Europe

The Electricity Authority of Cyprus has issued a public call to select landowners to lease space for the development of large-scale solar projects.

Dutch utility Liander has published a new list congested areas in the provinces of Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Noord-Holland, and Zuid-Holland. The company said that developers of solar parks who are still waiting for grid connection may have to wait longer for additional grid capacity.

The German renewables group and brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev claim the transaction is the largest pan-European solar power deal with an industrial client to date. The companies have already agreed on a virtual power purchase agreement related to two Spanish PV plants that are scheduled for grid connection by spring 2022.

The transaction has been approved by AGCM, Italy’s antitrust authority. Prior to acquiring Evolvere – which recorded a turnover of more than €30 million in 2018 – Eni has mainly specialized in the construction of large-scale solar plants, rather than residential and commercial PV projects.

German EPC ib vogt has announced the sale and commencement of construction of a 180MWp solar farm near Badajoz in Spain, teeing itself up for a slew of other subsidy-free developments in Southern Europe.

The Associated British Ports (ABP) has announced a £6.8 million solar project, that will see the largest roof mounted solar array in the Humber constructed on the Port of Hull it says.

Masdar on Thursday announced that it has signed an agreement with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy to develop and finance a 200-megawatt utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project.

U.S.’s solar developer ReneSola is selling its 15-megawatt portfolio of Hungarian solar power projects under development to Danish investor Obton.

Lithuanian researchers claim to have dramatically improved the performance of a perovskite-based copper indium gallium selenide solar cell they developed with the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin. The improved efficiency, they claim, was achieved thanks to one of the most recently developed monolayers used for experiments on the cell.

Danish renewables investor and developer Obton Energy has formed a joint venture with Irish solar developer Shannon Energy to develop 500MW of solar in Ireland over five years.

A solar project part of a landmark subsidy-free series in Spain has found a new owner, a major insurance group set to buy the plant as it nears commissioning.

UK solar developer Solarcentury has landed a €54.8 million finance facility to construct 500MW of solar farms in Spain.

The Italian manufacturer said the product is based on a technical solution previously used for power downgrading. The device is said to be ideal for projects at altitudes greater than 1,000m.

Development financiers are looking to lure in private players to deploy utility-scale solar in the world’s most densely populated country, hoping to combat land shortages for renewables.

‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member, First Solar has agreed to settle a 2012 class action lawsuit to the tune of US$350 million. The settlement is subject to approval by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.