Finance

Romania’s Ministry of Energy is backing 47 solar projects to produce electricity for self-consumption in schools, hospitals, city halls and other public institutions. It has now supported more than 1,000 such contracts, together reaching a combined capacity of 390 MW.

Zambia has launched a $40 million investment under its Presidential Solar Initiative to install solar systems at 209 public institutions, including schools and hospitals.

UK developer Innova inks three PPAs with energy trading and services company ElectroRoute. The offtake agreements have been structured to align with existing UK government backed contracts for difference agreements in place for each site.

Renewables remain cost-competitive in the United States despite rising natural gas competitiveness, according to Lazard’s 2025 “Levelized Cost of Energy+” report, which estimates combined cycle gas at $0.048/kWh to $0.107/kWh, solar at $0.038/kWh to $0.212/kWh, and nuclear at $0.141/kWh to $0.220/kWh.

Figures for 2024-25 financial year reveal double-digit percentage drop in median price for UK small-scale solar. Falling prices were driven by increased supply and technology advancements, according to DESNZ, while installer warns new rooftop opportunities could come with tighter margins.

South African independent power producer NOA has reached financial close with Standard Bank on its 349 MW Khauta South Solar PV project near Welkom, Free State. The project will be the country’s largest single-asset solar facility once operational.

EUPD Research projects that between 2025 and 2029, the European C&I solar segment will expand from 33 GW of annual installations in 2025 to over 40 GW in 2029, leading to an aggregated new C&I installation of 185 GW in the next five years. By the end of 2029 alone, this surge in capacity is expected to prevent approximately 88 million tons of CO₂ emissions equivalent to saving around 204 million barrels of oil in a single year.

The Indian government has announced viability gap funding (VGF) of INR 54 billion ($631.5 million) to support 30 GWh of battery energy storage systems (BESS), allocating capacity among 15 states and the state-owned power producer NTPC. The scheme provides INR 1.8 million/MWh and requires projects to be commissioned within 18 months through competitive bidding.

US solar developers Soltage, Origis Energy, and rPlus Energies have secured more than $1 billion in financing across three major deals, signaling sustained investor confidence in utility-scale solar and storage despite US policy uncertainty. The transactions back more than 1.4 GW of solar and 1.8 GWh of battery capacity.

Australian battery tech startup Voltavate has secured AUD 850,000 ($535,000) in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round led by global investment firm Artesian.