Power Plants

While solar has been the backbone of Japan’s renewable energy push, deployment has been stalling in recent years. Chris Wilkinson of Rystad Energy details the benefits of the country’s feed-in premium scheme, the potential for corporate PPAs and the importance of battery storage.

Germany has added more than 2.6GW of solar capacity in the first three months of the year, according to The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur).

Portuguese utility EDP Renováveis has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with consumer goods manufacturing giant Proctor & Gamble.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced US$52 million in financing for research and development (R&D) into domestic solar manufacturing and recycling, including a focus on new technologies.

The project is expected to be operational in the first half of 2024, with the total financial volume estimated at US$245.95 million.

A combination of supply chain disruptions and extreme weather events that damage operational assets can lead to extended solar project downtimes. Rosa van Reyk, a senior underwriter at GCube Insurance, explores how the industry can ease supply chain pressure by rethinking cost efficiency and increased collaboration between developers and insurers.

US-headquartered global renewable energy developer Enfinity Global has signed another power purchase agreement (PPA) with Statkraft for 34GWh of solar energy produced at one of its Italian PV facilities.

Inverter supplier SMA Solar Technology has started the construction of a 20GW inverter factory in Germany expected to be operational in 2025.

Argentinian state-owned utility YPF Luz has commissioned a 100MW solar PV plant in the western province of San Juan, in Argentina.

The cumulative capacity of installed and commissioned PV increased by more than 25% last year, and reached about 1.2TW by the end of 2022.