IRENA

Hevel Group has started building 100 MW of solar in northern Kazakhstan. The project, which the Russian PV group claims will be one of the largest solar plants in the Commonwealth of Independent States, is part of its 178 MW pipeline in the Central Asian country.

As the solar industry digests yesterday’s announcement by Theresa May of a net zero carbon ambition by 2050, developer Solarcentury says Downing Street is hugely underestimating the role PV can play in achieving that milestone.

A unit of the Japanese electronics group has finished building a 49 MW solar array in Quang Ngai province, in collaboration with Thailand’s Sermsang Power.

An International Energy Agency report estimates the share of nuclear power in advanced economies could fall by two-thirds by 2040, as aging plants retire. The report claims without support for nuclear, the transition to a low carbon energy system would be far more complex and threaten global emissions targets.

With clean energy being generated at lower and lower prices around the world, solar power is playing a leading role in bringing the curtain down on coal, and will help the decarbonization of transport and space heating too.

Although only four PV plants with a combined capacity of 150 MW were grid connected by mid-April, the Vietnamese government expects another 88 FIT-entitled solar facilities to come online by the end of next month. By Sunday, 34 projects with a combined capacity of 2.2 GW had already arrived on top of the mid-April connections.

A tracking report from five major international agencies finds the world is lagging behind sustainable development goals for 2030. While more effort is needed to reach some of the world’s poorest populations, though, notable progress has been made in reducing the electrification deficit, thanks to off-grid solar and minigrids.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is seeking consultants for a feasibility study for the project. The plant would be constructed on land owned by the Banque du Liban.

The Portuguese government has approved legislative amendments that it says will facilitate its plans to auction off 1.35 GW of solar capacity this summer. The Portuguese energy minister, meanwhile, said that the government hopes to see €6 billion of investment in solar by 2030.

The international financial institution and the South Korea-based fund have agreed to jointly lend $16.7 million to Chinese developer Universal Energy to build a 30 MWp solar project in the eastern part of the Central Asian country.