Europe

Israeli company will offer $77m – made of up cash and shares – for a controlling stake in electric vehicle power train manufacturer SMRE with the aim of then making the Italian company a wholly-owned subsidiary as the Italian government plans a big EV push.

The country boasting the highest solar irradiance in Europe has now clearly resumed its race to become a superpower in renewable energy. Pushed by its large-scale segment, the Spanish PV market is expected to see strong growth for the entire next decade. Several factors are contributing to short-term success, including lower module costs and a hike in prices in the local spot electricity market. A series of challenges, however, may provide lower than expected growth, such as grid capacity and rules for access. Although the current Spanish government is seeking to improve the regulatory framework, caution must be advised on the policy side.

The redevelopment of a coal mine site is aimed to catalyze the decarbonization of the Macedonian power sector after reports have highlighted the negative impacts of the brown coal industry in the Balkans.

German research institute Fraunhofer ISE found that electricity generation from PV systems has increased 16% to reach 45.7 terawatt-hours, with photovoltaics comprising 8.4% of total generation.

Upon completion, the long-term storage benefits of compressed hydrogen, coupled with an abundance of solar radiation in the summer months, will allow for a fully energy-sufficient 172 home apartment block in Sweden.

The “E-Magic” research project is set to receive over €6.7 million from the EU Horizon project. The aim is to develop new batteries the are more powerful, cheaper and safer than lithium-ion ones; and it could pave the way for the establishment of a competitive battery cell production landscape in Europe.

Belarusian civil engineering company ZAO Belzarubezhstroy has been awarded the contract to build a 109 MW PV power plant in in the Cherikov District of the Mogilev Region. The company reports that ground works for the projects have already commenced on land that was effected by radiation a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

After providing €2 million for two projects in October, the government of Flanders has now selected six more floating PV projects totaling 11.1 MW, which are planned to be built with public support.

Overall, the country’s cumulative installed PV power has now surpassed 45.55 GW. In the first 11 months of 2018, newly registered PV capacity reached 2.6 GW.

Europe’s new breed of grid parity projects is mushrooming on the southern fringes of the continent. With governments’ flexible attitude towards remuneration, to the detriment of reliable planning, the desire to make grid parity projects work is strong, and its progress will likely spread north.