europe

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.

Governments must ensure that their energy security policies are compatible with net-zero scenarios mapped out by the International Energy Agency (IEA) or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), according to the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP).

The UK government has committed to a major ramp-up of solar capacity in the country as part of a new energy strategy.

Microinverter supplier Enphase Energy will expand its global manufacturing capacity by partnering with manufacturer Flex in Timisoara, Romania for its European base.