EIB, ICO finance Iberdrola’s 500 MW PV project with $285 million
The massive Núñez de Balboa solar plant is planned to be installed in Usagre, near Badajoz, in the southern region of Extremadura, Spain. The funding comes to multinational utility Iberdrola after securing three PPAs for the project.
National Grid dives into renewable energy development
The Anglo-American company is the latest utility to enter the utility-scale solar and wind development space by closing on its acquisition of Geronimo Energy.
Masdar inks MoU to develop 300 MW of solar in Armenia
The Armenian solar market has been somewhat slow to take off, but it could be experiencing a serious push, following an announcement that Abu Dhabi-based energy company Masdar plans to deploy 500 MW of solar and wind capacity in the country.
Italy to hold first 500 MW renewables auction on September 30
According to the new auction schedule approved by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, three more renewables procurement exercises will be held each year in 2020 and 2021. Through the seven bidding rounds, the Italian authorities seek to allocate approximately 4.8 GW of new power generation capacity.
Interview: Fimer CEO Filippo Carzaniga discusses acquisition of ABB inverter business
After the bombshell news this week, the Italian inverter manufacturer’s CEO spoke to pv magazine about the future of ABB’s R&D hubs, manufacturing sites, hundreds of employees and of course Fimer’s outlook.
Renewables generation cheaper than coal for many power companies – but not yet for Eskom
An investor tool examining the coal fleets of major global power companies has offered up analysis which flies in the face of arguments solar and wind generation could help turn around the debt-saddled South African utility.
Portuguese 1.4 GW solar tender with €0.045/kWh ceiling receives 10 GW of applications
Despite a demanding ceiling price of €45/MWh the tender has received applications for projects with seven times the generation capacity it will allocate.
Russian scientists send organic PV into orbit
Scientists at Russia’s Skoltech Institute of Science and Technology have demonstrated a solar cell with record high radiation stability. The scientists say the cells, based on an organic polymer compound, could be a strong candidate to meet the requirements of powering satellites in lower earth orbit.
Global renewables investment fell in the first half of this year
While Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and Brazil attracted more funds than last year, China’s transition to an auction-based procurement system and slow performance overall in Europe saw worldwide backing decrease. BloombergNEF does expect investments to ramp up in the second half, however.
‘True grid parity about more than electricity price’
The head of Mercom Capital says solar has a long way to go before it can stand without policy support. Effective grid parity will only be achieved when the cost of PV electricity factors in the expense of grid upgrades and the storage systems its intermittent nature requires, says Raj Prabhu.
