Markets & Policy

Punjab’s New and Renewable Energy Minister Bikram Singh Majithia confirms that the state now has projects amounting to 1,550 MW at various stages of development; a 172-fold increase in just three years.

Report produced by KPMG and commissioned by the Irish Solar Energy Association foresees a potential nationwide solar sector reaching 3.7 GW by 2030 with just EUR 670 million of support.

A virtual net metering policy has been introduced and the project size cap has been increased to 5 MW. Under the new rules Brazil’s ANEEL expects 4.5 GW of renewable energy installations by 2024.

Saskatchewan’s plan to double its share of renewable energy generation will include procuring at least 60MW of utility-scale solar through auctions beginning in 2016.

Report from GTM Research forecasts a tripling of the global solar operations and maintenance market from 133 GW this year to more than 390 GW by 2020, growing even in regions where PV expansion has stalled.

Funds issued as part of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to be issued ahead of the UN Climate Change talks in Paris as part of wider investment in low carbon economy.

According to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the Solar Trade Association, subsidies for U.K. solar power are 22 times less than people actually think, comprising just GBP 9 per consumer per year.

The Indian EPC last week secured the rights to develop a 75 MW solar PV plant in the Indian state of Gujarat, prompting an order for 100 MW of inverters and smart PV solutions from China’s Huawei.

In a new report, Friends of the Earth (FOE) calculates that switching to 100% renewable energy in Africa, Latin America and most of Asia by 2030 would cost US$5.15 trillion – equivalent to the amount held by the world’s 782 wealthiest people. It concludes the financing for transforming the energy landscape exists, but that the political will is “shockingly” absent. Solar, meanwhile, is envisaged as playing a key role.

Yieldco drop-down seen as strategic move designed to boost the U.S. company’s flagging balance sheet; move unlikely to trigger wholesale withdrawal from the growing Indian market.