ABB finalizes $2.6bn GE Industrial Solutions acquisition, deploys VPP in Italy
The company reports that its IoT ABB Ability platform connects to existing GE Industrial Solutions’ installations. The company will supply its products to GE, with the GE brand name being retained. Access to the North-American market was named as one of the primary motivators for the acquisition. At the same time, the company inked a deal to support Be Power in the Italian market for dispatching services with its ABB Ability solution.
Spain: Enel builds 84.9 MW solar park, Barcelona launches own energy company
Spain’s Enel unit Endesa plans to invest €59 million in the construction of a 84.9 MW solar park in the town of Totana, in the southern region of Murcia. In other news, Catalonia is also seeking independence through energy. In this vein, Barcelona Energy, a public metropolitan electricity operator that will supply renewable electricity to the City Council and other municipal companies, as well as street lighting, began operations yesterday.
Germany registers almost 200 MW of solar in May
In particular, the rooftop PV segment continues to drive the market in Germany. For ground-mounted systems, newly registered PV capacity for May was approximately 37.5 MW.
Sweden increases 2018 solar budget, again
The annual budget for solar rebates has been raised from SEK 390 million to SEK 915 million (US$102.5 million). Additional funds are intended to spur more growth and reduce waiting period for applicants.
Germany’s KfW finances South Africa’s grid enhancement with $100 million
The improvement to the country’s power infrastructure is planned to enable the integration of renewable energy IPP projects under the recently-signed PPAs, as part of the REIPPPP program.
Europe’s first GW-sized solar park may be built in France
The huge 1.2 GW PV facility is currently being planned in the Lot-et-Garonne Department, southern France. The project’s required investment is expected to reach around €1 billion. Five big solar players are currently interested in developing the plant.
Basic Energy buys stake in 2 Thai EPC firms working on 220 MW Myanmar PV project
The Philippines-based energy company has signed the share purchase agreements to acquire a 15% stake in two Thai companies, which are building a 220 MW utility-scale solar power project in Myanmar.
8 key takeaways from The Smarter E 2018
This year, The Smarter E made its debut this June 20 to 22 in Munich, Germany, bringing together existing exhibitions, Intersolar Europe and ees Europe, with two new events, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power. This change reflects both the strong shift towards storage, and the rapidly changing face of the overall energy industry. pv magazine hit the floors, attended the conferences and held two roundtables to discover the latest trends. Read on to discover our eight key takeaways (and one new buzzword).
Spain prepares to resume renewable energy auctions
Although it is still unknown when exactly the new auctions will be held, the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition is now defining new bidding rules, in order to adapt them to international standards.
Inverters get smart at the 2018 Smarter E
Inverter manufacturers tapped into the major theme of digitization in their product presentations at this year’s Smarter E event in Munich – of which Intersolar Europe is a part of. The solutions deploy smart software solutions for maximizing self-consumption, O&M provision and enable hybrid architectures across all three market segments.
