The software giant has signed a 15-year PPA with Dutch Eneco Holding NV, one of the project’s owners. Read more ..

NEW RETAILERS JOIN THE PARTY

-- Chile’s Colbun signs PPA to supply renewable power to retail chain

Chilean department store chain Ripley SA will be sourcing 100% renewable energy for some of its establishments under a new long-term PPA) signed with Colbun SA. Read more ..

-- French retailer Boulanger to source renewable power from Voltalia

French specialised retailer Boulanger has entered into an exclusive partnership with Voltalia SA (EPA:VLTSA) to source 100% of its energy from renewable sources. Read more ..

UPDATES FROM KEY TENDERS

-- Enercon, Enerjisa win 1-GW onshore wind tender in Turkey

German wind turbine maker Enercon GmbH and Turkish energy group Enerjisa have each secured 500 MW of capacity in Turkey’s latest wind tender, the country’s energy ministry announced. The companies will be awarded 15-year PPAs. Read more ..

-- Argentina receives USD 520m in proposals under RenovAr Round 3

Argentina has received offers for 56 renewable energy projects representing a combined investment of USD 520 million to take part in the third round of the RenovAr auction programme. Read more ..

-- Massachusetts issues 800-MW solicitation for offshore wind

Massachusetts has launched its next solicitation for offshore wind, targeting up to 800 MW of capacity at sea. Interested parties will be competing to sign PPAs with Massachusetts power distribution companies for a period of 15-20 years. Read more ..

-- Colombia issues proposal for terms, date of 2nd renewables auction

May 24