EU allocates 1.1 GW of electrolyzer capacity in third hydrogen auction, lowest bid comes in at €0.44/kg
The European Commission has allocated €1.09 billion in support through the third European Hydrogen Bank auction, selecting nine projects across seven countries. The procurement exercise was significantly oversubscribed with 58 bids from 11 countries. It awarded fixed hydrogen production premiums ranging from €0.44 ($0.51)/kg to €3.49/kg.
Short circuit in nickel manganese cobalt batteries causes fire at UK BESS project
Project owner told ESS News that fire at one of the UK’s oldest grid-scale BESS projects was caused by fault with nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) technology used in some early UK BESS projects. The fire occurred days before scheduled augmentation to upgrade Rufford Colliery BESS site.
Large-scale heat pumps utilize excess heat from Microsoft data centers in Finland
Finnish energy company Fortum has switched on two industrial-scale heat pumps in southern Finland that will utilize excess heat from two local data centres belonging to Microsoft from next year. The company states data centre waste heat could cover around 40% of the total 2 TWh annual district heating demand of users in the area.
Sonnenkraft launches 480 W back-contact TOPCon solar module
The Austrian manufacturer said its new glass-glass module features 108 back-contact TOPCon half-cells and a power conversion efficiency of 23.52%.
Negative electricity prices in France hit a new record
Negative electricity prices are making a strong comeback in the French energy market. Driven by rising photovoltaic output and reduced nuclear flexibility, they dominated much of April, often falling close to the regulatory floor.
Longer-duration BESS finds footing in Germany’s toll market
BlackRock‑backed developer Akaysha Energy says lenders require 60% to 80% contracted revenue before committing project debt to utility‑scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Germany – a threshold that structured offtake products borrowed from its home market can meet.
Inside PV Manufacturing: SoliTek’s new fully automated module line in Lithuania
In the latest article of a new series on solar manufacturing facilities around the world, pv magazine presents SoliTek’s solar manufacturing facility in Vilnius, Lithuania. The company recently commissioned an upgraded 200 MW production line, as it transitions from semi-automated to fully-automated processes for critical assembly stages.
Autonomous photovoltaic vehicle Infinite Apollo validates urban circulation performance
In late April, a 200 km urban road test was conducted in Belgium under real-world traffic conditions and varying levels of solar irradiance to evaluate system performance in complex operational environments. The test serves as the final validation of the vehicle’s systems.
Prototype of PVT-driven dual-source heat pump with borehole thermal energy storage achieves coefficient of performance of 4.07
An international research team has developed and tested a hybrid energy system combining photovoltaic-thermal collectors, borehole thermal energy storage, and a dual-source heat pump to supply low-carbon heating for livestock buildings. The full-scale prototype, demonstrated on an Italian swine farm, showed high efficiency, strong seasonal performance, and reduced reliance on fossil fuels while enabling partial self-supply of electricity and heat.
Iberdrola advances pumped-storage hydro station in Spain
The Valdecañas pumped-storage hydro plant in southwestern Spain has undergone a technical upgrade, increasing its operational capacity by 355 MW and adding a 15 MW/7.5 MWh hybrid battery system.
