Key takeaways from Abu Dhabi’s World Future Energy Summit
The World Future Energy Summit showed that Middle Eastern solar markets are still driven by utility-scale PV, although the C&I sector shows signs of growth. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are the most promising markets for big solar projects, with huge pipelines under development, while Lebanon and Yemen show promise due to chronic energy shortages.
Solaray Energy acquired as part of German startup’s $100 million Australian growth strategy
A German startup led by European heavyweights and backed by major institutional capital continues its aggressive acquisitions strategy in Australia, taking a majority stake in Solaray Energy – its second major APAC buy following Natural Solar. Company 1Komma5 is seeking to consolidate Australia’s residential solar sector to become the largest provider of home renewable technologies, devoting $100 million (USD 70m) to “strategically” acquire a number of businesses here within the year.
Weekend Read: Deploying a gigawatt scale mindset
pv magazine Australia’s Natalie Filatoff reports on the benefits of planning vast solar project pipelines, and the barriers faced by those who dare to dream big.
Australian lithium miners lead way in battery minerals supply chain
With global demand for new energy storage soaring and nations and companies racing to secure battery metals supply chains, a series of major investments in Australia and Australian lithium mining companies is expected to accelerate the nation’s transformation into a critical minerals powerhouse.
Longi plans new 100 GW wafer plant, 50 GW solar cell factory in China
Longi Solar said it will invest CNY 42.5 billion ($9.4 billion) in 100 GW of wafer capacity and 50 GW of solar cell capacity in Shaanxi province, China.
UAE energy summit serves as a trial run for COP28
The United Arab Emirates is treating Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which includes the World Future Energy Summit, as a trial run before the nation hosts the COP28 climate talks in November.
India installed almost 14 GW of solar in 2022
India installed 13,956 MW of solar between January and December 2022. This included 11.3 GW of utility-scale PV, about 1.9 GW of rooftop solar, and nearly 700 MW of off-grid/distributed capacity.
Risen Energy is taking n-type HJT technology mainstream in Australia
Following Risen Energy’s January announcement that the company is starting to mass-produce its n-type heterojunction technology (HJT) hyper-ion solar modules, it has revealed plans to increase production capacity to 15 GW by the end of 2023. Archie Chen, CEO of Risen Energy Australia, says n-type HJT panels will prove the favoured technology over the coming years, facilitating higher performing solar solutions.
Q Cells announces $3.6 billion investment in solar supply chain
Q Cells plans to manufacture 3.3 GW of solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished modules in a new facility in the US state of Georgia.
Four global trends in solar and storage in 2023
A review of recent solar and storage related trends as seen by IHS Markit.
