Europe

Spanish independent power producer (IPP) Sonnedix has launched Project Douro, a 150MW solar plant in Tarouca, northern Portugal.

The addition of solar panels to existing wind and hydroelectric plants in Turkey could add 8GW of new capacity to the country’s energy mix.

Norwegian energy company Statkraft has narrowed down its focus on fewer markets and technologies as it targets to reduce its expenses by NOK2.9 billion (US$290 million) annually by 2027.

Spain has released the results of its investigation into the April blackout, which ruled out renewables as the cause of the disruption.

Aesolar and Fraunhofer CSP are developing segmented solar modules optimised for rooftops with partial shading.

New solar manufacturing facilities show higher rates of product defects, PV Tech has heard from Joerg Althaus of Clean Energy Associates.

PV Tech spoke with Joerg Althaus of CEA about the under-explored issues with solar racking, trackers and other technical concerns.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest €1.6 billion to support the construction of the Bay of Biscay interconnector.

Traditional PV inspection methods using direct current polarisation have proved unreliable in detecting certain issues. Researchers from Enertis Applus+ detail a new approach to defect detection aimed at improving the efficiency of PV system maintenance and performance analysis.

Blue Elephant Energy has received a €200 million (US$214 million) investment from European asset management company Infranity.