Accelerating solar-plus-storage in the next five years will boost the efficiency and resilience of global energy networks, according to 92% of energy industry professionals. The finding is from DNV’s Industry Insights research, which surveyed global energy industry professionals on their outlook, expectations and priorities for the year ahead. DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook forecasts that solar will grow 20-fold globally by 2050 and installations are increasingly being planned with dedicated storage. Within a decade, about one fifth of all PV installed will be with dedicated storage, and by mid-century, this share will have risen to half. “Global emissions are continuing to rise; the good news is that we have the technologies to prevent further increase of emissions. “Combining solar and storage also opens a wide range of possibilities to provide 100% renewable energy for society in a reliable and cost-efficient way. “It’s important that we act fast for the collective good, remove barriers for clean energy and plan for long term progress,” said Ditlev Engel, CEO, Energy Systems at DNV.                     The forecast also shows that despite its current higher costs, solar-plus-storage has an advantage over solar PV on capture price. Plants with storage can charge batteries when sunlight is plentiful during the day and sell the stored electricity when the price is high. By 2038, the capture price advantage of solar-plus-storage over regular solar PV plants will surpass the cost disadvantage on a globally averaged basis. Of those surveyed for Industry Insights, respondents working in the solar industry see investment in storage as a priority, with two thirds revealing they already have revenue-producing business interests in the sector and 56% expecting to increase their investment in the year ahead. Skills shortages and lack of policy support could stand in the way of progress, with both solar and storage industry respondents citing these as the biggest barriers to growth. Around 63% of respondents from the solar industry stated that not enough people are entering the workforce in the sector, while 62% revealed that their own organisation is finding it increasingly difficult to attract employees with the skills required for the energy transition. Regarding policy support, 47% said that inadequacy, delays or surprises in public policy represents the biggest risk to their organisation’s near-term success. A further 87% of solar industry respondents stated that reforms to permitting and licencing processes are critical to meeting net zero targets. DNV’s Industry Insights research was conducted in January and May 2023 and includes over 1500 respondents from Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: DNV]

                 New research reveals total investment in European solar energy startups is up 398% compared to this time last year. Solar startups in Europe received $6bn in backing in the first five months of 2023, compared with $1.2bn raised by the same point in 2022. Avnet Abacus, an electronics distributor, has produced the findings after analysing Crunchbase data for companies listed in the solar energy category to provide insight on the level of funding going into the sector. The average funding round for European solar startups in 2023 is at a record high of $166m. In other key findings by Avnet Abacus, globally investment in the solar sector is up 47%, with funding down 7% in the US so far this year. Despite the continued uncertainty in the venture capital market, average investment in European solar is at an all-time high at $166m, compared with an average of $88.3m in 2022 and $22.9m in 2021.                The figure flowing into European solar so far this year eclipses the sector’s global average of $116.8m and the US average of $113.8m, stated Avnet Abacus. Sara Ghaemi, Avnet Abacus’s Technical Director, said: “Even though solar technology is relatively mature, there is still a lot of room for growth and innovation. “There is growing demand around the world, and government policies and incentives continue to support investment in this area, with engineers continually seeking new ways to make solar more efficient. “Rooftop solar panels could potentially produce 25% of Europe’s annual electricity consumption. As well as the available rooftop surfaces, the facade of the buildings can also contribute to the generation of green energy. “When looking for a replacement to fossil fuels, however, rooftop and facade panels will not be enough. “This will require large scale photovoltaic farms, where you’re talking about megawatts of power generation. “At such high power and high energy density, recent developments in silicon carbide and gallium nitride technologies are enabling power to be converted with greater efficiency than traditional silicon-based components.”               Credits: renews.biz [Image: Dulas]

                  3SUN, Enel Green Power’s module manufacturing business, has launched three new solar modules, which will be available in 2024. The products based on 3SUN’s hetero-junction technology (HJT) entirely developed by 3SUN and which will be made in Italy. The modules can be used in utility-scale ground-mounted projects as well as on rooftop installations.                “A new milestone in the history of 3SUN materialises with the presentation to the solar industry of new photovoltaic modules that will be produced in our Gigafactory in Catania”, said Eliano Russo, CEO of 3SUN. He added: “Excellence, innovation and sustainability are our cornerstones for build latest generation photovoltaic panels, able to compete with the big players in the market.   “From today, the photovoltaic industry can count on a new protagonist, to contribute to achieve the decarbonisation goals and build a more independent and secure Europe from the point of energy view.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: 3SUN]

                 Voltalia has officially inaugurated its largest solar park to date in the UK, which it has developed via a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) with local authority the City of London Corporation. South Farm Solar Park has a total capacity of 49.9MW, the equivalent of more than half of the governing body’s electricity needs. The project has been supported by Santander UK, which provided £25m funding to support its construction and operation. Voltalia head of power sales Laurent Pillot said: “Signing a CPPA with the City of London Corporation has been an important milestone for Voltalia in the UK.               “The transition to green electricity is gathering pace globally, and the City Corporation is a leader: it has demonstrated the capacity of a public entity to take efficient and meaningful decisions to accelerate this trend. “We are very proud to effectively deliver green energy to the City of London Corporation since the beginning of 2023 and we hope to continue to support City of London in their energy transition path.” Deputy policy chairman and policy lead for sustainability at the City of London Corporation, Keith Bottomley, added: “This scheme is a pioneering blueprint by the City Corporation for local authorities across the UK, cutting carbon emissions and giving cheaper, more secure energy, protected from the price volatility of energy markets. “The deal will increase our green energy supply, has no reliance on taxpayer funding, and helps us transition quickly away from fossil fuels.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Voltalia]

                 Renewable Connections, a UK solar and storage developer, has won planning approval for its Balbougie Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Fife, Scotland. The BESS project and its associated cable route and infrastructure were approved by Fife Council’s Planning Committee on 7 June. The development has a maximum import capacity of 42MW and will be built on land at South Pargillis, Clockluine Road, Hillend, Dunfermline.               It will connect into the Inverkeithing Grid Supply Point and construction of the site is anticipated to commence in 2024 The Council’s planning officer recommended the scheme for approval and was unanimously backed by committee members. Development director at Renewable Connections John Leith said: “Fife Council is leading by example on the path to net zero. As well as declaring a Climate Emergency in 2019 the council has been proactive in launching its own Climate Fife Action plan to support the area’s climate-friendly and carbon neutral ambitions.” He added: “Projects like Balbougie BESS are integral to helping achieve these aims. Battery storage has a key role to play in ensuring homes and businesses can be powered by renewable energy sources, even when the sun isn’t shining or when the wind isn’t blowing. “The system will help balance supply and demand across the National Grid, with the ability to store and release power for tens of thousands of homes, as well as displacing a significant amount of CO2 from fossil fuel sources per year of operation.”             Credits: renews.biz [Image: Adobestock]

                   PX Group’s Saltend Chemicals Park in Hull, UK has been selected as the site for the build of a green hydrogen facility being developed by Meld Energy. The move represents an investment of between £180m and £240m by the green hydrogen industrial developer. Meld Energy is an international hydrogen development company and is working with the global energy management company, World Fuel Services Corporation, to develop green hydrogen supply chains.                 World Kinect Sustainability Ventures, a subsidiary of the publicly listed US Fortune 500 company, acquired a 50% stake in Meld in late 2022. Meld is currently bidding for development support from the UK’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund. Should the bid win government backing, FEED (Front End Engineering Design) is expected to begin in November 2023 and would run concurrently with planning application processes. Building would commence less than a year later with a target operation in early 2027. The facility would have an initial installed capacity of 100MW and the potential to increase its capacity to over 200MW in a second development stage. Meld would utilise PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) with renewable energy suppliers. The hydrogen produced by Meld would be used to provide energy on-site at Saltend, helping to switch over from more carbon-intensive fuels and chemical feedstock to emissions-free green hydrogen. The Humber is the UK’s most carbon-intensive region.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Meld Energy]

                   Storage developer Invinity Energy Systems is to deploy the first prototype of its next-generation flow battery at a site in British Columbia, Canada, early next year. The project has been funded in part by a CAN$0.5m award from the BC Centre for Innovation & Clean Energy (CICE).                The backing will support the manufacture and deployment of a 1.2MWh prototype of Invinity’s next-generation vanadium flow battery (VFB), code-named Mistral, at a site near Invinity’s engineering and operations centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Expected to be operational in H1 2024, this will be the first Mistral product deployed as a pilot in the field, the company said.  The prototype will be tested against a commercial use case with the intention of demonstrating performance of the newly-developed product as a customer facing, fully-integrated energy storage system. Further details of this project are expected to be announced before the end of this year.           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Invinity] [Image: Invinity]

                   The REA (Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology) and Energy UK have called on the UK Government to extend planned windfall tax changes for oil and gas to renewable energy as well. The Government will introduce a new Energy Security Investment Mechanism which will reduce the windfall tax rate on Oil and Gas producers, called the Energy Profits Levy, when energy prices return to consistent normal levels. The intention is to ensure that investments in domestic energy supply are safeguarded. The REA argues that being serious about protecting energy security and British jobs requires applying these benefits to the cheapest forms of domestic electricity generation, which also happen to be critical to delivering a decarbonised electricity system. As such, the Energy Security Investment Mechanism must also be extended to reduce the tax rate being placed on the low carbon generators under the equivalent Electricity Generator Levy. The renewables and clean tech sector is key to tackling the volatile costs of fossil fuels at the heart of rising energy bills, and its treatment must be fair and equitable in relation to the oil and gas sector, the REA said.  Mark Sommerfeld, head of power and flexibility at the REA, said: “Once again, the Government are focusing tax cuts on fossil fuel producers, while the equivalent windfall tax on renewables, called the Electricity Generator Levy (EGL), remains unchanged. “Today’s announcement for the Energy Security Investment Mechanism will reduce the tax liability on oil and gas producers when energy prices return to consistently normal levels, however, will not apply to renewable generators, despite a harsher tax on low carbon generation.                    “Furthermore, the Government have repeatedly ignored calls to introduce a dedicated Investment Allowance for renewables, which would promote low carbon investment, despite the equivalent allowance again already being in place for oil and gas. “Government is presenting today’s announcement as necessary for delivering energy security, yet it is not applying these benefits to the cheapest forms of domestic electricity generation, which also happen to be critical to delivering a decarbonised electricity system. “If Government is at all serious about energy security, The Energy Security Investment Mechanism must be extended to renewables and the EGL be urgently reformed.” Energy UK agreed that renewables should also be covered by the mechanism. It added that it should also mirror the EU and remove the windfall tax on renewable energy.  Emma Pinchbeck, Energy UK chief executive, said: “Whilst wholesale prices have fallen, many customers, including businesses, are still struggling with high energy costs, and the long-term solution out of the energy crisis is to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels and produce cheap, low carbon energy here in the UK alongside making our buildings far more efficient. “Alongside easing the Energy Profits Levy, the Government has kept a windfall tax on renewable energy, disincentivising the very technologies that will help insulate the UK from future energy price crises. “The EU is looking to remove its windfall tax on renewable energy and the US has put billions of dollars behind a huge stimulus package. “We’re in a global race for investment and the UK is at risk of losing out on the vital infrastructure needed to keep our energy supply secure. “We have an opportunity to build on our existing capabilities and lead the world in green technologies like Small Modular Reactors, Carbon Capture and Storage, hydrogen and floating offshore wind. “We urge the Government to revisit the Electricity Generator Levy, with this global context in mind.”           Credits: renews.biz [Image: Unplash]