U.K. renewable investment firm Octopus has signed another private PPA in Italy, this time with EGO Group for 63 MW of unsubsidized solar PV projects. Meanwhile, Canadian Solar Inc. has signed a 10-year PPA with TrailStone GmbH for the energy generated from a 17 MW project in Sicily.

Mercedes Benz has announced plans for all of its German factories to be supplied with CO2 free energy by 2022. Meanwhile, Renewables investment firm Octopus Energy has signed a five-year PPA with Shell Energy Europe to provide the global energy giant with power from several unsubsidized PV projects it is constructing in Italy.

In its new strategic plan for the period 2019-2021, the Italian power utility announced it will invest an additional €10.6 billion in renewable energy projects. It aims to strenghten its position in the markets where it has an integrated presence such as Italy, Spain, Chile and Brazil.

The Italian power and gas provider and the European subsidiary of the Chinese module maker have created a join venture, which will acquire Talesun’s existing Italian PV plant portfolio of 43.2 MW and develop another 300 MW of market parity projects.

The Italian power provider has implemented its first pilot storage projects linked to solar. The system can provide grid services such as primary and secondary frequency regulation and tertiary and voltage regulation.

Italy’s main solar event, held in Rimini last week, saw an increasing number of visitors this year. The Italian solar market, however, has not come through on its capacity expansion promises, due to lower than expected development in the PPA segment for large-scale solar; although the upcoming renewables decree, expected to be issued by the end of this year, may spur development through a series of auctions and tenders. Residential and commercial PV continue to sustain the country’s solar growth.

Newly installed PV capacity for the first nine months of this year has reached 300.9 MW. September was the month with the largest growth this year.

Bankset Energy Corporation has ambitious plans to install gigawatts of solar PV on railway sleepers across the globe. While the first installation took place in Switzerland, work is under way on projects in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, China and Italy; and gearing up in Austria and Spain. pv magazine speaks to Bankset Group president, Patrick Buri.

EDF has launched yet another ambitious plan, this time aiming to become the leader in e-mobility by 2022. It has outlined three targets, and cemented new partnerships, to achieve this goal.

Although the Italian solar market registered an 11% drop in new PV installations in the first eight months of 2018, by the end of the year, it will likely surpass 20 GW of cumulative installed solar power. No large-scale PV facilities have been grid connected so far this year, but monthly average growth remains in line with that of the previous two years.