Policy

LG Energy Solution expects strong demand for energy storage and plans to release a high-capacity lithium iron phosphate product with 20% higher energy density, along with other offerings. The South Korean battery maker says it aims to begin US production of energy storage system (ESS) batteries in 2025 and may convert European electric vehicle (EV) production lines to ESS.

The costs for renewable energy funding this year will be higher than forecast, due in part to the many hours with negative spot market prices on the electricity exchange. A new report expects the trend of high costs to continue until 2029.

Now that incentives from the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are well understood, global manufacturers are announcing factories in the United States to constitute much of the solar supply chain. While some plans have been scrapped already, and more cancellations are expected, the broader trend is unprecedented growth.

Following Ireland’s most recent renewables auction finalized in late September, the average final price for PV was €0.10476 ($0.12)/kWh, which just a 4% decrease compared to 2023’s auction. pv magazine has spoken with the government, the local PV association and several market operators to understand the reasons behind final high prices.

A group of researchers have investigated the influence of the regulatory framework on supporting the expansion of ground-mounted PV plants close to transport routes as railways, highway and federal roads in Germany. Their analysis showed that most of the PV systems installed next to these routes are located on what was once agricultural land.

This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to María Mura, Head of Southern Europe Origination at Spain-based Nadara. She says pressure to be outstanding stems from the higher level of scrutiny women face in leadership. “Women are not only challenged by their peers and superiors, but also by themselves, urging to prove that they didn’t achieve success by mistake or by chance, but through undeniable competence and hard work,” she states.

At the RE-Source conference this week in Amsterdam, RE-Source Platform Policy and Impact Director Annie Scanlan projected record corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) growth in Europe for 2024. Corporate PPA capacity has already reached 10.7 GW this year, nearing last year’s record of 10.8 GW.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s (IRENA) latest report says that women’s roles in decentralized renewable energy are critical to achieving universal electricity access in underserved communities.

Through a new methodology based on Decoupled Net Present Value (DNPV), a German research team has found that residential photovoltaic systems were not economically viable under most market conditions at the beginning of 2023. Although lower modules prices have significantly improved system profitability in recent months, several influencing factors that change over time may still have an impact on revenue.

New US incentives support solar manufacturers and encourage the domestic build-out of the earlier stages of the solar supply chain.