Highlights

Developed by Swedish manufacturer Polestar, the hard-top convertible incorporates a drone that can be launched from its dock behind the rear seats whilst driving to capture footage of the journey. In other news, Sony and Honda tie-up to make electric vehicles, Ford splits gas-powered and EV businesses, Stellantis unveils a strategic plan to reach net-zero by 2038, and Tesla offers free supercharging near Ukraine. Panasonic has also unveiled plans for two new production facilities for its large-format cylindrical battery cells.

Glass maker Flat Glass wants to add 7,200 MT of new glass capacity spread across six new production lines and panel manufacturer Eging PV started construction of a new PV panel factory with an annual capacity of 5 GW.

The Hungarian energy regulator expects to contract around 864 GWh of renewable energy in the procurement exercise. Projects ranging in size from 5 to 50 MW will be entitled to participate.

Megasol said the solar module relies on new back-contact technology that is able to reduce internal resistance, ohmic losses and cell spacing.

Thanks to a funding round that will be carried out by the end of the year, French start-up Carbon aims to open its first production site in France in 2025. pv magazine spoke with Pascal Richard, one of its founders, about the timeline for the project.

The factory is expected to begin operating with an annual capacity of 300 MW and to produce bifacial modules with a power output of 600 W.

The Italian authorities have introduced new provisions in the DL Energia decree to reduce energy bills for households and businesses. Italian companies will be able to secure rebates for projects and several southern regions have also been granted a fiscal break for rooftop PV and energy efficiency.

US coal company Peabody Energy has launched a joint venture with Riverstone Credit Partners and Summit Partners Credit Advisors to develop more than 3.3GW of solar and 1.6GW of battery storage capacity over the next five years.

The International Energy Agency today published a 10-point plan for Europe to reduce its reliance on natural gas imported from Russia. The plan would see Russian gas imports to EU member states reduced by one third within a year, and notes that further reductions within this timeframe would come with significant tradeoffs, likely to impact both energy prices and Europe’s Green Deal. The plan was presented by Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, in a virtual press conference held earlier today.

The 22 nations which have had their “recovery and resilience” spending plans approved by the European Commission are set to devote billions to clean energy facilities, with the cash set to be disbursed in three payments to the end of next year.