President Donald Trump’s executive order that promotes ‘Energy Independence’ and targets Obama’s Clean Power Plan went down a treat with fossil fuel interests, who praised Trump for making good on his promise to preserve coal jobs and avoid “regulatory burdens”. However, environmentalists took a different interpretation; viewing the order as a KO of the previous administration’s entire climate action legacy. Clean energy advocates stood somewhere in the middle, concluding that little will change in the long run.
French energy group ENGIE has signed a partnership agreement with Sime Darby, a Malaysian multinational for the co-development of solar and integrated facilities management services.
Nigeria is one of the most economically sound countries on the continent. Trailblazing in many ways including finance, infrastructure and employment, the country has up until very recently been a laggard when it comes to renewable energy. However, a newly-installed government is ensuring priorities are changing and frameworks are being put in place to exploit Nigeria’s clean energy prowess and close the gap between supply and demand. Segun Adaju, president of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria, discussed with PV Tech how the country is getting to grips with clean energy.
Germany-based PV monitoring solutions provider meteocontrol has launched a new company to focus on the Japanese market via a joint venture with Suntech Power Japan Corporation, a subsidiary of Chinese module manufacturer Suntech Power.
President Trump’s long anticipated executive order advising the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw parts of the Clean Power Plan (CPP) has left clean energy advocates unabashed, despite critics viewing the order as a total wipe out of Obama’s climate action legacy.
Monica Maduekwe, coordinator of Gender Mainstreaming at the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) caught up with PV Tech to discuss ways in which the organisation is addressing existing barriers to equal participation, including utilising a US$1 million fund from the African Development Bank.
Indian renewable energy firm Greenko Energy Holdings has raised US$155 million in equity from an affiliate of global investment firm GIC and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a grant of more than US$860,000 to Ghanaian solar company Buipe Solar, in support of a feasibility study for a 20MW PV project in the north of the country.
CIT Group, a commercial lending and leasing provider, has served as the sole lead arranger for a US$59.8 million loan facility to China’s GCL New Energy for its 84.5MW solar portfolio in North Carolina.
