France

Equium has developed a new thermo-acoustic heat pump core that reportedly produces 3 kW to 4 kW of heat for every kilowatt of power it consumes. It says the refrigerant-free device could generate domestic hot water at temperatures of up to 80 C.

SNCF Réseau and the National Institute for Solar Energy (INES) in France have agreed to jointly develop renewables projects. They aim to build PV systems that can supply continuous power at voltages of 3 kV, 6 kV, and 9 kV, while optimizing installation costs – particularly with regard to cables, operations, and maintenance.

Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE), a utility in the Ivory Coast, is set to inaugurate its first solar plant – a €40 million ($42.6 million), 37.5 MW installation, backed by a 10 MW storage system by Saft.

Eiffage Concessions, a unit of Eiffage, has acquired a 75% stake in Sun’R.

The French authorities have allocated around 180 MW of utility-scale solar capacity in the nation’s latest procurement exercise.

The leaders of Spain, Portugal and France have unveiled the H2Med energy interconnection project, which will supply Europe with hydrogen. H2Med, formerly known as BarMar, will be the first green corridor to connect the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe. It will be operational in 2030.

The French parliament has approved a new measure to make it mandatory for parking lots to include solar if their surface area is more than 1,500 square meters.

REC says it has dropped its plans to set up a factory in France due to “various market changes.” It wanted to invest €680 million ($716 million) to produce heterojunction solar modules in the town of Hambach.

France’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 15.8 GW at the end of September.

Japan’s Itochu has announced a new tie-up with France’s Rosi Solar, which develops tech to recover and recycle high-purity silver, copper and silicon from solar modules.