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Renewables 2022 is the IEA’s primary analysis on the sector, based on current policies and market developments. 

Renewables 2022

Amazon has announced its first wind-solar hybrid projects with Vibrant Energy. They will build 300 MW of renewables capacity at two sites in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.


PV Magazine

Amazon to build 300 MW of hybrid wind-solar capacity in India

A new US government ruling is a mistake that the solar industry will have to deal with for the next several years, according to a solar trade group CEO.


US government calls for continued tariffs on solar imports

New rules in the Netherlands will allow new entities known as "congestion service providers" as intermediaries between grid operators and power plant operators, in order to make optimal use of the network.

Netherlands changes grid code to reduce congestion, host more renewables

Power Roll's perovskite-and-microgroove solar thin film in production.

Perovskites and microgrooves can revolutionize solar

India's industrial giants such as Reliance have made huge commitments toward renewable investment. India's power grid has been more resilient over the past weeks than it was at the same time last year when a coal shortage led to widespread blackouts. Part of the reason for the enhanced resilience was the surging renewable capacity which has reduced the stress on coal-fired generators, which continue to provide around 70% of India's electricity.

Oil Price

Renewable Boom Saves India From String Of Mass Blackouts

The scientists who study solar geoengineering don’t want anyone to try it. But climate inaction is making it more likely.

The New Yorker

Dimming the Sun to Cool the Planet Is a Desperate Idea, Yet We’re Inching Toward It

Researchers from the University of Buraimi in Oman have studied how PV plants and CSP facilities could compete in terms of expected electric energy output and the effective use of land at low latitudes in regions such as the Sahara Desert, the Arabian Peninsula, Mexico, and South Asia.

Photovoltaics vs. concentrated solar power

Scientists in Thailand have used microwaves to separate broken glass from PV panels. The process can be performed at temperatures ranging from 45 C to 55 C.
Researchers in Thailand have developed an electrothermal heating technology based on microwaves to separate glass in solar modules at the end of their lifecycles.

Mircowave heating for glass separation in end-of-life solar modules

AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V, a metals supplier in the Netherlands, has said that its AMG Liva unit has started operating its first hybrid energy storage system. It combines lithium batteries and vanadium redox flow batteries at a facility owned by the group's AMG Graphite subsidiary in Hauzenberg, Germany.

Lithium-vanadium battery for renewables storage

Luxor Solar has developed a south-oriented system for high snow loads in Japan. It features its own heterojunction solar modules, along with mounting systems from Germany's Next2Sun and inverters from Japan's Omron.


Vertical agrivoltaics for high snow loads

The Swiss authorities plan to hold auctions for PV systems to be deployed on hangars and barns. The new scheme is part of a package of new incentives for PV in the country.

Switzerland introduces auction scheme for solar over 150 kW

An innovative floating solar farm in the Netherlands is soaking up the rays. Proteus, developed by the Portuguese company Solaris Float, is a circular island of solar panels that bobs on top of water, generating renewable energy.


Euronews

New floating solar farms that chase the sun

Researchers from the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories are assessing solar generation in extreme environments north of the Arctic Circle. The team recently installed a 4.3 kW PV system on top of a storage container at Oliktok Point, Alaska. The system uses bifacial solar modules from an undisclosed manufacturer.

Solar for extreme Arctic conditions

Viridian Solar has released a new 7 kW wall-mounted EV charger, Honda has secured certification to run a virtual power plant in Germany, and Bosch has joined forces with IBM to use quantum computing to conduct research on electromobility materials.

The mobility rEVolution: Novel EV charger with solar-matching function

With our country’s resources, history of innovation, and record of public and private sector collaboration, the United States can lead the world on the path toward reliable renewable energy. Modernizing the electric grid in the U.S. in conjunction with updated approaches to policy and regulation will help make that happen.



Fortune

Why Amazon is going all in on renewables–and how it intends to use 100% clean energy by 2025

As Germany struggles with the energy crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many communities there are looking with added urgency at ways to try to wean themselves off gas and oil. Abensberg in Bavaria is among a number of towns which have pioneered alternative energy solutions in recent years. The town of 15,000 people is focussing on solar power, and has ambitions to be self-sufficient in electricity by 2030.

Germany looks to renewables after Russian invasion

Brazil has deployed 7 GW of utility-scale solar and 14.98 GW of distributed-generation PV projects below 5 MW in size to date. Brazil has surpassed 22 GW of installed solar power, according to the Brazilian Association of Photovoltaic Solar Energy (ABSolar), citing data from the Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica (ANEEL).

Brazil hits 22 GW milestone

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has modeled the benefits of PV in highly glazed skyscrapers.


Solar windows cut emissions, energy use by 40% in glass skyscrapers

Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

EcoWatch

France's Solar Plan for Parking Lots Could Start an Urban Renewable Revolution

All large car parks in France will be covered by solar panels under new legislation approved as part of president Emmanuel Macron's renewable energy drive.
Legislation approved by the French Senate this week requires existing and new car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles to be covered by solar panels.

Grist

France to require all large parking lots to be covered by solar panels

All that natural light flowing through your windows may one day do much more than brighten your mood. Scientists in Switzerland have reached a new efficiency record for transparent solar cells, paving the way for electricity-generating windows that could help power our homes and devices.

Your windows may soon produce power thanks to transparent solar panels

SolarDuck, an offshore solar developer in the Netherlands, has been chosen to build a 5 MW floating PV project with energy storage.

Offshore wind farm in North Sea to host 5 MW floating PV plant

As Joe Biden arrives at Cop27 in Egypt, he comes with a good story to tell on America’s transition to renewable energy. But on the ground in rural Indiana where the country’s biggest solar plant is being built, things are getting nasty. Oliver Milman reports



The Guardian

COP27: The future is solar, but it won’t be simple

This $25,000 Solar-Powered SUV Is Coming to the U.S

Scientists from research institutions across China have developed a model to evaluate the impact of rooftop PV on the energy use of residential buildings and their surrounding air temperatures during heatwaves. They revealed their findings in "Thermal and energy benefits of rooftop photovoltaic panels in a semi-arid city during an extreme heatwave event," which was recently published in Energy and Buildings.

Rooftop PV performance during heatwaves

French startup Unéole has developed a solar and wind hybrid innovation for rooftop applications. The company claims the scalable, silent unit can produce 40% more energy than standalone rooftop solar.



French startup reveals rooftop system with PV panels, mini wind turbines

The researchers have been fine-tuning the technology for over a decade. The hand-built prototypes were then cast into an attractive industrial design by Comate Engineering & Design.

Hydrogen-producing rooftop solar panels nearing commercialization

It’s the second attempt by the state Public Utilities Commission to change how people are paid for the excess energy their solar panels send to the grid.

The New York Times

California Regulators Propose Cutting Compensation for Rooftop Solar

By 2030, Tata Power wants clean energy to account for 80% of its generation capacity as it aims to become net carbon zero by 2045. The residential solar market, which is likely to reach 3.2GW by FY23 from the current 2GW, is one of the key segments it is focusing on. But there are hurdles it needs to cross.

Economic Times

Tata Power is creating a solar-energy heavyweight, and your rooftop has got a lot to do with it

Travelling around Europe on a clear day, you're increasingly likely to spy a sheet of solar panels glinting in the sun.
It's a positive sign to most, if a recent survey showing that renewable energy is EU citizens' favoured way out of the climate crisis is anything to go by.

Which European countries are leading on solar power?

Israel and Jordan on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to move ahead with a water-for-energy deal after an initial examination of the project found it to be feasible.

Reuters

Israel and Jordan move forward with water-for-energy deal

NewMed Energy has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to supply natural gas, and develop blue hydrogen, for delivery into Europe with Uniper.


Energy Voice

NewMed signs up to supply Uniper with Israeli LNG

With the cost of solar energy technology falling significantly in recent years, investors are seeing lower set-up costs and a greater return on their investments.

U.S. Solar Capacity Has Grown 28,500% Since 2008

The solar revolution is well underway. For years, the price of solar power has been plummeting, and is now the cheapest form of new electricity generation in many markets, including 16 U.S. states, Spain, Italy and India, according to energy research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie.

3 Things That Could Slow Down The Global Solar Boom

As part of the Wind and Solar Pavilion at COP27 in Egypt, the Global Solar Council will advocate for an urgent global shift to renewable solar energy, asking global leaders and society – are you “ready to brighten our future?”


Impakter

Solar Energy at COP27: What to Expect

Bright eliminates barriers to rooftop solar adoption by removing cost and friction via a modern fintech platform.

Business Wire

Bright Announces Entry and Funding into Mexico’s Commercial and Industrial Solar Sector

An increase in the efficiency of solar panels may be on the horizon, as research from The Australian National University (ANU) reduces their current limitations.

Tech Xplore

Adding passive contacts to spur solar cell development

Solar modules built with cells based on both-sided contacted technology, such as TOPCon panels, could potentially be replaced by PV modules based on interdigitated back-contacted designs by the end of this decade, according to Radovan Kopecek, the co-founder and director of Germany's ISC Konstanz.

IBC solar modules may drive TOPCon out of market by 2028, says tech expert

Disaster recovery requires electricity, which has usually been wiped out. What’s needed for disaster relief and rebuilding is an off-the-grid source of electricity. A female founder has come up with just that: a clean, renewable, portable energy source.

Forbes

Climate Tech Startup Helps Disaster Recovery With Mobile Renewable Energy Grid

The war in Ukraine has laid bare Europe's deep dependence on Russian oil and gas. Replacing that dependence overnight was never going to be easy, but it has always been possible.

Climate Home News

Cop27 is a chance to go further and faster with renewable energy

A new study of the environmental impacts of renewable energy finds significant opportunities for solar to reduce its impacts in various categories, including human health, resource depletion, and environmental damage. The study notes in particular that more work is needed to establish a comprehensive reuse and recycling network for end-of-life PV products.

Recycling key to solar sustainability

HEINEKEN South Africa’s Sedibeng Brewery in Midvaal has installed a 6.5MW solar PV plant. 

CleanTechnica

Heinheinekens sediberg Brewery in South Africa Gets a 6.5 MW Solar PV Plant

The Joffre solar plant is the first to enter the construction of the 100MW portfolio in a joint venture with PACE Canada LP.

PV Tech

Goldbeck Solar breaks ground on 47 MW Alberta site as it eyes greater regional growth

Around 20 climate tech pros gathered at the AxiosBFD in New York City on Wednesday to discuss the electric vehicle transition.

Axios

Climate tech's supply chain concern, and comfort

Tata Power Solar Systems on Wednesday announced the launch of cost-efficient solar off-grid solutions in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Business Standard

Tata Power Solar Systems launches off-grid solar solutions in Bengal, Bihar

The stock of state-owned electric utility company traded at its highest level since February 2018.

SJVN soars 11% on commissioning 75 MW solar power project in Uttar Pradesh

China has far outpaced the rest of the world in terms of technological advances and know-how

China Is Dominant In Booming Solar Market

The Sustainable Solar Europe conference kicked off this week with a focus on the European Commission's draft regulation on eco-design. The regulation will likely be adopted in the second quarter of 2023.

Eco-design for PV modules, inverters

A research group led by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has proposed a new approach to utilize connective heat transfer for solar module cooling in large-scale solar power plants.

Cooling down solar modules by increasing space between panel rows

Renewables | Solar

Singapore-listed Marco Polo Marine has signed an agreement with K Line Wind Service (KWS) to explore suitable vessel opportunities in the frontier Japanese offshore wind market.

Marco Polo Marine enters Japan offshore wind market

France and Finland warn of winter power outages; US wind outlook lifted by tax breaks for long-duration storage; More finance needed for Africa's energy transition.

World Economic Forum

US wind outlook lifted and what you need to know about the global energy crisis this week

Japan reached a cumulative installed PV capacity of 78.4 GW at the end of 2021, according to the National Survey Report of PV Power Applications in Japan - 2021, which was recently published by the International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme's (IEA-PVPS) Task 1.

Japan on track to hit 90 GW of PV capacity by end 2023

Offshore wind farms can have an impact on the marine ecosystems they are built in and upon, a new study has found, but much more research is needed to understand those impacts and how to best plan for them.



New Study Looks at Impact of Offshore Wind on Coastal Ecosystems

Ending the tax relief claimed by fossil fuel giants would raise £22bn over the next six years, according to a report by the New Economics Foundation (NEF).
The think tank said shutting the loophole could pay for an emergency insulation programme for 3.31 million of the leakiest homes across the UK.

The Independent

Closing windfall tax loophole could cut energy bills by £336 a year

Rishi Sunak is less concerned about having a proper climate policy than being outflanked by Nigel Farage's referendum on net zero.

View on the Tory energy rebellion: get rid of the onshore wind ban

Rishi Sunak has fuelled expectations of a government U-turn on onshore wind by declaring he is ready to "engage" with Tory backbenchers pushing for a relaxation of rules blocking development.

Rishi Sunak fuels expectation of climbdown on onshore windfarm ban

A planned offshore wind farm, earmarked for off the Aberdeenshire coast, will sell power to technology giant Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).
French utility company Engie (EPA: ENGI), one half of Ocean Winds, has struck a deal with the US multinational to supply green energy from the Moray West development.

North Sea wind farm to supply green energy to Google

In April 2022, the Traverse Wind Energy Center in Oklahoma was completed and came online. At 999 megawatts (MW) of capacity, the Traverse facility is one of the largest wind farms in the United States and is the largest wind farm built in one phase in North America. Project developers expect that it will generate enough electricity to power around 300,000 homes each year.

One of the largest wind farms in the United States was completed in Oklahoma last spring

HSM Offshore Energy has won the fabrication contract for a North Sea gas platform which will be powered by wind energy.

HSM wins deal to build wind powered North Sea gas platform

The hype about offshore wind energy keeps getting scuttled by reality. Here's the undeniable truth: the fewer offshore wind turbines get built, the better it will be for American ratepayers, the commercial fishing industry, and the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.

Scuttled Offshore Wind Plans Are Good News For Ratepayers, North Atlantic Right Whales

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued a draft tender to lease seabed areas off Tamil Nadu for 4 GW equivalent offshore wind project capacity during the Fiscal Year 2022-23.



Offshore Wind

India Issues Draft Offshore Wind Tender

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has identified eight draft Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) offshore North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, which will now be put up for public review and comment.  



US Identifies Eight Offshore Wind Areas Off Four Central Atlantic States

Sustainable Wooden Wind Turbine Blades Being Developed 

With Hurricane Nicole making landfall in Florida this week, the United States needs to do more to protect itself from hurricanes. Offshore wind turbines could have unexpected benefits in the fight against Hurricanes.

Could Wind Turbines Be A Secret Weapon Against Hurricanes? Today’s Fantasy May Be Tomorrow’s Reality

Nine countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas have joined an international alliance to develop more offshore wind energy at COP27 on Tuesday.



COP27: European countries join international alliance to boost offshore wind power

Power means not having to ask permission, which is why it was OK for the Australian government to lift the price it charges students to go to uni and get an education but it's not OK to lift the amount the gas industry pays us for our own resource.

Australia needs a windfall profits tax - but our government seems to fear the gas lobby

BHP has signed a 70 MW baseload renewable energy contract with Neoen to meet 50% of the energy demand of its Olympic Dam mining operations in South Australia.
The 70 MW renewable energy baseload contract will supply BHP with 24/7 renewable energy from Neoen's Goyder South Stage 1 wind farm and Blyth Battery from July 2025.

Australian miner signs baseload PPA contract with Neoen for 24/7 renewables

Wind turbines have long been one of the main methods of producing clean energy. While they haven’t been without their controversies over the years, compared to other green energy sources they are largely accepted as a planet and people-friendly solution to climate change.



Researchers are working to make wind turbines capture carbon dioxide and use it for cement

The Shannon Estuary in Ireland can support the build-out of up to 1.8 GW […]

Shannon Estuary Could Support Build-Out of 30 GW of Floating Wind, House 2 GW of Electrolysis Capacity

The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy has submitted for public consultation an amendment package to […]

Lithuanian Government Plans to Have Second, Subsidy-Free Offshore Wind Farm Up by 2028

Construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems continued to decrease in the United States in 2020; the capacity-weighted average fell 8% compared with 2019, according to the latest data in our Annual Electric Generator Report on newly constructed utility-scale electric generators. By contrast, average construction costs for both wind turbines and natural gas-fired generators increased compared with 2019, by 8% for wind and 4% for natural gas.

Average U.S. construction costs drop for solar, rise for wind and natural gas generators

Offshore Energy Exhibition & Conference 2022, coming up on 29 and 30 November in Amsterdam, will feature a Hydrogen Area for the first time, with TotalEnergies, Strohm, Green Team Twente, Shell, and TU Delft Hydro Motion Team set to join this inaugural moment.

TotalEnergies and Shell Join First Hydrogen Area at Offshore Energy Conference

Crowley has entered into an agreement with the Port of Humboldt Bay to exclusively negotiate to be the developer and operator of a terminal to serve as California’s first hub for offshore wind.

Californian Port Partners with Crowley to Develop Floating Offshore Wind Terminal

X1 Wind has successfully installed its floating platform at the PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands.

Using a suitable weather window, the company and its partners from the EU-backed PivotBuoy Project completed the installation process, connecting the fully-functional floating wind prototype to the mooring system and dynamic cable pre-installed last June.

The X30 platform has been developed with several key design features to streamline the installation process, including a light-weight and stable floater which can be easily wet towed by local vessels.

Renews

X1 installs floating wind platform at test site

Figures from National Grid ESO reveal onshore and offshore wind met more than half of Britain's electricity demand on Wednesday, over a 90-minute window, generating 19.9MW of electricity meeting 52.2 per cent of total demand.

Business Green

Britain's wind farms set new generation record after delivering 19.9MW of power

Van Oord’s new cable-laying vessel Calypso is en route to the VARD Brattvaag yard in Norway for construction finishing, following its launch at the VARD Tulcea shipyard in Romania last week.



New Van Oord Cable Layer Going to Norway for Finishing Touches

It took two years of education and negotiation, but the ink is drying on the first aggregated power purchase agreement orchestrated under Walmart's renewable energy acceleration for suppliers, officially known as Gigaton PPA.

GreenBiz

Walmart suppliers join forces to buy renewable electricity

Bumper cash flows suggest producers are in a strategic bind

Financial Times

Renewables: Big Oil is missing the opportunity high profits create

The strong winds blowing over Australia's rugged coastlines will soon power many of our homes, as offshore wind farms are poised to begin construction. But our new research highlights the need to ensure any potential risks to marine life is properly mitigated.

Potential risks of offshore wind to Australian marine life remain poorly regulated

State-owned firm targeting 1GW of clean power capacity by 2030 with surplus revenues reinvested in rolling out home energy efficiency measures
The Welsh Government is planning to set up a publicly-owned renewable energy development company in a bid to boost energy security, ease the cost-of-living crisis, and help drive down emissions to combat the interlinked climate and nature crises, it announced yesterday.

Welsh Government to set up publicly-owned renewable energy developer

New PM signals return to commitments in 2019 Conservative manifesto including on fracking, green farming subsidy reform, and nature protection, but remains tight-lipped on onshore wind

Rishi Sunak to reinstate fracking ban as he touts ambition for 'more renewables'

The 360-degree revolution on onshore wind puts the Conservative Party back to the same stance it implemented almost a decade ago when David Cameron cut "the green crap" - a move which has added a total of £2.5bn to people's energy bills since 2014.

Rishi Sunak U-turns on Truss's onshore wind planning reforms

A wind farm in Germany is being dismantled to expand the Garzweiler lignite mine. One of eight turbines installed at the location in 2001 has already been removed. Nevertheless, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said it would phase out coal by 2030, as did RWE, the company that owns the mine.

Balkan Green Energy News

Wind farm in Germany is being dismantled to expand coal mine

A wind farm is being dismantled in western Germany to make way for an expansion of an open-pit lignite coal mine in a "paradoxical" situation highlighting the current prioritization of energy security over clean energy in Europe's biggest economy.

Germany Is Dismantling A Wind Farm To Make Way For A Coal Mine

The UK government has set an ambitious target of a four-fold increase in offshore renewable energy by 2030, a key pillar in the country's 2050 net-zero target. Against this backdrop, the significance of the role that offshore wind farms play in the UK's economy and future energy security cannot be underestimated.

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