Volume 5 Issue 11, November 2020 Spend time outdoors Outdoor testing is key to the electrical characterization of solar cells as their performance in the field could differ to that under laboratory conditions. After extensive tests in a hot and sunny climate, Aydin et al. show that the bandgap of…
Policy & Regulatory Japan’s sixth solar auction awards 369 MW with lowest bid of US$9.5c/KWh 16 Nov 2020 The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan has selected 255 bids with a total capacity of 369 MW in its sixth auction for solar projects of 250 kW capacity or more. Initially,…
Policy & Regulatory Colombia will auction 5 GW of renewable capacity in early 2021 13 Nov 2020 The Colombian government plans to organise the country’s second renewable energy auction during the first quarter 2021. The country intends to allocate around 5 GW of renewable capacity. Projects selected in the procurement…
Policy & Regulatory Spain plans to auction off 3.1 GW of renewable capacity by end-2020 12 Nov 2020 Spain plans to auction off at least 3.1 GW of renewable capacity by the end of 2020, including 1,000 MW of wind, 1,000 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) power, and 80 MW of biomass-fired capacity; the remaining…
Policy & Regulatory Vietnam considers carbon-pricing tools to cut GHG emissions 10 Nov 2020 As part of its effort to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the Vietnamese government intends to develop a roadmap to implement market-based carbon pricing tools. The country is considering introducing an emission trading scheme in which emission…
Policy & Regulatory Germany targets 20 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 9 Nov 2020 The Bundestag, Germany’s lower house, has passed an amendment to the Offshore Wind Energy Act, raising the target for offshore wind capacity to 20 GW by 2030 and 40 GW by 2040. In addition, amendments to…
Policy & Regulatory China launches new consultations on a national carbon ETS 6 Nov 2020 The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has launched a consultation plan for a national emissions trading scheme (ETS). Under the new draft rules, participation in the ETS will be mandatory for companies above a…
Policy & Regulatory Spain approves a decree creating a new renewable auction system 5 Nov 2020 The Spanish Council of Ministers has approved a decree establishing a new regulatory framework for renewable energy auctions, the Economic Renewable Energy Regime (Régimen Económico de Energías Renovables, REER). The text creates a “pay…
Policy & Regulatory Germany delays decision on a tender model for offshore wind 3 Nov 2020 The German government has postponed a final decision on a tender model for offshore wind. The authorities will carry out further study of a "second bid" component model, corresponding to a dynamic bidding procedure….
Policy & Regulatory South Africa eases rules for private power generation above 1 MW 2 Nov 2020 The South African government has authorised the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to grant permission to process licence applications for self-generation power plants of above 1 MW, even if they don’t comply…
Policy & Regulatory The Philippines implements a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants 30 Oct 2020 The Philippines has decided to cease coal-fired power plant developments. The moratorium on new coal-fired power plants will not concern projects that are already approved or that have secured permits. Read more China’s 14th…
Policy & Regulatory South Korea pledges to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 29 Oct 2020 South Korea has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The country plans to spend KRW8,000bn (US$7.1bn) on a Green New Deal, aimed at developing a low-carbon economy that would focus on developing electric and hydrogen…
Policy & Regulatory Thailand’s updated NDC keeps GHG emissions reduction target unchanged 28 Oct 2020 Thailand has updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), keeping its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target unchanged. The country intends to reduce its GHG emissions by 20% by 2030 compared to the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, using its…
Policy & Regulatory The Japanese government targets carbon neutrality by 2050 27 Oct 2020 Japan intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. To cut greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions to zero by 2050, the country will invest in new solar cells and carbon recycling, intensifying research and development in those areas, and…
Companies EDPR plans to develop 900 MW of wind capacity in Greece 26 Oct 2020 Portugal’s renewable energy group EDP Renováveis (EDPR) has signed an agreement with the Greek infrastructure group Ellaktor to jointly develop an onshore wind portfolio with a capacity of 900 MW. The wind projects are currently under…
Policy & Regulatory France awards 599 MW of solar and wind projects through tenders 23 Oct 2020 The French Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MTE) has unveiled the results of the tenders for ground-mounted solar PV projects, onshore wind projects and self-consumption solar PV projects. For the ground-mounted solar PV call…
Policy & Regulatory Bangladesh releases plan for 40 GW of solar capacity by 2041 22 Oct 2020 Bangladesh has unveiled a draft 20-year National Solar Energy Action Plan, which envisages almost 40 GW of solar capacity by 2041; solar would then account for half of the country’s installed capacity. The solar…
Policy & Regulatory India maintains deadline for the privatisation of oil refiner BPCL 21 Oct 2020 The Indian Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has decided not to extend the date for the sale of the state-owned majority stake in the Indian oil company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL)….
Policy & Regulatory The US will support NuScale’s 2.5 GW nuclear project in South Africa 20 Oct 2020 The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which was authorised by US authorities to support nuclear power projects abroad in July 2020, has signed a letter of intent (LoI) to support NuScale, a US…
Policy & Regulatory The EU is on track to meet its GHG emissions cut target by 2030 19 Oct 2020 The European Commission has adopted the 2020 State of the Energy Union Report and released individual assessments of the 27 National Energy and Climate Plans, which analyses the pathway and…
Policy & Regulatory India plans to allow Coal India units to set prices independently 16 Oct 2020 The Indian government plans to allow units of state-owned coal mining company Coal India Ltd (CIL) to independently set coal prices in a bid to foster competition and cut the price of coal in…
Volume 5 Issue 10, October 2020 Polymer collector passes current Current collectors are needed to support electrodes and collect electrical energy from them in Li-ion batteries, however they do not contribute to the battery’s energy output. Cui et al. report a polymer-based current collector that not only makes batteries store…
Policy & Regulatory The European Commission unveils a regional strategy for energy efficiency 15 Oct 2020 The European Commission has unveiled its Renovation Wave Strategy to improve the energy performance of buildings, which intends to at least double renovation rates in the next decade and to make sure renovations lead…
Policy & Regulatory Ethiopia plans to unbundle state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power 14 Oct 2020 The Ethiopian government is considering unbundling the national power utility Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), by separating transmission and generation activities to ensure an equal access of independent power producers (IPPs) to the grid. EEP has an installed…
Policy & Regulatory Romania will sign a deal with the US for Cernavoda nuclear project 12 Oct 2020 Romania and the United States have agreed to cooperate for the construction of Units 3 and 4 and the refurbishment of Unit 1 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania. Romania…
Policy & Regulatory Germany’s Bundestag approves a national price of €25/t for CO2 emissions 9 Oct 2020 The Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, has passed a text introducing a national price of €25/t of CO2 emissions in the transport and building sectors from 2021, which will be raised to…
Policy & Regulatory India vows to shift from coal-fired power capacity to renewables 8 Oct 2020 According to the Ministry of Power, India is considering closing some of its coal-fired power plant, in a bid to cut the country’s carbon footprint. The coal-fired power plants would be replaced with renewable…
Policy & Regulatory The UK targets 40 GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2030 7 Oct 2020 The UK government has raised its target for offshore wind power capacity by 2030 from 30 GW to 40 GW. The authorities intend to release a 10-point programme for a “green industrial revolution”…
Companies Brazil’s Supreme Court authorises Petrobras to sell 8 refineries 6 Oct 2020 The Federal Supreme Court of Justice, which is Brazil’s highest appellate court for non-constitutional questions of federal law, has authorised the Brazilian national oil and gas company Petrobras to create subsidiaries to sell 8 refineries, accounting for…
Policy & Regulatory Poland will take over nuclear development firm PGE EJ 1 by end-2020 5 Oct 2020 The Polish State Treasury has signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the 57.4% state-owned power utility PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna to acquire 100% of PGE EJ 1, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in…