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On August 5, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) posted a notice on its website detailing the performance of the domestic industrial silicon (metallic silicon) industry in the first half of 2022. Highlights are as follows:

Energy Trend

MIIT: China’s Industrial Silicon Production Grew by 26.9% Year on Year to 1.436 Million Tons for First Half of 2022

UNSW expert Renate Egan explains how countries around the world have reacted to the oil and gas supply chain issues caused by the fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Tech Xplore

Rise of renewables: How the Ukraine war has changed global energy policies

Around 3,000 UK households will start receiving fully traceable renewable energy from solar, wind and hydro assets in their local areas.

Energy Monitor

Rebel Energy and UrbanChain launch UK’s first P2P green energy exchange

In a single day, enough sunlight strikes Earth to power the world for an entire year—that is, if we can find a way to capture that energy cheaply and efficiently. While the cost of solar energy has decreased dramatically, current silicon-based solar cells are expensive and energy-intensive to manufacture, prompting researchers to look for alternatives.

Marrying models with experiments to build more efficient solar cells

An international group of researchers from 15 universities has said that there is growing consensus among scientists that an energy system based on 100% renewables could be achieved cost effectively by 2050.

PV Magazine

Growing consensus on 100% renewables

The year 2022 marks a decade of growth for the EDF Group in Saudi Arabia. Active in the Kingdom since 2012, the group’s initial focus was on a single line of business for the Saudi National Atomic Energy Project, as announced by the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.

Arab News

French utility giant EDF gets to the forefront of the Saudi energy market

Generating power from sunlight bouncing off the ground, working at night, even helping to grow strawberries: solar panel technology is evolving fast as costs plummet for a key segment of the world's energy transition.

Cheaper, changing and crucial: the rise of solar power

Shell has completed the $1.55 billion acquisition of Solenergi Power, an Actis company that holds a 100% stake in Indian renewables developer Sprng Energy.

Shell acquires Sprng Energy

Foreign Secretary promises to stop fields being filled with 'paraphernalia' like solar farms at latest hustings event, as net zero champion Chris Skidmore defects from Rishi Sunak campaign

Business Green

Liz Truss renews attacks on solar farms, vowing to free fields from 'paraphernalia'

Network Rail has signed an agreement with EDF Renewables UK which will see solar energy used in offices, depots and railway stations across the country.



Network Rail signs milestone solar agreement with EDF Renewables

The owner of a 'green' glamping site is objecting to plans for a £30m solar energy farm on its doorstep.



Glamping site owner insists solar farm is in 'wrong location'

Power plant developers plan to install 17.8 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) generating capacity in 2022, according to our June 2022 Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. Over the first six months of 2022, 4.2 GW of that capacity came online, less than half of what the industry had planned to install in those months. From January through June 2022, about 20% of planned solar photovoltaic capacity was delayed.

Utility-scale solar projects report delays

Heliogen and Dimensional Energy announced on Monday they have entered into a letter of intent (LOI) to jointly produce a type of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from concentrated solar power (CSP), green hydrogen and carbon captured from the air in order to enable the rapid decarbonisation of the aviation history.

ReTHINK

Solar Fuels and the same old SAF problems

A new study shows that hydrogen could be produced for as little as AUD 2.85 ($1.98) per kilogram, supporting Frontier Energy’s plans to make green hydrogen from a 500 MW solar project it is developing in Western Australia.

Australian solar park could generate hydrogen for less than $2/kg

Across the United States, local wind and solar jobs can fully replace the coal-plant jobs that will be lost as the nation's power-generation system moves away from fossil fuels in the coming decades, according to a new University of Michigan study.

Local renewable energy employment can fully replace US coal jobs nationwide

Actis deal triples oil & gas player’s renewable capacity in operation

Renews

Shell acquires 2.9GW Indian renewables platform

Alberta's unregulated power market, abundant natural resources, and skilled energy workforce make it a prime location for new projects.


Oil Price

Canada's Oil Province Will Soon Be A Renewable Energy Leader

Welsh affordable housing company Pobl Group has announced it has completed ambitious green retrofit upgrades to 100 homes in Penderi, Swansea, as part of a wider domestic energy efficiency scheme that is being delivered across the region.


Swansea retrofit programme hails 100 home milestone

SolarApex has built what it calls the world’s largest rooftop PV array. A 140 MW project on a steelmill will help Turkish steelmaker Tosyali to shift its production to carbon-free “green steel.”

140 MW rooftop PV project to help carbon-free 'green' steel industry

The French Government has announced several emergency measures to boost renewable electricity generation ahead of the winter. 



French government to boost renewables generation 

A solar power firm has reported record demand from farms as the price of electricity has risen.

Farmers are embracing solar power to beat soaring energy bills

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 passed in the Senate yesterday in 50-50 split with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called the bill a "defining legislative feat of the 21st century" and "the boldest climate package in US history" on the Senate floor before the final vote.


US Senate passes Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: An industry reacts

The more the sun shines in the southern German town of Aurach, the more likely it is that Jens Husemann's solar panels will be disconnected from the grid—an exasperating paradox at a time when Germany is navigating an energy supply crisis.

When the sun switches off the solar panels

The U.S. is betting $27B on it. Inflation Reduction Act includes funds for national green bank meant to accelerate clean energy projects

Can 'green banks' bring clean energy to the masses

In remote areas suffering frequent power cuts, solar panel systems help keep banks running as they curb climate-warming emissions.

Eco-Business

Solar power opens the door to banking for rural Indians

Solar cell technologies have been improving incrementally over the decades, but energy conversion has remained less than optimal.

Enhancing solar efficiency with upconversion

Europe's struggle to move away from dependence on Russian oil and gas is threatened by renewable energy dependence on China. Indeed, 80% of the world's solar energy industry is located in China.


Europe can compete effectively with Asian solar manufacturers with innovative long-term PV technology solutions

Different algae formulae can not only generate power through biomass technology, but also absorb carbon dioxide, and a Mexican startup has managed to develop an algae Biopanel by combining the two advantages of algae.

Multi-Functional Algae Biopanel Capable of Capturing Carbon and Generating Power

The biggest favors in the Manchin-Schumer bill are going to – who else? —  Big Wind and Big Solar. Indeed, the language in the bill assures that the federal tax credits for wind and solar will not expire for decades to come.

Forbes

Big Wind And Big Solar Will Collect $113 Billion In Tax Credits This Decade, Manchin-Schumer Assures  Billions More

You plan to mount PV systems on top of all 7-Eleven stores in Thailand. Just how many rooftops are we talking about?


7-Eleven plans rooftop PV for its 1,200 Thai stores

As part of its commitment to support national development strategies and programs, Desert Technologies Industries, which is one of the leading Saudi national companies that manufactures and exports solar panels, has announced that it has joined the "Made in Saudi Arabia" program emanating from the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NDLP).


Desert Technologies Industries joins the "Made in Saudi" program

The PEM fuel cell test in New York demonstrated the viability of this technology at 3 MW, the first time at the scale of a backup generator at a data center. Meanwhile, a Spanish-Indian venture will develop up to 300 MW of installed green hydrogen production capacity in the Iberian Peninsula, and a Norwegian-German partnership aims to have a demo track powered by a fuel cell system on the road in mid-2023.


The Hydrogen Stream: Fuel cells for backup power

Using solar panels in the tourism industry in countries like Greece and Cyprus will not only help reduce carbon emissions but also significantly reduce costs, research has found.

Using solar panels to decarbonise the Mediterranean tourism industry is cost effective

Scientists in China evaluated the prospects for various approaches to integrating both solar generation and energy storage in a single device. Their work outlines several ways this could increase the efficiency of solar energy storage, and recommends that future research on this area should focus on integration of materials with the highest specific capacity for energy storage, alongside the dual function of solar energy harvesting.


Straight to storage via solar integrated batteries

National energy security has become increasingly important following the trade war with China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


'Bring It Back Home': Washington Steps Up Energy Security Effort

Recently, large sections of the American public and corporate space have begun to push for environmental protection. Many have put their money where their mouth is by employing eco-technological innovations in their houses and offices.


How Real Estate Developers Are Adjusting To The Growing Number Of Eco-Friendly Homes In Hollywood

Recent extreme weather events have underscored the need to cut the CO₂ emissions that are driving up global temperatures. This requires a rapid transition of the energy economy to renewable energy sources, the cheapest being solar photovoltaics (PV). And our newly published research points to a way we can drive down costs of the shift even further using cheaper forms of silicon for highly efficient solar panels.

Solar is the cheapest power, and a literal light-bulb moment showed us we can cut costs and emissions even further

Leila Benali, the dynamic minister of energy transition and sustainable development, told me in an interview on Zoom that she wants Morocco to be “a destination for renewable energy.”

Morocco Wants To Be A ‘Destination’ For Renewable Energy

The power sector accounts for 25% of global CO2 emissions and decarbonization of the entire energy system is critical to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of reducing global temperature rise to below 2◦C above pre-industrial levels. A new article in Energy Conversation and Management, argues that increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RES) is central to achieving this goal and, to that end, the two main RES—wind and solar—must reach 56% of total electricity generation by 2050.

Optimising economic and social impacts through sustainable renewable energy resources

The Texas grid is having energy supply issues as heat waves cause energy demand to spike. Rooftop solar and energy storage offer relief for homeowners and the grid at large.

As Texans are asked to cut energy use amidst a heat wave, solar and batteries step up

Researchers from the Korea Maritime Institute have proposed the use of solar trees to build photovoltaic plants in mountainous forest areas in land-scarce South Korea.

Solar tree-based photovoltaic plants for mountainous areas

Researchers at Australia's University of New South Wales (UNSW) seeking to assess polysilicon (poly-Si) demand for the PV industry, and assuming the world will have 63.4 TW of installed PV capacity by 2050, have concluded that current production capacity should be increased 10 to 12 times in order to achieve the target.


The PV industry needs 12 times more polysilicon production capacity by 2050

EIA Annual Electric Generator Report finds that the greatest change in battery use is for price arbitrage.

93% of utility-scale batteries that came online in 2021 were paired with solar power generation

As part of plans to expand and diversify its global trade partners, the GCC has launched negotiations with the UK on a free trade agreement that is expected to bolster the bloc's economy, help attract investment and provide greater opportunities for local businesses.


UK-GCC Trade Deal Could Be A Boon For Renewables

India has installed a cumulative 57.7 GW of solar power generation capacity as of June 30, 2022. It is also in the process of installing a further 48.7 GW of PV projects and 16.7 GW under bidding, according to information recently provided by power minister RK Singh in the lower parliament.


India's cumulative installed PV capacity tops 57.7 GW

Before the Manchin news broke, Biden announced a slate of climate measures.


Grist

Biden's under-the-radar executive moves would make solar cheaper for low-income renters

Uzbekistan can be described as a "good performer." Since 2016, it has enacted significant economic, social, and political reforms and changes, and has promoted renewables, including solar. How are these actions paying off today?


Uzbekistan is steaming ahead in the race to carbon neutrality

Using solar panels in the tourism industry in countries like Greece and Cyprus will not only help reduce carbon emissions but also significantly reduce costs, research has found.


An increase in electricity generation from small-scale, customer-sited photovoltaic (PV) solar in New England is changing the hourly pattern of metered electricity demand during the spring (MarchMay), which you can see in our Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. Small-scale solar PV are systems with less than 1 megawatt (MW) of generating capacity and are typically not metered by a utility (referred to as behind the meter). As a result of the increase in this type of solar generating capacity in New England, electricity demand on utilities was rapidly decreasing during the morning and rapidly increasing during the evening through the spring.

Small-scale solar is changing hourly utility electricity demand in New England

In a world so rich in innovation and technology, it is easy to forget just how important people are to progress and development.

IRENA

Let’s Not Forget, People Power Energy

Renewables | Solar

Copenhagen Energy has submitted proposals for a 3GW offshore wind project off the coast of Western Australia.

Copenhagen Energy unveils 3GW Midtown offshore wind farm

A new control algorithm for wind farms that alters how individual turbines are oriented into the wind promises to boost farms' overall efficiency and energy output by optimizing how they deal with their turbulent wake.

Tweaking turbine angles squeezes more power out of wind farms

The initial focus of the East Anglia Three construction programme will be on the onshore converter station at Bramford in Suffolk – in partnership with Siemens Energy and Aker Solutions – and along the cable route, working with NKT which signed the contract with ScottishPower Renewables in July.

Offshore Wind

East Anglia Three Onshore Construction Kicks Off

RWE and Northland Power, which partnered in January to jointly develop three offshore wind projects in Germany, have now also agreed to co-develop another, 225 MW offshore wind farm in the country.



RWE-Northland Power Joint Venture Adds Fourth Offshore Wind Project

As pointed out by the report of the National Audit Office, the target for Taiwan’s accumulated quantity of offshore wind turbines in 2021 fell below expectation by a significant margin, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) responded that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on offshore wind power is regarded as a global phenomenon, where the entry and exit of related personnel, movement of vessels, as well as the manufacturing and transportation of materials, have been considerably affected. 

Offshore Wind Power Establishment Impacted by COVID-19; Accumulated Installation of 200 Wind Turbines by the End of 2022

Virtually all wind turbines, which produce more than 5 percent of the world’s electricity, are controlled as if they were individual, free-standing units.

Renewable Energy Magazine

MIT Unveils Method to Boost Wind Farms’ Energy Output, Without New Equipment

One of the refrains of the environmental lobby is that Australia is extremely well-placed to become a renewable energy superpower, and that this will replace the loss of revenue from coal and natural gas exports.

Reuters

Australia's renewable energy ambitions dwarfed by coal, LNG juggernaut

All wind turbines have been fully commissioned and are commercially operational at the 1.3 […]

World Days Away from Getting New Biggest Offshore Wind Farm

Wind turbine maker Vestas expects to deliver more positive results next year, its chief executive said on Wednesday, as high costs from raw materials and transport, which hit second-quarter results, are passed on to customers.

Wind turbine maker Vestas says price power improving, shares jump

Highly anticipated Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas leasing round launched by Crown Estate Scotland to build 'small-scale' deepwater arrays to decarbonise North Sea hydrocarbon production

Recharge

Scotland leaves harbour on world's first auction for floating wind-fuelled oil & gas projects

NREL Leads Article Series To Review Wind Energy Research Needs and Propose Actions To Help Reach Worldwide Decarbonization Goals

CleanTechnica

Global Researchers Revisit Grand Challenges Of Wind Energy Science

Ireland’s power grid warned of tight electricity supplies for a second day, raising the risk of power cuts as concerns mount over energy shortages this winter.

Bloomberg

Irish Grid Issues Power Supply Alert as Concerns For Winter Grow

BloomberNEF finds ‘strict temporal correlation’ will drive up price of stable supply needed by industrial consumers

EU green hydrogen rules ‘will raise costs’ 

In Scotland, majority of people think renewable energy has a significant social and economic value, and strongly approve of offshore wind farms, according to a public perception study commissioned by the Scottish Government.

Scots Overwhelmingly Pro Offshore Wind

EDF Renewables has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ferrovial’s Polish subsidiary Budimex for realising investments in wind farm development offshore Poland.



EDF Renewables Forms Polish Offshore Wind Tie-Up

The University of New Orleans (UNO), in partnership with the UNO Research & Technology Foundation, has announced the launch of the Louisiana Wind Energy Hub, which will host an ecosystem for innovation, entrepreneurship, and education in offshore wind energy. 



University of New Orleans Launches Louisiana Wind Energy Hub

Earlier this summer, four European countries agreed to develop coordinated offshore transmission links, showing how rising renewable energy targets are accelerating plans for an offshore wind grid across northern Europe.

Europe thrusts towards offshore wind grid, testing regulators

Research at the Vitoria-Gasteiz Faculty of Engineering of the UPV/EHU has used convolutional neural networks to predict airflow characteristics in the aerodynamic profiles of high-power wind turbines, and has shown that flow control devices can be studied using these neural networks, with tolerable errors and a reduction in computational time of four orders of magnitude. The study has been published in Scientific Reports.

Neural networks being used to improve the performance of high-power wind turbines

The legislation will, among other things, mobilise USD 369 billion to be invested in clean energy, energy security, energy transition, and climate change programmes over ten years with an aim to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40 per cent until 2030.



US Offshore Wind Industry Hails Senate’s Passage of New Clean Energy Legislation

The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a grant to the Philippines’ Aboitiz Renewables, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation, for a feasibility study to develop up to 3 GW of offshore wind projects in the Philippines.



US Backs Philippines Offshore Wind Development

The UK's largest regional airline says the Scottish Highlands can provide a "key building block" in the drive to decarbonise the country's air transport system, with green freeport status accelerating the generation of hydrogen.


Energy Voice

Loganair backs Opportunity Cromarty Firth green freeport bid

EDF Renewables has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner with one of Poland’s largest infrastructure companies to develop offshore wind in Poland.

EDF Renewables forges Polish offshore tie-up 

PD&MS Group has secured a three-year operations and maintenance (O&M) contract with Vattenfall, supporting the developer's offshore wind portfolio across the UK and Europe.




PD&MS wins deal to support Vattenfall offshore wind farms

Inch Cape Offshore Limited (ICOL) has appointed K2 Management (K2M), a renewable energy engineering and project management consultancy, as the lender’s technical advisor (LTA) for the 1,080 MW Inch Cape offshore wind farm in Scotland.

K2 Management to Work on Scottish Offshore Wind Project

The #SignMAClimateBill hashtag on social media has emerged (once again) in Massachusetts over the past several days as the State House-Senate conference returned an amended bill to Governor Charlie Baker for signing, after the Governor sent the previous version of the proposed legislation back to the policymakers, with amendments.



Massachusetts Governor Urged to Sign New Clean Energy and Offshore Wind Legislation

Promising tailwinds could unleash floating offshore wind in California, Oregon and Washington. With the right tax credits, labour standards, permitting and leasing, and grid support, the states could showcase the economic benefits of clean energy.

US West Coast wind could take flight – with the right federal and state support

Leading players in the UK's energy, pensions, and infrastructure sectors have today teamed up to form a new joint venture to ramp up investment in the country's booming offshore wind industry.


Octopus Energy and Nest snap up stake in Hornsea One offshore wind farm

The California Energy Commission has expanded the state's offshore wind planning goals to 5GW by 2030, up from 3GW.



California beefs up 2030 offshore wind goal to 5GW

Italian infrastructure fund manager F2i has reached a €310m first close on its debut debt fund, which will invest in a variety of asset classes including renewable energy.



F2i launches €500m infrastructure debt fund

The 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid – the world’s first subsidy-free offshore wind farm – has generated first electricity.




Subsidy-Free Offshore Wind Power Starts Flowing into Dutch Grid

The French government has selected 13 companies and consortia to advance to the second phase, the competitive dialogue phase, of the tendering procedure to build two 250 MW floating offshore wind farms in Golfe du Lion in the Mediterranean Sea.



13 Bidders Stay in Race to Build Floating Wind Farms Offshore France

X1 Wind has laid the dynamic cable for its PivotBuoy floating offshore wind turbine prototype, which is now ready to be installed at the PLOCAN test site off the Canary Islands.



Floating Wind Turbine Prototype Ready for Installation

High household bills mean UK oil supermajors have a timing problem that investment pledges will not resolve

Financial Times

BP’s windfall problem cannot be solved with windmills

Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss has fuelled concerns the UK's onshore renewables sector could face further barriers to development in the coming weeks, after the frontrunner to become the next Prime Minister promised to "change the rules" to ensure farming is prioritised over new solar projects.


'Our fields shouldn't be full of solar panels': Truss vows to crackdown on renewables development

Global investment in renewables totalled $226bn in the first half of 2022, setting a new record for the first six months of a year, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).




Solar, wind investment in H1 hits $226bn

Tradeoffs in the Inflation Reduction Act between climate protections and fossil fuel interests could be dire for offshore wind projects and for solar and wind projects on federal lands. Congress seems to be driving with both feet pressed firmly on the gas pedal and the brakes at the same time.

Inflation Reduction Act: Faustian Bargain Could Jeopardize Offshore Wind, Renewable Energy On Federal Lands

According to our latest inventory of electric generators, 15 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale electric generating capacity came online in the United States during the first half of 2022. Based on the most recently reported plans, developers could add another 29 GW of capacity in the second half of the year.

The U.S. power grid added 15 GW of generating capacity in the first half of 2022

Just as oil and gas has borne decades of partnerships between the UK and Norway, Britain's ambassador wants to see similar team-ups as offshore wind booms.

Ambassador eyes offshore wind team-ups between UK and Norway

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund; the envy of governments the world over. A $1.2 trillion (£998 billion) pot of gold designed to "shield the economy" from fluctuations in the oil price and ease the impact of downturns on the country.



ScotWind, Norway, and a Scottish sovereign wealth fund

Oil and gas accounts for 25% of CO2 emissions from Norway. Quite simply, if the industry doesn't step up then the country cannot meet its climate targets. "We have to deliver if Norway is going to deliver", Simen Moxnes, senior advisor for new energy systems at Equinor, tells Energy Voice.


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