Markets

Trade body SolarPower Europe’s preliminary statistics suggest this could be the continent’s best year for PV since 2010, with capacity additions set to soar 104% year on year. Spain is leading the way with an expected 4.7 GW of new solar, followed by Germany, with 4 GW.

Labelled as a state significant development, the Maryvale Solar Farm has received a regulatory nod, opening the way for construction work to begin. The project is owned by Photon Energy, Canadian Solar and Polpo Investments.

Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) CEO Audrey Zibelman has turned heads at the Smart Energy Council’s National Smart Energy Summit in Sydney, saying that by 2040, 25% of Australia’s electricity will be produced by rooftop solar PV.

Despite lambasting Labour’s 50% renewable ambition by 2030 as fanciful, the Government’s 2019 Emissions Projects Report shows that the country will reach that mark of its own accord, with very little help from the Coalition government.

A global study has found that Australia lacks interest in EVs, a finding due largely to the impedimental admixture of cost, range anxiety and lack of charging options.

The AEMC’s annual report on electricity price trends predicts the continued fall in electricity prices around Australia. The trend, says the AEMC, is driven in some large part by the influx of renewable energy generation.

Mirvac has become the first Australian property company to join RE100, reaffirming its commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030. Growing by a third with 40% of that growth coming from Asia and the South Pacific, the global initiative which brings together companies committed to sourcing all of their energy from renewables is experiencing its biggest year yet.

After China’s National Day holiday, demand started picking up at a slow pace, but the anticipated installation rush did not occur as expected, due to land and financing issues, as well as the return of winter. These factors will also delay the timing of more than 6 GW of capacity to the first half of next year. PV InfoLink has thus downwardly revised its estimates for installed capacity in the fourth quarter to 11.3 GW in China and 30 GW globally, bringing this year’s global demand forecast to below 120 GW.

California-based Greentech startup ReCarbon, which recycles greenhouse gases by converting them into hydrogen, is targeting a big Australian investment.

With the publication of Notification No. 402/TB-VPCP on Nov. 22, the Vietnamese government has cemented its transition from feed-in tariffs to auctions, in a clear step away from earlier promises to revive the FIT scheme.