Finance

The opportunities available from the aggregation and interpretation of mass data are huge and could help attract investors and ensure more efficient electricity networks as the world races to try and achieve the UN goal of access to reliable energy for all this decade.

MySol Grid Zambia, a subsidiary of Engie Energy Access (EEA), has secured $7.5 million of debt from the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI) to build 60 minigrids. The projects will provide electricity to more than 40,000 people in rural areas.

Meridiam and Engie have agreed to acquire BTE Renewables, which operates 150 MW of onshore wind and 190 MW of solar in South Africa. The Johannesburg-based developer currently has a project portfolio exceeding 3 GW.

Total investment in European solar startups surged by nearly 400% year on year in the January-May period. Companies secured $6 billion of new funds, from just $1.2 billion raised during the same period in 2022, according to data from Avent Abacus.

Historic meteorological data is typically used to assess solar farm yield and secure project finance, but with climate change beginning to affect every aspect of society, past weather data may no longer be a reliable guide. Everoze Partner Nastasia Pacaut looks at how PV projects can be future-proofed in a changing climate.

Chris Sparkes, lead technician at UK solar installer Solar Fast tells pv magazine simply throwing money at the PV industry will not suffice.

A flurry of clean energy announcements in the European Union this year bodes well for the expansion of renewables but there will be a race against time to get key legislation adopted before next summer’s European elections.

Munich-based Wacker announced it intends to set up a new production line for semiconductor-grade polysilicon at its facility in Burghausen, Germany. The €300 million ($324.4 million) investment would expand the manufacturing capacity of the ultrapure polysilicon by over 50%.

The first half of 2023 has seen a revival in Ukraine’s solar market as some plants resumed operations, including in recently liberated territories. Demand is also picking up among industrial consumers that wish to be less dependent on the common energy grid in case outages return, reports Ian Skarytovsky.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a new report that solar will remain the main source of global renewable capacity expansion in 2023, accounting for 286 GW. In 2024, the figure is set to grow to almost 310 GW, driven by lower module prices, greater uptake of distributed PV systems, and a policy push for large-scale deployment.