Spanish clean energy company Grenergy has donated 55,000 pieces of Chinese-made personal protective equipment to the authorities in Madrid and electronics and e-mobility company BYD this month opened the ‘world’s largest mass-produced face masks plant,’ in Shenzhen.

The US solar company says its production lines in Ohio, Malaysia and Vietnam have thus far been able to carry on operations. The company says measures have been taken to protect its workers at all of its premises.

Xinyi Solar reported record profits earlier this month, not surprisingly prompting bullish talk of extending its plans to expand production capacity this year and next. However, with PV demand in Europe key to its returns, the company has accepted the coronavirus epidemic may have an impact this year.

The trading bloc’s bureaucrats could be praised for grasping the nettle to transform manufacturing in a post-Covid-19 world or accused of burying another slew of red tape whilst member states are distracted, depending on your point of view.

Saudi energy company Acwa Power announces $275 million has been borrowed for a project which is due to start supplying electricity to the national utility this year under a 15-year power supply deal.

The bailed-out Hong Kong-listed PV developer has warned its remaining independent shareholders of a thumping net loss for 2019 as it prepares to reveal its final results at the end of the month.

The meeting planned yesterday to open the final bids by consortia vying to develop the 1.5 GW Al-Dhafra solar field in Abu Dhabi was reportedly postponed because coronavirus-related restrictions on public gatherings in the emirate. The chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy told pv magazine this year the project would bring a new low price for solar power.

English partners appear to be in demand with a London-based vanadium flow supplier tying up with a U.S. partner just as an automotive design company in Coventry announces plans for electric and hydrogen vehicle production in the West Midlands.

GCL-Poly has pulled its commitment to inject US$68m into a 30 GW production capacity wafer fab joint venture established with Tianjin Zhonghuan in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, citing a preference to focus on ‘more competitive products’.

The planned disposal of more than a third of the Chinese solar company’s project portfolio would take a significant chunk out of its debt mountain but trading in company stock was halted this morning, pending an announcement in relation to the project sale. Shunfeng sold off German PV project monitoring business meteocontrol to another operation owned by its main shareholder at the end of last year.