PV rooftop simulators may unlock solar growth in developing cities
IRENA says technologies for 3D rooftop footprint generation and solar irradiation modelling are becoming increasingly cheap, making them suitable for deployment anywhere in the world. Developing cities across Africa and Asia could access such technical resources to plan rooftop PV development.
US will see more than 8 GW of solar come online this year
With 4.3 GW of utility-scale solar and 3.9 of distributed generation predicted, the figures collated from federal sources don’t take account of the huge capacity of solar projects waiting in the interconnection queues of seven grid operators.
Turkey scraps 1 GW solar tender
The procurement exercise, intended for the deployment of large-scale projects across three locations, was to have been held on January 29. The tender will be re-issued this year – and it may include storage.
Italy sets 2030 solar target of 50 GW
The Italian government has published a plan for climate and energy envisaging a central role for solar in the nation’s energy mix, with PV expected to represent more than the half the power generation capacity from renewables by the end of the next decade.
Acciona completes construction of 405 MW project in Mexico
The Puerto Libertad solar plant is located near the town of the same name, in the northwestern state of Sonora.
Saudi Arabia to tender 2.22 GW of solar in 2019 and wants 40 GW in 2030
The Renewable Energy Project Development Office of Saudi Arabia is planning to tender 11 PV power projects with a combined capacity of 2,225 MW this year. The country’s solar target for 2023 has been revised up from 5.9 GW to 20 GW, and that for 2030 set at 40 GW.
China unveils an ambitious new push on grid parity solar
Beijing has outlined a series of policies mandating local and provincial authorities, state-owned banks and grid operators to pull out the stops to drive the rapid escalation of subsidy-free PV projects. The announcement has seen Chinese solar stocks on the rise.
Luxcara acquires 121 MW solar project in southern Spain
The construction of the Guillena-Salteras plant in Seville will begin shortly, with completion scheduled for the second quarter of 2020.
Acciona closes its module factory in Portugal
The Spanish developer maintained manufacturing activities at the plant for 10 years with an average of more than 100 employees. The company previously managing the factory –Chinese manufacturer Jinko – had abandoned the project in September, after minimum import prices for Chinese PV products in the EU were cancelled.
Algeria launches tender for 50 MW of hybrid solar
At the end of December, the Algerian government issued a tender for off-grid gas/diesel and solar projects in non-interconnected areas in the south of the country.
