France announces results of commercial and industrial PV tender
The French government has allocated 324 MW in its latest procurement exercise. Average prices were €76.66/MWh for large power plants (500 kWp-8 MWp) and €87.25/MWh for projects below 500 kWp.
Floating solar array powering recreational park in Vietnam
The 600 kW array was built by Sungrow with 540 W solar panels and its own floating structures.
Solar for railways
Germany’s TÜV Rheinland is investigating how photovoltaics could be used for powering railway traction networks in a 14-month research project.
Carbon-air batteries vs hydrogen storage
Researchers from Tokyo Tech have developed an alternative to hydrogen energy storage which is smaller in size and more efficient. The system utilizes carbon as an energy source and demonstrates superior power density and charge-discharge efficiency of 38% over 10 cycles.
Israel allocates 1.14 GW of PV across two tenders, lowest price comes in at $0.02751/kWh
The Israeli authorities allocated more than 1.14 GW of PV capacity and 210 MWh of storage across two different tenders. In a first procurement exercise for the 330 MW/210 MWh Dimona solar-plus-storage project the winner was Israeli company Shikun & Binui Holdings Ltd. In another tender for innovative PV projects local developer Prime Energy secured 475 MW with the final average price of $0.0541/kWh.
Australian flow battery company completes ‘milestone’ installation
Brisbane-based flow battery company Redflow has completed its single biggest installation to date, a 2 MWh storage system in California for biowaste technology firm Anaergia.
Solar bakery as a containerized solution
The 52 kW containerized solution is being developed by German start-up Solarbakery. The bakery’s production process was adapted in such a way that the majority of electricity consumption is already incurred during the day and is only baked briefly in the dark before dawn.
Rwanda seeks consultants to support development of mini-grids
The Development Bank of Rwanda wants to finance developers to build photovoltaic and mini-grids ranging in size from 10 kW to 1 MW.
Tata Power builds 300 MW hybrid wind-solar project in India
The project was secured by Tata Power in an auction held by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL).
Hitachi wins tender for big battery in Australia, set to pay for itself within five years
Hitachi Energy has won Northern Territory Labor’s tender for the Darwin-Katherine ‘Big Battery’, which is expected to unlock more capacity for residential and industrial PV, generate cost savings of $9.8 million and pay for itself in approximately five years.
