EU

The EU Commission, Council and Parliament have been in trialogue negotiations to broker a deal on the revised Renewable Energy Directive (REDII), the first version of which was adopted in 2009. By 3:30am this morning, a deal was finally brokered and legislative processes for official adoption are now just a formality

In a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, more than 250 organizations and companies from EU member states have called for the termination of trade restrictions applied to Chinese PV manufacturers. The current anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs – and minimum import prices for Chinese crystalline modules and cells – are due to run until 3 September

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has announced a €500,000 fund of Irish government and European Commission cash to promote sustainable energy technology development

Joint communication between the European Union and the U.S. reveals that Washington has not agreed with suggestions from Brussels that EU solar imports were not causing any serious injury and thus should be subjected to a less penalizing tariff.

In an interview with pv magazine, SolarPower Europe CEO, James Watson explains how the Clean Energy Industrial Forum (CEIF) set up by the EU is paving the way for a resurgence of the European solar industry. Representatives from politics and industry met last Friday in Brussels to discuss how to further proceed.

Following the introduction of 30% graduated tariffs on imported solar modules into the U.S., the European Union and China have joined South Korea and Taiwan in filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

The European Commission stated that capacity mechanisms in these five electricity markets are in line with EU state aid rules, and that all of the mechanisms are “well-designed”. SolarPower Europe says further supporting most polluting power generation forms through capacity mechanism simply does not make sense anymore.

In what is the largest ever energy grant to be issued by the EU, France and Spain’s interconnection capabilities are to be boosted to 5 GW once an undersea cable across the Bay of Biscay is finalized.

This week, pv magazine attended the European Solar Technology Forum, where researchers unveiled new innovations from across the manufacturing spectrum, prompting plenty of discussion over how the future will look for solar in terms of the technology available and its applications. Bold claims of the potential for a further 20% cost reduction in manufacturing were made.

The European Parliament has proposed both an upgraded, binding RE target of 35%, and plans to reduce energy consumption by 40% by 2030. The two resolutions, along with other provisions to remove fees or taxes on self-consumption, now have to be approved in January. SolarPower Europe has welcomed the news, saying the move will boost jobs and investment.