Utility Scale PV

Canadian Solar Inc. and ET Energy will deliver EPC services to two large-scale solar PV projects totaling 132 MWp for South Africa’s BioTherm Energy.

The Japanese government said the recent publication of a quality-evaluation guide for solar projects will ensure the long-term sustainability of the country’s PV sector, partly by improving maintenance standards, while serving as a potential boon for investment in the relatively dormant secondary market for operational installations.

Massachusetts has joined California, Hawaii, Nevada and Vermont in the club of 10% solar states. PV made up 2.4% of total generation in the United States during the first half of the year, with solar and wind together making up slightly less than 10%.

Although lobbyists will be dismayed a 1 GW annual cap on PV will remain, the indications are it will disappear after 2030 – if not before – and renewables appear to have become a more attractive proposition than nuclear, as coal is phased out.

The Netherlands, second-last in the EU when it comes to the production of renewable energy, presented its first draft of the Dutch Climate Agreement. This agreement is drafted to set out targets and policies across sectors such that the country adheres to the previously proposed Climate Act. When both are signed, writes Rolf Heynen, director of Good! New Energy, the Netherlands will be only the seventh country worldwide with such an act – and on paper one of the most ambitious. What will this mean for solar energy?

The Chinese solar PV company has signed a module supply agreement with PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited for a 240 MW solar project in Vietnam.

The first movers are two big energy consumers – the Airport of Paris and state-owned railway company, SNCF – which have decided to consider bids from renewable energy producers. According to Xavier Daval from local association, SER-Soler, private PPAs will be able to offer the stable electricity prices currently being granted by nuclear power, over the next few years.

Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) to develop 1 GW of grid-connected solar PV projects at the proposed 5 GW Dholera Solar Park. The state of Maharashtra, meanwhile, has issued a generic PV tariff.

In the 2018 spring round of the program for large-scale renewable energy projects, solar secured around 1.7 GW of the 2.3 GW of total capacity allocated. Overall, 3,744 PV projects were selected, which will comprise 57% of the round’s available budget.