Minigrid development a win-win scenario for Nigeria, says Rocky Mountain Institute
A new report from U.S. based Rocky Mountain Institute outlines the potential for minigrid deployment to provide electricity to underserved communities around the world, to the benefit of utility companies, minigrid developers and communities. The report takes examples from Nigeria to illustrate this potential, but states that many of its findings could be applied to communities with limited or no access to electricity around the world.
Renewables surpassed fossil fuels capacity in Germany last year
In their annual monitoring report, Germany’s Federal Network Agency and the Federal Cartel Office have analyzed the figures for 2017. At the end of last year, renewables accounted for around 112.5 GW of operational capacity, while conventional sources totalled 105.1 GW.
Chile launches call for $193.4 million solar energy research institute
The Technological Institute for Solar Energy, Low Emissions Mining and Advanced Materials of Lithium and other materials, will be set up with a mixture of public funding and 30% private investment.
“There are four or five key issues in project quality control, most of them before installing the first module”
PI Berlin plans to open a headquarters in Spain next year. pv magazine has spoken with Senior Consultant Asier Ukar about market expectations, the most recurrent quality failures in Spain, risks, certification and protectionism. “After 10 years, we return to Spain with much enthusiasm,” he told us.
German and Chinese researchers hit new organic PV record
A team of scientists at Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg has set an efficiency record of 12.25% for a non-fullerene based organic solar cell.
German government plans softer FIT reduction for commercial solar
The coalition government has reached agreement on the FIT reduction for rooftop PV not exceeding 750 kW in size. According to a draft bill, seen by pv magazine, the FIT will be reduced to €0.0987/kWh from February, with further cuts in March and April, which would take it down to €0.0890/kWh.
Tamil Nadu floats 500 MW solar tender with tariff cap
Supervising authority has given the Indian state’s distribution company the green light to conduct three 500 MW solar tenders. The move marks the first procurement exercise held by the state utility in almost 12 months.
EU approves France’s €600 million scheme to support innovative PV
Through the program, the French government is supporting projects ranging in size from 100 kW to 5 MW. Tenders, to award 20-year FIT contracts for projects, will be held by the end of 2019.
Poland’s second largest coal producer to deploy 70 MW of solar at mining site
Polish power company ZE PAK SA has an 8.5% share of the country’s electricity market. Total investment in the solar project is estimated at approximately PLN200 million ($52.5 million).
Arsenal FC gets greener turf
Having closed a green electricity supply deal, changing its stadium lighting to LED and recycling 80% of matchday waste to power its turf, the football club has now unveiled the first 2 MW stage of a 3 MW storage system to slash peak load at the Emirates Stadium.
