Hiring of French firm by Swiss investor Smartenergy will pave way for construction of three PV plants in Southern European hotspot, set to launch new PV-only auction next month.
Spanish firm walks PV Tech through planned location and sizes for large-scale pipeline it will deploy alongside French oil major, with plans by both to jointly look for PPA offtakers.
Official stats show Europe’s fourth largest solar market grew 890MW to cumulative 9.4GW in 2019, less than half of the 18-21GW goal it has set for 2023.
Panellists at London event were all confident market will retain momentum and grow bolder despite the speculative plays and competition from utilities and oil majors.
Iberian operators tell London event they worry adoption of Lisbon’s solar auction design by neighbour Spain could entrench model producing prices developers ‘cannot survive’ on.
PV Tech understands that two solar projects by developer Hive Energy and financier Noy Fund will be deployed without PPAs, with plans to generate revenues via direct energy sales.
CEO of Portugal’s renewable energy association APREN on whether Iberian nation can reach 8.1-9.9GW of PV by 2030 and why subsidy-free will require playing ‘different game’
Solar projects larger than 20MW will be able to compete with wind for state support at tech-neutral tender, the latest for country hoping to reach 7.7GW of installed PV by 2030.
Oil major’s deal with ACS Group to amass massive pipeline in Spain marks the latest boost for the country, said by regulators to have nearly doubled PV capacity in a single year.
