Portugal’s second PV auction draws world record low bid of $0.0132/kWh
According to financial newspaper Expresso, the lowest bid in the exercise was €0.0112/kWh, slightly lower than the $0.0135/kWh submitted by French energy group EDF and China’s JinkoPower in a 2 GW tender held in Abu Dhabi, a price which was confirmed last month.
Unsubsidized 200 MW PV plant under construction in Denmark
Better Energy is building the project on cultivated organic agricultural land in the municipality of Holstebro.
German-led consortium aims for 33% efficient perovskite-silicon solar cell
The Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Institute for Materials and Components in Electronics at the University of Hannover, as well as Centrotherm, Singulus, Meyer Burger and Von Ardenne are involved in a research project aimed at achieving a 27% conversion efficiency for silicon solar cells based on perovskite.
China Three Gorges buys 570 MW of Spanish solar
The power company has won the race to acquire a 572 MW, 13-project solar plant portfolio owned by Madrid-based, Canadian-U.S.-controlled developer X-Elio.
French start-up plans 16 GWh battery factory
Verkor intends to set up a battery fab, with production to start in 2023. The scale could reach 50 GWh, depending on the dynamism of the stationary storage and electric vehicle markets.
Covid-19 weekly round-up: Differing opinions on energy storage fall-out, a trade show update and some surprisingly positive financials
Negative second-quarter updates from China and uber-low new-solar figures from India, however, show the world is far from out of the woods yet.
Plans for Norwegian graphite battery factory
Norwegian polysilicon maker and silicon business Elkem is planning to build a manufacturing facility in Herøya.
Photovoltaic blinds to improve greenhouse energy performance
A Swedish-Iranian research team modeled 14 photovoltaic blind configurations in checkerboard arrays 1m above a greenhouse roof emulated with EnergyPlus building energy simulation software. The group found a PV installation would reduce natural gas consumption, electricity demand and carbon emissions.
New membrane promises cheaper electrolysis
A novel anion exchange membrane has been developed by German chemical company Evonik. Its creators claim it can make hydrogen generation cheaper, as the cells used for electrolysis featuring the device would not require precious metals.
Energy storage investment to approach $10bn in 2025
Analyst IHS Markit has predicted storage will rebound this year following its first year-on-year decline in 2019. The technology is being rolled out at pace despite Covid-19 with state-level policies set to keep the US the global capital for the next five years.
