Industry waits in anticipation of a Green Deal for Europe
Amid high hopes for the European Commission presidency that is about to start, attendees at a recent event in Berlin tempered optimism by renewing calls for an industrial policy for the bloc.
Valoe’s Lithuanian gamble rides on latest fundraising attempt
The Finnish solar manufacturer must raise €3.5 million from a convertible bond issued on Monday and which closes on December 18. Generate the cash and production is expected to start at the Solitek facility in Vilnius early next year. Fail, and (almost) all bets are off.
European coal fleet will run at a loss of €6.57bn this year
Economic thinktank Carbon Tracker used financial modeling to determine the profitability of every coal power plant in the EU. On average, 79% of the facilities run at a loss, with Germany, Spain and Czechia among the states particularly exposed to the consequences – for coal investors and the public.
Four out of five fossil fuel giants dismiss findings of report into EU lobbying efforts
Exxon Mobil and BP did not produce figures for their clean energy investment activity and Total responded only with its ‘low carbon electricity’ spending. Shell stated it had invested €1.6 billion in clean energy from late 2016 up to June and Chevron gave details of its spending to reduce emissions and enable ‘greater diversity of energy sources’.
SMA: Sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive
In the run up to our Greenwashing vs. verifiable sustainability webinar, the CEO of pv magazine’s UP initiative partner SMA Solar Technology, Jürgen Reinert, talks about what the inverter manufacturer is doing to prove its sustainability credentials.
Operation Silver Frog: Innovative 2 GW solar production plan for green hydrogen in Europe
European partners have submitted a joint proposal to use EU-made solar modules and wind turbines to power green hydrogen for use by heavy industry. The partners hope to secure designated status and backing from the bloc’s deep coffers.
Is solar eroding too much land? The EU thinks not
The EU’s Joint Research Center has created a comprehensive dataset to characterize the solar energy potential in the bloc’s 28 member states. The data shows even a 100-fold increase from current solar capacity would require a very limited amount of land – a lot less than wind power.
World Bank: Nigeria’s mini-grid sector set to boom
A World Bank presentation in London drew an encouraging picture for the Nigerian market by explaining why the mini grid segment will take off in the next 12 months.
Chad gets financing for large scale solar-plus-storage project
An €18 million loan has been provided by the African Development Bank. The solar park, planned for capital N’Djamena, will be coupled to 4 MWh of storage.
Moldova proposes renewables tariffs
The energy regulator has proposed a 15-year payment of $0.10/kWh for PV projects with a generation capacity of 10 kW-1 MW. The first auctions for large renewables projects are planned for early next year and will grant a fixed rate rather than a variable premium.
