Markets

The past 12 months have been a turbulent time for PV manufacturing. Rapid and impressive developments in technology have been accompanied by price increases up and down the supply chain, and energy shortages weighed on production in the second half of the year. Chinese n-type module manufacturer Jolywood is now pressing ahead with ambitious expansion plans despite the disruption. pv magazine publisher Eckhart K. Gouras and editor Mark Hutchins recently caught up with Cathy Huang, European sales director at Jolywood, to discuss the company’s plans to bring n-type TOPCon technology into mainstream production.

Australian energy major AGL has fast-tracked the closures of its two biggest coal-fired power plants by several years as it pushes ahead with plans to demerge in response to the ongoing market shift towards renewable sources of electricity.

Australia’s electricity retailers have been ranked from best to worst in terms of green credentials, igniting calls for retailers to make emissions information public and transparent.

After the deluge of announcements last year, 2022 will see the trickle of big batteries actually operating in Australia turn to a flood. According to Rystad Energy, the country’s battery capacity is set to double before the year is out.

Green hydrogen is being proposed for an ever-wider variety of uses. While some of these are still a way off, others make little sense. But there are sectors where demand for green hydrogen is a reality today, writes Christian Roselund.

India’s Union Budget, presented this week by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, allocates an extra INR 19,500 crore ($3.6 billion) to the production-linked incentive scheme for solar from April.

Australia’s largest petroleum company Ampol has revealed its ambition to expand into the nation’s energy market by submitting an application to the industry regulator for licences to retail electricity and gas in Australia.

The Philippines’ Department of Energy hopes to allocate 1,260 MW of solar through the procurement exercise.

Shell has completed its acquisition of green power company Powershop Australia. The takeover sparked heated outcry when it was first announced in November 2021, reportedly causing Powershop to bleed customers who felt angered and betrayed by the apparent ‘greenwashing’.

The analyst also forecasts strong growth for the storage business and a significant increase in PPAs for photovoltaic projects in Europe. It also said the newly installed PV capacity for 2021 reached 183 GW.