Covid-19

pv magazine rounds up the latest Covid-19-related stories likely to affect the world of solar and energy storage.

State secretary for energy, João Galamba, said the planned procurement round will have to wait for markets to be less turbulent. The auction was due to be held in April. Meanwhile, a dedicated portal for future rounds has been created.

The Middle Eastern kingdom has ordered the shutdown of solar wheeling facilities which use the grid to connect to energy offtakers. The move has come in response to tumbling electricity demand after the nation halted all non-essential industries as it tries to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Wood Mackenzie has cut its 2020 storage outlook to 430 MW – still an increase of more than 100% over 2019 – amid concerns over the role of sales, commissioning and interconnection in a period of shelter-in-place ordinances.

Another big solar event has joined the list of those canceled because of Covid-19. The next edition of The Smarter E event will take place next year.

The economic fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak is yet to be determined but as legislators scramble to establish fiscal support for the EU it is becoming clear the suits in Brussels are not prepared to scrap their hard-won Green Deal plan. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The company has warned shareholders about the potential affect of the virus on its operations in the first half of the year but said Chinese operations had almost returned to normal.

The Asian Development Bank says developing countries in Asia and the Pacific should consider developing their own solar industry supply chains as the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed their over-reliance on China to carry through the energy transition.

The module giant today announced it will donate a million items of personal protective equipment to the European and Asian countries currently battling the spread of the novel coronavirus.

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.