Eastern Europe

Photovoltaic shades in buildings offer energy efficiency and electricity generation, but an international research group says their commercial viability will depend on the control strategies used to optimize performance.

International Finance Corp. has underwritten potential credit losses on part of a $730 million loan book held by the Polish operations of Santander, freeing up finance to be issued for more green projects, including renewables.

The Moldovan authorities plan to select projects in a new 230MW renewables auction on a “first come, first served” basis. Installations will be assigned a 15-year fixed tariff. State-owned energy distributor Energocom will be the sole buyer of the clean electricity from the planned projects.

US energy specialist Enphase will produce micro-inverters at a Flextronics factory in Timisoara, Romania, from the first quarter of 2023.

The Croatian authorities plan to auction off 300MW of PV, 300MW of wind, 8MW of biomass and biogas, 4MW of small hydropower, and 10MW of geothermal power.

The Romanian authorities have allocated a budget of €457.7 million ($506 million) for a new renewables procurement exercise. Selected wind and solar projects will be granted rebates ranging from €425,000 to €1.3 million per megawatt installed.

The Slovenian solar manufacturer is offering its new product with outputs of 260 and 300W, respectively. Front efficiencies ranges from 13.5% to 14.0% and the temperature coefficient is -0.35% per degree Celsius.

Indra Overland, the head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, tells pv magazine how the Ukraine war is irreversibly changing the global energy landscape, making massive renewables deployment a certainty. But labor issues, equipment shortages, and reliance on Chinese manufacturing remain obstacles.

Developed by Hungarian manufacturer Terràn, the Generon solar tile is based on concrete support and weighs is in at 5.7kg.

The Ukrainian authorities are currently resorting to PV to keep gas substations running despite the destruction of the electricity grid by Russian troops. Meanwhile, PV plant owners are beginning to face serious financial difficulties due to power supply disruption or damages caused by the hostilities.