Markets & Policy

pv magazine’s Michael Fuhs spoke to Jenny Chase, of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, to get the story behind the latest solar figures and find out why she thinks solar is a commodity, not a high-tech industry.

Enel Green Power has connected the Colibasi plant, located in the south-eastern Romanian county of Giurgiu, to the grid.

Taiwanese cell manufacturer Gintech has surrendered $21.9 million of its security deposit to escape the final three years of the ten-year contract. SunEdison will return Gintech’s outstanding $35.1 million in quarterly instalments.

The Pakistani state of Punjab has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with British company Pan Africa under which a 100 MW solar power project will be developed in Bahawalpur in eastern Punjab.

U.K. approves two separate solar PV projects, totaling 36 MW and 20 MW, with construction set to begin imminently. The U.K.’s department of energy also revealed the country installed 707 MW in the first half of 2013. 

INRG Solar has won approval for a 17 MW solar PV park on the site of a disused World War II airbase in Turweston, Buckinghamshire, in southern England.

The deal with Energia Provincial Sociedad del Estado (EPSE) for the 70 MW facility – which will produce monocrystalline silicon ingots through to module production – is worth an estimated EUR 100 million.

Chairman Zhu Gongshan and his son, and company director, Zhu Yufeng, are being investigated by the poly manufacturer for a potential breach of non-competition agreements. The enquiry relates to interests in two Chinese cogeneration plants.

The 200 MW plant is being offered on a build-own-operate (BOO) scheme, with 23 Egyptian and international companies expected to lodge bids in the tender.

The Solar Energy Industries Association hopes its new proposals will end recent trade disputes and establish a “win-win” situation for both the U.S. and China, and the wider industry as a whole.