Europe

Indra Overland, head of the Center for Energy Research at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, explains how the world’s future energy landscape may include pan-regional super-grids. However, prosumer states seeking energy independence could also be in the mix. According to Overland, the two developments will go hand in hand and the balance between them will be determined by the competitiveness of storage technologies.

According to a new report from Agora Energiewende and Sandbag, the EU solar market grew around 60%, or 10 GW, last year. The analysis also predicts that total solar demand across all EU PV markets will continue to grow due to lower module prices, and that it may reach an annual volume of 30 GW within four years. Meanwhile, solar has reportedly achieved a 4% share in the EU electricity mix.

According to a report from the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), lower capital costs for large-scale wind and solar projects, and much higher fossil fuel and carbon prices could lead to renewables becoming self financing by 2025. If these conditions do not materialize, more auctions and tenders may still be needed.

Two new reports from BloombergNEF recommend that the two northern European countries should implement policies to accelerate the adoption of energy storage and smart electric vehicle charging, while also improving demand response and interconnection to Nordic hydropower reservoirs. All of these actions are expected to further reduce fossil fuel dependence and add flexibility to their respective energy markets.

Walburga Hemetsberger has led the EU Representation Office of Austrian energy company Verbund AG for the past 10 years. At the same time, she was also a board member of Hydrogen Europe, in charge of Energy Transition Solutions.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council has been launched at EU PVSEC in Brussels. Participating research institutes, mechanical engineers, material and PV manufacturers stress the importance of having big solar manufacturers in Europe.

The EU-funded research project has presented its first results. Its goal is to examine different regulatory frameworks for prosumers with photovoltaic systems in eight European countries.

The sunny, dry summer has seen solar break several records and PV kept the lights on when a lack of coolant – caused by rising river water temperatures – led to the temporary shuttering of conventional power plants in France and Germany.

New quarterly figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show that investments in solar PV arrays of less than 1 MW hit US$14.3 billion worldwide in Q1 against 10% year-on-year contraction in global renewable investments.