Western Europe

An international research team has developed a new methodology to increase levels of pollination at ground-mounted solar plants. It involves the development of new vegetated land cover below and around solar parks.

New research from Ireland shows that depleted oil and gas reservoirs may be used to store hydrogen at a cost of US$1.29/kg (AU$1.9/kg). According to the researchers, underground hydrogen storage may benefit from the technological maturity of the geologic storage of natural gas and CO2, which are associated with decades of established knowledge.

Scientists in Belgium have developed a way to assess elevated agrivoltaic projects, by calculating key performance indicators such as energy yield and levelized cost of energy (LCOE). They have found that shade-tolerant crops such as potatoes could potentially be paired with around 1,290 GW of PV capacity in Europe.

GlobalData has predicted that the global electrolyser market will hit 8.52 GW by 2026. BP and Thyssenkrupp have agreed to cooperate on the use of hydrogen in the steel sector, while electrolyser supplier Nel Hydrogen has secured orders in Australia and Denmark

An international research team has developed a new way to evaluate the economic value of energy storage technologies. They went beyond pure cost assumptions to consider the benefits that such technologies could bring to energy systems.

Enel and Vulcan Energy are looking at the potential for lithium mining at a site near Rome.

Spanish energy and construction giant Acciona plans to massively expand its investment in Australian renewable projects over the next five years, following the new federal government’s pledge to upgrade national electricity transmission networks.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are getting better, according to the Energy Storage Inspection 2022 report by the University of Applied Sciences, HTW Berlin. The fifth edition of the study assessed 21 storage systems and found that while only two of the BESS studied were categorised as being efficiency class “A” in 2020, that number grew to six in 2022.

A group of 35 French agricultural entrepreneurs decided to change their agricultural practices to adapt to the low quality of their groundwater and chose agrivoltaics as a way to compensate for crop yield losses.

Basf and Man Energy announced a plan to build a 120 MW renewables-powered heat pump for steam production at an industrial site operated by Basf in the Rhineland-Palatinate region, Germany. The feasibility study for the project should be completed by the end of this year.