Policy

The 21st Africa Energy Forum, this year in Lisbon, kicked off yesterday and will run until Friday. The meeting offers an insight into the continent’s energy markets.

Three projects with generation capacities of 5.6-6 MW were pre qualified for a 5.6 MW capacity procurement and Finnish utility Fortum secured the only PV project selected. The capex figure offered by solar developers was lower than that for 71 MW of wind power allocated and lower than for previous PV projects.

A study of the relative costs of generation using coal and PV has focused on Vietnam as a case study as the nation is dependent on costly imports of seaborne coal. Analysts paint a straightforward picture explaining why a planned 32 GW new coal pipeline should be shelved.

Boasting 195 MW of bifacial-and-tracking capacity, Scatec Solar is halfway to its planned 400 MW target for the technology combination at the 1.8 GW Benban park. The remainder is likely to come online this year.

Rodrigo Sauaia, CEO of Brazilian solar energy association ABSOLAR, analyzes the chances of PV in this year’s two energy auctions in which it can compete. But it is not all about auctions, Sauaia tells pv magazine, there are 2 GW of solar projects under development for which bilateral PPAs may be signed, and hundreds of MW worth of such schemes that have already secured contracts.

A profit is a profit, even if it amounts to less than $2,000, and the NYSE-listed developer appears to have turned the corner after a $14,700 loss a year ago. Borrowings are on the rise though, as the company plans to drum up an ever larger project portfolio.

The launch of the U.K. Smart Export Guarantee regime today failed to include a price floor – as predicted by trade body the STA – but the government did not rule out future intervention. Commercial customers, however, still have no way of securing payment for their excess power.

Hello hydrogen! A number of factors are floating renewably powered hydrogen to the top of the agenda for worldwide energy ministers. Australia is among the countries most favourably placed to turn hydrogen hype into the biggest source of decarbonized energy the world has yet seen.

Following the launch of the Indian government’s 40 GW battery production plan for the states, Telangana has pitched for a 5 GW lithium ion plant by announcing the ready availability of 200 acres of land plus power and water for the fab at a concessional rate.

While lacking the swarming crowds of previous years, the 2019 SNEC in Shanghai remained a focal point of the global PV industry when it comes to industrial solar cell and module manufacturing and technology. Here are five hot technology takeaways from the pv magazine team on the show floor and conference sessions.