Utility Scale PV

BHP has signed a 70 MW baseload renewable energy contract with Neoen to meet 50% of the energy demand of its Olympic Dam mining operations in South Australia.

US solar had its worst quarter in two years in terms of deployment, due to global supply challenges that slowed growth, delayed projects, and drove up prices.

Equinor is set to fully acquire developer BeGreen, which has a project pipeline of more than 6 GW in Denmark, Sweden and Poland.

UK independent power producer Rezolv Energy has acquired the late-stage development rights to a 1,044 MW solar project in Arad county, Romania. The Eastern European country is preparing to roll out a contract-for-difference (CfD) scheme early next year to deploy 3.5 GW of solar and wind.

IEA-PVPS has standardized guidelines for O&M programs for large-scale solar plants. It defines O&M performance indicators and standard O&M operator services, as well as tools to analyze PV plant performance and safety.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Électricité du Cambodge (EDC) have signed an agreement to develop 2 GW of solar in the Southeast Asian country. EDC will conduct a nationwide study to identify potential solar and storage projects for implementation up to 2030.

Radovan Kopecek, an expert on interdigitated back-contacted (IBC) tech, says that IBC solar panels could capture more than 50% of the global market by 2030, potentially pushing TOPCon products out of competition. He told pv magazine how this transition might materialize and discussed the tech advancements that could make it possible.

Australia’s two main tracker companies, Nextracker and Array Technologies, are launching terrain-following products to mitigate and even eliminate the need for earthworks on site, opening up previously unsuitable land for solar.

The Omani authorities aim to develop a 500 MW solar project in Ibri, in northwestern Oman, where other PV facilities are located. It will be commissioned by the fourth quarter of 2026.

Researchers say that from 2008 to 2020, the globalization of solar module manufacturing saved $67 billion for US, German, and Chinese solar installers, even though it was dominated by Chinese investment.