Asia

Southeast Asia could well become the global engine room of renewable energy expansion. Population and economic growth is expected across the three decades in which the world has to decarbonise, but the brimming bounty of renewables deployment will force developers to navigate the region’s systems. As it turns out, that could be a treacherous task.

Indonesia will catch the eye too over the next nine years, according to Wood Mackenzie analysts, as its market grows from 300 MW to 8.5 GW.

Solar capacity addition in the fiscal year 2021-22 will surge, led by a strong project pipeline. Tariffs will go up amid rising module prices but will remain competitive at below INR 3/kWh (US$ 0.040/kWh).

Hydrogen vehicle maker, Hyzon Motors, has signed an agreement to deliver five fuel cell-powered heavy-duty trucks to Ark Energy Corporation, the Australian subsidiary of the world’s largest zinc, lead, and silver producer, Korea Zinc Ltd.

According to Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory Co. Ltd, demand for solar PV in China could “effortlessly” surpass 100 GW in 2022, following a year of “flat” demand in 2021. It adds that a “massive overcapacity” situation in the production sector is looming. Meanwhile, the distributed solar PV market is on track for huge growth, with potential for annual demand to reach upwards of 20 GW+ from next year.

With projects in many PV markets ageing past the 10-year mark – with major leaps in technology having occurred in that time – revamping is a popular topic among asset owners. Pv magazine spoke with Asier Ukar, general manager of the Spanish subsidiary of German testing company PI Berlin, to uncover the benefits of revamping PV projects with new components and also to examine the challenges and risks involved.

Floating PV is a growing market, especially in Asian countries with land pressures. However, like many promising niches, it is growing faster than the standards surrounding it. With installed floating PV capacity set to double in 2021, a raft of various and sometimes competing standards are being floated, but the question remains – what is truly the best way forward?

A 63 MWp solar project has been completed in the Philippines by Modern Energy Management (MEM) for AC Energy. The Gigasol project is part of the latter’s plan to roll out 5 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2025.

Smart Power India (SPI), a subsidiary of US-based impact investor Rockefeller Foundation, has supported the setting up of more than 300 renewable energy mini-grids cumulating to 9.2 MW of capacity across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, the largest such cluster in India. Jaideep Mukherjee, chief executive officer at SPI, spoke to pv magazine about the role of mini-grids in rural upliftment and the barriers to overcome.

There’s talking the talk, there’s walking the walk, and then there’s walking the walk on water. Earlier this year at US President Joe Biden’s Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the city-state would need to “innovate and use technology extensively” to overcome its resource scarcity. With one of the world’s largest floating PV arrays now in operation, it seems as if Singapore is floating in the right direction.