Europe

SolarWorld has developed a new roof-integrated PV system that allows France's customers to capitalise on the country's capped €27.37 cents/kWh tariff.

UK-based investor, the John Laing Environmental Assets Group, has secured a US$80.5 million facility with global bank, HSBC, and Netherlands-based merchant bank, NIBC.

Chinese PV manufacturer Suntech will debut its latest financial offering at Solar Energy UK (SEUK) following a partnership with German-based youmex group.

PV power plant tracking specialist, Exosun is supplying 66 horizontal single-axis solar trackers to La Compagnie du Vent, GDF SUEZ Group for a 12MW plant in central France.

Battery-based energy storage systems from German manufacturer Automatic Storage Device Sonnenspeicher (ASD) will be installed in new houses from WeberHaus, which makes prefabricated homes for the German market.

The NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF) will issue 250 million new shares as it looks to buy up a raft of projects in the UK before the closure of an existing support scheme.

UK climate change minister, Amber Rudd, has said that subsidy-free solar PV should be “the goal” by 2020.

Investment firm KKR has acquired a stake in the renewable energy arm of Spanish conglomerate Acciona ahead of plans to launch a yield co.

The European Commission is facing severe criticism after it gave state aid approval for £17 billion (US$27.3 million) worth of nuclear energy subsidies.

Although some areas could hit wholesale grid parity by as soon as 2018, most large-scale wind and solar deployment in Europe will still require subsidies over the next 20 years, according to the study from consultancy Pöyry.