Cheaper wholesale solar equipment through $10m group-buying fund in Nigeria
Two investors backed by the charitable foundations set up by energy giants have seed-funded the cash pot to lend to African solar companies, who will be able to buy solar kit cheaper thanks to the economies of scale offered by the aggregation of orders.
The Hydrogen Stream: Rolls Royce, rising prices, and hydrogen fueled beer
This week sees hydrogen pricing hit new highs, driven by simultaneous jumps in the price of natural gas and electricity. Elsewhere, project plans include green hydrogen production at a UK brewery and Ineos building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany, machinery manufacturers Rolls Royce and JCB making plans for hydrogen engines, and new investment agreements signed in Belgium, Sweden and Kazakhstan.
On the brink of collapse, Lebanon added 14 MW of solar in 2020
The news Lebanon installed new solar capacity last year has come as a huge surprise, given the country is at risk of failure. Amid the country’s crisis, solar is offering solutions.
The Hydrogen Stream: GCL will use Ethiopian natural gas to feed its ammonia and blue hydrogen
Plus there is news this week of a green hydrogen tie-up in India, plans for another German production facility, and of new hydrogen transport networks for Switzerland and the U.S.
Spanish solar projects secure €68m credit lines
Seven PV plants being planned by Solaria have received direct backing from the European Investment Bank, with the EU lender also the source of a €14 million loan to Natixis which will be passed on to the Spanish developer.
Maxeon secures EU cash to make its ‘stick-on’ solar panels in France
The TotalEnergies-controlled solar manufacturer will secure an, as yet undetermined chunk of a new €118.6 million low-carbon innovation fund to start producing its frameless, glass-free solar roofing products at Porcelette, in northeastern France.
The Hydrogen Stream: Air Liquide eyes South Korea as Cummins announces fuel-cell truck plans
With Australia prepping plans for vast green hydrogen and ammonia production facilities, two of the country’s state governments are trying to drum up the end-user market as agreements are signed to drive use of the gas in Ukraine and Poland.
Sahel-wide group buying program could drive solar home system supply
A report commissioned by EU lender the EIB has dismissed the role solar mini-grids can play in achieving universal electrification by 2030 and signaled distribution to individual households should be the way forward, including sales to the residents of UN refugee camps in East Africa.
Greece’s 680 MW pumped storage project seeks investors
Developer Terna Energy claims the Amphilochia pumped hydroelectric energy storage project has entered the final stretch. If built, the large scale facility can boost Greece’s independence from fossil fuels and the government’s strategy for a coal-free electricity system by 2025.
EU finances 100 MW solar plant in Uzbekistan
French energy company Total is developing the solar field near Samarkand, which will sell power to National Electric Networks of Uzbekistan under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
