Philippines

Australian technology company Star Scientific has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Philippines’ Department of Energy in order to trace out the use of its game-changing HERO technology. The partnership could see Star Scientific transform every coal-fired power plant in the nation to green hydrogen while also utilising the technology to, among other things, provide clean, quick, desalinated water.

Solar Philippines is planning to deploy several unsubsidised solar plants in the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac.

Spanish tracker giant STI Norland has expanded to Australia with a new subsidiary office in Melbourne. The company is arriving on our shores with a keenness to compete with tracker suppliers who already have their foot in the door. With no solar farm too big or too small, STI Norland Australia CEO Alan Atchison sat down with pv magazine Australia to talk about how the company plans to make tracks Down Under.

Southeast Asia, when taken as a whole, is a global laggard in the uptake of renewable energy, but some countries are leading the way, such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Myanmar. And as ‘Angry Clean Energy Guy’ Assaad W. Razzouk argues, policymakers in the region cannot hold back the tide of solar and wind for much longer.

The country’s National Irrigation Administration will bet on floating PV and solar-powered irrigation to improve water and energy supply. The Pantabangan and Casecnan dams, in the province of Nueva Ecija in the Central Luzon region, have been identified as ideal locations for floating solar.

Singapore-based commercial and industrial solar developer Cleantech Solar has secured a US$75 million in green finance from ING Bank, the Asia Pacific’s largest ever C&I solar green loan. As the world’s fastest growing electricity market, South East Asia is crying out for this kind of investment.

UAC Energy Holdings, a joint venture of Ayala’s AC Energy and Hong Kong-based UPC Renewables Group, said it would offer $777 million to buy Infigen Energy, one of Australia’s most prominent renewables companies.

Okra Solar, the Aussie startup we last saw delivering solar mini-grids to remote communities via a shared ping-pong table, is emerging from Covid-19 lockdown with new investors and two new pieces of tech that will better enable solar energy access to the 900 million people around the world still lacking power.

The Philippines is desperately hungry for rooftop solar PV as it seeks to alleviate itself of energy poverty. Pathways are finally opening up for the vast Southeast Asian nation with investors readying US$20 million to fund four new renewable projects.

Meet Afnan Hannan, CEO and co-founder of Okra Solar, an Aussie startup looking to eradicate energy poverty using solar minigrids that has already been recognised with a global sustainability award and a best IoT startup award.