Power Plants

India’s ministry of new and renewable energy announced the approval of a new solar research and technology institute.

Plans to develop 700MW of desert PV capacity in Punjab, Pakistan, have been approved.

Sputnik Engineering, the firm behind the SolarMax invertor brand, claims to have limited the extent of job losses as it begins a restructuring.

The installed capacity of utility-scale solar power in the USA has passed the 3GW milestone, according to solar project tracking firm Wiki-Solar.

A German government subsidy programme will trigger rapid growth in the solar storage market in 2014, according to research analysts IHS.

The provincial government of Gauteng in South Africa is to spend over ZAR11 billion this year (US$1 billion) installing solar on all state-owned buildings in the province.

Italian minister of economic development, Flavio Zanon has announced reforms to Italy’s renewable energy incentives that will lengthen the payment period and release €3 billion to lower electricity bills.

In reporting improving sales in the first-half of 2013, Chinese thin-film equipment supplier and module manufacturer, Hanergy expects a ‘wide window of opportunity’ in Europe to gain module sales and market share after the anti-dumping dispute between the EU and China has been resolved.

Renewable energy developer the Juwi Group has secured a €252 million (US$336 million) loan, calling it an “act of faith” in the sector.

Japanese renewable energy project developer Eurus Energy is scheduled to begin construction on an 115MW AC solar park in Japan.