Projects Belgium gets a solar-powered ski slope Indoor ski slope SnowWorld Antwerp in Belgium has put 1,452 solar panels on its vast roof. The transformation came about after SnowWorld rented its roof to solar company Energy Vision,…
Projects Ferrovial completes strategic floating solar plant in Madrid Ferrovial has installed a 1.7MW floating solar array on the lower reservoir of the century-old Torrelaguna mini hydroelectric plant near Madrid for the city’s water company, Canal de Isabel II…
News Construction begins on MVRDV’s centre for Taiwan’s energy supplier Construction has begun on an operations centre designed by Dutch architect MVRDV for Taiwan’s state-owned energy supplier Located in the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park, near to Taichung City in western…
News Cimic to build Queensland solar farm Cimic Group subsidiary Pacific Partnerships will develop, manage, and operate the 300MWdc Hopeland Solar Farm in Queensland, Australia. The solar farm will have the potential to generate enough electricity to…
News World Bank wants 1,000 solar grids in Nigeria The World Bank plans to help fund 1,000 solar power mini grids to bring electricity to the 86 million Nigerians without access to it. Reuters reports that bank president Ajay…
News Angola borrows €1.3bn to bring solar power to the people London-based bank Standard Chartered will lend the Angolan Ministry of Finance €1.3bn to build a distribution network for solar generated electricity, Global Trade Review reports. Portuguese engineer MCA Group will…
News Masdar eyes 2GW of solar development in Malaysia Renewable energy specialist Masdar has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysian investment company Citaglobal to develop 2GW of solar, wind and energy storage projects. Abu Dhabi-based Masdar said the…
News Giant sundial to produce solar power for Houston Houston, Texas will get a 100ft-tall sundial that generates solar power next year. The Arco del Tiempo (Arch of Time), set for Houston’s East End neighbourhood, was designed by Italian…
News French engineer prepares ground for 20GW of solar in Saudi’s Neom Saudi Arabia has hired Paris-based engineering group Assystem to conduct pre-development studies for seven photovoltaic parks in the Tabuk and Duba regions to power the kingdom’s Neom economic development zone.…
News Scientists beam solar energy from space to Earth for first time The prototype of an orbital solar power station launched in January has beamed power collected in space to Earth for the first time. The Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) is…
News Cimic to build 35MW solar storage system in Western Australia UGL, a subsidiary of Australian contractor Cimic, has been selected by Hong Kong-based electricity and gas company Alinta Energy to install a 35MW one-hour battery storage system in Port Hedland,…
News Chinese investors discuss construction of 1GW solar power plant in Kyrgyzstan The government of Kyrgyzstan has held talks with Chinese contractors over the construction of a 1GW solar farm in the Central Asian country, news agency AKI Press reports. Akylbek Japarov,…
Perspectives How tourism is going off-grid in Saudi Arabia John Pagano is CEO of Red Sea Global, developer of The Red Sea and Amaala tourism complexes in Saudi Arabia. Ancient Greeks believed that the god Helios brought light to…
News US company successfully tests robot system to install solar panels American robotics and technology company Sarcos has completed a pilot project that uses robots to install photovoltaic panels. During the field trial, an autonomous vehicle with a Sarcos robotic arm…
News Ferrovial to build floating solar plant near Madrid Ferrovial will design and build a 1.7-megawatt floating solar plant on the lower reservoir of the Santa Lucía Hydroelectric Power Plant in Torrelaguna, Madrid, for €2.1m. Public utility Canal de…
News World Bank invests $300m in West African solar The World Bank has approved a $311m finance package to support renewable energy generation in Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Chad. The bank said the loans will be spent on…
Innovation European Space Agency to probe solar power from space It’s a small step, but it could start an incredible journey. Today, the ministerial council of the European Space Agency (ESA) said it would proceed with a feasibility study into…
News French law to require solar canopies in parking lots The French government will legislate to require car parks with 80 or more spaces to install solar panels in a move it says could generate up to 11GW of electricity.…