Policy

Enphase, Huawei and other companies which make inverters in China may be the beneficiaries of a compromise struck between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

Curtailment issues will prompt Chinese government to focus on new project development in the urban east, to reduce power losses. The central authorities also want to ramp up the electricity trading market and peak shaving technology.

Although wind power had the largest share with 165 MW of capacity, solar was able to secure the same number of projects and a total capacity of 104 MW. The Danish Energy Agency had received 17 bids, including 280 MW of solar projects.

The chairman of the European Energy Research Alliance says the EU must bring national research centers together in a continent-wide effort before it is too late, and the COP24 meeting needs to send out a positive message to the world.

A scenario in which no additional oil, coal or nuclear capacity is built and renewables grow at a pace of 3-4%, would see solar comprise 69% of the global electricity system by 2050. According to an EU thinktank, such an effort would boost European manufacturing, creating jobs and prosperity.

Through a new package of measures for the energy sector, the German government has introduced a significant incentive reduction for commercial and industrial solar, but has also allocated an additional 4 GW of solar capacity in tenders up to 2021.

French developer Voltalia has secured an $18.1 million loan for its 50 MW Kopere solar project. The plant will sell power to utility KPLC under a 20-year PPA. The country’s Rural Electrification Authority is also tendering 1.1 MW of solar plants associated with minigrids in off-grid regions.

That would mean a market increase of around 25% on this year. Demand is predicted to become particularly strong in the second half of the year.

The vast majority of the newly reported capacity was small and medium-sized PV rooftops. For ground-mounts, as in September, there was little volume. By the end of October, the government’s annual target of 2.5 GW of new capacity was almost reached. Solar FITs will fall another 1% in December.

With a new decree, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has enabled the owners of residential, commercial and industrial rooftop PV systems to sell excess power to the grid. The government hopes the new provisions will result in around 1 GW of deployed PV capacity over the next three years. Doubts, however, have been raised about the attractiveness of the scheme.