Italy

A Spanish-Italian research team has investigated different system configurations for bifacial agrivoltaic solar arrays deployed in olive groves and has found that the solar modules’ tilt angle has a significant impact on power yield while their height plays a crucial role on increasing agricultural yield.

The Italian authorities have allocated 1,001 MW of renewables capacity in the nation’s 13th procurement exercise for clean energy. Developers have offered a maximum discount ranging between 2% and 6.3% from the auction ceiling price of €0.07759 ($0.0818)/kWh.

UK renewables developer Pacific Green Technologies says it will double down on battery energy storage systems as a priority in 2024, as it has expanded its global pipeline to 6 GWh over the past year.

Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled the world’s first green hydrogen refueling network for recreational boats at marinas in Italy, while a German-Czech consortium has announced the development of a drivable hydrogen motorcycle.

A European research group has tested an energy system combining PVT collectors, a water-to-water heat pump and borehole thermal energy storage in an Italian swine farm and has found the proposed system can completely replace fossil fuel-based power generation.

A new study by ManpowerGroup and Cepsa suggests that green hydrogen and biofuels could create more than 1.7 million new green jobs in Europe by 2040, while Airbus, Vattenfall and other partners have agreed to assess the feasibility of hydrogen infrastructure at airports in Sweden and Norway.

Baker Hughes has revealed plans for hydrogen projects in Europe and North America, on top of new announcements from Masdar, Air Liquide and TotalEnergies.

Enel has obtained €560 million ($610.2 million) for a solar module factory it is building in Catania, Sicily.

The Italian manufacturer said the heat pump has a seasonal coefficient of performance of 3.80 to 4.80. The new product can reportedly operate from -15 C to 52 C in cooling mode and from -20 C to 30 C in heating mode.

As electrolysis is gaining traction in the markets, European and US companies announce new hydrogen projects in the heavy mobility sector. Meanwhile, UK-based solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) tech developer Ceres Power signed a global long-term agreement with Delta Electronics.