Recent investments into 11 GW of new coal generation capacity may result in reduced operating cashflows of $71 billion. That will occur, according to a report from the Carbon Tracker Institute, because solar and wind will become cheaper than coal in Japan by 2025 at the latest, despite high renewable energy costs at present.

Originally intended to commission 140 MW of storage, the tender drew three winning projects: a 50 MW system and two 30 MW facilities. Eirgrid has estimated the total value of the contracts at around €6 million per year.

The government of the Tshopo province has signed an agreement with Cat Projects Africa for the PV plant. The project will be connected to the grid operated by utility Société nationale d’électricité and is intended to improve power supply in provincial capital Kisangani.

An €18 million loan has been provided by the African Development Bank. The solar park, planned for capital N’Djamena, will be coupled to 4 MWh of storage.

Cesium lead black perovskites could be interesting for solar cell development if their crystals are observed in their less efficient but more stable beta phase. The efficiency shortfall can be solved by healing emerging cracks in the surface of the cell using a choline iodide solution, according to an international team of scientists.

An accelerated transition to renewables could go either way, regarding the United States’ unique geopolitical strength. According to Indra Overland – head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs – the U.S. could surrender a major advantage if it abandons fossil fuel. The nation could, however, remain dominant in the global energy sector if it continues to lead on innovation and clean energy tech-related intellectual property.

According to figures from Italian renewables body ANIE Rinnovabili, 18,036 storage systems coupled to clean energy power generation have been installed in the country. Most of the batteries are in Lombardy, whose administration offers rebates.

Da Mi has $37 million for a floating solar project it wants to build at its hydropower plant in Binh Thuan province. If built before 2022, the project will be entitled to a feed-in tariff of $0.0769/kWh – provided a draft FIT scheme being considered by the government is passed into law.

Utility UTE is planning to resume solar energy development with a new large scale PV project after several years of almost zero growth.

Power purchase agreements may be voluntarily renegotiated by extending the 20-year deals or enabling independent power producers to add more efficient PV components, thus increasing plant generation capacity.