Markets & Policy

The Romanian solar PV market has ground to a halt, following the expiration of the green certificate scheme for large-scale renewables. New provisions for net metering and distributed generation, however, may come into force soon.

Companies and consortia from China, Europe, and domestically have lodged technical and financial offers to build four 50 MW solar plants in Jordan’s Maan Development Zone, the government reveals.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is now assisting the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) for the tendering of two solar PV projects, is seeking consultants to help the country’s transition from FITs to auctions.

Coming hot on the heels of its Sky report, which envisaged a very strong role for renewables, particularly solar, well before 2050, the Anglo-Dutch company has now released a new report on a strategy for the energy transition, seeking to reshape itself and contribute to society’s shift away from fossil fuels towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

32 to 0 for solar PV – that’s the result of the first technology-neutral tender. The average final price of €0.0467 per kWh was slightly above the solar-only-tender held in February.

In March alone, renewable energies covered 103.6% of the country’s total power consumption, a performance which was mainly driven by wind and hydropower. As a result, the average power price on the daily spot market dropped year-on-year, from €43.94/MWh to €39.75/MWh.

Korean module manufacturing giant, Hanwha Q Cells reported a net loss of US$9.2 million for the full year 2017, falling from a net income of $127.5 million in the previous year. The company cited a one-time loss associated with the discontinuation of wafer manufacturing as the main reason for the decline.

The Danish investment firm will use the funds to finance wind, solar, biomass and geothermal projects across several markets. The final close of the fund exceeded its end goal by €500 million.

The international financial institution is assisting the grid operator of the Northern African country, ONEE, in evaluating the current capacity of its very high voltage (VH) and high voltage (HV) networks to absorb additional power from renewables.

Flanders’ Ministry of Energy intends to make it easier for renewable energy suppliers to sell power to a final customer through a direct connection. This is expected to encourage industrial customers and public entities to increase consumption from clean energy sources.