Asia

The cost of solar power generation in India has fallen to half the level seen in many other markets in the region due to extensive solar resource, market scale and competition. In Australia, solar is expected to break through the coal-fired electricity price barrier next year, when its cost falls to US$48/MWh, WoodMac finds.

Vietnam had already successfully commissioned 1.5 GW of utility-scale PV at the end of May this year, and there is no sign of this slowing down, with another 2 GW teed up for June 2019. The breakneck speed in development is making Vietnam a powerhouse in the region in installed capacity, even nipping at the heels of Australia. Rystad Energy’s Minh Koi Le looks at the state of play in the Vietnamese solar market.

Western Australia-based solar glass developer ClearVue has signed a deal with Taiwanese thin-film solar module manufacturer BeyondPV to set up a dedicated production line for solar strip modules at its production facility in Tainan.

Toyota has announced plans to begin public road trials this month on a new Prius PHV demo car modified to include integrated solar panels. The announcement follows similar recent solar innovations in the EV industry which could accelerate the emerging form of transport.

The Cambodian government has decided to approve four new solar projects, ranging in size from 20 MW to 60 MW, in response to rising energy demand. It further announced that the 60 MW project that it tendered at the beginning of the year is planned to start commercial operations in August.

China’s National Energy Administration has given the greenlight to 3,921 ground-mounted and distributed generation projects. The approved energy price bids ranged from $0.0407 to $0.080, depending on system size, for an average price of $0.048.

With a glut of solar capacity having come online this year, cheaper financing would help keep some of that momentum but policymakers cannot be persuaded of the economic benefits of clean energy unless state-owned utility EVN opens up.

Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy has placed Australian and Vietnamese solar markets side by side and found the Southeast Asian country has left Australia behind in terms of commissioned utility-scale PV capacity. A staggering 4,460 MW of connected PV capacity in Vietnam at the end of June came as a surprise to many.

The water authority of the city state wants to procure a 50 MW floating solar installation on the Tengeh Reservoir that will be operational by 2021. Details were revealed today by technical consultant DNV GL.

Taiwanese analyst Energytrend saw prices for high power products fall over the past week, but so far only in China. That trend could be replicated around the world next week, however.