Markets

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has allocated RMB500 million (US$78.1 million) for the incentive scheme for residential PV in 2021. Chinese electronic engineer TBEA is set to raise its controlling stake in polysilicon manufacturer Xinte Energy as it attempts to fund a planned 100,000-tons-per-year fab in Inner Mongolia.

Belgian mechanical engineering group John Cockerill wants to set up its electrolyzer gigafactory for the production of green hydrogen in northeastern France. Galp Energia plans to install a 100-megawatt electrolyzer to power its refinery in Sines, Portugal, with green hydrogen, by 2025.

The solar facility is intended at reducing the country’s dependency on hydropower, especially during drought periods.

Long distance, point-to-point transport of green hydrogen for industrial use can harness the cheap solar electricity available in some parts of the world but distributing the energy-storage gas to individual refueling stations, for vehicle fuel cell use, will likely have to depend on production nearby.

The move is intended at helping the solar sector recover from the delays caused by the Covid-19 crisis. The Taiwanese government has also granted a three-month grace period for project completion.

Such a decision, which industry body the CPIA is adamant has already been announced, could make all the difference to investors struggling with a surge in equipment costs fueled by the polysilicon shortage. The all-important National Energy Administration, however, has yet to confirm whether the CPIA’s interpretation is correct.

Projects not exceeding 5 MW in size will be entitled to participate in the procurement exercise. Selected developers will be granted a 15-year PPA and will have to start commercial operation on January 1, 2023.

The government wants 30% of its power from clean energy sources by 2035 and the 50 MW of solar targeted by the World Bank would make up two-thirds of that ambition.

Utility DEWA has announced the first 300 MW of the fifth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will be commissioned next month, with the first stage of the fourth phase due to arrive two months later.

Private equity funds in Ireland and the U.S. have moved for the English company, which developed and sold the first subsidy-free solar farm in England, the 6 MW Clayhill project in Flitwick.