Eastern Europe

This week sees hydrogen pricing hit new highs, driven by simultaneous jumps in the price of natural gas and electricity. Elsewhere, project plans include green hydrogen production at a UK brewery and Ineos building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany, machinery manufacturers Rolls Royce and JCB making plans for hydrogen engines, and new investment agreements signed in Belgium, Sweden and Kazakhstan.

Belgian materials company Umicore has signed a contract with Australia headquartered Vulcan Energy Resources to purchase up to 42,000 tons of lithium hydroxide over a five year period beginning in 2025. The material will be used in Umicore’s production of cathode materials for lithium-ion cell manufacturers.

UK based developer Lightsource BP today announced plans to enter the Polish market and develop nine projects amounting to 757 MW, working alongside an unnamed local partner. Lightsource BP says around half of the projects could begin construction next year, and that bringing all of the pipeline to completion would require total investment of €500 million.

Unigreen Energy plans to open a 1.3 GW, vertically integrated factory in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Initially, the facility will have an annual module production capacity of around 500 MW.

Several utility scale solar projects are being developed in Czechia, with investors hoping to secure subsidies from a recently launched rebate scheme that covers up to 50% of the costs. Securing a PPA to sell power, however, may be more difficult, as the current market conditions do not offer many opportunities for long-term deals.

Elsewhere, the German government wants to allow the testing of hydrogen production from offshore electricity, while a French consortium intends to promote the use of hydrogen at airports and build a European airport network to accommodate future hydrogen aircraft. Furthermore, the Port of Rotterdam is increasing its efforts to become a hydrogen hub.

The €7.4 million scheme is being financed through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021. Rebates will cover up to 85% of the costs for buying and installing a PV system.

In the procurement exercise, the Russian energy regulator allocated 775 MW of PV capacity, 1,851 MW of wind power, and 96 MW of hydropower capacity. The auction concluded with an average price of RUB 5.18 ($0.070)/kWh.

A Russian-Italian research group has developed resonant silicon nanoparticles that are claimed to improve the performance of perovskite solar cells. These particles serve as nanoantennae – they catch light and it resonates inside them, which amplifies the cell’s light absorption.

CE Oltenia wants to build eight solar parks at three of its coal power plants and five of its coal mining sites by 2026. This new capacity should replace installed power from coal that the company wants to shut down over the next five years.