Solarwatt to discontinue German battery storage system production; VINCI to acquire Sweden’s Helios Nordic; MYTILINEOS signs its 1st solar PPA in Ireland; Ingeteam inverters for Grenergy in Spain; Fraunhofer ISE declares 24% efficient TOPCon solar cell.
No German battery production for Solarwatt: German solar PV manufacturer Solarwatt is reportedly shutting down its battery energy storage production factory in Germany. Local publications cite a company spokesperson to report about the company’s plans to abort battery production in Dresden. A report by the MDR.de claimed the company will not dismantle its equipment. If economic conditions improve, it may restart the battery fab. However, till then it plans to supply its solar modules and batteries from China and sell them in Germany. Last month, Solarwatt announced plans to shut down its 300 MW German module fab by the end of August 2024, citing difficult economic conditions (see Another German Solar PV Module Production Fab Closing Down).
VINCI invests in Helios Nordic: France’s VINCI Concessions has concluded an agreement to acquire 100% of the Swedish solar and energy storage company Helios Nordic Energy. The latter develops projects primarily in Northern Europe, namely Sweden and Baltic nations, till the ready-to-build (RTB) stage. VINCI acquired a stake in Helios from its 40% owner Magnora ASA, a Norwegian investment fund, and other individual investors. VINCI’s acquisition via its subsidiary SunMind will close in June this year.
Solar energy PPA in Ireland: Greece’s MYTILINEOS Energy & Metals has signed solar power purchase agreements (PPA) with Singapore-headquartered data center real estate investment trust Keppel DC REIT. The Greek company will supply energy generated from 2 of its solar farms in Ireland to the latter’s 2 data centers in Dublin, Ireland. Both solar facilities have a combined 14.28 MW capacity. On completion, these will generate close to 13.6 GWh annually. Keppel says including these PPAs, about 92% of the combined power requirements at its 2 data centers would be met by Irish renewable sources. MYTILINEOS will deliver about 11% of the data centers’ total power requirements once the projects are online in the summer of 2024. MYTILINEOS says these PPAs are its 1st such contracts in Ireland.
Ingeteam’s Spain contract: Ingeteam has secured a contract to supply 70 PV inverters to Grenergy for the latter’s solar project in the Tabernas desert, a location for several Hollywood films. The 250 MW Tabernas project will generate close to 466.6 GWh annually. Ingeteam is supplying its INGECON SUN 3Power C Series inverters as a turnkey solution.
24% efficiency for TOPCon solar cell: The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE says it has achieved a ‘very good’ efficiency of 24% for an in-house developed M10 TOPCon solar cell. It says this makes it the 1st European research institute to switch to large-area M10 silicon wafers that correspond to the 182mm wafer size. It developed the cell within its PV Technology Evaluation Center (PV-TEC). Approximately 120 µm thin TOPCon cell was metalized with screen-printed contact finders and calibrated at CalTec at the Institute for Solar Energy Research in Hameln. Now it targets to optimize it further to achieve 25% and eventually exceed 30% efficiency.
