Energy minister Norma Rocío Nahle García yesterday announced the tender round believed to have been cancelled in January had merely been held up by the inability of power lines to cope with new generation capacity. The minister added, expanded nuclear capacity is under consideration.

MIT scientists claim to have created a material 10 times more black than anything witnessed to date. It is said to be able to absorb more than 99.96% of incoming light and reflect 10 times less light than other superblack materials. The invention may be interesting for the development of black silicon PV technology and carbon nanotube-based solar cells.

According to Korean government, around 18,000 unlicensed projects up to 1 MW in size are being developed in the area. Restrictions on such projects, which are driving this year’s strong solar growth in the country, are being introduced to reduce their environmental impact.

Solar and wind projects selected in the company’s latest clean energy procurement exercise have been awarded a 19-year power purchase deal, starting from 2023. Cemig has now contracted green power from 780 MW of renewable project capacity in three tender rounds held since June last year.

Co-location of solar and storage may accelerate the deployment of profitable merchant renewable energy projects in the United Kingdom, according to a report by Aurora Energy Research. The study predicts installed solar capacity in the U.K. may increase from around 13 GW next year to 19 GW in 2030 and 32 GW in 2040.

Enel Green Power has plugged in the 85 MW Totana solar plant, the first project to come online from the renewables auction held by the Spanish government in July 2017. Elsewhere, Solarcentury and Encavis announced their 300 MW Talayuela project has secured a 10-year power purchase agreement.

The result was verified by Germany’s Institute für Solarenergieforschung GmbH. The Canadian-Chinese manufacturer claims to have achieved 22.8% efficiency for its multi-crystalline P5 cell, produced with a mono cast manufacturing process.

The South Sudan Electricity Corporation is seeking consultants to define the nation’s Renewable Energy Development Program and its related tender mechanism. The plan could put the world’s youngest country – which is in the grip of a long, brutal civil war – on a path to sustainability.

The €7.5 million project, built by Dutch energy provider Eneco, is intended to power operations at the Ghent factory of the Indian steel manufacturer. Arcelor’s employees were invited to participate through crowdfunding.

The Polish parliament has adopted new environmental provisions which also include a tax reduction for micro PV. The measure comes on top of the Mój Prąd rebate scheme for residential rooftop projects ranging in size from 2 kW to 10 kW which was launched in July.