Americas

Canadian Solar has signed an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) agreement with Axium Infinity Solar LP for eight PV projects that have a combined generation capacity of 105.5MW. The firm has also announced commercial operation of a 19.1MW PV project in Japan.

Major module firm Trina Solar and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui have won 104MW of capacity in Mexico’s third auction round.

Utility-scale power company Intersect Power has been awarded a power purchase agreement from Austin Energy for a 150MW PV project in Texas that is expected to reach commercial operation in 2020.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide US$150 million to renewable energy company Enel Green Power Perú to build and operate both a wind farm and PV power plant currently under construction within the country.

PV manufacturer Solar Frontier has set a new thin-film cell efficiency record of 22.9%.

Clean Focus Yield Limited and its affiliates have purchased Greenskies Renewable Energy — making Clean Energy the owner and operator of the largest commercial and industrial (C&I) portfolio in the US.

Andrew Wheatley, Jamaica’s Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, stated that Eight Rivers Energy has broken ground on a 37MW, US$60 million PV project at Paradise Park, Westmoreland, Jamaica.

The Austin City Council has approved a new agreement with Austin Energy that will see the utility company deliver enough renewable energy to the grid to meet the needs of more than half of its customers by 2020.

Solar Steel, a division of Gonvarri Steel Services, will supply 45.6MW of its TracSmart Single-Axis trackers for a PV project located in David, in the state of Chiriquí, Panama.

The solar investment tax credit (ITC) has survived a major round of tax reform in the US but demand for credits generally could fall.