Markets

Only 36% of the 360 MW of capacity allocated in Poland’s first two solar auctions is grid connected, according to research institute the IEO. With the completion deadline for the first exercise having expired last year, there is also little time left for developers selected in the second auction to finalize projects. In three auctions held by the Polish government, a combined capacity of 870 MW has been allocated.

Indian developer Avaada Energy has raised the funds from the Asian Development Bank and European development institutions. The PV business will finance 2.4 GW of the 5 GW of solar capacity it hopes to secure over the next two years.

Although details are vague, the Vice Ministry of Alternative Energies is reportedly developing the country’s first medium sized projects to be connected to the national grid. It is also planning to implement distributed generation projects ranging in size from 1.5 MW to 3 MW in the crisis-torn nation.

The emphasis on grid-parity PV has been highlighted in a consultation document that has emerged after several weeks of haggling in Beijing. Chinese analyst AECEA says the success of any subsidy-free effort would hinge on the ability of power companies to transmit and guarantee consumption of power generated by new projects.

In the latest of our interviews about renewable energy and geopolitics, Indra Øverland – head of the Center for Energy Research – discusses the difficult relationship between Russia and renewable energy. Despite a belief the gas and oil superpower will have little interest in clean energy, Overland believes the world’s most extensive nation will use renewables to improve its domestic power supply, especially in remote regions. Russia has a highly continental climate, with lots of sunshine – more than most of Western Europe, Overland says. Whether it can take advantage of that potential, however, is unclear.

The Chinese thin film giant has transformed itself into a solar manufacturing equipment supplier and is set to expand a strategy which sees affiliates help fund industrial parks which then generate orders for its thin film production lines.

Mercom Capital Group’s Q1 2019 Solar Funding & M&A report has registered $2.8 billion in venture capital, public market and debt financing, up from $2.5 billion a year ago. Large scale project financing reached a record $5.58 billion across 43 deals and there were 18 solar corporate M&A transactions.

TrendForce says the country deployed more than 1 GW of new PV for the first time last year, and predicts this year may see as much as 1.5 GW of new solar capacity. The nation’s cumulative capacity reached 2,618 MW at the end of last year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The nation had a record year for solar energy development. Most of last year’s new additions – 320 MW – came through a FIT scheme but a further 90 MW was represented by net metered installations. Hungary’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached around 700 MW in 2018.

Hanergy displayed the newest rendition of its 18.7% Thin Film Flat SOLARtile in Australia last week as it gears up for the U.S. and global product launch later in 2019.