Eastern Europe

Around 240 MW of new installations were deployed from October 2018 to the end of September and approximately 70 MW were installed in the third quarter of last year alone, according to the responsible state body.

The central Asian nation and the International Finance Corporation are seeking proposals for two 200 MW solar parks planned in the Samarkand and Jizzakh regions. The projects will be awarded 25-year power purchase agreements.

Utility ESM is seeking potential partners for the construction of two 50 MW solar facilities at its shuttered coal power plant near Kičevo.

Polish power providers Enea and Energa have suspended construction financing for a new 1 GW coal power plant in northeastern Poland. According to the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, this could mark the beginning of the end for the $1.6 billion project. The two companies said their decision depended mostly on the new EU policy for the electricity sector and a lack of external financing.

Researchers have integrated A3B5 semiconductors on a silicon substrate in a prototype solar cell and claim the technique could enable the production of III-V solar cells with conversion efficiencies of around 40%.

Chemists from Russia’s RUDN University have developed a series of compounds based on methylammonium iodide and iodine which they say could be used to make perovskite solar devices without toxic solvents. That would enable perovskite cells to be manufactured without chemical by-products.

Renewables generated more electricity than coal in the EU for the first time ever in 2019, driving the sharpest reduction in the European power sector’s carbon emissions in three decades, according to a new report.

New research based on participatory photography and focus groups has shown how solar parks can change people’s landscape perception through a number of factors, not exclusively visual. According to the study, people that see landscapes in an idyllic way tend to oppose the presence of a solar park, while people with a more utilitarian concept of the rural landscape show stronger acceptance.

Differing finance costs across the continent are likely to see wind-rich, high electricity demand nations such as Germany, France, Austria and Belgium forge ahead with renewables at the expense of countries with plenty of sun but where borrowing is expensive, according to a German study.

Russia is taking the lead in issuing a multinational stablecoin backed by commodities – a cyber-initiative connecting some of the most promising hub of hydrocarbon rich economies stretching across Eurasia, Africa and South America.  However if such technology is fueled by hydrocarbon energy, temperatures are expected to rise 3.2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by the end of the century. A decisive role could be played by the BRICS in finding innovative solutions to the functioning of the current global framework, particularly in transitioning to green economies.