Chinese PV Industry Brief: Work begins on 3.3 GW solar-CSP project linked to 500 MW of storage, in Qinghai
China Green Development Group is building a giant project consisting of 3 GW of photovoltaics and 300 MW of concentrating solar power. The plant is scheduled for completion in 2025 and is part of China’s 14th five-year plan.
Sungrow supplies ‘Thailand’s largest floating solar plant’
The Chinese inverter company said the dam-hosted 58.5 MW project in northeastern Thailand was connected to the grid this month.
Romanian coal provider has 725 MW of PV under development
CE Oltenia wants to build eight solar parks at three of its coal power plants and five of its coal mining sites by 2026. This new capacity should replace installed power from coal that the company wants to shut down over the next five years.
Heat pumps can be standalone solutions even in cold climates
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) showed, through a pilot incentive program, that whole-home heat pumps are a feasible solution for heating when switching from gas. Project costs, however, were found to be higher than expected.
Myanmar extends deadline for 1 GW PV tender
Through the procurement exercise, the government wants to build ground-mounted solar power projects on an independent power producer (IPP), and build-own-operate (BOO) basis.
India unveils largest floating solar plant to date
A 25 MW project has been installed at the Simhadri thermal power station run by state-owned power company NTPC on the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
France’s second largest PV plant comes online
Built by French developer TSE, the facility has a capacity of 152 MW and is located in Marville, in northeastern France.
Fresh grid congestion warning as almost 5 GW of solar and wind backs up in Netherlands
Electricity transmission system operator Tennet has been forced to notify its regulator of more bottlenecks ahead, with the 5.6 GW capacity of the Gelderland and Flevopolder regional network already contracted out.
Skyrocketing energy, carbon prices already make green hydrogen competitive
Antonio Delgado Rigal, chief executive of energy forecasting service AleaSoft, tells pv magazine that skyrocketing gas and electricity prices are putting the global economy under strong pressure, while also opening up huge opportunities for solar, renewables and green hydrogen. He says current gas and electricity prices, along with rising CO2 prices, already make green hydrogen competitive. He therefore calls for immediate action on building new capacity, but acknowledges that a quick end is not yet in sight for rising prices.
Solar on new-build homes has significantly shorter payback period
A report by BloombergNEF and Schneider Electric has pressed the case for governments to unlock the world’s potentially huge rooftop solar potential, and cited California’s solar mandate as a shining example.
