| Asian delights
South Korea installs >1GW in 2017 and expects 10GW by 2020. South Korea is projected to add over 1GW of PV capacity this year, for the first time, spurred on by the country’s first fixed-price solar auction. Annual capacity installations are expected to ramp up towards 2GW by 2020, leading to over 10GW of cumulative PV capacity at that time.
Malaysia awarded 563MW of solar in auction. The Energy Commission of Malaysia released the full list of companies and projects coming out of the second large-scale solar (LSS) tender round, amounting to 563MW worth of solar capacity.
High times in the Low lands
Netherlands set €12billion budget for renewables program 2018. The Dutch government announced the new budget and regulations for the highly successful SDE+ program, which has stimulated Dutch market growth, with projections putting it as one of few 1GW+ markets for 2018.
Vattenfall to use 200MW Dutch portfolio as EU springboard. The Swedish energy company is developing 200MW of solar capacity in The Netherlands and is actively looking for opportunities to branch out in Europe.
Capital Stage buys 47.6MW in The Netherlands. Capital Stage is entering the blossoming Dutch solar market – set for tremendous growth in 2017 & 2018 – with the acquisition of two solar projects, which are currently under development and on schedule to be completed in 2018. The Melissant (10MW) and Ooltgensplaat (37.6MW) parks come with a €44.5million price tag.
Spotlight on First Solar
First Solar reveals first functional Series 6 Module… The prolific American thin film module producer and project developer unveiled the first functional Series 6 module rolling out of their Perrysburg, Ohio, production line. The line is expected to be producing commercial product by Q2 2018, with 800MW worth of supply deals already in place.
… and is building an additional 1.2GW production line in Vietnam. Pushing ahead on their Series 6 roll-out, the company also announced it was already in the process of building a second 1.2GW production facility in Vietnam, alongside the existing 1.2GW factory. The second facility should be operational by Q2 2019. |
