Europe on track for decade-topping 16.7 GW of new solar this year
Trade body SolarPower Europe’s preliminary statistics suggest this could be the continent’s best year for PV since 2010, with capacity additions set to soar 104% year on year. Spain is leading the way with an expected 4.7 GW of new solar, followed by Germany, with 4 GW.
Tender for 50 MW of floating solar launched in Portugal
The Alqueva Dam on the Guadiana River, in southern Portugal, will host ten floating PV projects mostly financed by a €45 million Council of Europe Development Bank loan.
EDP: ‘PV will be one of the most dominant sources of power generation’
Portuguese electricity and gas company EDP used the 2019 Web Summit event as an opportunity to undermine the role of fossil fuels.
PV takes a stand at 2019 Web Summit
This year’s record-breaking event held in Lisbon, Portugal, included an energy track devoted to renewable sources and technology to address climate change.
Mirova raises €857m in Eurofideme 4 funding round for renewables
The investment manager is now Europe’s largest renewable energy fund. The €1.3 billion group already has a 1.8 GW generation portfolio.
EU to help anchor lower price for floating solar power
The Fresher project, funded by the EU’s European Maritime and Fishery Fund, aims to develop better and cheaper mooring and anchoring systems for floating solar. The initiative is backed by Portugal utility EDP, which has recently begun to install floating projects.
Portugal drafts new rules to boost rooftop solar
The regulations will come into effect on January 1 and will improve upon the regime introduced in 2014. The new provisions will for the first time provide a legislative framework for energy communities and storage deployment.
Rooftop PV has reached grid parity in main EU markets
Researchers have developed a high-resolution geospatial method of assessing the solar potential of all buildings in the EU and concluded rooftop PV could provide a quarter of the bloc’s electricity needs. The scientists say grid parity for rooftop solar has been reached outside eastern member states with cheap fossil fuel electricity.
Winners, projects, prices of Portugal’s record PV auction
The Portuguese government has published the final results and a list of all projects selected in the procurement exercise. French IPP Akuo is the developer behind the record bid of €0.0147/kWh, which was for one of three projects it won in the auction. The second- and third-lowest winning bids were €0.01637/kWh and €0.0171/kWh, while the highest was €0.03116/kWh. Overall, the authorities allocated 1.15 GW of solar in the oversubscribed auction, down from initial plans for around 1.4 GW.
‘Portugal’s bid of €0.01470/kWh is not the price of PV’
Antonio Delgado Rigal, chief executive of energy forecasting service Aleasoft, says the lowest final price of €0.0147/kWh announced by the Portuguese government from its recent solar auction does not reflect the real costs of PV and is no indicator of the future price of power in the electric market. More details of the auction are emerging and Iberdrola and Akuo appear big winners.
