European Investment Bank

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The European Parliament appears to have made the terms of the energy transition funding stream for public sector entities more favorable by securing a bigger slice of non-repayable grant cash for the bloc’s most deprived regions.

The oft-heard industry call for more supportive policy for renewables, this time in Africa, has prompted the European Commission to pledge to work with its continental counterpart on improving the clean energy regulatory environment.