europe

Spanish renewables developer Grenergy is looking to expand its presence in Europe in five new markets in the wake of the continent's REPowerEU plan.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) has launched an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) for PV aimed at mobilising EU member states’ support for breakthrough solar manufacturing technologies and to aid their commercialisation.

The EU Solar Energy Strategy, published alongside the REPowerEU strategy yesterday, has targeted 400GWdc of solar PV by 2025 and almost 740GWdc by 2030, a significant jump on the bloc’s previous targets as it looks to cut its reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

The world added record amounts of renewable energy last year with 295GW of capacity deployed, up 6% year-on-year, despite supply chain constraints, project delays and high commodity prices, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which also expects nearly 320GW to be deployed this year.  

The European Commission (EC) intends to speed up the permitting process for renewable energy projects to a maximum of one year, Reuters reported yesterday, referencing a leaked draft document it had seen.

The heads of five major energy trade bodies in Europe have written to the European Union and member states urging them not to change the current power price setting mechanism in light of the continent’s energy crisis and instead pursue greater renewables rollout.

The latest solar tender in Germany has awarded contracts for just over 1GW of PV projects, but witnessed a slight uptick in prices compared to the previous round.

European renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) prices surged 8.1% in Q1 2022 and 27.5% year-over-year as the effects of the war in Ukraine further deepened the region’s energy crisis and caused upward price pressures, according to LevelTen Energy.

Statkraft Italy has signed a four-year research agreement with the Department of Agro-Environmental and Territorial Sciences (DiSAAT) at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy to explore the potential of agri-photovoltaics (agri-PV) in Europe.