Highlights

Swiss consulting firm Pexapark noted a rise in European power purchase agreement (PPA) prices in March, for the first monthly increase since August 2023. It recorded 18 PPAs in March, totaling 718 MW, with solar accounting for 398 MW across nine deals.

The Dutch government has earmarked €100 million ($106.7 million) of subsidies for the deployment of battery storage alongside PV projects. The funds are part of a €416 million subsidy program announced last year to alleviate grid congestion.

AleaSoft and SolarPower Europe inform pv magazine that negative energy prices in Europe are related to the pandemic, low demand, insufficient storage solutions, and inadequate energy planning. They say this situation will likely continue into the summer.

GlobalData say it is “plausible” that Saudi Arabia could close in on its target of 130 GW of renewables by 2030 by strengthening policies, competitive auctions and other financial measures.

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has released draft guidelines for the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana scheme, which aims to install rooftop solar plants in 10 million households, with subsidy support from the central government.

Columbia Law School has collected and rebutted 33 false claims against clean energy technology as part of its ongoing research on climate change.

Fluvius, Belgium’s electricity grid operator, says it will compensate residential PV systems at €10.60 ($11.49) per kVa if they are not reconnected within 30 working days after a curtailment event.

The US solar industry experienced project delays and cancellations when anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariff enforcement threatened supply in the past. Another round may be on the way soon, according to Roth Capital Partners.

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) and State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) may ramp up PV curtailment to clear up space for new renewables projects that are struggling to obtain grid connections. Only up to 5% of PV output can currently be curtailed from solar plants, but the authorities are trying to decide whether to take a greater percentage of generation offline.

Poland added around 4.6 GW of new PV capacity in 2023, according to new data from research institute IEO.