Policy

Eskom has issued a tender for partners to help launch a standalone renewables division, in a bid to speed up clean energy development in South Africa. The utility says it will evaluate bids based on sector experience, financial expertise, and project delivery record.

Solar cells are not exempt from the recent US reciprocal import tariffs, and recent reporting by major media outlets appears to be a misinterpretation of government documentation.

Belgian grid operator Elia says that rapid solar fleet growth is driving earlier seasonal overproduction peaks, raising curtailment risks this spring. It plans to expand flexibility measures to stabilize the high-voltage network.

UK energy regulator Ofgem has approved connection queue reforms for Great Britain’s electricity grid. The change could see 65 GW of solar projects enter the fast-track “Gate 2” connections queue. The government claims reform will accelerate renewables and energy storage deployment while unlocking GBP 40 billion ($53 billion) of investment in clean energy and infrastructure.

The Vietnamese authorities released the feed-in tariff levels for ground-mounted and floating PV plants, with or without storage.

Japan’s national energy R&D agency has launched a five-year R&D program to accelerate solar innovation. The fiscal 2025 call for proposals seeks advances in high-efficiency cells, site-specific systems, PV module recycling, and long-term power stability.

Essential Energy, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), renewable tech company Sigenergy and electric vehicle distributor AUSEV have jointly announced vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is market ready in Australia.

The Queensland government in Australia is set to invest AUD 50 million ($31.8 million) into a pumped hydro project with an energy storage capacity of up to 20 GWh as it works to develop a new five-year energy roadmap that is to be delivered by the end of 2025.

With California projected to fall two million installations short of its 2030 target, the bill aims to make installing heat pumps and HVAC systems faster and easier.

Dutch transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT has unlocked over 9 GW of high-voltage grid capacity by introducing flexible contracts for off-peak hours, prompting a surge of interest from battery energy storage developers eager to secure grid access. While these contracts offer notable advantages, Aurora Energy Research says that battery storage projects continue to face challenges due to grid fees, which remain significantly higher than in other European markets.