Belt and Road to bring 1 GW of solar to Italy
Chinese state-owned PV manufacturer Jetion Solar says it has signed a deal with Italian government-owned oil and gas major Eni to develop a slew of new solar projects across five regions in the next three years in a deal worth €2 billion.
Uruguay launches 65 MW solar tender
Utility UTE is planning to resume solar energy development with a new large scale PV project after several years of almost zero growth.
South Africa proposes voluntary reduction of tariffs awarded in first three REIPPPP rounds
Power purchase agreements may be voluntarily renegotiated by extending the 20-year deals or enabling independent power producers to add more efficient PV components, thus increasing plant generation capacity.
Gambia plans 150 MW solar project with 20 MWh storage option
The solar park will be connected to the Soma substation, a piece of grid infrastructure expected to increase electricity access in the country to 60%. The project will add to 30 MW of other solar facilities under development in the West African nation.
Germany added 2.72 GW of PV in eight months
In August alone, around 327 MW of new solar generation capacity was registered in the country. This month the FIT for solar systems up to 750 kW in size will fall another 1.4%.
Switzerland plans large scale solar auctions
The Swiss Federal Council intends to increase competition in the solar sector and set fixed tariffs for large PV projects using tenders. The electricity market will be fully opened up in a move industry association Swissolar says will discriminate against PV and threaten the rapid expansion of renewables.
Who has won contract for Indonesia’s controversial floating PV project?
The government was forced to hold a tender for the 200 MW Cirata Dam scheme after originally awarding the deal to UAE developer Masdar. With August 19 named as the date to announce the auction results, nobody is any the wiser as yet.
How will China’s electricity price reform affect solar?
The nation’s plan for grid-parity solar – brought forward to ease a mounting public PV subsidy debt burden – could be left in ruins by a newly-announced scheme to part liberalize the electricity price, itself motivated by a need to bail out financially stricken state-owned power companies.
Solar-plus-storage to provide all the daytime electric needs of nation state
A 6 MW solar plant and 5 MW/2.5 MWh storage system are set to increase the share of renewable electricity on the Pacific island of Nauru from 3% to 47%. The $27 million project is being supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Bangladesh government pledges rooftop PV on all its buildings
The authorities expect to add 300 MW of rooftop solar in the next four years thanks to net metering regulations and hope the nation’s extensive clothing and textile industry will be encouraged to adopt PV.
