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Dubai-based PV developer Enerwhere has devised a new business model for solar projects on construction sites. Their approach, which is based on short-term PPA, involves moving mobile photovoltaic installations from one construction site to another.
Enerwhere Sustainable Energy DMCC, a Dubai-based developer of solar projects, has built a 540 kW insulated photovoltaic installation on top of a car park on a skyscraper construction site in Dubai.
This is a hybrid plant with a diesel powered microgrid and provides power for the entire job, including the office and heavy applications such as tower cranes, hoists and pumps from a centralized power generation center.
Six Construct, the Middle East subsidiary of Belgian construction giant Besix, is building the 340-meter skyscraper. “The solar panels mounted in the car park that serve 180 parking spaces - the largest solar car park installed on a construction site - serve the dual purpose of providing shade, as well as generating clean and renewable energy, while also leaving other areas in place that would have been used to install solar panels for other purposes, ”said Enerwhere.
Ad hoc model
“Our unique business model and technology in the world allow us to provide hybrid solar energy and solar cooling in temporary contracts of just six months and with a zero capital investment by the client, thus overcoming the main obstacles holding back solar investment. for customers with isolated power demands, ” Yavuz Perk, head of acquisitions at Enerwhere , told pv magazine . "We offer these solutions through PPAs, which means we take care of the financial burden associated with high plant capital demand, and customers only pay for the energy they consume." Normally the duration of the PPA is also the duration of the project, but we tend to sign projects that are six months or more. ”
Perk says customers can save 10-20% on electricity costs, depending on location and site. "But generally, we are targeting a minimum of 10% cost savings for the customer and 30% reduction in CO2 emissions," he said.
The systems are dismantled and transported to other works when construction projects are completed. Perk claims that the business model also includes the ability to connect PV systems to the grid, if a connection is available. For the Dubai project, the photovoltaic generator may eventually be connected to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) network under the Shams program for net metering.
Enerwhere plans to install batteries on-site if excess power is wasted. "In this way, the DMCC Uptown Tower project will be a one-of-a-kind project that will use a hybrid system of solar, diesel, and batteries, the first in the world," the company stated. |
