Spain

Norwegian consulting firm Rystad Energy has described the Iberian Peninsula as “a new European energy powerhouse.” It expects Spain and Portugal to reach 79% renewables in their combined electricity mix by 2030.

A new study of the environmental impacts of renewable energy finds significant opportunities for solar to reduce its impacts in various categories, including human health, resource depletion, and environmental damage. The study notes in particular that more work is needed to establish a comprehensive reuse and recycling network for end-of-life PV products.

The auction was set to contract 140 MW of distributed solar power, as part of a 520 MW tender open to thermal solar power projects for the first time. In total, 177 MW have been awarded, none of which went to thermal, 31 MW to photovoltaic, and the remainder to biomass.

Spanish scientists have built a cooling system featuring heat exchangers on solar panels and U-shape heat exchangers installed in a borehole at a depth of 15 meters. The researchers claim that this reduces panel temperatures by up to 17%, while improving performance by about 11%.

A group of UK companies has started working on a 10 MW wind-to-hydrogen project, American Airlines has announced a new investment in hydrogen distribution, and ACWA Power has teamed up with South Korea’s Kepco to develop green hydrogen/ ammonia projects in the Middle East.

Endesa’s proposal for its Andorra energy hub in Spain is based on the hybridization of renewable technologies, storage and green hydrogen for the decarbonization of local companies.

Developers recently commissioned two different wine-related agrivoltaic projects in Europe.

Plastic Omnium has secured French state funding support to build Europe’s largest hydrogen vessel factory, while Vancouver-based First Hydrogen said it is considering investments in Europe’s commercial hydrogen vehicle sector.

Polar Developments revealed its new scalable PV array at the recent AUTOPIA event in Spain.

Enertis Applus+ and the GdS Optronlab Group have developed a system to enable daytime electroluminescence in the inspection of PV modules.