Floating solar reaches new territories
In Cambodia, Singapore’s Cleantech is building a 10 MW solar plant including a 2.7 MW floating section, and in Lithuania, state-owned utility Lietuvos Energija is deploying a floating plant at the Kruonis pumped storage hydroelectric power plant.
BNEF: Cheap finance is key to PV deployment in the developing world
While solar is lauded as a cheap energy resource in OECD countries, the cost of financing PV projects in developing nations has impeded progress. Development banks and the Clean Technology Fund they finance have played a key role in providing access to cheap financing for clean energy projects in many markets.
European PV market grew 36% to reach 11 GW in 2018
Solarpower Europe has released its estimates for Europe’s installation figures in 2018. A reduction in system prices and a policy push boosted solar across the continent. And if the trade association’s CEO is to be believed, the newfound growth has just begun.
Valoe and Solitek join forces to produce IBC cells in Lithuania
The Finnish PV equipment provider and the Lithuanian PV panel maker will manufacture IBC solar cells at Solitek’s factory in Vilnius with an initial production capacity of 60 MW.
Ukraine’s largest PV project secures provisional FIT license
The 246 MW Solar-Farm 1 is being developed by the nation’s largest energy holding and coal power producer, DTEK. The plant will be on the territory of a spent quarry.
The weekend read: PV’s Polish cold turkey
Considering the remarkable advances made by the solar sector since the Rio ‘Earth Summit’ of 1992, PV was notable by its absence at the Convention of Parties climate change summit held by the UN in Poland.
Development banks unlock €38 million for Ukrainian PV plant
Black Sea and European lenders have loaned €19.1 million each to a 57 MW solar plant in southern Ukraine, as the country scrambles to renew its electricity sector. The EBRD is committed to lending €250 million to renewables projects in Ukraine to help the country to meet its 11% clean energy target for 2020.
Baltic’s largest PV rooftop inaugurated
The region’s largest rooftop solar system has been mounted on a plastics factory in Lithuania. The 1.4 MW site’s inauguration was attended by 100 high-level guests from the nation’s business community.
Slovakian utility ZSE launches virtual battery for residential PV
The service, costing €2 per month, is for residential customers that use PV products provided by the power company. The system is provided by E.ON group – a shareholder in the Slovak utility – and has already been launched in Germany, Czechia and Italy.
EBRD helps Ukraine switch to auctions
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is seeking consultants to support Ukrainian authorities in setting new renewable energy targets and to give advice on how to shape the procurement process for large-scale renewables projects.
