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Hot 1: Chile’s Solar PV Investment Boom Continues
According to a report by Chile’s “El Mercurio” on February 22, 2024, at the beginning of the year, 20 solar PV projects have submitted environmental assessment applications to the Chilean Environmental Assessment Agency (SEA), accounting for a quarter of the total number of applications. The total investment amounts to 2.023 billion USD, including 4 large-scale solar PV projects each with an investment of over 200 million USD. Among them, the projects with the highest investment are the Carolina Sola and Don Patricio solar parks, with anticipated investments of 380 million USD and 368 million USD, respectively. They are located in the Maule region and the Metropolitan region, with installed capacities of 497 MW and 200 MW, respectively.
Statistics from the Chilean Electricity Group show that in 2023, Chile’s installed power generation capacity reached 34,577 MW, and it is expected to increase to 41,191 MW this year. The installed capacity of renewable energy sources is 23,204 MW, expected to rise to 29,763 MW. Solar PV capacity will grow by 47.4% to 13,770 MW, representing the most significant increase.
The industry believes one of the reasons for the rapid growth of solar power generation is the regulatory policy advantages enjoyed by small-scale distributed generation projects (PMG/PMGD), whereby power generation projects with an installed capacity of less than 9 MW can obtain a stable single price 24 hours a day, almost reaching the price level of coal power. This has somewhat increased the attractiveness of investments in solar PV projects.
http://cl.mofcom.gov.cn/article/jmxw/202402/20240203474018.shtml
Hot 2: Serbia to Auction at Least 400 MW of Wind and Solar Energy
Following last year’s inaugural renewable energy auction, Serbia is gearing up to launch a new round of procurement this year, seeking to allocate premiums for at least 1 GW of wind and 300 MW of solar power generation. Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy, Dubravka Djedovic Han, announced at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Western Balkans Investment Summit held in London this week, that Serbia will auction at least 400 MW of wind and solar energy in 2024.
“Our three-year auction plan for 2023-25, passed last year, will ensure at least 1,300 MW of new renewable energy capacity through private investment, auctions, and market premiums,” she stated. “In our first three-year plan, we are focusing on large-scale investments because that is the only way for us to make faster progress in the energy transition.” In its first renewable energy auction, Serbia sought to allocate 50 MW of solar and 400 MW of wind energy. The procurement activity attracted 16 project proposals with a total capacity of 816 MW.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/du6RwyTM22nCygai3mUJOw
Hot 3: Spain Plans to Use 750 Million Euros to Incentivize Domestic Manufacturing of Solar PV and More
The Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO) is soliciting public comments on a new incentive plan for the manufacturing of renewable energy and storage. Based on the outline of needs collected during the public consultation period, the first round of the plan will allocate over 750 million euros ($811 million). These funds will be provided through Spain’s Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (PRTR), aimed at incentivizing the production of equipment and components such as solar panels, batteries, and electrolyzers. According to MITECO, other areas of the supply chain may be added in the future.
One of the plan’s goals is to enhance the domestic manufacturing sector and its strategic autonomy in Spain, while also consolidating European manufacturing. Teresa Ribera, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, stated, “Our goal is not just to change the color of molecules or electrons: We want to produce capital goods in Spain.”
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uSy-EXH8zAbAWebtpml1wA
Hot 4: South Africa Adds 605 MW of Solar PV Capacity in Q4 2023
In the period from October to December 2023, the South African National Energy Regulator (NERSA) registered 124 new power generation projects, totaling 605 MW. Of these, 122 were solar PV projects with a total installed capacity of 604 MW. The remaining 2 projects were solar PV with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), totaling 1 MW. NERSA attributes the industry’s lukewarm interest in BESS to the technology not yet being mature in the country’s electricity supply sector and its high costs. Of the 605 MW capacity, 86 projects with 568 MW capacity were connected to the Eskom network, and the remaining 38 projects with 37 MW capacity were connected to municipal distribution networks. The average investment cost for October to December 2023 was 12,817 South African Rand (approximately 672 USD) per kW.
According to data from the Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA), by the end of 2023, South Africa’s total installed solar PV capacity reached 7.78 GW, with 2.96 GW of new large-scale solar installations added during the year.
https://guangfu.bjx.com.cn/news/20240307/1364811.shtml
Hot 5: EU to Allocate 350 Million Euros to Support Portuguese Solar PV Manufacturing and Other Industries
The European Commission has approved a 350 million euro ($380 million) scheme to incentivize the domestic production of strategic industrial equipment for the net-zero economy in Portugal. This includes manufacturing solar panels in the country, as well as producing wind turbines, batteries, heat pumps, electrolyzers, and storage equipment. The aid will be provided in the form of direct grants, effective until December 31, 2025. The European Commission explained that after this date, the regular state aid rules will continue to apply.
According to the green light issued under the EU Commission’s State Aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, the aforementioned incentives will be fully funded through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Portugal’s RRF plan totals 22 billion euros ($24.1 billion), comprising 16.3 billion euros ($17.7 billion) in grants and 5.9 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in loans. Notably, Portugal has updated its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), aiming for a solar PV installed capacity of 20.4 GW by 2030.
https://guangfu.bjx.com.cn/news/20240307/1364801.shtml
Hot 6: Indonesian Government Abolishes Net Metering
The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has issued Regulation No. 2/2024, abolishing the net metering for rooftop solar PV installations. Net metering was first introduced in Indonesia in November 2018, allowing solar project owners to feed excess electricity back into the grid operated by the state utility company, PT PLN, to offset electricity costs. The regulation has undergone several amendments since its introduction.
The latest policy amendment came into effect on January 30 and ensures that customers who had installed rooftop solar systems before this date will still operate under the previous regulations for the next ten years. Marlistya Citraningrum, a project manager at the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) based in Jakarta, told PV Magazine that this ten-year provision will apply to projects that have been approved but not yet installed, as well as PV arrays that have been approved and installed.
