Asia & Oceania

The amount of renewable energy that came in cheaper than the most competitive fossil fuel option doubled last year, according to new analysis from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Annual investment in solar and wind generation in the Asia Pacific region could double to US$1.3 trillion by 2030 compared to the previous decade, with policy targets and cost declines boosting growth, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie.

Finlay Colville, head of market research at PV Tech Research, explores how solar PV has become dependent on low-cost manufacturing, facilitating a dominance by China-based players, and how the industry could engage with current scrutiny of solar’s supply chain.

Finnish utility Fortum has secured a deal to divest two solar projects in India totalling 500MW of capacity to private equity firm Actis.

Amidst surging materials costs, the solar industry needs to avoid any “gaming” on price between upstream and downstream sectors as it could be “very dangerous for both sides”. Leo Xiang, general manager at Jiang Tai Insurance Brokers’ energy department, speaks to PV Tech about the potential remedies to the situation.

The floating solar-dedicated subsidiary of inverter manufacturer Sungrow expects both offshore areas and reservoirs to be key locations for future PV developments.

‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) members JinkoSolar and JA Solar are to invest in polysilicon provider Xinte Energy’s 100,000 ton facility in Inner Mongolia, receiving priority access to the polysilicon produced as a result.

Plans for a green hydrogen hub in Australia that would feature 26GW of solar and wind have been rejected by the federal government due to the project's environmental impacts.

Retail giant IKEA and the Rockefeller Foundation have today announced the creation of a US$1 billion initiative to catalyse investments in distributed renewable energy (DRE).