European Investment Bank

Greece has grand plans for an interconnector network that runs from the Middle East through to the heart of Europe. pv magazine examines the latest developments on the road to a Mediterranean super grid and what it might mean for the regions involved.

Israeli company Brenmiller is set to launch a 4 GW to 5 GW production line for its thermal energy storage systems, which use crushed rocks to retain heat that can be released as steam, hot water, or hot air.

REC Solar has announced plans for a PV module gigafactory in France, along with 17 other clean tech projects that will share €1.8 billion ($1.8 billion) of grants from the European Union’s Innovation Fund.

The central Asian nation went from 4 MW of grid-connected solar to 104 MW in just 12 months and Total Eren’s latest announcement indicates an ambitious national goal of adding 12 GW of renewables this decade may not be so fanciful.

The European Investment Bank says a new €10 million ($10.5 million) loan will offer electricity access to almost 650,000 people in Benin.

If the EU is going to drive more than half a trillion dollars worth of hydrogen investment over the coming decades, it will need to get investors onside. The European Investment Bank has surveyed financiers to find out what they want.

With an estimated 500 TWh of renewable electricity needed to produce the 10 million tons per year of clean hydrogen wanted by the European Union by 2030, the recent promise to ramp up European electrolyzer production capacity could give a boost to solar developers grappling with sluggish permitting regimes.

Two projects in the northern region of the African nation are set to bring 36 MW of solar and 20 MW/19 MWh of storage online, with the first facilities due to start generating within days.

Two investors backed by the charitable foundations set up by energy giants have seed-funded the cash pot to lend to African solar companies, who will be able to buy solar kit cheaper thanks to the economies of scale offered by the aggregation of orders.

This week sees hydrogen pricing hit new highs, driven by simultaneous jumps in the price of natural gas and electricity. Elsewhere, project plans include green hydrogen production at a UK brewery and Ineos building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany, machinery manufacturers Rolls Royce and JCB making plans for hydrogen engines, and new investment agreements signed in Belgium, Sweden and Kazakhstan.