EU

The European Commission has said that Kosovo’s government needs to increase efforts to improve its energy system, and to provide more support for renewables, although it has recently revised its energy (and renewable energy) strategy up to 2020.

The British government is assessing ways to scrap pledges made to hit 2020 clean energy targets without incurring any penalties, reports Bloomberg, in a first sign of the country reneging on mandatory environmental action made under EU membership.

In its largest ever support for solar power in Asia, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has confirmed a €200 million ($214 million) loan to the State Bank of India.

Jetion Solar, Hareon Solar and GCL Technology requested to withdraw from the minimum price agreement in October. The three companies, as well as Talesun Solar, are now excluded by Brussels from the undertaking.

Interview: SolarPower Europe has appointed Wacker Chemie’s Christian Westermeier as new president. pv magazine spoke with the outgoing president Oliver Schäfer about the reasons behind his unexpected resignation and the future of PV and the energy market in Europe.

The European Union will see an extension to hotly contested duties on Chinese PV exporters by 18 months. A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed the move with pv magazine today, adding that the duties will be phased out, in line with industry cost reductions.

Leaked document seen by Reuters allegedly outlines proposals by the European Commission to reduce the recently extended anti-dumping duties against Chinese solar companies from 24 to 18 months.

While global solar power demand increased 50%, new European installations were down 20% compared to 2015, falling to 6.9 GW of new capacity on the continent.

The Hellenic Association of Photovoltaic Energy Producers (SPEF) has filed a formal complaint at the European Commission with regards to the special levy the Greek Government has imposed on photovoltaic parks.