Europe

At the recent Energy Storage Europe exhibition in Düsseldorf, Florian Mayr, partner at renewable energy advisory firm Apricum, explained how lithium-ion technologies got a jump on other battery forms in the stationary storage world, but its dominance should not be taken for granted.

While the solar investment fund F2i has agreed to acquire 51 MW across several regions, PV developer Ternienergia has sold 10 solar parks totaling 11 MW.

The French power utility said it aims to become the European leader in this market. The new plan will entail all market segments, but will primarily focus on the residential sector.

Roughly seven months after its new beginning, the German solar PV manufacturer has again filed for insolvency at the District Court of Bonn – the second time in one year. SolarWorld blames the planned phasing out of anti-dumping measures by the EU Commission against Chinese competition and the further drop in prices.

After releasing the guidelines for the grid integration of distributed generation power generators in February, the Energy Community Secretariat has now provided new instructions to help governments of southeastern European countries launch auction mechanisms to support large-scale solar and renewables.

The Danish wind specialist and the renewable energy unit of the Portuguese utility have installed the 3.3 MW power facility near Cadiz, in the Spanish region of Andalucia. Vestas, however, has said that this project does not represent a step into the solar business.

Engie has become partner of the solar and hydrogen-propelled catamaran, Energy Observer, while Total has become the founding partner of the Cathay Smart Energy Fund in China.

For a long time, the Swedish power utility has primarily focused on hydro and wind power when it comes to renewables. But in recent months, the number of solar PV and storage projects has significantly increased. This was reason enough for pv magazine to talk with Claus Wattendrup, head of Vattenfall’s Solar and Batteries Business Unit, about the utility’s concrete plans.

Around 60% of the newly installed capacity comes from residential installations, a sign that the market is still being driven by the rooftop business, despite new developments in the large-scale and private PPA segments.

A few days after announcing a record turnover and positive EBIT, the German PV equipment provider has now dismissed its CFO, Gunnar Voss von Dahlen, effective immediately. The company said his departure was due to divergent opinions about its strategic direction.