Solar Markets & Finance News

US ROUND-UP: Gap diversifies; 125MW PPA in MI; Military-funded space solar; Solar bees
Global retail brand Gap moved one step closer to its goal of fully renewably-powered operations by 2030 after signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Enel Green Power North America. It has purchased 90MW of energy from the renewables giant's North Dakota wind project for a period of 12 years.
Aug 13, 2019 // Technology, Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Solar, USA, SunPower, plants, Michigan, cleanchoice energy, solar bees, Antonio Cammisecra, air force, university of toledo, solar space, upper peninsula power company, power purchase agreement, orion renewable energy group, map energy, gap, North Dakota, enel green power, the chandler solar project, North America
Neoen touts 50MW victory in Portugal’s momentous PV auction
Neoen has shed light on its winning project in Portugal’s head-turning solar auction this summer, a tender consultants now say illustrates a new, bolder attitude towards merchant risks.
Aug 13, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Tariffs, Portugal, solar pv, plants, Europe, neoen, auction prices, auction ppas, largescale2020
AIIM, Nedbank to co-fund 40MW C&I pipeline in Southern Africa
Commercial and industrial (C&I) solar is set for a boost in South Africa, with financial support now lined up for a new pipeline.
Aug 13, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, C&I, Africa, nedbank, aiim, african infrastructure investment managers, sola group, eskom, Orionis
USTDA backs 150MW solar-plus-wind-plus-storage project in Zambia
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has agreed to finance a feasibility study for a 150MW hybrid solar, wind and battery plant in northern Zambia.
Aug 13, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Storage, Grids, First Solar, hybrid, solar-plus-wind-plus-storage, grid, Africa, upepo energy partners, zambia, east africa, ustda, wsp usa
FreeVolt, Apparent partner on solar+storage offerings in California
Newish European-based panel manufacturer FreeVolt has entered into a partnership with California-headquartered energy management company Apparent. FreeVolt’s U.S. installation division FreeVolt USA will team with Apparent to provide solar-plus-storage systems to California homeowners and C&I customers.
Aug 12, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, California, USA, CAISO, solar-plus-storage, FreeVolt, Apparent, Jacqueline DeSouza
Flanders provides incentives for residential storage
Since the beginning of August the Flemish government has granted a €250/kWh rebate for the purchase of domestic batteries. The program is set to run until the end of next year.
Aug 12, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Storage, Europe, domestic batteries, Flanders, Belgium, Engie-Electrabel, Lydia Peeters
Deutsche Bank attempts to wind up Singyes Solar
The German lender has issued a winding up petition over a $6.27 million debt and could scupper the manufacturer’s plans to restructure its defaulted payments and be taken over by a Chinese state-backed entity.
Aug 12, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Markets & Finance News, Singyes Solar, Germany, Hong Kong, Deutsche Bank AG, Water Development HK, Comtec Solar
US industry acts to unblock disputed 584MW solar pipeline
A dispute holding up a solar project backlog of nearly 600MW in Michigan is now one step closer to resolution, under a truce brokered with the help of industry representatives.
Aug 12, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Storage, Policy, USA, SEIA, ITC, solar-plus-storage, Michigan, MPSC, Jimmy Carter, interconnection, ssfa19
San Jose Clean Energy, EDP Renewables sign large solar-plus-storage PPA
San Jose Clean Energy (SJCE) and EDP Renewables SA (EDPR), through its fully owned subsidiary EDP Renewables North America, signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for 100 megawatts of new solar energy and 10 MW of battery storage at the Sonrisa Solar Park in Fresno County, California. The project is anticipated to be operational in 2022.
Aug 9, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Residential, Markets & Finance News, Storage, California, USA, storage, CCA, San Jose Clean Energy, EDP Renewables SA, EDP Renewables, Mayor Sam Liccardo, East Bay Community Energy
IFC: Papua New Guinea becomes global off-grid solar hotspot
A mixture of development support, market economics and awareness programmes have propelled Papua New Guinea to the forefront of global off-grid solar, according to a new report.
Aug 9, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Grids, China, solar pv, Papua New Guinea, png, world bank, off-grid solar, solar lamp, solar lighting, Oceania, international finance corporation, ifc
SMA reports losses for first half of 2019
For the second half of the year, the German inverter producer expects a significant increase in revenues and earnings, mainly due to high order intake. It also confirmed its forecast for the full fiscal year, despite declining sales and sales in the first six months of 2019.
Aug 9, 2019 // Markets & Finance News, Inverters, Germany, inverter, SMA Solar Technology AG, rooftop PV, ürgen Reinert
Daqo signs 112,800 MT polysilicon supply deal with Longi
Daqo New Energy has agreed to supply 112,800 MT of polysilicon to Longi Green Energy Technology. The two parties did not disclose the financial terms of the three-year deal.
Aug 9, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Markets & Finance News, China, polysilicon, Daqo New Energy, Longi Green Energy Technology, Longgen Zhang
Portugal reveals winners of record-breaking solar auction
Portugal has unveiled the final results of the solar auction held over the summer, identifying a handful of major foreign winners of a tender hailed as a worldwide milestone.
Aug 8, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Tariffs, Portugal, Iberdrola, tender, Europe, iberia, solar auction, akuo
New alliance to expand floating PV in Southeast Asia
Pestech, a Malaysia-based electrical power technology company, has entered into a partnership with Chinese inverter maker Sungrow to jointly develop new floating solar solutions.
Aug 8, 2019 // Manufacturing News, Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, Inverters, Floating PV, Malaysia, Sungrow, floating PV, inverter, Pestech
Why are prices rising in France’s utility-scale PV tenders?
Earlier this week, the French government published a list of winning projects for the sixth round of its tender for large-scale solar. There were a few changes from the preceding round, with French companies such as Urbasolar, Engie and Total consolidating their positions. However, even though a higher number of projects were submitted, prices increased slightly in the end. In a short conversation with pv magazine, Xavier Daval — a representative of SER, the French renewable energy association — explained the reasons for this.
Aug 8, 2019 // Plants, Large-Scale, Commercial, Markets & Finance News, France, Germany, Engie, tender, utility-scale PV, Europe, Total, Urbasolar, Xavier Daval, CRE, Enerparc