EBRD leads $6m green finance package for Armenia
Private sector businesses will be offered concessional loans to install solar and other climate change related equipment.
Chinese solar glass companies enjoy bountiful reporting season
An ‘explosive’, ‘booming’ global solar market in the second half of a Covid-hit 2020 saw the previous glass manufacturing overcapacity reversed, as float and auto glass producers bent all their efforts on making material for PV modules.
Guggenheim Solar Index: PV industry facing headwinds
The solar industry faced headwinds in March, writes Jesse Pichel of Roth Capital Partners, thanks to rising interest rates and, in California, concerns over increasing grid access fees. Despite this, the recent earnings season reveals strong fundamentals and a healthy outlook for most players.
Sun Exchange crowdfunding offers a (Nhimbe) Fresh start
With Cape Town-based solar crowdfunder The Sun Exchange having generated $1.4 million for a 510 kW solar-plus-storage facility for Zimbabwean food company Nhimbe Fresh, pv magazine has spoken to the heads of both businesses–Sun Exchange CEO and founder Abraham Cambridge and Nhimbe executive chairman Edwin Moyo–about the fundraising exercise. First up is The Sun Exchange founder…
Solar power has to be about quality as well as quantity
Greater dispatchability will be required from solar as it becomes increasingly mainstream worldwide, or investors could experience diminishing returns as a victim of the technology’s success at bearing down on electricity prices.
EDF, Masdar secure 300 MW project in Saudi Arabia’s second PV tender thanks to bid of $0.01988/kWh
The French energy company said the project will come into operation in 2022. It will sell power to the Saudi Power Procurement Company under a 25-year PPA.
Bangladesh launches first green bond
With the World Bank celebrating the success of a solar home system installation program which has provided electricity to an estimated 20 million people, an NGO has floated a near-$12 million environmental investment which could drive further PV capacity.
The weekend read: Should solar developers take notice of ESG criteria?
Something is brewing in the financial world. “Sustainable finance” and the growth of ESG funds have been taking the market by storm in recent years. Since most major PV projects end up needing investors from the capital market, it is only a matter of time before they will have to adapt. The beginning of March 2021 saw a milestone reached in this process.
Chinese solar company highlights credit downgrades of state-owned entities
A record number of defaults last year has spooked some lenders, according to Solargiga, but the solar manufacturer has announced ambitious plans to ramp production capacity this year and next.
Egyptian government signs deal to buy power from 200 MW of Kom Ombo project
Saudi power company ACWA Power today revealed it has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and said development was on track for generation to start before October next year.
