Southeast Asia & Oceania

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) has secured a major US$336 million polysilicon equipment and technology deal with Cosmos Chemicals Berhad as part of plans to build a 25,000MT integrated polysilicon plant in Sarawak, Malaysia.

The pipeline of approved PV projects in the Philippines reached over 1GW in January, according to the country’s Department of Energy (DoE).

The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES), Australia’s rooftop PV incentive, has negligible impact on household power bills, according to analysis published ahead of a review of the country’s renewable energy target (RET).

Industry advocacy body, the Australian Solar Council, has launched a ‘save solar’ campaign.

The abolition of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) could lead to the loss of almost 7,000 jobs, according to an industry body.

The pipeline of grid-use PV projects approved for construction by the Philippines Department of Energy totalled 844.71MW across 38 projects, as of 30 November.

Energy authorities in the Philippines have called on the international community to donate inverters and batteries to help set up solar energy supplies, as the country struggles to get back on its feet in the wake of the devastating Typhoon Haiyan.

Renewable energy will benefit from a “decades long” carbon abatement fund, Australia’s environment minister Greg Hunt has claimed.

First Solar, set to construct what will be Australia’s two largest solar farms for gas and electricity retailer AGL Energy, has handed the contract for the framing systems for the two projects to a local company, IXL Group, in New South Wales.

Sunlabob Renewable Energy has completed work on a mini-grid that will supply electricity to a remote village in rural Laos.