Asia & Oceania

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.

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.

Despite the tracker market being dominated by European and US companies, TrinaTracker targets to expand its national and global reach.

Renewables developer Oracle Power PLC has signed a cooperation agreement with Chinese state-owned energy company PowerChina to jointly develop a 1GW solar PV project in Pakistan.

Globally, 32% of business leaders estimated that their country will fully transition to renewables after 2050, while 8% said it would never happen.

With 860MW of large-scale solar added in 2022, Australia added nearly half of the capacity it did the year before when it installed 1,683MW in 2021.

The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) has announced a plan to establish the GEAPP Energy Access and Transition Trust Fund, offering US$35 million to accelerate the clean energy transition and access in five Asian countries. 

Solar PV manufacturer Astronergy has signed a deal with Romanian energy company EXIMPROD Grup to supply 200MW worth of its PV modules to the group’s pipeline of five solar projects.

Procuring power purchase agreement tools will be an option for industry players amid an energy pricing crisis and volatility.

Building on the successes of floating PV projects installed on lakes and dams globally, offshore installations are an emerging opportunity for developers, potentially when co-located with wind farms. George Heynes explores how the industry can move beyond pilot projects to large-scale, commercially viable installations, detailing the challenges and opportunities ahead.