European Union

Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, said the project could be co-funded by the EU and finalized in the mid-2030s.

The projects, equivalent to 1.88 GW of electrolyzer capacity, were withdrawn after choosing not to continue with the agreement procedure or for being unable to provide a signed completion guarantee. As a result, ten hydrogen projects representing 774 MW in capacity from the reserve list have been invited to prepare grant agreements.

The European Commission has told pv magazine that it will unlikely prioritize operating expenditure (opex) support for solar and clean technology manufacturers, citing concerns about potential market distortion, even as insolvencies rise across the European PV sector.

Researchers in Hungary have developed a model to calculate the optimal PV and battery storage balance to support the European grid in the next few years. They found that the cost-optimal range is at 530–880 GW of PV, combined with battery storage equivalent to 2.5–7.5% of the total intermittent capacity.

The aim of the European Energy Storage Inventory is to record all European energy storage projects by status – in operation, planned and under construction -, by location and by technology. Most projects have been recorded in Germany so far.

The new Clean Industrial Deal provides a “specific boost” for European solar manufacturing, but a lack of financing and storage to support grids will continue to hold back deployment unless addressed.

Solar energy has been essential for survival in Ukraine during nearly three years of war since the Russian invasion in 2022. As citizens hope for peace, PV will be instrumental in supporting post-war recovery, whenever it comes.

Analysts at Aurora Energy Research expect installed wind and PV capacity in Europe to more than triple by 2050, but expansion might not be enough to meet European climate targets.

The European Commission will publish guidance on agrivoltaics as part of a wider document covering innovative technologies, attendees at pv magazine Roundtables Europe 2024 heard. More than 1,300 guests joined pv magazine’s live event on Dec. 5, which covered topics ranging from quality and European manufacturing to energy storage and solar cell technology.

Benin has started construction of the 25 MW Forsun PV plant, which is set to join the Defisol and TTC projects to expand the Illoulofin Solar Power Station’s total capacity to 75 MW. The government said the project is backed by a $25.8 million investment.