Recurrent Energy, Answering Energy Needs
Recurrent Energy is making renewable energy a practical choice for todays energy users as a leading provider of distributed solar power. Focused on global commercial, government, and utility photovoltaic markets, Recurrent Energy is answering societys increasing need for power by building a vast fleet of distributed solar generating systems, specifically targeting utilities and large electricity users. Currently, Recurrent Energy is expanding the business vigorously in partnership with other leading manufacturers such as Suntech and Yingli. In the interview with Sarah Jeong, Editor of InterPV, Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy, shares his plan and opinion on the solar market in the U.S.
REPORTED BY SARAH JEONG (PVED1@INFOTHE.COM)
Recently, Recurrent Energy completed a contract with Suntech regarding the use of 25,000 modules for a solar power project. Please tell us more about the SFPUC project.
The SFPUC project is an innovative 5 MW public power project sited on one of San Franciscos covered reservoirs. When completed mid-2010, it will be Californias largest operating PV power plant, providing clean electricity to municipal loads such as the light rail, airport, and city owned buildings. Its a great example of the kind of impact we can have with distributed-scale (2-20 MW) projects that are located close to load centers where clean energy is needed most.
What do you expect the impact to be of your project on the local economy and the solar industry development in California?
We anticipate the project will create 60 new green jobs during the construction phase and weve worked closely with local communities to define our hiring plans.
This type of distributed-scale project is faster to get through permitting and interconnection than the large utility-scale projects. That means we can bring the promise of solar to California sooner—that means more green jobs, federal stimulus money, and environmental benefits.
Are there any distinctive characteristics of the U.S. solar market compared with others including Europe and China?
Yes, there are significant differences that stem from the nature of the U.S. power markets and incentive policies. The U.S. is now poised to become the worlds largest market for PV. But we dont think the downstream industry will look like the industry in Germany or Spain. In the European feed-in tariff environment, successful developers can focus their capabilities on engineering, site control, and construction. In the U.S., we have to market our power to utilities, municipalities, and government buyers in a competitive environment. So, successful U.S. developers need to have the power marketing and operating capabilities on top of the core skill set that European developers have. Whats more, U.S. developers have to understand the added complexity of tax-oriented financing required by federal policy.
As a leading global power company, what is your strategy to expand your business all over the world?
Well, I would say we have a ways to go before we are a leading global power company. Our aspiration is to be a leading provider of distributed solar energy and were making good progress towards that goal. We have a development pipeline that is approaching 1 GW across all stages and geographies. Many of those are in the early stages, but a large number of them are solid late-stage projects. Were active in the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Germany. Were also exploring opportunities elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East. Its an exciting time to be developing projects. And with a financial market recovery on the horizon, it should be a very exciting time to be building projects soon as well.
In the system design area, what are the key factors to consider for solar power installation?
Our Engineering and Construction (E&C) team is focused on the key areas that drive value for us and for our customers. We want to drive costs down and maximize performance without introducing design uncertainties that have the potential to reduce system uptime. Were very focused on organizational expertise in PV and inverter technologies, site characteristics, and interconnection—all optimized in a rigorous cost/performance framework.
Please tell us some of your technological developments in recent years.
Were a developer rather than a technology company. Our focus is on choosing the best technologies rather than on inventing or developing our own. Our advantage comes from our people and their expertise, plus the integration of development, engineering, construction, and finance that enables us to deliver high value projects to operating status.
The U.S. PV industry shows rapid growth even though it is in its infancy. In your opinion, what motivates the fast growth for the U.S. PV market?
As the worlds largest electricity market, the U.S. is now poised to become the worlds largest and fastest growing PV market. While Spain and Germany have led the industry in recent years through generous feed-in tariffs, the U.S. market growth is a function of three factors:
(1) federal and state incentive policy, (2) the rise of utilities as buyers of solar power and solar power plants, and (3) rapidly declining equipment prices that are radically reducing the cost of solar PV-generated power.
Many businesses are still under the shadow of the global economic crisis. What is your outlook for the U.S. solar market in the uncertain economic situation?
Like all power markets, the U.S. solar energy market is cyclical and depends on the intersection of build costs, power prices, and the availability of capital. The first two have trended very favorably: electricity prices (particularly renewables) have stayed fairly steady while equipment prices have plunged dramatically. That is generating a lot of demand for developers. However at the same time, the financial crisis has made it difficult to finance and build projects. Smart developers have been developing big backlogs in their pipelines while putting very few projects into actual construction. As project finance markets recover, we expect to see a great deal of those projects get financed and move onto the construction calendar, driving a great deal of orders and project activity. The bottom line is that the U.S. is poised for rapid expansion that hinges on a financial recovery happening soon and regulators maintaining Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS).
Please tell us about your partnership with Yingli.
We have a strategic partnership that we announced earlier this year with Yingli that provides us with advantageous pricing on PV modules. While the agreement is not exclusive, it reflects a close partnership between our companies and the intent to work together to deliver PV projects at a price that enables us to provide solar electricity at competitive prices.
Please share your opinion on the global solar market in 10 years with our readers.
Overall, I think were entering the beginning of the grid parity era in the global market as prices come down and competitive markets drive demand. Obviously Im bullish on the U.S.—Ive been in the solar industry for 8 years now and it feels like the U.S. is on the verge of a very exciting expansion. I also think that were going to see a very favorable policy emerge in Ontario where we purchased a 300 MW pipeline from UPC Solar earlier this year. Europe will be interesting to watch. Germanys feed-in tariff degression may cut into growth and Spain is experiencing some whiplash as a result of their rapid expansion in the last two years. France and Italy are promising as are some other emerging European states.
Today, more and more countries accept going green as a motto instead of depending on fossil fuels. What are your thoughts on the future of the green economy?
Todays policymakers are increasingly recognizing that our air quality, environment, and climate are important resources. We cant continue to treat them as a free dumping ground for the waste products of burning fossil fuels. We have to continue down the path of shifting to renewables wherever possible and preserving valuable and finite fossil fuels for those uses where they really are the best choice. But were in a transitional period where were still subsidizing dirty fuels and undervaluing the environment—thus the debate often wrongly focuses on the cost of renewables because were not properly accounting for the true costs of using fossil fuels. Im an optimist, so Im hopeful that the trend is in the right direction and that overall the future of the economy is very green.
Sarah Jeong is Editor of InterPV. Send your comments to pved1@infothe.com
For more information, please send your e-mails to pved@infothe.com.
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