WoodMac: Bifacial module capacity will exceed 21 GW by 2024
Increasingly affordable and free from the Trump administration’s solar tariffs, bifacial modules are only set to get more popular in the years ahead. In its first report on bifacial PV, WoodMac predicted the technology will make up 17% of global installations five years hence, quadrupling the share it will have this year.
Australian tech billionaire to help fund 10 GW Sun Cable Project
Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of software company Atlassian Corp, announced on the sidelines of the UN Climate Action Summit in New York he will help fund the ambitious 10 GW, AU$20 billion, Sun Cable Project in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Another 150 MW of solar comes online in Spain
The new generation capacity comes from three 50 MW solar projects Spanish energy company Naturgy secured in an auction by the Spanish government in 2017. The installations are near Ciudad Real, in the central-southern region of Castilla-La Mancha.
80 MW of Kenyan PV projects get €106m boost from Europe
The European Investment Bank and the Netherlands Development Finance Company have each provided €53 million for the Radiant and Eldosol solar projects.
Texas moves closer to merchant solar
Intersect Power has gone live with news the company has 1.7 GWdc ready for construction in Texas and California, including a project which holds a hedge and no power purchase agreement.
China set for 40 GW of pumped hydro storage next year
The showpiece 3.6 GW Fengning county project which will offer grid services and back-up power at the 2022 Winter Olympics is part of a 31.15 GW construction pipeline of projects, many of which are set to come into service next year.
Vietnam may cut FITs for large scale solar 20%
The tariff for rooftop PV will be maintained at $0.0935/kWh but payments for ground-mounted and floating solar could be cut to $0.0709/kWh and $0.0769, respectively. The previous FIT scheme, according to government figures, has driven the deployment of around 5 GW of solar generation capacity.
North Macedonian utility embraces solar at expense of coal
State-owned power company Elektrani na Severna Makedonija, which is developing a 10 MW solar project at its coal plant in Oslomej, is planning to stop seeking a coal alternative to its depleted lignite mine and to instead expand the solar scheme to fully replace an ageing 125 MW thermal plant.
Volume of Ukraine orders just keeps Risen
Risen Energy has announced a 148 MW module order will be completed this month as the Ningbo-based company expects to ship almost 1 GW of product to the country this year.
More chances for solar in Polish large scale renewables auction
The advent of permitting restrictions on wind power projects has opened the door for PV in the pending auction for renewable generation facilities with a capacity of more than 1 MW. Wind power dominates Polish clean energy and no solar projects were successful in last year’s exercise.
