Poland

The unfolding effects of the Covid-19 crisis, and fears of a possible second wave, have split analysts trying to guess how the unsubsidized renewables market will emerge as slumping demand continued to distort power markets. pv magazine rounds up the week’s coronavirus developments.

As a focus of research at leading institutes the world over, new developments in the perovskite field come thick and fast almost every week. From x-ray observations on a nanoscale to financing and plans for mass production, pv magazine is bringing together some of the most exciting developments of recent weeks.

The Polish solar industry is reportedly planning an offensive to claim a bigger slice of the domestic PV market. The idea was apparently floated by the head of a private renewable energy body.

Despite Covid-19 hampering development, construction and financing Polish energy giant Tauron will start constructing a 5 MW solar project on a former coal-fired power station site.

The economic fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak is yet to be determined but as legislators scramble to establish fiscal support for the EU it is becoming clear the suits in Brussels are not prepared to scrap their hard-won Green Deal plan. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The country’s cumulative installed PV capacity reached 1.6 GW at the end of February, according to the national grid operator.

Polish power providers Enea and Energa have suspended construction financing for a new 1 GW coal power plant in northeastern Poland. According to the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, this could mark the beginning of the end for the $1.6 billion project. The two companies said their decision depended mostly on the new EU policy for the electricity sector and a lack of external financing.

The Norwegian hydropower producer has tapped its extensive Polish power purchase agreement portfolio to offer a bankable supply agreement for one of the biggest power consumers in the country.

Some 15 countries are likely to be able to lay claim to the status of being members of solar’s “gigawatt club” in 2019, according to conservative projections from BloombergNEF. Nonetheless, PV suppliers, developers and service providers are always on the lookout for new pockets of growth. To kick off 2020, pv magazine’s global team of correspondents and editors have highlighted 10 “fast-growing” solar markets to evaluate where the opportunities, and potential risks, lie.

President Ursula von der Leyen has outlined plans to fund her Green Deal with a mix of EU, member state and private sector contributions. Now it is over to individual nations and the European Parliament.