/24^th May 2016, Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA)/
According to Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) the implementation of the project to create a solar power plant with the output capacity of 109 MW has begun in Belarus in Cherikov District, Mogilev Oblast, BelTA learned from Sergei Poluichik, First Deputy Chairman of the Cherikov District Executive Committee, on 19 February. According to the source, the Irish company Cameliasiade Limited has already started design and survey work and plans to finish it early March. The main project to create a photovoltaic power plant with the output capacity of 109MW will begin afterwards. The company has already spent BYR 1.6 billion and plans to invest a total of about BYR 600 billion (USD 29.1 million/EUR 25.6 million).

/25^th April 2019, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Greece has announced the results of its 600 MW renewable energy tender awarding 437.78 MW capacity. The tender had been oversubscribed with bids coming in for 637.78 MW capacity (see 600 MW Greek Tender Gets 638 MW Bids). Greek energy regulator RAE reported the weighted average price of the winning bids in the tender was €0.057 ($0.064) per kWh with bids ranging between €0.053 to €0.06472 ($0.059 to $0.073) per kWh. The Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) is an independent administrative authority, which enjoys, by the provisions of the law establishing it, financial and administrative independence. 

/29^th April 2019, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ The second-largest solar project in Ukraine has been opened at the end of March 2019 in the near vicinity of the Panovtsy village in Kamianets-Podilskyi district of Khmelnytskyi Oblast by ICU and VR Capital Group, reported the Renewable Market Watch™. The solar PV power plant is a joint-venture by ICU, independent asset management, private equity and investment advisory firm specialising in Central and Eastern Europe and VR Capital Group, an alternative asset manager specializing in global emerging markets. The plant has been commissioned by Podilskenergo and represents an investment in materials and construction of approximately US$55m. The plant's peak capacity is 63.8MW and the plant will generate approximately 68,200 MW/H of clean energy per year. The electricity generated will supply one-third of all the households in Kamianets-Podilskyi city and help decrease carbon emissions by 67,000 tonnes annually. The plant is one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in Ukraine. It will assist in the nation’s transition to renewable energy, including meeting Ukraine’s pledge to, by 2030, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent from 1990 levels following the 2015 Paris agreement.

/18^th September 2020, EBRD, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is organising new financing for the construction of a 76MWp solar plant in the Karaganda region of Kazakhstan, a leader in the development of renewable energy in Central Asia, with a total installed solar capacity of 216MWp. The US$ 42.6 million package provided to the well-established German developer Joachim Goldbeck Holding GmbH will consist of an EBRD local currency loan of up to US$ 28 million (Kazakh tenge equivalent), a concessional loan of up to US$ 11.5 million provided by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the world’s largest climate fund and a concessional loan of up to US$ 3.1 million provided by the Climate Investment Funds’ Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The new solar plant will help reduce annual CO2 emissions by more than 80,000 tonnes and contribute to meeting Kazakhstan’s national emission reduction targets as well as the EBRD’s Green Economy Transition strategy.

/31^st May 2017, IEA/ The greater uptake of distributed VRE shifts the historic balance of supply and demand in the electricity network and calls for a revision of the institutional arrangements guiding low- and medium-voltage grids. The rise of distributed generation assets – dominated by the rapid uptake of solar PV – translates into the growing complexity of power flows within the distribution grid. This provokes the need for innovative approaches to the planning and operation of low- and medium-voltage grids, with technical, economic and institutional implications. On the technical side, more dynamic and bi-directional flows of electricity (from lower to higher voltage levels and vice versa) require reinforced monitoring and control capabilities as well as upgrades to infrastructure. Moreover, planning standards need upgrading to manage the uptake of large shares of distributed resources. In this context, next-generation VRE technology – such as advanced inverters – can offer technical capabilities to support and sustain safe and reliable operations in local power grids, while also reducing energy losses in the overall power system.

/BRUSSELS, May 31, 2024, 11:00 CEST, The Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB)/ The Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) informed today on its LinkedIn profile that Albania and Bulgaria are accepted as full association members. With a main focus on supporting the energy transition for all stakeholders, AIB aims to unite the European issuing bodies of energy attribute tracking systems for all energy carriers and technologies, thereby using a decision-making structure that respects their varying identities while allowing for continuous evolution. Memberships were registered for Bulgaria’s Sustainable Energy Development Agency (SEDA) and Albania’s Energy Regulatory Authority (ERE). Joining the Association of Issuing Bodies (AIB) can provide Albania and Bulgaria with several benefits regarding trading guarantees of origin (GOs) from renewable energy sources.

/16^th July 2019, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Albanian local power utility Korporata Elektroenergjetike Shqiptare (KESH) has submitted in December 2018 a proposal to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure for the construction of a 12.9 MW floating PV plant. According to the document, the facility will be installed at the water reservoir of the Drin River near Vau i Dejës, a town in the Shkodër County, northwestern Albania, where KESH is operating the 260 MW Vau i Dejës Hydroelectric Power Station. The plant will sell power to the electricity spot market, the document says.

/24^th July 2017, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/, Ministry of Energy Infrastructure and Natural Resources of Armenia announced last week that 10 companies have been pre-qualified for a tender about 55 MW solar PV power plant located in the Masrik region of Gegharkunik province. The project cost is estimated to be between $40 to $60 million. The tender is being conducted by the Armenia Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency Fund. Private developers or consortia can bid to design, finance, build, own and operate the 55 MW Masrik-1 Solar PV Power Plant. A special-purpose company to be owned 100% by the successful bidder will have to be incorporated in Armenia.

/BERLIN, February 21, 2022, 10:00 GMT, Axpo/ Axpo has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Danish company Obton A/S, a leading solar energy investor in Europe, for the Klatzow solar park currently under construction in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The ten-year contract demonstrates the important role of PPAs in the expansion of renewable energies in Germany. Construction of the 11 MWp Klatzow solar park near Neubrandenburg is already underway, with commissioning planned for spring 2022.

/18^th December 2019, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ The first foreign wind farm investment for Kazakhstan and the first project in the region in the field of renewable energy sources were implemented by Italian investors in the Aktobe region. The ceremony of launching the 'Badamsha-I Wind Farm' was attended by the Ambassador of Italy to Kazakhstan, Pasquale D'Avino, Akim of the Aktobe region Ondasyn Urazalin, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of JSC “NC“ KAZAKH INVEST ”Birzhan Kaneshev, as well as Executive Vice President of Eni for the Central Asian Region Luka Vinyati.

/WUPPERTAL/LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY, April 19, 2024, 10:00 BST, Bayer AG/ Bayer AG has signed a long-term supply agreement for electricity from renewable energy sources with Wuppertaler Stadtwerke (WSW), the public utility company of Wuppertal in North Rhein-Westphalia, Germany. The contract underlines Bayer's global commitment to sustainability. Under this supply agreement, WSW will deliver over 120 GWh of wind and/or solar power from German wind and solar parks to Bayer. This is equivalent to the annual power consumption of around 30,000 households.

/MUNICH, June 10, 2022, 13:15 BST, PVEurope, BayWa r.e. Renewable Energy GmbH/ BayWa r.e. has commissioned a solar park with battery storage in Villingen-Schwenningen in Baden-Württemberg/Germany. The plant combination is supported by the innovation tender of the Federal Network Agency. The solar park, with a capacity of 7 MW, can generate approximately 8 million kWh of green electricity annually, which is equivalent to the consumption of 2,500 average households in Germany. The storage capacity of the 3 MW battery storage is 4 MWh. Marc Krezer, Head of Project Development PV Germany, comments on the commissioning: "We would like to thank the Villingen-Schwenningen municipality for the good cooperation and are pleased with the timely completion and commissioning of the Spitalhöfe solar park. From now on, the plant combination can feed electricity into the grid. The storage facility makes an important contribution to grid stability and security of supply."

/MUNICH, October 26, 2023, 14:30 GMT, BayWa r.e. Renewable Energy GmbH/ BayWa r.e. has secured €6.5 million in funding from the EU’s LIFE Programme, which will be used to develop six projects across five countries by 2027, combining agriculture with solar power generation. All six projects are either first or significant steps forward for their respective markets. Working closely with EU representatives, landowners, and local communities, BayWa r.e. aims to develop the commercial viability of Agri-PV and to demonstrate its benefits as an effective climate-adaptation strategy for fruit and crop cultivation in Europe. BayWa r.e. has been instrumental in proving the benefits for using Agri-PV to supplement fruit farming at scale (fruitvoltaics). As part of EU LIFE ADAPT-PV, three of these new projects, in France, Spain, and the Netherlands, aim to increase fruitvoltaic projects’ resistance to climate change by providing a combination of crop protection and generation of green solar energy, within an innovative financing model.

/26^th February 2021, SolarPower Europe, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Belgium recorded its best year for new installations as cumulative installed solar photovoltaic capacity exceed 10 GW at the end of 2020. A study conducted by Ecofys, suggests that Belgium could set a renewable energy target between 22,5% and 27,2%. The association recommends an objective at 25% renewables minimum. Solar photovoltaic (PV) power in Belgium had a strong performance in 2020 despite the negative health, social and economic effects of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, revealed the recent update of Europe Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power Market Outlook: 2021 ÷ 2030.  Each of Belgium’s three regions has its own regulatory framework for solar and renewable energy. The country has the potential to reach 18 GW of solar capacity by 2040, according to the grid operator Elia. Solar PV developments have very good prospects in Belgium as solar technology costs are going down.

/26^th October 2020, Dnevne Novine, Crnogorski ekonomski portalBankar.me, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ The Government of Montenegro stated that all preconditions have been created for the construction of the solar power plant "Briska Gora" on an area of ​​as much as 925.25 hectares, is twice as large as previously planned, Dnevne Novine writes. Amendments to the Spatial Development Plan in Ulcinj, Montenegro propose to increase the zone for the construction of a solar power plant from 467 hectares to 925.25 hectares. "It is proposed to increase the solar power plant's capacity from 118 MW to 262 MW". This is stated in the new government information on preparing documentation for the needs of development projects. Montenegro will need to invest in additional power generation capacity in the coming years to compensate expected decommissioning of the existing Pljevlja coal plant, according to the Western Balkans Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power Market Outlook 2020÷2030. The country has no infrastructure for natural gas distribution and does not currently extract oil, though the government is interested in oil and gas production in the Adriatic Sea.

/18^th December 2020, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Solar photovoltaic (PV) power in the European Union had a strong performance in 2020 despite the negative health, social and economic effects of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, revealed the recent update of Europe Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power Market Outlook: 2020 ÷ 2030.  The EU member states installed 18.2GW of solar power capacity in 2020, an 11% improvement over the 16.2GW deployed in the previous year, according to the recently released report EU Market Outlook for SolarPower 2020-2024 by SolarPower Europe. With minimal solar power installation activity in Bulgaria and Romania in the last few years, the prediction model of SolarPower Europe shows the up-and-coming gigawatt new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity addition opportunities for Bulgaria and Romania by 2024. SolarPower Europe’s growth assumptions are much higher than the targets formulated by EU member states in their National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP). But with drivers for solar energy in Europe only getting stronger, the foundation is laid for further rapid growth in the coming years.

/16^th April 2021, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Development of operational solar PV power plants in Bulgaria started with very moderate steps in 2007 but progressed with fast paces after the second half of 2010. At the end of 2018 cumulative installed solar PV capacity in Bulgaria reached 1,036 MW. Several large scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a capacity above 50 MW have been announced in Bulgaria after 2018 and these projects will be built between 2021 and 2024. In the last few years, Bulgaria has been the focus of the investors’ interest. The political stability and predictability due to the NATO membership and to the EU accession, the stable economic perspective and the growing credit rating of the country and its institutions were only some of the elements attracting the investors’ interest. External investors have been attracted by rapidly developing national industry, highly skilled workforce and significant new market.

/LONDON, May 18, 2022, 9:15 BST, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Development of operational solar PV power plants in Bulgaria started with very moderate steps in 2007 but progressed at fast paces after the second half of 2010. At the end of 2021, Bulgaria's cumulative installed solar PV capacity reached 1,186 MW. Several large scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a capacity above 50 MW have been announced in Bulgaria after 2018, and these projects will be built between 2022 and 2024. In the last few years, Bulgaria has been the focus of the investors’ interest. Furthermore, Bulgaria quickly has to diminish its dependency on Russian energy imports, and solar power is one of the best renewable energy alternatives. 

/LONDON, March 7, 2023, 9:30 GMT, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Development of operational solar PV power plants in Bulgaria started with very moderate steps in 2007 but progressed at fast paces after the second half of 2010. At the end of 2022, Bulgaria's cumulative installed solar PV capacity exceeded 1,500 MW (1.5 GW). Several large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a power capacity above 50 MW were launched into commercial operation in Bulgaria in 2022. Local and international investors will build new solar projects between 2023 and 2025. In the last few years, Bulgaria has been the focus of the investors’ interest. Furthermore, Bulgaria quickly has to diminish its dependency on Russian energy imports, and solar power is one of the best renewable energy alternatives. 

/LONDON, November 10, 2021, 9:15 GMT, Tanjug, Serbian Ministry of Mining and Energy, RENEWABLE MARKET WATCH^TM/ Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic met on 19 November 2021 with representatives of the Chinese machinery company Sinomach. They discussed potential investments in the development of the energy sector and the economy in the context of Serbia's potential in the electricity and renewables sector.