The Dutch market keeps showing signs of sustained growth. Estimated new installed PV power for 2016 is expected to surpass 500 MW, while another 600 MW is forecast for this year. Several PV projects developed under the SDE+ program for large-scale renewable energy projects began to come online in the past months.

The small eastern European country has been adding around 10 MW of new PV systems each year over the past four years. A net-metering scheme introduced in 2015 is expected to increase demand for residential installations.

Dutch government agencies Rijkswaterstaat and ProRail are making land and water surfaces available for the installation of ground-mounted and floating PV plants, as well as for projects from other renewable technologies.

The French government announced that 79 ground-mounted PV projects with a combined capacity of 534.5 MW were selected through the latest bidding round for large-scale solar. Average price for the sale of power from these projects came in at €62.5 ($65.9) per MWh.

SolarPower Europe announced that Christian Westermeier has been elected as the organization’s new president. Westermeier is the Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Application Engineering of German chemical company and polysilicon manufacturer Wacker Chemie.

The government of the Russian region of Astrakhan announced that work on the first large-scale PV plant in the area has begun. Completion on the 15 MW project, which is being developed by local developer Solar Systems, is scheduled for the third quarter of this year.

The government of Mali has secured further funds to build the country’s first large-scale PV project. The 33 MW Segou Solar PV Project will sell power to local utility under a 25-year PPA.

France’s Parliament has given final passage to a law that regulates the installation of renewable energy systems for self-consumption. The new legislation will provide a clear regulatory framework for the grid-connection of these installations.

Romania’s solar market registered a slight drop in new installations in 2016. Approximately 70 MW was installed last year. This capacity is represented by MW-scale PV projects developed under the green certificate scheme launched in 2011.

The European solar market decreased by 21% last year. This disappointing if not unexpected news opened SolarPower Europe’s annual summit in Brussels today. Grid integration of Europe’s solar capacity, EU market rules for protecting the ‘prosumer’ and reforms to the continent’s faltering Emissions Trading Scheme were major themes during the plenary session.