Firefighters in Gersthofen, Germany, have extinguished a fire at a hydrogen refueling station that was inaugurated on June 17 as part of a pilot project supported by the German government.

The “largest European thin-film solar cell manufacturing plant” will begin operation after receiving production certification. Midsummer executive Erik Olsson tells pv magazine Italy that production is expected to start after the summer, at a time of sharp increase in demand for thin-film photovoltaic cells from the commercial and industrial solar segment.

The Generali Group company has signed an agreement to acquire a minority share of Enel Libra Flexsys, which aims to roll out 1.7 GW of battery energy storage projects in Italy. “Revenues are fully contracted for 15 years through capacity agreements with Enel as well as capacity payments from Enel that are backed by Terna, Italy’s transmission system operator,” Sosteneo says.

In the apostolic letter “Brother Sun,” the pontiff announced the agrivoltaic system for the “complete energy sustenance” of the country. The plant will be built in the countryside of Rome’s 49th district.

Rolls-Royce has started developing a hydrogen combustion engine for combined heat and power (CHP) systems in Germany, while Lhyfe has installed a 1 MW electrolyzer for Deutsche Bahn.

Javier Izcue, vice president SG Europe at Sungrow, tells pv magazine that Italy will install 30 GW of batteries by 2030, but notes that the boom is not looming in the near term, as previously predicted.

In an interview with pv magazine, Linda Kalcher, executive director at European think tank Strategic Perspectives, described the possible consequences of the recent EU elections on the continent’s energy landscape. “Investors and businesses need security and predictability to thrive,” she said. “If cleantech is not manufactured here, the jobs and investments go to the US and China and a deindustrialisation looms. This cannot be in the interest of any politician,”

While a team of Russian researchers proposed a novel approach to produce hydrogen directly in gas wells, Plug Power and CPH2 secure certification for the hydrogen systems.

Donato Leo is the author of a study on the relationship between photovoltaics, batteries and wholesale energy prices in Italy. Leo’s deep learning simulations suggest changes in energy prices as installed battery capacity increases.

Portuguese and Italian researchers have shown that the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) is lower onshore and that PV-wind configurations reduce the LCOH up to 70%, while Lhyfe says it has started collaborating on a hydrogen storage project.