Adani, Reliance to set up solar gigafabs in India
Adani, Reliance New Energy, Jindal India Solar and Shirdi Sai Electricals have been put on a shortlist for India’s production-linked incentive scheme for high-efficiency PV module manufacturing. The list includes 14 other companies vying for the incentives.
China pledges not to build new coal plants abroad yet questions remain
President Xi Jinping’s pledge this week at the United Nations General Assembly that China will not build new coal-fired plants abroad is welcome news; however, Asia’s transition to low carbon energies remains in dire need of policy reforms.
Novel technique to prevent fires in lithium-ion batteries
Singaporean scientists have developed a special device that prevents the formation of dendrites in lithium-ion storage. The additional layer they created works as an interface on behalf of the negative electrode, to exchange lithium-ions with the positive electrode.
World’s largest solar+storage project ‘first of many’ says developer
The Australian-Singapore group behind a proposed 20 GW solar PV farm and 42 GWh battery energy storage project being developed in Australia’s remote far north has hinted other, similar-sized projects are already in the pipeline.
India added a record 521 MW of rooftop solar in Q2
The addition of 521 MW between April to June was India’s highest ever rooftop solar capacity installed in a single quarter.
India’s largest floating solar plant commissioned
The state-owned engineer and solar EPC Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned a 25 MW project at NTPC’s Simhadri thermal power station, in Andhra Pradesh.
Australia branded a laggard as new report reveals China holds key to cancelling global coal projects
With pressure mounting on the world’s governments to turn their back on the fossil fuel, China and peers in South East Asia, Europe and South Asia could help deliver a coal-free future at the COP26 climate summit planned in Glasgow in November.
Hanwha Q Cells unveils plan to produce perovskite, TOPCon solar modules
The US$1.28 billion (AU$1.7 billion) plan includes a 3.1 GW production capacity expansion in South Korea, where the company’s solar module capacity will reach 7.6 GW by 2025.
Regional strategy to turbocharge Indonesian solar
A roadmap to rapid carbon emission reduction has suggested the nation add 2.4 GW of generation capacity next year as part of a 15 GW new-solar target this decade. The claims of solar-plus-storage should be ignored for now, according to a new policy document, because batteries will make PV less competitive with coal.
Sunday read: looming impacts of international trade disputes on polysilicon
Polysilicon capacity is unable to catch up with rapid capacity expansion in the mid and downstream segments, writes Corrine Lin, chief analyst for PV InfoLink. New polysilicon capacity requires big capex investment and a lead time of more than two years to complete construction and reach full operation. With unbalanced capacity between the upstream and downstream segments, polysilicon prices have been rising since the second half of 2020, with prices for mono-grade polysilicon surpassing CNY 200/kg (US$27.40) in June 2021, up more than 250% year on year.
