Europe

Chinese module manufacturer Trina Solar has signed a collaboration agreement with IES-UPM to drive innovation in the solar industry.

Eurelectric reports that, in the first half of the year, renewable energy accounted for more than half of Europe's power supply.

Swedish thin film solar manufacturer Midsummer has secured roughly €8 million (US$8.6 million) to support the development of its 50MW copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin-film cell manufacturing plant in Italy.

Norwegian energy company Statkraft has reduced its target to build solar, BESS and wind capacities from 2026 onwards.

Mounting system manufacturer Schletter has signed a deal with energy producer EnBW to supply mounting systems to a 80MWp project in Germany.

Ahead of Large Scale Solar Southern Europe next week in Athens, Greece, PV Tech spoke with some of the panellists present at the event about the solar Greek market, including its challenges (curtailment, grid), policy support, and new technologies (agriPV, FPV, or green hydrogen).

The Net-Zero Industry Act will come into force starting from 29 June 2024 across all 27 member states of the EU.

Renewable energy sources provided 44.7% of the EU’s electricity consumption in 2023, according to data from Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistical office.

Green hydrogen production could give solar PV deployment a boost in Southern Europe, writes Aurora Energy Research research lead expert of Southeastern Europe Panos Kefalas.

PV Tech spoke with Alejandra Pérez-Plá, regional manager – Mediterranean at financial advisory firm Global Capital Finance about challenges related to land acquisition for utility-scale solar PV projects in Southern Europe, how to manage these issues and grid modernisation.