Romania’s largest gas provider set to embrace renewables
Romgaz is reportedly planning to invest in solar, wind, geothermal and biogas power projects by tendering for consultants.
Covid-19 weekly briefing: US residents ponder solar during lockdown, Aussie installers wonder what might have been and the Indian EV industry calls for help
Plus, Italian developers continue to dig deep for their health service, the pandemic piles on problems for a debt-saddled Chinese company and analysts consider whether there will be any money left for a green economic recovery after the dust settles.
PV module recyclers aiming for high-purity material recovery
France’s National Institute for Solar Energy takes a look at the state of play in the European solar panel recycling industry.
How to protect clean energy auctions during Covid-19 crisis
The EU research group tasked with optimizing renewable energy auction procurement processes said the achievement of climate change goals brought about by plunging energy demand should not endanger longer-term ambitions.
The raw materials needed for the European Green Deal
A team tasked by the European Commission with estimating the raw material requirements of the European energy transition found if global PV roll-out is high, and the component requirements of certain solar technologies don’t improve by a greater margin, some elements could end up in short supply.
Debt financing the main obstacle to PV during Covid-19 crisis
Industry body SolarPower Europe hosted a webinar to consider how the global public health crisis will affect solar. While workers and materials are still available, industry experts are concerned about the state of the financial sector. Banks could become more conservative and raise the cost of capital for renewables projects.
EU opens public consultations on climate targets
The European Commission has launched a 12-week online public consultation period for its 2030 climate targets.
European Council raises hopes of green stimulus package
The economic fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak is yet to be determined but as legislators scramble to establish fiscal support for the EU it is becoming clear the suits in Brussels are not prepared to scrap their hard-won Green Deal plan. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Gambia maintains solar ambition
The country’s power utility has completed the pre-selection process to seek developers for a 20 MW solar project in the Banjul region. The project will feature up to four PV plants and will be developed under the national Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project.
Sector coupling in Europe could see solar and wind demand double
Market intelligence firm BloombergNEF has published a report with power company Statkraft and clean energy distributor Eaton highlighting the importance of sector coupling for Europe’s decarbonization plans. Analysts examined the power markets of Germany and the U.K. and concluded effective sector coupling including the use of green hydrogen could lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions of 83% by 2050.
