Spain’s Aragón region prepares to host Europe’s largest solar plant
The 549 MW PV facility will be built by Spanish industrial group ACS on 2,369 hectares of land, spread across the municipalities of Escatrón and Chiprana. The project was selected by the Spanish government in this year’s second renewable energy auction, in which around 3.9 GW of solar power was allocated.
Mexico: Third power auction likely to be more successful, despite too-low prices
In an interview with pv magazine, Santiago Barcón, columnist for Energía Hoy and advisor to Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission, talks positively about the results of Mexico’s third power auction, despite final prices coming in lower than expected.
“Devastating” provision in US Senate tax bill could hobble the ITC
Renewable energy trade organizations in the U.S. are scrambling to stop the BEAT provision as the Senate’s tax bill hurtles towards a vote.
UK government backs national battery facility to tune of £80m
Partnership between Coventry City Council, University of Warwick’s WMG and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership to receive sizable investment from British government to build and maintain world-leading storage research and production facility.
Masdar to build 200 MW floating PV array in Indonesia
Abu Dhabi-based clean energy group Masdar has signed a project development agreement with a unit of Indonesian state utility PT PLN to build a 200 MW floating solar plant.
European PV market expected to grow by 35% in 2018 – GTM Research
European countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain are all forecast to be gigawatt-scale markets in 2018. Globally, around 606 GW of new PV capacity is forecast to be installed between 2017 and 2022.
EU Energy Committee’s proposal to upgrade 2030 RE target to 35% welcomed
The European Parliament has proposed both an upgraded, binding RE target of 35%, and plans to reduce energy consumption by 40% by 2030. The two resolutions, along with other provisions to remove fees or taxes on self-consumption, now have to be approved in January. SolarPower Europe has welcomed the news, saying the move will boost jobs and investment.
Brazil’s BNDES offers new financing conditions for projects in upcoming auction
The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) has changed its loan committments, and will now cover 80% of the financing of all competing technologies, compared to the previous auctions, where this percentage was granted solely to solar. As in the previous auctions, financing will only be allocated to projects using locally-manufactured equipment.
Burkina Faso commissions 33 MW PV plant
The country’s largest solar facility was officially inaugurated in the presence of French president Emmanuel Macron. The project was financed by France’s Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union.
Solar deployment in developing countries soars by 54% YoY, finds BNEF
A total of 34 GW of new solar power generating capacity came online in 2016 in 71 emerging market countries, finds the latest Climatescope report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
