Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE to open testing facility for power electronics & grid integration tech
At the facility, the German scientists will test devices for power electronics and grid technologies in the multi-megawatt range.
Materion completes acquisition of Heraeus target materials business
German technology group Heraeus and U.S. company Materion Advanced Materials have announced the completion of the latter’s acquisition of the target materials business belonging to Heraeus.
EU supports Africa’s renewable energy and solar development with €300 million
The European Commission has decided to support the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative with €300 million ($317.7 million). The funds are intended to leverage up to €4.8 million ($5 billion) and to help finance 19 renewable energy projects totaling about 1.8 GW.
KACO New Energy to ship 300 MW of inverters to South Korea
The German firm signs framework agreement with DNE Solar for the delivery of 300 MW of string inverters to be installed across South Korea.
Singulus receives new order for CIGS production equipment
Singulus technologies has announced the signing of a contract worth more than €20 million to supply systems to a Chinese module manufacturer, the subsidiary of a major public energy company.
Enel Green Power converts Italian module factory to production of bi-facial, heterojunction technology
Italy’s ENEL will invest €80 million ($84.4 million) to convert its PV module manufacturing facility, in southern Italy, from amorphous silicon to bi-facial heterojunction modules. ENEL expects to launch its new modules in 2018 and to reach a capacity of 240 MW in 2019.
Norwegian solar market sees the light with 366% growth in 2016
Around 11 MW of new PV capacity was installed last year in Norway. The volume of new installations grew by 366% compared to 2015. This growth was mainly driven by the country’s regulation for self-consumption and the green certificate scheme.
UK installs over 1.94 GW of PV in 2016
The UK installed almost 2 GW of new PV installations in 2016, according to provisional BEIS statistics. The country’s cumulative capacity now surpasses 11.49 GW. The largest increase in capacity during the year was registered in March 2016, before the Renewable Obligation scheme for projects smaller than 5 MWp was closed, with a one-year grace period for some projects.
Foresight Solar Fund looks to raise more than GBP 50 million in new investments
The UK based investment group has announced its intention to raise further investments worth more than GBP 50 million (US$ 61.2 million), with the aim of acquiring up to 250 MW of solar power plants in the UK, as well as expanding into South Africa.
Fortum commissions the biggest battery in Finland
Saft has provided a 2 MW lithium-ion battery for a Fortum power plant in Järvenpää, Finland. Fortum will receive a 30% subsidy from Finland’s government towards the €1.6 m cost of the project.
