EU Council extends emergency renewable energy measures
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.
Ark Energy wins tender for world’s largest 8-hour lithium battery
Ark Energy’s 275 MW/2,200 MWh lithium-iron phosphate battery, to be built in the Australian state of New South Wales, has been announced as one of the successful projects in the third tender conducted under the state government’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.
Octopus Energy Group receives $800 million investment
British renewable energy company Octopus Energy Group announced it would use a recent $800 million investment to “drive real scale” of heat pump manufacture and installation, and create 3,000 new jobs.
TAQA mulls shareholder status in 900 km Greece-Cyprus interconnector
TAQA, an Abu Dhabi-based energy company, has signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of becoming a shareholder in the €1.9 billion ($3.08 billion) Greece and Cyprus high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electricity interconnection.
Heat pump sales declining in Europe
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).
The Hydrogen Stream: BayoTech to launch two US hydrogen hubs in 2024
BayoTech and Versogen are increasing their investments in low-carbon hydrogen in the United States, while the UK government has announced backing for 11 green hydrogen projects, canceling plans to use hydrogen for household heating.
SolarPower Europe praises EU reforms despite capacity remuneration ‘regret’
A new provisional agreement to reform the European Union’s electricity market design is a “clear path forward for long-term investments into renewables,” says SolarPower Europe. However, the organization has criticized the deal’s capacity remuneration mechanisms for “prolonging Europe’s dependency on coal.”
Bolivian wildfires, El Niño impact South American PV irradiance
In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, says that irradiance patterns across South America last month were impacted by moisture from El Niño, high pressure and the Andes – but smoke from Bolivian wildfires presented an “anomaly.”
Corab debuts residential brine-water heat pump
Polish manufacturer Corab has developed a new ground-source heat pump with several components supplied by Denmark’s Danfoss. It offers 8 kW to 16 kW of rated thermal power.
US energy storage deployment surges in Q3
Wood Mackenzie says that grid-scale energy storage deployment rose by 37% on a quarterly basis in the third quarter.
