Eastern Europe

The Armenian government said the new commission will supervise the development of six solar projects totaling 110 MW.

The seven-year loan will be used by the Russian solar developer to finance the construction of its 15 MW solar project in the Astrakhan region of Russia.

If approved, the new net-metering scheme would come into force by the end of this year. Power surplus woul be sold to the grid at a rate of RUB 1 ($0.0174)/kWh.

The international agency describes Russia’s difficult transition to clean power generation technologies. The study, however, outlines the country’s strong solar potential.

Hungary’s solar market could see its largest growth ever in 2017. Although the country’s FIT scheme was closed in mid-2016, 2 GW of projects approved under the program could still potentially be installed over the next two years.

The Romanian government has approved a new measure to eliminate the validity period of 12 months for the green certificates. The certificates will now be valid until the end of the support scheme in 2032 and will be taxed upon sale, not upon registration.

Lithuania’s new green-oriented government hopes to install approximately 200 MW of new residential and commercial PV capacity under an improved net metering scheme over the next three years.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce had proposed not to the change the conditions of the minimum price agreement until the end of the interim review. Brussels has now accepted this proposal. In doing so, the European Commission has maintained the minimum import price for Chinese solar modules at €0.46/W.

The Kherson Oblast, Ukraine’s southernmost region, will host a 35 MW PV plant. The region could also see the installation of around 250 MW of PV power this year, according to local authorities.

The Russian PV manufacturer aims to produce 160 MW of heterojunction solar cells annually at its fab in Novocheboksarsk. Hevel says it has upgraded its production from thin-film to crystalline modules.