Sustainability

A speech delivered by the European Commission’s executive VP for the European Green Deal reiterated the EU executive’s belief natural gas will play a part in the energy transition, 24 hours before a member of an advisory panel hit out at plans to deem gas and nuclear sustainable energy sources.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) predict that growth to 60TW of photovoltaics needed to rapidly reduce emissions to ‘net zero’ and limit global warming to <2 °C could require up to 486 Mt of aluminium by 2050. A key concern for this large aluminium demand is its large global warming potential.

The off-grid solar supplier said the fact its latest finance package is denominated in local currency will help encourage African commercial banks to be more ready to back PV.

While East Africa – and Kenya is particular – has made great strides in the provision of off-grid solar systems, Central Africa is a long way behind, according to a new report from IRENA and the African Development Bank. In terms of investment, the study’s authors wrote, much, much more will be required to achieve universal electricity access this decade.

The Platform on Sustainable Finance was unstinting in its criticism of a suggestion made by the EU executive on New Year’s Day, that the divisive energy sources be considered eligible for support in the bloc.

As part of the EU Horizon 2020 CIRCUSOL project, Belgian PV installer and investor Futech investigated the technical and economic feasibility of integrating a second-life battery storage system at an existing 2MW solar plant in Belgium. The system originates from the automotive industry and was successfully commissioned in August 2021.

Cape Town-based solar crowdfunding platform The Sun Exchange in April announced completion of its largest funding call, for US$1.4 million to finance what it described as a 510kW solar-plus-storage facility for Zimbawean food company Nhimbe Fresh. With the first part of a planned three-phase “going solar” transformation of the business complete, pv magazine spoke to The Sun Exchange founder and CEO Abraham Cambridge, and to Nhimbe Fresh chairman Edwin Masimba Moyo.

The uptake of EVs in the years ahead will add up to staggering battery capacity, mostly sitting idle on driveways. The two-way flow of electricity from EV batteries, known as vehicle to grid, could not only enable power systems to rely on intermittent renewables, but could also be the trump card for network operators to respond to grid disturbances. However, there are still a few catches to be worked out, as Marija Maisch explains.

Local planning committees have given a go-ahead to a £2.5 billion gigafactory in the English West Midlands. The facility will be powered by 100% onsite solar and storage and equipped to both manufacture new batteries and recycle used ones.

Figures released by Eurostat this week indicated the monumental task facing the renewables industry as Europe attempts to replace a power source which generated a quarter of the bloc’s electricity in 2020.