Liam Stoker reflects on the opening day of Solar Finance & Investment Europe 2022, where investors and developers alike warned of looming inflation, power price volatility and project availability as Europe’s energy landscape enters a new paradigm.
US utility-scale solar deployment is set to reach a record 22GW this year, with the technology accounting for almost half of the new generating capacity due to be added to the power grid from 2022 to 2023.
Safety and certification company UL and the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have released a report into the cybersecurity of US interconnected grid edge devices and inverter-based resources that calls for security standards to be established to counter potential threats.
Europe’s community of solar developers, financiers and asset owners are braced for broader impacts and headwinds caused by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, with inflation and spiraling commodity prices highlighted as of particular concern.
Inverter supplier SMA Solar Technology has lowered its 2021 earnings forecast even further and has warned of additional headwinds this year due to the ongoing global chip shortage.
Norway’s Norfund and UK development finance institution CDC have teamed up to fund 2.4GW of renewable deployment in South Africa through a ZAR600 million (US$39 million) investment in renewables company H1 Capital.
Norwegian renewables company Scatec and Indian solar developer ACME Group have signed a joint venture agreement to develop a large-scale green ammonia facility in Oman with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes once fully developed.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a 10-point plan to reduce the European Union’s reliance on Russian natural gas that includes the accelerated deployment of renewable power as the war in Ukraine destabilises the continent’s energy security.
Vietnam’s near-term renewables outlook will be weighed down by regulatory and operational uncertainties stemming from a lack of clear policy and an “underdeveloped grid capacity”, according to Fitch Solutions’ latest report on the market.
Swiss fund manager SUSI Partners is exploring PV-plus-storage investment opportunities, building on a string of announcements in recent months that have seen it bolster its utility-scale solar position in markets such as Poland and Italy.
