Netherlands

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology researchers have unveiled designs for advanced solar hydrogen production systems to broaden the application of LC biomass. Mitsubishi has started building the world’s first validation center for hydrogen-related technologies, while Fortescue Future Industries has announced investments in Germany and Australia.

The RE-Source 2022 event is taking place this week in Amsterdam amidst what is being described as “the perfect storm” of challenges for the European PPA market. Prices have skyrocketed, permitting continues to hamper accelerated development, and a new European Commission policy decision has only added to the inertia in the market.  

S4 Energy and ABB recently installed a hybrid battery-flywheel storage facility in the Netherlands. The project features a 10 MW battery system and a 3 MW flywheel system and can reportedly offer a levelized cost of storage ranging between €0.020 ($0.020)/kWh and €0.12/kWh.

The European Commission’s merger and acquisitions body is running the rule over a plan by New York-based Blackstone Capital to take joint ownership of expansionary Esdec Solar, alongside private equity group Rivean.

Rob Jetten, the Dutch energy minister, said the nation’s energy suppliers should implement billing practices for net-metered solar on a yearly basis, and not on a monthly or quarterly basis.

The Solliance consortium achieved a 29.2% record efficiency for the solar cell in November 2021, from just 28.7% in March 2020. In recent months, it increased the perovskite cell for the tandem device from 17.8% to 19.7%.

A research group in the Netherlands has analyzed different manufacturing techniques for two-dimensional Ruddlesden–Popper perovskite solar cells. These cells offer improved photostability and environmental stability compared with their three-dimensional counterparts.

The new measure should come into force on January 1. It is part of the Tax Plan 2023 package and still needs final parliamentary approval.

In other news, Alstom tested its hydrogen train for long-distance transportation and the IEA released a report suggesting that hydrogen development may require an annual investment of around $60-130 billion through 2030.

A Dutch research group has developed a passivation technique for heterojunction solar cells based on a hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Their cell achieved an in-house-certified power conversion efficiency of 24.18%, an open-circuit voltage of 726.0 mV, a short-circuit current of 39.97 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 83.3%.