Eastern Europe

Romanian manufacturer Karpat Solar has acquired a 100 MW panel production line from Spanish provider Mondragon. The manufacturing facility will be located in Transylvania.

The solar plant is planned to be built in southwestern Kosovo and to come online next year.

The government’s energy strategy targets new clean energy capacity this decade but all existing coal power plants will also remain active, gas pipelines could be upgraded and new nuclear facilities deployed.

Researchers say the technology could help drive clean energy deployment in countries with limited grids or in isolated, coal-based energy systems. According to their model, Kosovo could see a strong increase in wind and PV capacity if power-to-heat is coupled with thermal energy storage for fixed-capacity district heating.

A new report by Instytut Energetyki Odnawialnej shows how Poland will deploy more large-scale PV. Growth is expected to be high in the 2021-22 period, with new capacity additions set to hit 2.8 GW.

According to the Czech Solar Association, the move against solar will likely trigger defaults for thousands of PV projects. The Czech government also plans to build more nuclear power plants and has vowed to extend the lifespan of its coal-fired plants.

The authorities plan to assign 2.26 GW of renewable energy capacity overall under the scheme, which will include other energy sources such as hydropower, wind, biomass, biogas, and geothermal energy. The government will provide projects it selects with a feed-in price premium, which will be paid for the power generated by the projects, on top of spot market prices.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is helping the Serbian government to define its new procurement plan. The international lender is currently seeking consultants to implement the scheme.

The country’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 1.6 GW at the end of February, according to the national grid operator.

The 15-year payments will come into force when new renewables FITs are published in the country’s official journal within the next few days. The government wants to allocate 15 MW of solar facilities ranging in size from 10 kW to 1 MW through the scheme, with larger projects having to compete in auctions.