Germany, Poland, the UK and Ireland's integrated electricity markets are the leading markets for co-location of renewable energy and battery storage systems in Europe. With the exception of Germany, these countries also have the most favorable policies and regulations, according to power market analysis company Aurora Energy.     In its European Renewable Energy Co-location Report, Aurora Energy looked at the potential for co-location in 12 European countries. In Germany, co-location offers attractive revenue stacking opportunities, low grid charges and mitigates significant risks of renewables competing with each other, while Poland has a strong subsidy environment including long-term capacity market contracts.   The UK is one of the most favorable markets due to favorable regulations, allowing co-location projects to access multiple markets and providing faster grid connection for co-located renewable energy projects. Ireland's integrated electricity market was rated high in the Aurora Energy study, with favorable legislation in this market promoting faster grid connection and mitigating the risk of power outages for renewable energy.   In terms of policies and regulations, a total of five countries were rated as the most favorable markets in the report. The Polish market offers long-term capacity market revenues and new cable aggregation regulations, while Hungary has introduced mandatory co-location measures for solar PV projects "above a certain size."

The European Union (EU) will fall far behind its ambitious energy transition goals for renewable energy, clean technology capabilities and domestic supply chain investments, according to Rystad Energy's research and analysis.     Several EU battery manufacturing companies are now shifting their interest to the United States, whose better tax credits and policies supporting renewable energy appear to have attracted some companies, making them look to the United States for better returns. A recent report by global energy think tank Rystad Energy pointed out this shift.   Rystad Energy's report pointed out that unlike China, the EU has invested less in its net zero goals. This could create obstacles to its clean energy goals, the report said. The EU plans to reduce emissions by 92% by 2040 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.   However, the migration of EU battery manufacturers hints at another challenge that the industry will face. The report attributed the trend mainly to the tax credit benefits of the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).   “Some European battery manufacturers are looking across the ocean for greener soil, underscoring the need for competitive development conditions,” the Rystad report said. “For example, Norway-based FREYR Battery has moved its headquarters to the United States and set up a large factory in Georgia to take advantage of the tax benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act.”   It also added that “Volkswagen, after initially investing heavily in Northvolt, is now exploring opportunities in Canada to align with the Inflation Reduction Act and maximize tax credits, which is indicative of a broader trend in the manufacturing industry to take advantage of a favorable policy environment and sends a clear signal to policymakers.”

In the first quarter of 2024, Italy's installed PV capacity exceeded 1.7GW, a significant increase compared to the same period in 2023.     Among them, large-scale ground-mounted power stations saw the largest increase in installed capacity, up more than 373% from the first quarter of 2023. New large-scale ground-mounted power station PV installed capacity in the first three months of this year was 579MW, compared with 123MW in the same period of 2023.   This growth was driven by eight new projects, each of which was larger than 10MW, which came online during this period, adding 281MW of capacity.   Italia Solare, the Italian solar industry association, said that since October 2023, 622MW of these projects above 10MW have been connected to the grid, and grid connection has occurred every month.   In addition, growth in the residential sector also remained strong, with an installed capacity of 547MW, up 4% from 525MW in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, the government's "super bonus" incentive for residential power generation systems has ended, which is expected to reduce the adoption of new systems in the long run.   The commercial and industrial sector also grew significantly, more than doubling from 289MW in the first quarter of 2023 to 595MW in the first quarter of 2024.   Italia Solare said this was mainly due to the increase in the national single price (PUN) in the second half of 2023 and the general increase in energy costs, which boosted installations in the first quarter of 2024 due to the time required for commissioning, construction and grid connection that began last year.   The impressive first quarter data follows a similarly strong 2023 in Italy, which saw the highest new installations of large-scale solar in more than a decade. More than 5.3GW of new capacity was installed last year, compared to 2.4GW in 2022. Italy, photovoltaics are on the rise again!

Despite Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine's solar industry continues to grow. Lena Dias Martins reports on the opportunities solar developers find amid the horrors of war.     Ukraine’s installed renewable energy capacity is growing. This was the message delivered by Dentons partner Maksym Sysoiev at the Large Scale Solar Summit in Central and Eastern Europe (LSS CEE) hosted by PV Tech Power publisher Solar Media late last year. Sysoiev added that “despite the difficulties, new solar power plants are being implemented and completed.”   Although Ukraine's exact installed capacity for solar and other technologies is now considered restricted information, Ukraine's renewable energy sector is growing. As The Guardian revealed last May, Ukraine has built more onshore wind turbines than the UK since the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022.   Speaking at the "2024 Energy Security Forum" held in February, Andrii Gerus, Chairman of the Energy, Housing and Utilities Commission of Ukraine, revealed that Ukraine commissioned about 500MW solar power plants throughout the year and pointed out that renewable energy power "significantly contributes to Ensure the stable operation of the power system."   To advance this “Year of Investment,” it is necessary to demonstrate security and stability to attract investors. It’s a tough ask for a country in conflict, but Ukraine refuses to back down, instead revising and enacting green policies that incentivize international investors to fund renewable energy in Ukraine, not just for Ukraine’s sake Energy security, but also for the possibility of exporting.   As Sysoiev panelist Kyryll Kostyria, head of the legal department at UDP Renewables, noted, “60% of Ukraine's renewable energy is solar, so the potential for building large export solar projects is high.”

There has been a small but steady decline since February, which represents a decline in demand for forecasts.     The company uses the Photovoltaic Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) to track demand based on more than 300 photovoltaic buyers. An index above 50 represents expected growth, equal to 50 represents stable growth, and below 50 represents expected decline.   The latest data shows that the index dropped from 73 points in February 2024 to 71 points in March, and then to 68 points in April, showing a slight downward trend.   Overall, however, the market is still growing, as sun.store points out: “Looking at the overall picture, April’s PV Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reading would have been considered strong in any other industry, as Half of the respondents plan to increase purchases in May instead of April.   Growth has slowed due to a combination of flattening energy prices and high inflation. The energy crisis has pushed European household PV installations to a new level in 2022 and 2023, as consumers seek refuge from rising and more volatile electricity prices.   But today's lower electricity prices, coupled with the impact of high inflation, have made household photovoltaics less attractive.   Current European market prices for single-sided, double-sided and fully black modules. The first two saw price drops between March and April, while the all-black components saw a slight increase.   The decline in single-and bifacial prices was due to a March shortage of industrial and commercial modules in the 450-500 Wp power class, which was resolved in April.   Currently, the price of solar modules in Europe has reached a new low, second only to China. Finlay Colville, director of research at PV Tech, told an event in London last month that he expected module prices to remain depressed in Europe because importers have "no barriers" to entering the market.   Agata Krawiec-Rokita, CEO and co-founder of sun.store, said: “Installers and distributors are more inclined to stock up due to the expected seasonal demand surge in the first quarter and shortages of certain component types. Going into the summer, throughout the Demand in Europe will remain strong.

Swedish solar manufacturer Midsummer has chosen to build a 200MW thin-film solar cell manufacturing plant in the city of Flen in central Sweden.     The company will take over the plant in September this year and expects to start production in 2026 before scaling up to full capacity in 2028. What is interesting is that this new factory will produce copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells.   The plant will focus on lightweight and environmentally sustainable solar modules for commercial and industrial applications, as well as rooftops that cannot bear the weight of traditional crystalline silicon solar modules.   The project is one of three PV manufacturing projects that received financing last year through the European Commission’s EU Innovation Fund, along with module manufacturer Meyer Burger and Norwegian solar company NorSun.   Midsummer secured €32 million ($34.3 million) in financing for a CIGS thin-film solar cell factory.   Eric Jaremalm, CEO of Midsummer, said: “We had a number of locations to choose from in Sweden, but Flen met all our requirements, such as a suitable plant, a reliable power supply and local infrastructure conducive to this type of production.   Earlier this year, Jaremalm was appointed CEO of the company to accelerate its annual production capacity target of 250MW and build a second factory in Italy.