Finance

Conergy has completed a total of 14 photovoltaic plants in Spain since last autumn, which are said to be competitive without subsidies. A new calculation tool is assisting in the planning and implementation of such projects.

According to reports, Uruguay’s government is gearing up to establish a national solar industry. A new decree requiring the country’s national power utility to purchase 200 MW of solar energy is expected to be issued shortly. There are fears, however that compensation is not high enough to attract developers.

The increase of cheaper photovoltaics on the German wholesale power market is reducing the profits and sales of large central power generators. They are hitting back by “heavily” lobbying against decentralization, according to Renewable Analytics, which has further suggested a restructuring of Germany’s renewable energy levy.

Poland’s new renewable energy law is expected to be adopted by the government by the end of March. However, due to the EC notification process, it is not anticipated to enter into force until mid-2014. Meanwhile, mandatory certification for imported biomass has been suggested.

Pakistan is gearing up to introduce a photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) program, which will see US$0.2329 paid per kWh to plants between one and 100 MW in size. A meeting is scheduled to be held on February 27 to finalize the plans.

A white paper has been released detailing the proposed competitive procurement process (CPP) of Saudi Arabia’s K.A.Care program, which aims to install 41 GW of solar in the region by 2032. The first tendering round is scheduled to be held in the first half of this year. Local content will play a significant role.

According to the latest figures from Solarbuzz, 2012 photovoltaic demand grew just 5% on 2011 to reach 29 GW. Meanwhile, the company predicts that “rapid globalization” will characterize 2013.

Germany’s support program for photovoltaic battery storage systems is currently on hold, due to lost revenues from emissions trading. The framework for the program had already largely been agreed upon by the Federal Environment Ministry and KfW state bank.

The Spanish government has officially published its new photovoltaic decree, which revises feed-in tariffs (FITs) for plants installed between 2009 and 2011 downwards. The new rates are effective from January 1, 2013.

Romania is set to lower the number of green certificates issued to photovoltaic systems in 2014. It is still not clear, however, by how much they will be reduced. Meanwhile, newly installed photovoltaic capacity predictions for 2013 range from 500 to 800 MW.