Solar Markets & Finance News

Beijing’s sudden retreat on electric vehicle subsidies in the summer has caused the value of lithium to hit the floor, with disastrous effects on the balance sheets of Chinese companies which had invested big in supply chains to support anticipated huge demand.

The heavily indebted solar project developer has revealed the state-backed element of two trailed fire sales of 636 MW of solar and wind project portfolios in China. The divestments will generate up to RMB450 million for the company while recognizing RMB200 million in losses on its investments.

The building-sized trucks run on diesel and prompt logistical complications as large amounts of diesel must be shipped to remote mining sites. Attempts to decarbonize the mining sector will have to consider the heavy-duty vehicles.

The PV project developer and BIPV manufacturer has seen a glowing set of first-half figures published last year become a nightmare of lost income, debt defaults and frozen bank deposits. All eyes now turn to the business’ high court date on Wednesday.

The German Energy Agency has drawn up a list of proposed measures which it says could help the world’s biggest solar market accelerate its clean energy plans through the adoption of subsidy-free – private – power purchase agreements.

Renewables developer Mainstream Renewable Power has more than doubled a financing facility after striking an agreement with Dutch bank ABN AMRO.

The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering investing US $60 million in renewables developer Infinity Energy, a subsidiary of Egyptian conglomerate Mansour Group.

The momentum around corporate renewable PPAs should not blind industry players from the fact the avenue remains too costly and complex for some businesses, three lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright have argued as part of a piece for PV Tech Power 20.

Australian renewables investor Lyon Group has penned an agreement with China Huadian Corporation which will see the duo co-develop and invest in power-plus-battery energy storage systems across Australia, China and other Asian markets.

Chinese solar panel maker Risen Energy has signed off on an order to provide 150MW of high-efficiency PV modules to a power station in Malaysia. This stands as the biggest module order Risen Energy has ever carried out to date both in Malaysia and from an overseas floating power station.

Europe’s second largest solar market has marked a subsidy-free boost this week, with two players joining forces to deploy a pipeline in a country where PV growth was muted for years.

Sunfinity Renewable Energy, a vertically-integrated residential, commercial and utility-scale solar power provider, has begun operations in two additional Western states — Arizona and Colorado — to expand the company’s existing footprint throughout California, Texas and Oklahoma. With the addition of Arizona, Sunfinity will now be operating in the top three states nationally for solar growth.

The offer was apparently submitted by Saudi energy giant ACWA Power, which refused to confirm the bid when asked by pv magazine. The second lowest bid – $0.0175/kWh – was reportedly submitted by a consortium formed by Emirati developer Masdar, French utility EDF and Chinese PV panel maker JinkoSolar.

After emerging as the recipient of most of the Brazilian government’s public allocation of generation capacity, the Canadian-Chinese manufacturer has secured a large share of projects in auctions held by power companies Copel and, probably, Cemig.

Selected schemes will be eligible for a feed-in premium – related to the wholesale electricity price – for 20 years. The ceiling price for the premium has been set at the equivalent of $0.0089/kWh.