PPA

According to data collected by AleaSoft Energy Forecasting, wind and solar energy production in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula fell in the last week of 2023 contributing to price rises, but in the new year electricity demand is expected to increase in all analyzed markets.

Solar Philippines says it has broken ground on what it touted to be the world’s largest solar array – a 4 GW solar park spread across 3,500 hectares of land in the northern part of the country.

Ireland’s Department of Education says that just over 900 schools out of 1,600 eligible facilities have signed up to participate in the government’s first round of the Solar for Schools Programme, a nationally funded scheme to cover the costs of 6 kW roof-mounted solar installations.

The Danish Energy Agency says it dished out a total of DKK 4.2 million ($61,9542) in grant funding this year to nine local energy communities and projects supporting renewable energy. Projects include an energy community start-up guide for rural environmentalists to an energy community feasibility study in a decades-old garden association.

Almost 2 GW of solar was tendered in the latest UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero auction, while almost 500 MW was recently awarded in the latest auction round spearheaded by Irish power transmission operator EirGrid. But these gains come with five challenges, according to analysts from New Zealand-based consultancy firm PSC.

The European Commission’s decision to deliver its hotly anticipated Heat Pump Action Plan late next year instead of this month is a “mistake” that will impact the sector and €7 billion ($7.6 billion) worth of investments, the European Heap Pump Association’s (EHPA) secretary general Thomas Nowak says in a statement.

Three-month solar panel permit wait times, rooftop installations and projects under 50 kW not requiring environmental impact assessments, and a raft of other emergency measures aimed at accelerating the European Union’s (EU) renewable energy rollout have been extended until mid-2024 to combat the energy crisis.

Saudi Arabia-based energy developer ACWA Power says it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-owned utility Eskom for a 442 MW solar facility with 1200 MWh of battery storage in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.

Prices in most European markets in the second week of December were lower than the previous week’s figures, according to AleaSoft Energy Forecasting. Less electricity demand, lower gas and CO2 futures prices, and increased solar energy production in most of the major European electricity markets caused the downward trend.

European heat pumps sales were strong in the first quarter of 2023, but this was short-lived as sales figures slid by 14% in the third quarter – a worrying reflection of 2022 figures and what could come, warns the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA).