Western Europe

The entire capacity of an experimental mixed auction for wind and solar has been awarded to large-scale PV projects, the French Government announced. The average tariff price secured was €54.94/MWh.

At an event held in Madrid this week, the Spanish solar sector made it clear that it is more than ready to achieve the government’s renewable energy targets, which include 50 to 60 GW of new PV capacity by 2030. The sector is experiencing a rebirth.

In the first nine months of 2018, the energy division of the Germany-based group recorded a loss of over €10 million. By the end of the year, earnings are expected to enter positive territory, however,

Toshiba Corporation has today said it will abandon plans to build a 3.4 GW nuclear power plant in the United Kingdom. Despite this, the government says it remains committed to its new nuclear path; others say the news leaves room for further renewables development. New statistics, also out today, show the U.K. renewables industry flourishing.

SMA Solar Technology AG saw its net income fall from €25 million in the first nine months of 2017 to €8 million in the same period this year. Despite the dip, it remains confident of its position in the industry going forward.

A day after signing a 300 MW production capacity deal with the building materials company, the German company has announced exactly the same order – with the same customer – for a facility elsewhere in China.

New solar installations in the country reached the milestone in six months, according to Dutch New Energy Research, which publishes its first Dutch Solar Quarterly report today.

In addition to solar subsidy cutbacks of around 20%, planned for the start of 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Economics’ draft Energy Sources Act includes special tenders for PV and onshore wind. While many say the cuts cause great uncertainty for large-scale project developers, politician Peter Altmaier sees it differently: the energy transition is becoming safer and more affordable, he says. The decision to adopt or change the act now lies with the Federal Parliament.

The rise of batteries will attract that headline figure in investment up to 2040, say analysts, as exponential growth in EV ownership, falling stationery system costs and the needs of the world’s grid-poor regions combine to boost lithium-ion technology.

A report published today by U.K.-headquartered energy company Drax says that, for the first time ever, total generation capacity available from renewables has overtaken that of fossil fuels on Britain’s electric grid.