Sixty-three PV projects to compete in South Africa’s 2.6 GW renewables tender
The South African authorities have published the list of projects competing in the the fifth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP). It seeks to procure 1 GW of PV and 1.6 GW of wind power.
The weekend read: China’s battery storage awakening
China’s efforts to shift electricity generation from a coal-dominated system to a greener mix of renewables is not only centered on wind, solar and other technologies – the country is also rapidly pursuing energy storage. Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai.
The Hydrogen Stream: First vessel to operate on solar-powered methanol in Denmark, giant green hydrogen project in China
Energy storage and clean fuel company ITM Power also opened a 1 GW electrolyzer factory in the United Kingdom and South Korea’s automobile parts maker Hyundai Mobis is investing US$1.1 billion in two hydrogen fuel-cell plants in its home country.
Chinese PV Industry Brief: Longi raises PV wafer prices, new entrant switches on 15 GW of wafer capacity
GokinSolar has commissioned the first 15 GW unit of its 50 GW PV wafer manufacturing facility in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province and Golden Solar New Energy Technology last week announced commercial production plans for the flexible, lightweight, cast-mono, heterojuntion (HJT) solar modules. Meanwhile, Longi has raised the prices of its wafers.
Israel shortlists 11 bidders in 300 MW solar-plus-storage tender
Construction of the solar-plus-storage facility is scheduled to take place in the Negev desert in late 2021, with completion expected in 2023.
Uzbekistan wants to tender another 900 MW of PV
The Uzbek Ministry of Energy plans to hold two more solar tenders for a series of PV plants spread across the Kashkadarya and Fergana, Bukhara, Khorezm, and Namangan regions. It also revealed that there are 1.29 GW worth of projects under construction in the country.
US customs enforcement is jeopardizing 2.1 GW of solar projects
Solar product detentions at U.S. ports of entry all stem from a June 24 “Withhold Release Order” issued by Customs and Border Protection.
Novel PV module recycling tech from South Korea
Developed by the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), the “non-destructive” technology is claimed to enable the recovery of 100% of a module’s glass and to allow the reuse of silicon for producing new solar cells with an efficiency of 20.05%.
The world’s hottest heat pump
A Norwegian consortium has built an industrial heat pump that can reach a temperature of up to 180 degrees Celsius. The machine can be used with different industrial processes that rely on steam as an energy carrier and can reduce a facility’s energy consumption by between 40% and 70%, as it enables the recovery of low-temperature waste heat.
Perovskite-silicon tandems could rapidly scale solar
Halide perovskites combined with conventional silicon could help solar break the 26% efficiency barrier – disrupting the technology without disrupting business systems.
