Markets

Around 60% of the newly installed capacity comes from residential installations, a sign that the market is still being driven by the rooftop business, despite new developments in the large-scale and private PPA segments.

The French corporate and investment bank acquired the project from Hyperion Renewables via its unit for responsible investment solutions, Mirova. The project has already secured a 10-year PPA from local power distributor, Axpo Ibéria.

Austria’s largest power provider announced a plan to invest around €100 million in solar and €15 million in recharge stations for electric vehicles over the next five years. The company aims at investing mainly in residential and C&I projects.

The Dutch solar fair has now taken the shape of an international event, due to the increasing number of big players attracted to the Netherland’s PV market, and the high level of professionalization that has been reached by the local ecosystem of installers and distributors. Although a few uncertainties on the possible changes of the current regulatory framework are suggesting caution, solar across all of its segments is clearly set to become a mainstream source of energy nationwide.

As global energy demand went up by 2.1% in 2017, more than twice that of 2016, renewables saw the highest growth rate of any energy source, meeting a quarter of global energy demand. According to preliminary estimates from the IEA, solar PV accounted for 27% of the growth in renewables-based power output last year.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Somalia has issued a Request for Proposals for the financing of a skills development program in the solar energy sector in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa.

Investments in new large-scale solar energy projects in Spain are expected to surpass €4 billion over the next two years. Meanwhile, the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha is planning to reduce the timeframe for the authorization process for solar and renewables from 12 to nine months.

Although the Balkan country has recently approved the construction of a new coal power plant, Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj has said he intends to open the energy market to solar and wind power, an action that was recommended by the EU a year earlier.

Aurora Energy Research report calculates as much as €180 billion renewable investment opportunities in the region through to 2030, of which €64 billion could be for subsidy-free projects.

Joint communication between the European Union and the U.S. reveals that Washington has not agreed with suggestions from Brussels that EU solar imports were not causing any serious injury and thus should be subjected to a less penalizing tariff.