Markets

Chile continues to lead the energy transition in Latin America, but international investors are nervous. The pandemic is subsiding, thanks to a vaccination rate close to 80%, and energy demand is showing signs of recovery. However, the political landscape still has investors on edge, reports Luisa Cabello.

China Green Development Group is building a giant project consisting of 3 GW of photovoltaics and 300 MW of concentrating solar power. The plant is scheduled for completion in 2025 and is part of China’s 14th five-year plan.

CE Oltenia wants to build eight solar parks at three of its coal power plants and five of its coal mining sites by 2026. This new capacity should replace installed power from coal that the company wants to shut down over the next five years.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) showed, through a pilot incentive program, that whole-home heat pumps are a feasible solution for heating when switching from gas. Project costs, however, were found to be higher than expected.

Through the procurement exercise, the government wants to build ground-mounted solar power projects on an independent power producer (IPP), and build-own-operate (BOO) basis.

Built by French developer TSE, the facility has a capacity of 152 MW and is located in Marville, in northeastern France.

Antonio Delgado Rigal, chief executive of energy forecasting service AleaSoft, tells pv magazine that skyrocketing gas and electricity prices are putting the global economy under strong pressure, while also opening up huge opportunities for solar, renewables and green hydrogen. He says current gas and electricity prices, along with rising CO2 prices, already make green hydrogen competitive. He therefore calls for immediate action on building new capacity, but acknowledges that a quick end is not yet in sight for rising prices.

A report by BloombergNEF and Schneider Electric has pressed the case for governments to unlock the world’s potentially huge rooftop solar potential, and cited California’s solar mandate as a shining example.

At the end of June, Italy’s cumulative PV capacity surpassed 22.4 GW. Rooftop PV keeps driving the Italian solar market.

Russian energy giant said its gigafactory will be located in Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad. The facility is expected to begin manufacturing activities in 2026.