Markets & Policy

As the government of Belgium’s French-speaking region has announced the possible closing of the incentive scheme Qualiwatt, claiming that self-consumption is now becoming more profitable, the region’s regulator CWaPE warns that the abrupt cancellation of the incentives may have a negative psychological effect.

GE Power has announced 12,000 jobs will go as part of its effort to cut structural costs by US$3.5 billion. Part of the reason for the move is the strong growth of renewables, and a softening of traditional power markets. Storage is said to be a “mega trend”.

The number of planned PV projects not exceeding 9 MW in size, which are eligible to access Chile’s PMGD Program for distributed generation, has increased considerably over the past months.

This week’s Intersolar India 2017 in Mumbai, which ran from Tuesday to Thursday at the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC), highlighted both the potential and the challenges of India’s vast residential PV market. Everything from policy to unique environmental challenges and installation processes was discussed.

Milan Koev, REC Group’s Vice President Sales & Marketing APAC, speaks to pv magazine about the potential of India’s rooftop solar market.

The state’s Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) announces tender for 43 individual solar plants located in taluks – small districts dotted across the state of Karnataka.

Tier-1 Chinese solar company trains sights on greater cost optimization and higher efficiencies with half-cell and bifacial technologies as it assesses capacity expansions for 2018 following a strong Q3 that saw the firm retain its shipment leadership position.

GTM Research reports that utilities in 15 states are incorporating energy storage into their long-term plans, as energy storage deployment reached a relatively even keel during Q3 2017.

The latest monthly report from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency shows that U.S. PV output in the first nine months of 2017 grew 47% over the same period in 2016, with market growth across the nation. PV represented 1.9% of total generation during this period.

Overall, 42 bids were submitted to Lebanon’s Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) for 180 MW of tendered PV capacity. The LCEC will now start the evaluation process in two weeks.