SEEM launches operations, supporting renewables adoption

The Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) announced it has initiated operations, allowing participants to buy and sell electricity using its advanced SEEM platform.

SEEM serves electricity customers across the southeastern U.S. The new SEEM platform will facilitate automated, sub-hourly trading, allowing participants to buy and sell electricity close to the time the energy is consumed, utilizing available unreserved transmission. This advanced platform is expected to improve energy trading volumes, lowering fuel costs for customers and reducing solar curtailments. It demonstrates how digital means can lift transparency and efficiency and thus make good use of energy resources, which absolutely makes sense for strengthening the competitiveness of renewables like solar—and pushing forward the energy transition process.

Customer savings can be realized by selecting lower-cost and more efficient generation resources to serve customer demand. When energy sellers identify a use for their excess energy, those profits also benefit customers in return.

From the stand of carbon footprint, a study estimated that carbon emissions reductions for the SEEM region under operating conditions to be 570,000 metric tons annually for the IRP Baseline Outlook and 790,000 metric tons for the Carbon-constrained Outlook.

The SEEM platform will help save customers money and better integrate renewable resources, while ensuring all customers across the region realize the promise of renewables.

—said Noel Black, Southern Company's senior vice president of governmental affairs.

With the addition of Duke Energy Florida, Seminole Electric Cooperative, Tampa Electric Company and JEA in early 2023, SEEM's footprint would include 23 entities in parts of 12 states with more than 180,000 MWs (summer capacity; winter capacity is nearly 200,000 MWs) across two time zones. These companies serve the energy needs of more than 36 million retail customers (almost 60 million people).

Sungrow supplies inverters for solar projects in COP27's host country

Upon the arrival of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Sungrow and its local partner Arab Consulting Office (ACO), formally announced the delivery of a package of solar projects in this host city, altogether generating over 80 GWh of clean electricity and reducing about 55,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

Before the hosting of COP27, the Egypt government has already rolled out a series of initiatives and measures as a demonstration of official determination and supports to mitigate climate change. Switching to clean power is positioned as a crucial segment of its pathway to the blueprint. The government united many renewable energy players to construct these milestone solar projects, including the largest solar plant in Sharm El-Sheikh, with a capacity of 20 MW. These projects will power varying business, transport, and tourism facilities that will provide services during COP27 and help transform Sharm El-Sheikh into a green city.

Sungrow serves as the solar inverter provider for these projects. Its industry-leading commercial inverter SG110CX is utilized, bringing higher energy yield with MPPT techniques and excellent compatibility with bi-facial modules. Additionally, this inverter complies with IP66 and C5 anti-corrosion protection standards and integrates the AFCI safety feature, ensuring high reliability in long-term operation under Egypt's hot and dry climate.

Leveraging the extensive effects of COP27, these solar projects can accelerate Egypt's energy transition process. And Egypt has become a significant market for Sungrow in recent years

After completing them, Sungrow achieved altogether 500MW installations there, occupying a dominating market share. To strategize the bright market in Egypt and North Africa region, Sungrow provides a comprehensive product portfolio which can be spread nationwide through our trustworthy distributors like Arab Consulting Office. We also own a mature team ready to serve and offer professional guidance. These advantages will help us achieve more milestones in the near future.

—said Moustafa Mohamed, Director of Sungrow North Africa Region.

Other major participants in these solar projects include ENI, Hassan Allam Utilities, TAQA Arabia, Intro Sustainable Resources, Gila-AlTawakol Electric, etc.

Sungrow has also been under the spotlight at several important energy events recently. Just last month, it achieved 3GW distribution contracts of inverters and over 600MWh BESS contracts with several renowned renewables players in Australia during the All Energy Australia, expected to help the country finish several milestone projects within 2-3 years.

Sungrow signs 3 GW inverter and 600 MWh BESS contracts with Australian players

Sungrow achieved 3GW distribution contracts of PV inverters and over 600MWh BESS contracts with several renowned renewables players in Australia during the All Energy Australia hosted last week. It will supply its industry-leading residential and commercial PV inverters to local customers for the upcoming 2-3 years and help to build some milestone BESS plants in Australia.

At the event this year, Sungrow showcased its new-gen residential and commercial PV and ESS solutions, featuring higher yields, enhanced safety protection, simplified operation and intelligent post-O&M. Its PowerTitan and PowerStack (Sungrow's latest liquid-cooled energy storage system for the utility and C&I market), as well as its flagship air-cooled storage system ST129CP-50HV are especially under the spotlight.

Noticeably, Sungrow's latest liquid-cooled ESS series safeguards the BESS plant's safety with advanced liquid-cooled technologies and AI monitoring of the battery cell. Cluster-level energy management can refine energy charging and discharge, bringing higher yields.

Altogether, Sungrow established a 3GW long-term inverters partnership with One Stop Warehouse (2GW, distributed in 3 years) and AC Solar Warehouse (1GW, distributed in 2 years). It also signed over 600MWh BESS contracts with leading renewables players in Australia. The largest among them will construct the 360MW/292MWh Solar River Project, expected to be South Australia's largest DC-coupled solar plus storage plant.

Sungrow will also cooperate with Mondo to develop C&I BESS plants in 2023. The first batch will be 50 projects with a total generation of 10 MWh.

It is really impressive that we accomplished so many significant agreements with important partners in Australia, which fully demonstrate the local market's strong confidence in us. Sungrow Australia has once again proved its capability and strengthened its industry-dominating position in the market. We offer a comprehensive product portfolio from residential, and C&I, to utility-scale solutions and own an excellent local team that is ready to reach and serve our customers here.

—said Shawn Shi, General Manager of Sungrow APAC Region.

Daqo's subsidiaries to supply high-purity polysilicon to a leading PV firm

Leading supplier of high-purity polysilicon Daqo New Energy announced that its subsidiaries Xinjiang Daqo and Inner Mongolia Daqo had signed a six-year high-purity polysilicon supply agreement with a leading PV manufacturing company in China.

Under the agreement, Xinjiang Daqo and Inner Mongolia Daqo will provide this company with 432,000 metric tons of high-purity mono-grade polysilicon from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2028. Both parties will negotiate and confirm the actual prices monthly based on market conditions.

As per the company's prediction, the demand for high-purity polysilicon is expected to increase at a robust rate, as their downstream customers are expanding their capacities very fast and want secure supplies of raw materials.

We expect that high-efficiency solar modules based on N-type technology will increase the market share very rapidly starting from next year. N-type technology requires even higher purity of polysilicon than the current P-type mono technology. We have confidence to benefit from this trend and differentiate us from our competitors by providing high-purity polysilicon to address the fast growing demand for N-type products.

—commented Longgen Zhang, chief executive officer of Daqo New Energy.

Founded in 2007, Daqo New Energy has a total polysilicon nameplate capacity of 105,000 metric tons and is one of the world's lowest-cost producers of high-purity polysilicon.