U.K. government announces 2050 carbon neutrality ambition
Leaving with a last hurrah, Brexit casualty prime minister Theresa May has announced a statutory instrument to amend the Climate Change Act of 2008. The law currently prescribes an emissions cut of 80% by 2050, from a 1990 baseline. The new law will aim for net zero emissions by 2050, making the U.K. the first G7 nation to pass such legislation.
Plug-in hybrid cars have as much longevity as Betamax and MiniDiscs – stick to pure electric
A report on the prospects for a mooted $2.6tn electric vehicle market over the next decade says PHEVs – part electric, part gas-guzzling – are already losing market share rapidly to pure electric rivals, and will be extinct by 2030.
India’s lithium gigafactory ambition raised to 50 GW, tender likely soon
The government is considering financial incentives such as import and export duty waivers to woo battery manufacturers to set up a globally competitive manufacturing base in India.
Shareholder dissent clouds boardroom appointments at GCL-Poly
There was significant opposition to the re-appointment of three executives at today’s AGM, suggesting unease at a strategy that involves loading ever more debt onto the manufacturer as it bids to rapidly outgrow its rivals in terms of production capacity.
How to capitalize on the Chinese clean energy juggernaut
Flying in the face of claims the rise of China’s clean energy sector undermines the security of developed nations and harms the profitability of their businesses, a research paper argues such a view is outdated and ill-advised. It presents four opportunities for Western players to tap ‘Green China Inc’.
Africa Energy Forum: $0.09/kWh the norm for African solar
The 21st Africa Energy Forum, this year in Lisbon, kicked off yesterday and will run until Friday. The meeting offers an insight into the continent’s energy markets.
Solar offers increasingly lower capex in Russia’s renewables auction
Three projects with generation capacities of 5.6-6 MW were pre qualified for a 5.6 MW capacity procurement and Finnish utility Fortum secured the only PV project selected. The capex figure offered by solar developers was lower than that for 71 MW of wind power allocated and lower than for previous PV projects.
New solar cheaper than coal in Vietnam within three years
A study of the relative costs of generation using coal and PV has focused on Vietnam as a case study as the nation is dependent on costly imports of seaborne coal. Analysts paint a straightforward picture explaining why a planned 32 GW new coal pipeline should be shelved.
GCL-Poly dilutes stock to raise $87m to keep on top of debts
The polysilicon and wafer maker has been busy raising cash of late by indulging in a fire sale of project assets. With plans for ever larger production capacities to fund, it has now announced the issue of new shares amounting to more than 8% of the existing stock.
Scatec Solar connects another batch of bifacial tracking capacity in Egypt’s Benban complex
Boasting 195 MW of bifacial-and-tracking capacity, Scatec Solar is halfway to its planned 400 MW target for the technology combination at the 1.8 GW Benban park. The remainder is likely to come online this year.
