Commercial & Industrial PV

Global technology giant Google this week announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase the output from a 10 MW PV installation in Tainan City, Taiwan, to power its Changhua County data center on the island’s west coast. The agreement represents Google’s first move to procure renewable energy anywhere in Asia, and the first agreement made since a recent change to Taiwan’s Electricity Act allowed non-utility companies to buy renewable energy directly.

The Smart Grid Station wind-PV facility also incorporates a 500 kWh lithium-ion battery storage system, around 2,000 internet of things-derived sensors and smart meters. The plant was installed by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Korean utility KEPCO.

Although power companies have urged the new administration of Jair Bolsonaro to reduce incentives for net metered solar distributed generation, ANEEL has proposed maintaining them until PV reaches a certain proportion of the electricity sector.

Transition to a world run entirely on clean energy – together with the implementation of natural climate solutions – is the only way to halt climate change and keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C, according to another significant study.

With the nation’s net metering regime up and running for industrial generators, the government is trying to drum up interest and wants another 600 customers signed up by June, with the help of a soft loans program.

Wood Mackenzie’s number-crunchers are the latest analysts queueing up to predict a bumper year ahead for PV, with falling prices, rising efficiency rates and booming markets outside China all on the cards. And it could be a make-or-break year for mega-projects, says Wood Mac.

Homeowners and businesses with small-scale solar arrays have fought off a threat to priority treatment for excess energy they want fed back into national grids. The EU has refused to heed a call to treat such generators on the same terms as giant utilities.

From Friday, Romanian homeowners and businesses may file applications for rebates that could cover up to 90% of the cost of rooftop arrays, provided the grant does not exceed $4,830. Applications will be accepted until March 1.

DEWA projects featured strongly in this year’s accolades but there was also recognition for projects beyond the region and some eye-catching innovations.

The two biggest each have a capacity of 150 MW, with smaller plants bringing the total up to 413 MW. The projects are a part of the search engine titan’s effort to supply its annual electricity consumption from renewable sources.