Eastern Europe

The Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund has extended a loan to ReneSola Ltd to €36 million for the implementation of 55 MW of solar PV projects in Poland.

European markets: Growth in solar installations returned to European shores in 2017, with some of the usual suspects posting big numbers, and several new players awakening to the possibilities of PV. Here, pv magazine provides an overview of the latest movements on the continent.

Hevel Solar and Fortum won the 148.5 MW worth of solar PV projects awarded in the auction. The Finnish utility, however, proposed a project CAPEX, which was almost half that of the Russian company’s.

The utility’s renewable energy unit PGE EO has announced the construction of a PV laboratory and a solar module field test in Siedlce. The move is part of its plan to invest in solar parks up to 1 MW under Poland’s auction mechanism.

According to the EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, Arias Cañete, negotiations among all EU members on final target are still ongoing, and face several issues.

Two PV plants totaling 83 MW will be constructed by the Norwegian developer in the Cherkassy region.

Around $31 million in funds will be provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The project is located in the Karaganda region.

With new amendments to the Electricity Market Act, the Baltic country will now have its first technology-neutral auctions for renewable energy projects ranging in size from 50 kW to 1 MW, its feed-in premium scheme limited to generators up to 50 kW (which may favor solar), and more chances to create direct lines with single final customers.

Only a third of the projects, however, will reach the auction’s final phase, as the Russian government announced last year it would allocate 829.94 MW of wind and only 150.2 MW of solar in this round of bids.

Despite its huge potential in the region, solar PV has hitherto gained little traction in Central Asia. In Kazakhstan, two utility-scale PV projects have been realized, and a few are in the pipeline for Uzbekistan as it begins to attract international investors. But many challenges on the policy level have yet to be overcome.