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The Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Atomic and Renewable Energy City (KACARE) has stated that Saudi Arabia will reach 60 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, including 40 GW of solar capacity and 20 GW from other RES, including onshore wind. The announcement is made under the framework of the KSA Vision 2030 and the National Transformation 2020 Programme. The Saudi Arabian government's Vision 2030 (launched in April 2016) programme aims to produce 10% of its power from renewable sources by 2023. To reach this target, up to 9.5 GW of wind and solar capacity will have to be installed. This plan is expected to require investments ranging between US$30bn and US$50bn. The National Transformation Program translates the Vision into various implementation plans, including measures to reduce its reliance on oil. The objective is to generate an additional US$100bn per year in non-oil revenues by 2020. Saudi Arabia’s initial plans (2014) included a target of 27 GW of renewable energy, including 20 GW of solar and 7 GW of wind.

The Danish energy company Ørsted (formerly known as DONG Energy) has decided to suspend the sale of its Danish power distribution and residential customer businesses, after the Danish Ministry of Finance has retrieved any political support for the transaction. However, the assets will still be held for sale and separation from the main business may take place in the future.

The United Kingdom Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has outlined plans to amend the nationwide planning rules for co-located storage projects with a capacity larger than 50 MW.

The Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) has submitted to the European Commission the National Integrated Plan for Climate and Energy 2030. This plan sets a renewable capacity target of 93,194 MW for 2030, including 50,880 MW of solar (of which 880 MW of CSP), 19,200 MW of hydropower, 18,400 MW of wind (of which, 900 MW of offshore wind) and 3,764 MW of bioenergy.

The Societe Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) has secured a €577m (US$660m) debt financing for the modernisation programme of its 76,300 bbl/d refinery in Vridi (Ivory Coast). The revamp plans will allow for the refinery to be meet current environmental emissions standards and to expand its operations.

The National Development and Reform Commission of China has approved the 2 GW Lawa hydropower project to be located the Jinsha River, at the border between the province of Sichuan and the Tibet autonomous region. The CNY 30,970m (US$4,590m) project will consist of four 500 MW units and is expected to generate 8.4 TWh/year of electricity. It will be 48% owned by state-owned Huadian Group,...

Chinese power utility China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has started building its first offshore wind parks in the Guangdong province (China), the 500 MW Shanwei Houhu and the 400 MW Huizhou Gangkou.