Ukraine

Xinyi Solar reported record profits earlier this month, not surprisingly prompting bullish talk of extending its plans to expand production capacity this year and next. However, with PV demand in Europe key to its returns, the company has accepted the coronavirus epidemic may have an impact this year.

The government has suggested PV plant operators accept a ‘voluntary’ 12.5% reduction in feed-in tariffs. If developers refuse, policymakers could impose 15-25% cuts, albeit with payment contracts extended five years. The drastic measures are being considered to reduce the cost of the state-owned Guaranteed Buyer body, which purchases all electricity generated in Ukraine from renewable energy facilities.

Around 240 MW of new installations were deployed from October 2018 to the end of September and approximately 70 MW were installed in the third quarter of last year alone, according to the responsible state body.

IHS Markit has predicted another year of global solar growth but a peek behind the headline figures shows uncertainty dogging the markets of China and India, two of the most important markets and biggest polluters.

The energy company wrapped up construction of the site in eight months. In March, DTEK commissioned a 200 MW site which was also installed in record time.

Ukraine’s favorite solar module manufacturer has posted another encouraging set of returns, after a difficult year in 2018. And Risen – which boasted 6.6 GW of annual production capacity at the end of last year, according to analysts at PV InfoLink – is committed to adding another 2.5 GW before 2022.

With power production up 133% year-on-year, revenues and EBITDA also rose significantly.

Ukrainian energy market reforms are continuing and amid uncertainty about future auction mechanisms and prices, attendees at the SEF Kyiv sustainable energy forum again called out the government for dragging its heels on the legislation. However, there was also evident optimism at the show.

Risen Energy has announced a 148 MW module order will be completed this month as the Ningbo-based company expects to ship almost 1 GW of product to the country this year.

The Ningbo-based manufacturer shipped more than a quarter of the panels it exported in the first six months of the year to the eastern European nation. All the big manufacturers posted rising shipment volumes as emerging markets made up for slow growth in their homeland.