Utility Scale PV

The Western Australian government has given environmental approval to the first stage of the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, a 15 GW hybrid solar and wind plant. The approval is a massive step forward for the project, which will eventually reach 26 GW, and an even larger step forward for green hydrogen development in Australia for domestic use and export.

Falling solar prices are leading to a new energy strategy for the United Arab Emirates as local energy companies offer unbeatable prices that make green hydrogen increasingly affordable.

Last Friday, the German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) officially released its “RTS – Technical and Administrative Guidelines for Commercial and Industrial Projects” to further support the development of rooftop solar (RTS) in Vietnam. Earlier in the week in a JinkoSolar-organized webinar, Tuan A. Nguyen of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MOIT) Institute of Energy provided an update on Vietnam’s growing PV market and especially the RTS segment. Mr. Tuan also coauthored the RTS Guidelines for C&I Projects.

The most ambitious scenario fleshed out in a draft National Solar Energy Action Plan includes 16 GW of project capacity at large scale ‘solar hubs’ but actions will speak louder than words in a nation set to fall short of its current clean energy target.

State-run hydropower company NHDC is targeting 340-350 MW of generation capacity in a 1.5 GW tender being held in the state of Madhya Pradesh and needs panels to meet any award it secures.

Huanghe Hydropower Development has commissioned 2.2 GW of PV capacity in China’s remote Qinghai province. Yingli, meanwhile, has started to build a new 5 GW solar module factory in Hebei province.

PV developer Sun’R Power and wind-power specialist Boralex have revealed plans to connect part of the Cambrai-Niergnies solar project and the Seuil du Cambrésis wind farm to a single private substation.

The proportion of clean energy consumed in the EU continues to rise but the European Commission’s State of the Energy Union report is critical of failings in energy efficiency, low-carbon-R&D spending, and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.

The developer secured the grid-connected solar capacity in a 700 MW auction by state utility Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited which had a tariff ceiling of INR2.92/kWh ($0.04). The Dholera Solar Park, in Gujarat, is set to eventually have a 5 GW footprint.

Ho Chi Minh City-based construction company Trungnam Group said its army of laborers took just 45 days to perform site clearance for a project which took shape within 102 days.