Max Hall
Spanish solar projects secure €68m credit lines
Seven PV plants being planned by Solaria have received direct backing from the European Investment Bank, with the EU lender also the source of a €14 million loan to Natixis which will be passed on to the Spanish developer.
Plans for HJT gigafactory in Russia
The controlling shareholder of Russian PV manufacturer Hevel Solar says it has started construction on a gigafactory to manufacture solar ingots, wafers and heterojunction (HJT) cells in the Kaliningrad exclave of Russia, between Lithuania and Poland.
Bboxx cottons on to pay-as-you-go potential of Burkina Faso
The PAYG solar start-up, which is a darling of impact investors, has formed a joint venture with French cotton farming giant Geocoton to establish a foothold in Burkina Faso and says it is aiming to offer its solar home systems to 2 million customers.
European Commission approves France’s €30bn renewables incentive program
Paris intends to secure 34 GW of solar, onshore wind and hydroelectric generation capacity by 2026 by offering generators premium payments – determined by competitive reverse-bidding among developers – to top-up the market electricity price.
Chinese poly maker moves to establish natural gas-fired hydrogen business
An announcement by GCL-Poly to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday about the company’s hydrogen plans made no mention of any intent to deploy carbon capture tech to mitigate the emissions of what would otherwise be considered a ‘grey’, fossil fuel version of the energy storage medium.
Europe had just 650 MW of solar cell manufacturing capacity at the end of 2020
The latest update to the Photovoltaics Report produced by research organization the Fraunhofer ISE has offered up the usual slew of interesting stats on the state of solar across the continent.
Maxeon secures EU cash to make its ‘stick-on’ solar panels in France
The TotalEnergies-controlled solar manufacturer will secure an, as yet undetermined chunk of a new €118.6 million low-carbon innovation fund to start producing its frameless, glass-free solar roofing products at Porcelette, in northeastern France.
Sonnedix begins construction of 50 MW Badajoz project
The developer secured a ten-year power purchase agreement from Statkraft in June last year for almost all of the power expected to be generated by the unsubsidized plant in southwestern Spain.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Trina, Longi and Guangdong Electric Power all have reason to celebrate
…but cell manufacturer Aikosolar is expecting a reversal in fortune for the first half of the year and has blamed rising solar panel material costs.
Solar manufacturers warn of 12-18 months disruption for standalone products
Potential price rises of 14% for the solar home systems that are driving access to electricity in the world’s under-served regions could signal further arrested progress towards the UN goal of universal access by 2030.
