South Korean regional governments bypass minimum distance rules to allow solar PV
Jaebin Choe, renewables permitting team researcher at environmental advocacy organization Solutions for our Climate (SFOC), told pv magazine that some South Korean regional governments have been forced to pass exceptional clauses to allow the construction of solar PV arrays in their municipalities despite federal regulation. The association claims this represents the ‘biggest bottleneck’ in the country’s solar pursual.
The Hydrogen Stream: Researchers developing cheap hydrogen storage
Oxford Institute for Energy Studies researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.
‘We want the heat pump industry to stay in Europe,’ says EU Energy Commissioner
EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, speaking at the European Heat Pump Association’s (EHPA) Heat Pump Forum this week, has reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to decarbonizing heat.
Construction begins on massive, merchant wind-solar hybrid plant in Bulgaria
Tenevo Solar plant is expected have a solar capacity of 238 MW, a wind capacity of 237 MW and a storage capacity of 250 MW-500 MWh, with construction starting this month. Konstantin Nenov, director of Renalfa AD – one of the businesses behind the project – tells pv magazine the plant is emblematic of the Balkan country shifting away from coal and towards the sun.
October 14 eclipse to cost US states up to 17% of daily solar generation
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that North and South America are set to experience an annular eclipse on October 14, which means that some regions could lose a significant portion of their daily solar energy production. The path of the eclipse tracks across the southwestern United States, from Oregon to Texas, before continuing through Mexico, Central America and ending in Brazil, though impacts will be seen across all of the contiguous US and the top of South America.
TotalEnergies acquires French agrivoltaics specialist Ombrea
TotalEnergies has become the sole shareholder of French agrivoltaics specialist Ombrea, in a transaction that builds upon the partnership they started in 2019.
Irish Solar Energy Association raises concerns over failure rates in renewables auctions
Conall Bolger, CEO of the Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA), has told pv magazine that while it was ‘good’ news the Irish government favored solar PV projects in the latest renewable auction, less than half of solar PV projects selected in the first tender round of the same program would not ‘reach the finish line.’
German startup 42watt raises funds to expand advisory for solar, heat pumps, energy efficiency
Munich-based startup 42watt will expand its fee-based services to simplify building energy efficiency renovations for homeowners and enter new market segments after raising an undisclosed amount of seed funding.
Iberdrola completes Spain’s first hybrid wind-solar plant
Iberdrola has finished building Spain’s first hybrid wind-solar project, featuring a 74 MW solar plant and a 69 MW wind farm.
France allocates 1.5 GW in ground mounted PV tender
The French government has awarded 129 projects an average price of €0.0824 ($0.0868)/kWh in its latest ground-mounted tender. This represents the largest capacity since the beginning of the tender series held by the French authorities.
