Energy Management Systems

Federal and state governments need to do a whole lot more to help the transition to electric vehicles, says the senate, after poll results indicated strong popular backing for the switch from fossil fuel transport.

The Spanish government has proposed a Royal Decree with new self-consumption regulation which is expected to be approved in March or April. According to the new rules, power surpluses may be shared with other consumers or fed to the grid.

The procurement covers 66 government buildings identified by the nation’s solar unit from a 120-building portfolio. Successful bidders will sign a PPA with the government, which is aiming at self-consumption with an element of net-metering.

Queensland is in line for its first community-scale battery – to be installed on Townsville’s outskirts – because of the high number of rooftop solar systems and close proximity of electricity infrastructure. The energy storage system should be operating by the end of the year.

Two Emirati developers are celebrating landmark deals with a commercial and industrial focus as Yellow Door Energy secures $65 million to expand operations into new markets and Adenium – one of Yellow Door’s backers – prepares to operate the region’s first industrial self-consumption and net metering project.

Companies in the United States accounted for more than 60% of the clean energy deals signed by corporations worldwide last year, according to BloombergNEF. A proposed renewable portfolio standard for Chinese business, though, could turn the picture upside down in a year’s time.

The Australian states of Victoria and South Australia suffered blackouts at the end of last week as a heatwave drove up air conditioning power demand and coal-fired power stations couldn’t cope. Extreme weather is debunking arguments for new fossil fuel generation and signalling energy security lies in renewables.

In France’s new energy strategy, the Macron administration has said how much will be allocated annually in tenders for ground-mount and rooftop PV projects over the next six years. In the best case scenario, France would have 44.5 GW of solar capacity by 2028, with renewables forecast to come in at up to 113 GW.

The show is expected to grow by 40% compared to last year. And the organizers say solar PV will have a higher profile than ever.

The Netherlands’ largest power provider said that capacity would be six times more than is currently connected to its grid. To accommodate such vertiginous growth, the company is planning to increase redundancy in critical areas with high levels of solar deployment. Parent company Alliander has announced an €844 million plan to improve the power network.