Europe

Government plan to bring back manufacturing ‘champions’ is either Europe’s second chance or a quest doomed to fail, depending on who PV Tech asks.

Russia-based integrated PV manufacturer Hevel Group has completed its second phase of heterojunction (HJ) cell and module production expansions, taking nameplate capacity to 260MW.

Parent Creadev, existing backer Proparco and the EBRD to fund €283m of total capital increase, launched by firm to push PV, wind portfolio from current 1GW.

Firm boasts of 6.6GW pipeline and speculation-free approach as it sets sights on becoming country’s top IPP by 2023.

Installers initially balked at applying innovation to 2.5MW Norwegian PV rooftop but came around after learning costs would drop by 10-15%, firm tells PV Tech.

Q-Energy raises from German, South Korean investors to back nine plants in Andalusia built over past 10 years with support from Spanish subsidies.

SPE, ETIP PV: Bolder approach would help continent seize largely untapped building-integrated PV potential, which goes well beyond rooftop installations.

Up to 8MW of PV will be rolled out under scheme designed by Eneo, billed by its promoters as first cross-border PPAs for rooftop PV.

According to DuPont Photovoltaic and Advanced Materials latest ‘Global PV Reliability Study’ that focuses on field inspection and analysis of 6.5 million modules, 355 installations and 1.8GW of total power, PV backsheet material defects have increased by a significant 47% from the 2018 report.

Enerparc and Themis among winners of oversubscribed PV-only 150MW tender, which awarded 204MW-plus at average prices of €0.0547/kWh.