Asia

The New England and Stubbo solar farms in regional New South Wales are now 100% owned by ACEN after the Philippines-based energy company, through its subsidiary ACEN Renewables International, completed its acquisition of the development platform UPC/AC Renewables Australia.

The hydrogen stream: ZeroAvia tested its new 19-seat hydrogen-powered aircraft, Chinese scientists unveiled new tech to promote bubble removal in electrolysers, and Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology researchers claimed that the most efficient hydrogen production systems are based on waste heat.

Indian researchers have presented a new way to develop effective electrode materials for superpower redox flow battery (RFB) systems. Their flow cell with heat-treated nickel-rich platinum-nickel coating on the graphite felt delivered an impressive ever-best power density of around 1,550 mW cm−2.

Sun Cable, the company behind the world’s largest solar and storage project, has officially gone up for sale after entering voluntary administration in January. Its administrator, FTI Consulting, is seeking binding offers of acquisition or recapitalisation by the end of April with a deal to be finalised by May’s end.

The Chinese government is considering the introduction of export restrictions on solar wafers, black silicon, and silicon casting equipment. It has launched a public consultation process on the proposed measures.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide, along with international partners, have successfully used seawater with no pre-treatment to produce green hydrogen. The team did this by introducing an acid layer over the catalysts in situ. “We have split natural seawater into oxygen and hydrogen with nearly 100% efficiency… using a non-precious and cheap catalyst in a commercial electrolyser,” University of Adelaide’s Professor Shizhang Qiao said.

Acen Renewables, a Manila-based developer, is building two solar plants in the provinces of Pangasinan and Zambales.

Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd. (SCCL) has commissioned 5 MW of a 15 MW floating solar plant on the Singareni Thermal Power Station reservoir in India.

PT PLN Nusantara Power has launched a tender for a floating PV project that will likely be built at a dam on the island of Java, Indonesia.

The drivers for PV supply-chain traceability could rub against a solar industry enjoying a true seller’s market, with demand outstripping supply. However, supply-chain auditing services are gaining support in increasingly regulated environments. pv magazine’s Tristan Rayner has spoken to a number of auditing experts about how they shine a light on often-opaque operations.