Sustainability

Corporate renewable energy purchases are at an all time high. In Europe alone, a record-breaking 4 GW of corporate power purchase agreements were signed in 2020, bringing the overall total to 15 GW. Globally, this figure is even higher. As part of the UP Initiative’s quarterly theme on ‘Sustainable electricity and corporates’ critical solar role’, pv magazine spoke to Hannah Hunt, Impact Director at RE-Source, a European alliance of stakeholders representing clean energy buyers and suppliers, about how the business model landscape for such purchases is evolving, and the challenges the sector faces, including shortages in renewable energy supply across Europe.

Plus, the Norwegian government is set to devote €2.5 million into a joint venture trying to develop liquid organic hydrogen carrier solutions for shipping by the middle of the decade.

The Greek Ministry of the Environment and Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with a clutch of private companies to turn the small Aegean island of Halki green as a demonstration of the effectiveness of its planned GR-Eco Islands Initiative.

Around 500 open-pit lakes left behind as a legacy of Germany’s open-cast lignite mining industry could potentially host more than 50 GW of solar generation capacity. With that in mind, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is financing a three-year study into the technology’s revenue potential.

Construction on the Halmstad facility is expected to start this year after the Stena Recycling branch of the Swedish conglomerate announced a €25 million commitment.

The current planning regulations would mean Italy not hitting its 2030 climate change targets for another 70 years and clean energy trade bodies say the Simplification Decree being debated in parliament – which was drafted to secure €191 billion of EU cash and loans – does not go far enough.

We will need 10.7 TW of clean energy generation capacity this decade to stay on track with the most ambitious of the climate change paths agreed in Paris, which would include plenty of solar investment and jobs, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

State body the NEA has given its provincial offices until July 15th to suggest counties where a solar mandate – which rises to at least half of all government roofspace – can be rolled out. Selected companies will be awarded whole-county contracts.

The use of ultrasonic sound waves has been applied to battery recovery. Researchers from the ReLiB project at the U.K.’s Faraday Institution say the process has already proven to be 100 times faster than conventional approaches. It is also much more sustainable and less energy intensive.

The bloc’s latest two bonds were oversubscribed more than 11 times yesterday as the European Commission announced the results of a second fundraising round which already puts the EU almost halfway to the €80 billion it intends to generate through such instruments this year.