China sets ‘capacity price’ floor for grid-scale storage, tying payments to coal benchmarks
Beijing’s new rule lets standalone storage earn fixed-cost payments for availability, not energy delivered.
Photovoltaics for salmon farms
Copec, Luxmeter Energy, and Ventisqueros have commissioned a system at the Quintupeu salmon farming center in Hornopirén, a remote area of southern Chile. The installation features a 48 kW photovoltaic plant paired with a 109 kWh battery storage system, enabling the facility to reduce its reliance on diesel generators in this off-grid aquaculture operation.
Brookfield explores sale of solar developer X-Elio
Brookfield has appointed Santander and Barclays to manage the sale of X-Elio, valued at more than €4 billion ($4.7 billion) including debt. If completed, it would be the company’s second major divestment in Spain in two years.
World’s largest AI-powered battery storage cluster comes online in China
The multi-project cluster includes the world’s largest single-site electrochemical energy storage facility: the 4 GWh Envision Jingyi Chagan Hada Energy Storage Power Station.
French railway operator tests solar on train tracks
Swiss startup Sun-Ways is testing removable solar panels installed on an operational railway line through a pilot project with French railway operator SNCF in Switzerland.
Latvia’s largest single-site solar plant begins operating
The 120.8 MW project, built by Lithuanian renewables developer Green Genius, is the largest single-site project in the Baltics. Work is currently underway on constructing a 50 MW/100 MWh battery energy storage system on-site.
Hong Kong–based startup launches glass-fiber composite solar module frames
Xilia Group has introduced composite frames for solar modules made from glass fiber–reinforced polyurethane. The company says the frames reduce weight, resist corrosion, and eliminate the need for grounding.
Armenia adds around 615 MW of solar in 2025
Armenia enjoyed a record year for solar deployment last year, surpassing 1 GW of cumulative solar capacity. The market is currently led by autonomous solar producers, of which there are now more than 50,000 in the country.
German researchers develop sodium-ion battery based on lignin
German researchers have developed a sodium-ion battery technology using lignin-based hard carbon as the negative electrode. The 1 Ah battery cell prototype showed no significant degradation after 100 charging and discharging cycles.
Vietnam more cost-competitive than India in cell, PV module production, says IRENA
IRENA’s latest report finds that energy use and material intensity across the solar PV manufacturing supply chain will decline through 2030. The analysis also shows Vietnam remains more cost-competitive than India due to lower electricity prices, while high energy and labour costs keep Australia and Germany less competitive.
