Tag: solar power

Scaling Up Renewables in Maldives: Report

Maldives has significant renewable energy resources from solar and wind power. Multiple  studies indicate that the use of renewable energy to complement diesel power generation in Maldives would reduce electricity production costs. The Government of Maldives has recognised the prospects of using the country’s large renewable energy resources to lower the cost of electricity generation, increase energy security while reducing import-related financial risks, and reduce the country’s GHG emissions. The report concludes that scaling up the use of hybrid solutions should be seriously explored particularly by SIDS, other isolated locations such as remote communities, as well as industries and mines using diesel-generator-based power systems. 

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Voltalia to build 128 MW solar plant in Ireland

Voltalia has secured a contract from Ørsted to handle the engineering, procurement, and construction of a 128 MW solar power facility. The solar project is situated in County Carlow, Ireland. This new contract expands Voltalia’s footprint in Ireland, pushing the company’s total projects built or under construction in the country to over 540 MW. 

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QatarEnergy plans to build 2 GW solar facility

QatarEnergy has unveiled plans for a new solar mega project that will more than double the country’s solar energy output. The project will increase Qatar’s PV solar capacity to around 4 GW by constructing one of the world’s largest solar plants in Dukhan, with a capacity of 2 GW. QatarEnergy is a state-owned company responsible for all oil and gas activities in Qatar.

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Long Duration Energy Storage Technologies in US: Report

Grid-scale energy storage is a critical element driving and supporting the evolution of the electricity system. Long-duration (10+ hours) energy storage technologies are needed to support a variety of clean energy and resilience applications. DOE formed SI 2030 to analyse pathways for the most promising technologies to meet future targets. The report analyse the potential of long duration capable energy storage technologies to achieve future goals and benefit from widespread deployment on the Nation’s electricity grid. They establish a systematic approach to engage with experts while quantifying the impact of innovation and will be revisited periodically to track progress. 

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Solar and Wind Investments in Mali: IRENA

There is significant potential for utility-scale solar PV and wind power development in Mali. The maximum development potential across the country is estimated at approximately 398.7 GW and 1.25 GW for solar PV and wind projects, respectively, considering maximum concentration capacities of 5,000 MW for both solar PV and wind, with a land utilisation factor of 50%. This potential can largely cover the current renewable targets through 2030, which are now set at 2,016 MW. 

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Clean Energy in Western Balkans: Report

Prospective utility-scale solar and wind capacity amounts to 23 GW in the Western Balkans, 70% more than a year ago, and comparable to prospective capacity in Germany. Only 6% (1.3 GW) of prospective capacity is under construction and very likely to become operational. The buildout of solar and wind projects has the potential to displace operating and prospective gas-fired power in the Western Balkans. Serbia has the largest share of operating (29%) and prospective (47%) utility scale solar and wind capacity in the region.

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Enfinity Global secures €500 million to develop 1.5 GW of solar projects in Italy

Enfinity Global has announced the successful financial close of €500 million, which, combined with project financing, will support the development and construction of 1.5 GW of solar assets across Italy. This funding was secured through an innovative club deal structure involving key investors such as Infranity, Schroders Capital, Rivage, BNP Paribas Asset Management, and Queensland Investment Corporation. 

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Sunly secures €300 million to expand renewable projects in the Baltics and Poland

Sunly has secured €300 million from Scandinavian and French investors to develop 1.3 GW of solar, wind, storage, and hybrid energy parks. This funding comes from Rivage Investment, a French fund focused on climate solutions; Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through the Green Credit I fund; and Norway’s KLP pension fund.

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Grid Enhancement: The Philippines’ focus on transmission and RES interconnection

The Philippines aims to significantly shift its energy mix towards RES, which will dominate the installed capacity, supported by natural gas and BESS. Coal will see no additional capacity beyond the 2,305 MW planned from 2023 to 2028, natural gas capacity will substantially increase and oil capacity will remain largely unchanged. RES will see the most growth, with an addition of 13,791 MW by 2028 and an additional 84,712 MW by 2050.

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Future of Net-Metered Solar Power in Pakistan: IEEFA

Pakistan’s current Distributed Generation and Net Metering Regulations offer incentives such as high buyback rates, fixed long-term generation licenses, and generous allowances for installed capacity. These have resulted in ideal payback periods, leading to a surge in net-metered rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity across the country. The current policy offers 2-4 year payback periods for 5-25 kilowatt (kW) net-metered solar PV systems. Power utilities are concerned that higher penetration of distributed solar could place the distribution infrastructure at risk of failure and increase capacity payments on non-net-metered consumers.

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China Postpones Coal Power: Brief

Following the accelerated permitting of over 100 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power annually in 2022 and 2023, China has abruptly curtailed approvals for new coal power plants, approving just twelve projects totaling 9 GW in H1 2024, an 83% decline compared to H1 2023. New and revived proposals in H1 2024 totaling 37.4 GW are also trending lower than in H1 2023 (60.2 GW) and H1 2022 (47.8 GW), indicating a possible tapering of new project development – although not at the same pace as the permit slowdown. Since 2023, China has added over 400 GW of new solar and wind power, driving down China’s coal power generation by 7% from June 2023 to June 2024.

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Avantus and TAI commence construction of Norton Solar Project in Texas

Avantus and Toyota Tsusho America (TAI) have officially commenced construction on the 159 MWdc/125 MWac Norton Solar Project located in Runnels County, Texas. This follows Avantus’ sale of the Norton project to TAI in November 2023, a fully-owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation of Japan, part of the Toyota Group. Additionally, TAI has secured construction and term financing through a deal with global financial giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

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Lightsource bp announces 500 MWp solar pipeline in Germany

Lightsource bp plans to develop a pipeline of over 500 MWp in Germany within the next two to three years, targeting projects with a minimum size of 20 MW. To expedite their growth in the German market for utility-scale solar projects, they have entered into a development agreement with Kajoni Energie GmbH. Once construction begins, Lightsource bp will take full ownership of the projects.

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Clean Energy Can Help Reduce Inflation for Canadians

Overdependence on fossil fuels, which are volatile and tend toward high costs, is a problem for Canadian consumers, inflation, and affordability. Record inflation has been driven in large part by oil and gas price increases that have spilled over into other areas of the economy sensitive to energy inputs. By reducing its dependence on fossil fuels, Canada can fight climate change and inflation in a way that supports affordability, shielding consumers from energy price fluctuations by transitioning toward the use of clean and efficient energy sources that have lower and more stable prices. Governments have a role to play to strategically discourage the use of fossil fuels through policies such as carbon pricing, fuel taxation, and fossil fuel subsidy reform.

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Great British Energy to Boost Clean Power in UK

Energy was an important component of the Labour Party’s platform; one of its five key ‘missions’ was to ‘make Britain a clean energy superpower to cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero’ and one of its proposed first six steps was to set up Great British Energy (GBE) ‘a publicly-owned clean power company, to cut bills for good and boost energy security’. To achieve its 2030 goal the government promised to ‘work with the private sector to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030.’

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Moldova launches its first onshore wind and solar tender

The Republic of Moldova has launched its first tender for the construction of onshore wind power plants with a capacity of up to 105 MW and photovoltaic power plants with a maximum capacity of 60 MW. The plants will be developed by investors who, upon winning the tender, will gain the status of large eligible producers and receive guarantees for the purchase of the generated energy for 15 years. Interested investors must submit their bids by March 31, 2025, at 23:59 (EET).

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TEP to construct new battery system in Arizona

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is planning to build a second large-scale battery system in southeast Tucson to store solar and other energy sources for use later in the day, meeting customers’ peak energy demands. The 200 MW Roadrunner Reserve II system will have the capacity to store 800 MW hours of energy, which is sufficient to power around 42,000 homes for four hours when operating at full capacity.

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