Southeast Asia & Oceania

Azure Power Global has filed an amended F-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its impending US IPO, with plans to raise around US$100 million.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment specialist SoLayTec, a subsidiary of Amtech Systems has received a number of new tool orders from a range of customers planning p-type PERC, n-type IBC and bi-facial solar cell production in 2016.

A hybrid off-grid project from renewables firm Energy Developments Limited’s (EDL) including 4MW wind, 1MW solar and a 1MW/250kWh battery system in South Australia has reached financial close.

Integrated PV module manufacturer REC Solar has said that it would migrate all production at its manufacturing facility in Tuas, Singapore to its half-cut PERC cell technology, used for its ‘TwinPeak’ series modules.

Leading ‘Silicon Module Super League’ (SMSL) member Trina Solar has officially started ramping its solar cell and module assembly plant in Rayong, Thailand, meeting every milestone on schedule, from groundbreaking to production, according to the company.

Integrated PV manufacturer REC Solar is to invest a total of $200 million Singapore dollars (US$182.3 million) in expanding and upgrading production at its facilities in Singapore. The company also plans to invest a further US$50 million in R&D activities at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS), with emphasis on a type of PV module.

Australia is redirecting AU$1 billion from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s (CEFC) AU$10 billion (US$760 million) allocation into a new Clean Energy Innovation Fund (CEIF), Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced.

The Australian Solar Council has claimed that reported plans to merge the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) could result in the removal of funding for ARENA.

Employment in Australia’s renewable energy industry fell 27% from its peak of 19,210 in 2011/12, to a total of 14,020 in 2014/15, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

A report from Australia’s Energy Networks Association (ENA) suggests that removing the Renewable Energy Target (RET) and replacing it with "technology neutral" alternatives would be a more economical approach to reaching emissions reductions targets.