Geopolitics

Burundi, the poorest country on earth, is unable to buy fossil fuels on theinternational market due to a lack of hard currency. pv magazine spoke with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a PV analyst to assess the true potential of PV in the nation’s current energy crisis.

Two Korean research institutes are designing the 2.2 km × 2.7 km Korean Space Solar Power Satellite project with the aim of providing approximately 1 TWh of electricity to the Earth per year. The proposed system should use 4,000 sub-solar arrays of 10 m × 270 m, made out of thin film roll-out, with a system power efficiency of 13.5%.

Greece has grand plans for an interconnector network that runs from the Middle East through to the heart of Europe. pv magazine examines the latest developments on the road to a Mediterranean super grid and what it might mean for the regions involved.

The China Agricultural University has created an online dataset presenting all PV plants deployed in China at the end of 2020. The tool shows China ground mounted solar facilities occupied a surface of 2,467.7 km2 at the end of December 2020.

Rather than pondering the introduction of trade measures against solar imports, Europe should be pragmatic about its short-term reliance on Asian panels while moving now to nurture and incentivize a domestic supply chain of the future.

The European Commission has warned about the potential impact of trade measures on Europe’s renewable energy rollout, but has shied away from outlining emergency measures to address the continent’s solar manufacturing crisis.

The Moldovan government is preparing to launch the country’s first renewables auctions, which will seek to procure 105 MW of wind and 60 MW of solar projects. The tenders will take place between April and July.

UK researchers have evaluated the impact that heat pumps could have on fuel poverty in England and Scotland. They have found that the benefits heat pumps can provide exist in both scenarios.

Three-month solar panel permit wait times, rooftop installations and projects under 50 kW not requiring environmental impact assessments, and a raft of other emergency measures aimed at accelerating the European Union’s (EU) renewable energy rollout have been extended until mid-2024 to combat the energy crisis.

Germany, in collaboration with Italy, has revealed plans to import hydrogen from Northern Africa.