Ireland

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.

With the Netherlands receiving more than €21 billion worth of orders after launching a ‘€4-6 billion’ exercise last month, Irish utility the ESB is hoping to ride the wave of investors subscribing to ethical schemes.

BloombergNEF figures show financial vehicles linked to environmental and/or social benefits amounted to $247bn worldwide in 2018. The US led the way, almost entirely because state-backed mortgage provider Fannie Mae issued $19.8bn worth of green home loans.

Twelve signatories from the energy and consumer goods industry have sent an open letter to the EU and U.K., calling for continued cooperation after Brexit to protect both consumer, and business, interests. The document highlights the importance of tariff-free electricity trading as intermittent renewable energy will require a higher degree of market integration.

The first round of Ireland’s newly introduced Enduring Connection Policy – 1 (ECP-1), introduced at the beginning of the year, has resulted in considerable success for solar PV and battery storage, with the technologies clearly outcompeting various forms of gas-fired generation, biomass, and wind energy.

The program will be be grant aided, and will provide funds mainly for self-consumption projects. At a later stage, the scheme may also offer incentives for home battery storage.

ESB and Oersted UK independently announced this week they have acquired storage assets to deliver ancillary services to the UK grid operator.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has announced a €500,000 fund of Irish government and European Commission cash to promote sustainable energy technology development

British developer Lightsource has announced the acquisition of Irish software company Ubiworx. The company is a specialist in the internet of things and has already worked closely with Lightsource over the past two years

The Irish renewable energy supplier, which is already active in the residential and commercial solar business, has agreed to acquire a 40% stake in rooftop PV installer, Activ8 Solar Energies.