Installations

As New South Wales rapidly expands its renewable energy pipeline, the Australian state’s Independent Planning Commission process is helping to align its energy needs with community and environmental concerns.

The Indian state of Gujarat’s latest 500 MW solar auction has secured a winning bid of INR 2.20 ($0.03)/kWh, which JMK Research has partly attributed to the project sites and growing expectations that mono PERC module prices will fall 10-15% by 2022.

Solar and storage are developing at a relentless pace and pv magazine cannot cover all the interesting developments that are announced day by day. In this weekly Round-Up, we provide a quick review of all facts and deals that should not be off of our readers’ radar.

The US Energy Department set a goal of achieving 2 cents/kWh by 2030, and announced an initial $128 million in funding to support technology development.

The German company expects to roll out its in-house proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis technology to implement a gigawatt production of electrolyzers. BP partners with UK gas distributor Northern Gas Networks (NGN) to develop blue hydrogen and Saudi Aramco teams up with Hyundai Heavy Industries to do the same. Italy’s Snam wants to build hydrogen projects in the United Arab Emirates.

Scientists in the UK have had a closer look at the impacts of floating PV systems on the water. They found that their cooling effect on water mitigates blooms of toxic blue-green algae and increased water evaporation, which are both caused by global warming. They also warned, however, that colder water may result in a reduction of the duration of so-called thermal stratification. The right proportion between the surface occupied by the PV array and a water surface’s total area is key for addressing this issue.

The Tunisian authorities will review 57 project proposals in the country’s latest solar tender, which will facilitate the construction of six PV plants with installed capacities of 10 MW each, as well as 10 smaller solar arrays.

The French developer will sell 70% of the power generated by the facility to Albanian power utility Operatori i Shpërndarjes së Energjisë Elektrike SH.A. (OSHEE) under a 15-year PPA and the remaining portion will be sold on the spot market.

The recharging station was designed by French automation group Sirea. It is powered by a solar carport and a small electrolyzer.

Having fallen far short of its ambition to generate 10% of its power from renewables by last year, Dhaka is preparing to reformulate its national clean power target.