Policy

An article published in the FT this week was right to point out that pricing new energy capacity involves more than just comparing strike prices, but if you are in the business of calculating real costs, do it properly. For nuclear in particular, that’s a case of ‘in for a penny, in for (several) pounds’.

A week after rejecting the sole bid received – from Azure Power – for its manufacturing-linked 10 GW solar procurement, the government has trimmed the size of the ill-fated exercise by more than two-thirds.

Queensland is in line for its first community-scale battery – to be installed on Townsville’s outskirts – because of the high number of rooftop solar systems and close proximity of electricity infrastructure. The energy storage system should be operating by the end of the year.

The warning was made by the nation’s Consumer Affairs Agency, which claims 172 fire accidents occurred in Japan from 2008 to 2017. The Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association said it will provide homeowners with the relevant information and stressed fire risk should not be used as an argument against the energy transition.

The California senator has joined former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg among the latest high-profile backers of a climate-jobs-infrastructure-social safety net concept, of which 100% renewable energy may be the least ambitious component.

Dutch New Energy’s report reveals residential PV is no longer the largest growth driver – commercial and industrial and large-scale solar are now taking the lead. With newly installed PV capacity of 1.3 GW, the country saw its largest increase in new installations last year.

Chinese solar giant JinkoSolar says it has put its products through a new set of standards testing for light-elevated temperature induced degradation, with the new examination regime set to be adopted as an industry standard.

Clearly surprised by the explosion in popularity of PV in the last two years, Michigan’s Consumers Energy has asked for time to process outstanding interconnection requests which could not ‘have been predicted by the company in earlier years’.

The 30 MW plant was developed by a consortium led by Infinity Solar Energy SAE – an Egyptian developer operating in Africa and the Middle East – with Germay’s ib vogt, investment vehicle MMID and private equity firm BPE Partners.

The 2018 figures for the Guarantee of Origin (GO) certificate market show a marked growth in clean energy demand in Europe. Demand surpassed 500 TWh, while GO prices reached record levels. Solar GO, however, saw a slight fall.