Singapore

Using an application based on resource data and country-specific techno-economic inputs, a report has analyzed the costs of developing utility scale renewables in Southeast Asia and found abundant, cost-competitive potential.

In a conversation with pv magazine, REC vice-president for sales in the EMEA region Ivano Zanni describes the new strategy of the Norwegian manufacturer following the launch of its high-efficiency, half-cut mono n-type heterojunction module. REC expects annual production capacity for the panels at its factory in Singapore to increase to 600 MW by the end of next year, and that the company’s total capacity will reach 2 GW.

The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is seeking public input on the massive Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for the country’s Pilbara region.

Solar-plus-storage could be competitive against gas peaking power plants in Australia within the next five years, as the average solar-plus-storage LCOE across the Asia-Pacific region is set to fall from $133/MWh this year to $101/MWh by 2023, according to a newly released research report.

The Malaysian oil and gas group has purchased solar developer Amplus Energy Solutions from infrastructure investor I Squared Capital. No financial terms of the deal have been disclosed.

With competition on the module market as cutthroat as ever, manufacturers are increasingly looking to emphasize the quality and reliability of their products and services as a differentiator. pv magazine investigates what’s behind some of these claims, and the move from manufacturers to more sophisticated quality assurance methods.

The Dutch banking group will serve as sole mandated lead arranger for the S$50 million ($36.98 million) loan. A unit of Singapore-based developer Sunseap will use the funds to build a 50 MW portfolio of rooftop PV projects.

REC Group has begun production of its residential N-Peak Black series, reaching up to 325 watts. Concurrently, Trina Solar has released four new modules within its Tallmax, Duomax, Duomax Twin and Honey series — some of which reach up to 415 watts.

The Singapore research institute will cooperate with China’s Ruxing Technology to increase the efficiency of its monoPoly™ technology. Through this cooperation, SERIS believes its solar cell efficiency could be raised to 24%, and module power beyond 345 W.

U.K. developer Lightsource BP – in which oil and gas giant BP has a significant minority stake – and its Singapore fund partner EverSource Capital are reportedly ready to take up all the $100 million slice of Ayana Renewable Power which is being put up for sale.