Western Europe

The Verbraucherzentrale NRW says advertising for the Solstråle solar system is misleading and has warned the furniture provider and its partner Solarcentury Microgen (Deutschland) GmbH it will begin legal action if the campaign is not changed.

The slew of new capacity will come from projects allocated from the bids received for the autumn 2018 round of the SDE+ program for large scale renewables. The Dutch Central Agency for Statistics revealed new PV additions last year were 200 MW more than predicted, at 1.5 GW, and the government last week announced net metering conditions for rooftop solar would be maintained until 2023.

Developers and manufacturers looking to enter France’s utility-scale segment must deal with controversial rules which prioritize projects relying on low-carbon emission modules. But what makes a low-emission module? Clearly ones that are made in France or elsewhere in Europe, according to market data. But despite clearly increasing project costs, the rules do not seem to be an obstacle for the planned gigawatt-scale growth of solar in the country over the coming years.

The utility claims that current market conditions are not ideal for the project, which has been under consideration since 2012. The power station was meant to replace existing lignite capacity, and according to RWE, it would have been more efficient. The company says that it will refrain from making further investments in coal capacity while increasing its focus on renewable energy and storage.

The French energy company has decided to sell its coal-fired power plants in Germany and the Netherlands to U.S.-based private equity firm Riverstone.

Scatec Solar continued to grow in the first quarter of the year, with a global pipeline of 4 GW and more capacity under construction than in operation. The company expanded slightly less than it did in the preceding quarter, but EBITDA and revenue still grew threefold year on year.

The Dutch government has confirmed it will maintain its net-metering scheme in its current form until 2023, with plans to then gradually phase it out by 2031. Net metering has been behind the steady growth of PV in the country in recent years, and was also the main market driver in the earliest stages of its solar development.

Lower prices for polysilicon, combined with higher energy costs, pushed Wacker Chemie’s operating result for the first quarter of 2019 more than expected. However, the German company remains committed to its original annual forecast for 2019.

The Swiss energy company said it was chosen by Urbasolar’s owners as the preferred buyer among a list of high-ranking bidders.

The energy ministry has published a plan for renewables auctions for this year and next. Under the program, Greece’s energy regulator has announced the next PV tender will take place in the summer.