Europe

Ruchi Gupta is a research fellow at the University of Geneva’s Institute for Environmental Sciences. She focuses on how flexibility options, such as sector coupling with hydrogen production, can support renewable energy integration and decarbonize a wide range of sectors.

A bridge crossing the Pò river in San Mauro Torinese, in northern Italy, is set to host a 300m long PV system designed to rely on special mounting structures and full-black modules. The local administration said the bridge was chosen as the rooftops and surfaces available are all located in landscape protection areas adjacent to the town’s most important historic building.

Swedish venture capital fund EQT has launched an offer for the Spanish solar developer at €26.50 per share.

The French government has selected 329 projects in its latest procurement exercise. Average prices were €77.62/ MWh for large power plants (500 kWp to 8 MWp) and €87.23/MWh for projects below 500 kWp.

Long distance, point-to-point transport of green hydrogen for industrial use can harness the cheap solar electricity available in some parts of the world but distributing the energy-storage gas to individual refueling stations, for vehicle fuel cell use, will likely have to depend on production nearby.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have seen uneven development in PV installations to date, and the three Baltic states are still highly dependent on imports from Russia. Estonia needs to replace aging energy infrastructure, and so far it has led the region in PV deployments. Latvia, meanwhile, has a high level of hydro in its energy mix, and less incentive to build PV. IHS Markit analyst Susanne von Aichberger examines the latest policy developments in the Baltic states.

Macquarie Asset Management announced a €90 million debt investment on Monday in a portfolio of concentrated solar power plants in southern Spain.

The Scottish government wants to deploy renewable-powered heat pumps on at least 1 million homes and 50,000 non-domestic buildings by the end of this decade. For this purpose, it has created an advisory group and is now seeking to gather all potential stakeholders.

Called DVP Solar, the newly created company has projects in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Colombia and Peru, and manages 5 GW of photovoltaic plants in operation. It also has another 2 GW of projects in the initial development phase, and plans another 3 GW for the coming years.

Private equity funds in Ireland and the U.S. have moved for the English company, which developed and sold the first subsidy-free solar farm in England, the 6 MW Clayhill project in Flitwick.