Europe PV News Snippets

• Centrica has commissioned a 2.3 MW solar farm for British Army in Leconfield, UK
• Bord na Mona to set up Ireland's 1^st dedicated renewable energy business park with over 200 MW wind, solar and green hydrogen production
• Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners acquires 350 MW solar and storage project in UK
• €45 million financial support from EBRD's Western Balkans GEFF program has helped expand energy efficiency in the region over less than 4 years
• EBRD has entered under a MoU with IRESEN to help Morocco transition to green energy

2.3 MW solar farm for British Army: UK based electricity and gas supplier Centrica has commissioned a 2.3 MW solar farm as the 1^st such project for the British Army. The project is located at the Defence School of Transport (DST) in Leconfield and was completed by Centrica Business Solutions. Equipped with more than 4,000 solar panels, the project is 1^st of 4 pilot sites to officially open, shared Centrica. All the 4 sites once complete will bring in £1 million in efficiency savings, and are part of the British Army's £200 million investment planned over next 10 years under Project Prometheus to use renewable energy. "Outlined in the recent Defence Command Paper, innovation and green initiatives will be at the forefront of a future Army, of which Project Prometheus forms a part," according to Centrica. The initiative is designed to support the UK government reach its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

200 MW RE business park in Ireland: Ireland's peatland harvesting company Bord na Mona plans to build what it calls will be the country's 1^st dedicated renewable energy business park to be powered by more than 200 MW wind, solar and green hydrogen production. The renewable energy projects will be located on site. The Irish Times reported the project's location as Meath, Offaly and Westmeath counties where it will cover more than 7,400 acres of its landbank. Bord na Mona is yet to file a planning application for the development of the project over the next 18 months to 24 months. Bord na Mona expects the project to reduce the country's reliance on national grid infrastructure.

350 MW solar and storage project changes hands: Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has acquired a consented 350 MW solar and battery storage project in Kent, UK which will enter construction in H1/2022. Quinbrook expects Project Fortress to be the largest single site solar PV installation in the UK. The project was granted development consent as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in May 2020. Quinbrook has another large scale solar and storage project under construction currently in Nevada, US with 690 MW PV and 380 MW battery storage system (see US Clears All Decks For Its 'Largest' Solar Project).

EBRD's GEFF helping Western Balkans: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) counts more than 9,000 homes in Western Balkans to have invested €45 million in less than 4 years in energy-saving technologies as solar panels with the help of its Western Balkans Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) program.

MoU between EBRD & IRESEN: In another news from EBRD, it has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Moroccan Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN) to help Morocco transition to green energy. Morocco aims to have renewables account for over 52% of its installed power generation capacity by 2030. With EBRD's support, IRESEN will help expand green hydrogen, renewable energy, smart electricity networks, energy efficiency, energy storage and e-mobility under the MoU.