New Zealand will connect 3,000 home battery systems to the national grid to provide demand response services. The government has also set up a US$69 million finance company to accelerate investment in distributed energy generation and electric vehicles as part of its 2050 carbon neutral goals.

A new report analyzing the world’s largest lithium-ion battery’s performance in the first year of operation shows the Hornsdale Power Reserve has delivered on high expectations of its performance and market impact. It has helped stabilize the grid, avoid outages and reduce system costs, as well as triggered a surge in uptake of similar fast response systems across Australia.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs is considering scrapping a 6% markup on tariffs paid to high-efficiency modules used in its Green Energy Roof scheme. The markup is said to benefit the local module manufacturing industry, which is currently struggling.

By setting a timeline for the inevitable decarbonization of its fleet, Xcel is moving to have an energy transition on its terms.

Chinese solar manufacturer Seraphim has announced plans for a 500 MW cell factory in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The company also plans to expand an existing 300 MW module factory in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region by 200 MW.

The European solar association has called on Europe to set up 5 GW of solar PV module manufacturing capacity to cater to the expected around 15 GW of annual demand.

The EBRD has released a brief urging Western Balkan countries to both replace their aging lignite coal generation capacity with renewables, and to rethink their 18 GW plans for new coal capacity. While the region offers favorable conditions for various types of renewable generation, it has been slow on the uptake to date.

The scheme will provide incentives for solar-plus-storage projects for self-consumption, as well as for projects for virtual power storage.

Solar is expected to play a leading role in the Portuguese Government’s new energy plan, which includes the goals of covering 80% of the country’s total power demand with clean energy by 2030, and electrifying 65% of its economy by 2050.

The Mexican National Center for Energy Control (CENACE) has announced that the fourth long-term auction has been temporarily suspended, due to changes in the management of CENACE and in the Federal Electricity Commission.