Utility-scale PV

With its feed-in tariff set to expire at the end of June, Vietnam is considering different levels of payment, classified across three irradiation regions and involving four solar technologies. Future payments would range from $0.0659-0.0985/kWh, with the cloudy north in line for the highest tariffs and with the government likely to revise tariffs for new projects every two years.

As utility Eskom starts load shedding due to power plant failure, the 4 GW of wind and solar in the country are helping reduce energy shortages. Blue Horizon Energy Consulting Services’ Chris Ahlfeldt tells pv magazine renewables – rather than Eskom’s plans to expand conventional generation capacity – would provide a safer, cheaper solution to the power crisis.

Project partners Hanwha Q Cells and local company Kalyon Enerji appear to have ended their partnership and to be negotiating the terms of a ‘divorce’.

Backing for renewable energy assets is set to rise 10% with grid-scale PV the most attractive opportunity among investors surveyed for a new report. But improved investment vehicles and outsourced asset management are still needed if climate change is to be mitigated.

The €150 million project is entering the approval phase. Using the new facility, expected by 2023, the two companies will test how electricity from renewable energy can be converted into green hydrogen and green methane via electrolysis.

The Balearic parliament is today set to approve the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition that includes, among other measures, an obligation to incorporate PV panels in car parks and new buildings. The bill also mandates the closure of all polluting power plants from next year and a prohibition of diesel vehicles from 2025, and petrol engines from 2035.

With more than 5 GW of approved solar projects in the ERCOT grid, Texas is getting ready for a major boom in its utility-scale solar market.

The Asian Development Bank, which is backing the plant, is seeking project consultants. If built, the solar park would improve the country’s limited power supply and bring technical benefits to the national grid.

The Spanish company has agreed with the Canadian CarbonFree the sale and construction of four new solar plants in Chile worth $33 million.

In Mauritius, a 16 MW grid-tied solar power plant aimed at reducing coal and oil consumption was commissioned last week, while in the Maldives the Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) is supporting the archipelago’s efforts to committ to clean energies through a 5 MW solar tender.