South Africa’s energy mix will be much cheaper with renewables, study says
According to a new study conducted by the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies at the Goethe-University Frankfurt, a mix of solar and wind may be over 10% cheaper than power generation from new coal and nuclear plants in South Africa, even if the cost of renewables and batteries will see no further reduction from today until 2050.
Brazil to hold another auction including solar in April
The new A-4 auction will be open to thermoelectric, wind, solar and hydro large-scale power projects, which must be operational from 2022.
US: Longi, Canadian Solar in talks with Suniva
Reports from the Suniva’s bankruptcy filings indicate conversations with multiple companies that could potentially acquire the bankrupt cell and module maker.
Italy: Solar prices on power exchange lower than reference price in 2016
According to a report from Italy’s GSE, solar power prices on the Italian wholesale electricity market last year were between 5% and 12% lower than the national reference price.
Request pushes back deadline for US solar tariff decision
The final deadline for President Trump to impose tariffs, quotas or other sanctions on solar imports will now be January 26, following a request by the U.S. Trade Representative for more information.
UAE: Rooftop specialist Environmena acquired by UK investment firm
U.K. investment firm, Arjun Infrastructure Partners is expected to bring strategic support and access to capital to the UAE-based solar developer.
Solar PV 2018: Installs of 111 GW, a polysilicon factory boom and $0.30/W for modules
On the back of high solar PV installs, which will smash records this year at just under 100 GW, BNEF’s optimistic demand forecasts place growth at 111 GW in 2018, rising to 121 GW in 2019. It further sees a polysilicon factory boom, with production 10% up on 2017; and module prices dropping to as low as US$0.30/W for market leaders.
Argentina grants final approval for new distributed generation law
Under the new rules, which are expected to come into force in the first quarter of 2018, owners of residential and commercial PV systems will be allowed to sell excess power to the grid under a net metering mechanism.
Lithuania’s new energy strategy bets on wind and prosumers
Although the country’s new national energy independence strategy says wind will represent 65% of its total renewable energy share by 2050, the number of households that self-generate their power (predominantly from solar) is expected to increase from 34,000 in 2020, to 500,000 in 2030.
Switzerland’s solar power production could reach 19 TWh by 2050
A report from the Paul Scherrer Institute forecasts a bright future for PV technology in the Alpine country. Solar may even be able to grow by 18 TWh over the next 30 years from just 1 TWh currently.
