Europe

SolarPower Europe’s board members have issued a joint statement calling for three measures to safeguard the European solar industry, as they claim that tariffs and trade barriers are not viable solutions.

Germany has concluded a new renewables tender, securing 408 MW of capacity at an average price of €0.0833 ($0.09)/kWh.

‘It is a project that stands as an example of energy transition,’ Duarte Bello, CEO of EDP Renewables’ Europe and Latin America operations told pv magazine. The new 200 MW solar PV plant is now generating energy on a former brown open-pit lignite site.

A research team in Spain has developed an hourly mathematical model that reportedly allows for the optimal management of grid-connected renewable generation facilities and pumped hydro-energy storage with reversible pump turbine. The scientists tested the model on a potential pumped hydro-solar-wind complex in northern Spain and found that the combination of the three technologies may achieve considerable savings.

As the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies underlines the delays in hydrogen storage investments, a group of researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.

EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, speaking at the European Heat Pump Association’s (EHPA) Heat Pump Forum this week, has reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to decarbonizing heat.

A Spanish research group says air flux variations over different parts of solar plants could also lead to mismatch losses. Past. studies have only looked at the benefits of high wind speed on PV arrays, which enhances module cooling.

Tenevo Solar plant is expected have a solar capacity of 238 MW, a wind capacity of 237 MW and a storage capacity of 250 MW-500 MWh, with construction starting this month. Konstantin Nenov, director of Renalfa AD – one of the businesses behind the project – tells pv magazine the plant is emblematic of the Balkan country shifting away from coal and towards the sun.

We Drive Solar and MyWheels have announced plans to transform the Dutch city of Utrecht into the world’s first municipality with a “neighborhood battery on wheels.” The system will feature 25 Ioniq 5 vehicles equipped with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) tech from Hyundai Motor.

The current module oversupply market dynamic has coincided with efforts to bolster manufacturing outside of China by national governments and manufacturers alike. pv magazine consultant and contributor Götz Fischbeck was a part of discussions regarding made-in-Europe production, to find that protectionist measures are being called for by some.