Solar Tariffs News

Brazil has unveiled the tariff ceilings solar players will face as they compete for the first time in the so-called new generation tender, opening up a new avenue of government support.

Brazil’s biggest lender has launched three tenders to select solar facilities to supply it with power through leasing. The central bank expects to buy around 4 GWh of electricity per year for the Federal District and another 2 GWh in the states of Goiás and Pará.

Subsidies are not the answer for Italy to revive its solar industry from the deadlock brought about by the scrapping of feed-in tariffs (FiT), operators have warned at an industry event.

Solar players have offered tariffs around the US$40/MWh mark as they competed at Malaysia’s latest industry tender, in figures emerging as the country prepares to select the winners.

Demand for systems with a generation capacity of up to 750 kW is driving the market. The 52 GW capacity cap for solar under the national FIT scheme is approaching. In September, feed-in tariffs and market premiums will fall a further 1.4%.

Solar winners of the first Brazilian A-6 auction ever to admit PV bids will be offered 20-year supply deals with the government, newly-released official documents show.

The Norwegian developer has opened plants in Ukraine and Egypt. Scatec Solar recently announced it managed to triple energy production in the last year.

The country is steadily expanding solar generation capacity as it aims for 5 GW by 2022, helped by an influx of foreign investment from China’s Belt & Road infrastructure program and World Bank capital.

While based in Munich in Germany’s south, renewable asset management software provider 3megawatt’s first major clients were in the United States. However, as the European markets have transitioned beyond feed-in tariffs to the complexity of subsidy-free solar and wind arrays, the understanding of the need for asset management tools is rapidly increasing, says 3megawatt founder and CEO Edmee Kelsey.

The wind power generator also has a 930 MW solar portfolio but did not take big steps in unsubsidized PV during the first six months of the year.

While the damage is largely done for cells, modules and inverters, increased tariffs on U.S. module components and 15% measures on lithium-ion batteries are not good news for either sector.

India’s Maharashtra state has launched a process to procure a major slice of grid-linked solar power, pushing for low prices in line with earlier tenders this year.

One of Europe’s leading utility-scale solar investors has said that the continent’s subsidy-free solar market has “developed rapidly” in recent months.

Deploying commercial and industrial PV in China without subsidy is already profitable in some areas, according to a new study, but prohibitive soft costs and cheap electricity are the main barriers for such installations in areas where grid parity remains out of reach.

The energy storage market is set to be the latest affected by Trump’s trade war as lithium-ion batteries were excluded from the group of Chinese imports for which the U.S. president announced tariffs would be delayed until December 15.