RWE expands solar along A44n: Germany’s RWE has commissioned several new solar farms along the A44n motorway in North Rhine-Westphalia in the country, adding 86.5 MW DC/74.6 MW AC capacity after 8 months of construction. Equipped with around 141,000 modules, the sites can power roughly 27,700 households and are built on recultivated land near the Garzweiler opencast mine. A second phase of 19.9 MW DC/15.5 MW AC is planned for 2026 with more than 30,600 additional solar modules to be installed on recultivated land in Jüchen, alongside continued development of wind projects in the Rhenish region. Commissioning is planned for the end of 2026, subject to timely approvals.
Refinancing for Italian PV portfolio: Asset manager Tages Capital SGR has completed a €671 million non-recourse green loan refinancing for its 272 MW solar portfolio in Italy. The funding will support refinancing, plant upgrades, repowering, and the addition of battery storage. Financing is provided by a consortium of 7 banks in 2 phases, completed between 2024 and 2025.
€17 million for Polish projects: Poland’s Trivanta has obtained a €17 million revolving bridge facility to support the construction of solar PV and battery storage projects across Poland. The financing will initially back a 10 MW contracts for difference (CfD)-backed PV plant, followed by a 20 MW unsubsidized project with an 8 MW/up to 44 MWh co-located BESS. Backed by WBS Group, Trivanta is an aggregator and independent power producer (IPP) of utility-scale energy infrastructure assets. The facility aims to fill a financing gap for co-located PV-storage projects in Poland and will help fund Trivanta’s broader development pipeline, according to Capcora, which helped arrange the facility.
Türkiye sets technical rules for floating PV: Türkiye has outlined detailed design and safety rules for floating solar plants in the country’s official gazette on December 10, 2025. Floating PV plants can be installed on reservoirs and canals, but are banned in protected zones, small reservoirs under 0.5 km², and areas restricted by existing laws. Floating arrays may cover no more than 10% of a reservoir’s normal water level area. Design standards include minimum distances from dams, limits on island size, anchoring and stability requirements, and measures to avoid impacts on water flow, aquaculture, and other activities. Canal-based systems must not touch the water or disrupt operations. Developers must use waterproof, environmentally tested materials and take precautions against flooding and water level changes. All project modifications require approval from the relevant authorities. This official notification follows the country’s amendment to the Coastal Law to make way for floating PV. Under its YEKA SPP-2025 program, Türkiye launched a 650 MW solar tender, including a 35 MW floating PV project for which it received 11 applications (see Turkey’s 650 MW Solar Tender Attracts 77 Applications).
Iberdrola starts Valencia solar build: Spain’s Iberdrola has begun constructing its first 2 solar plants in Spain’s Valencian Community, investing €252 million for a combined 366 MW. The Cofrentes I and Ayora 1 projects will supply power to about 200,000 homes and cut 52,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually by generating over 650,000 MW/h annually. Both sites include measures to support biodiversity and land recovery under Iberdrola’s Convive Programme.
Carrefour Polska signs hybrid renewable PPA with EDP: Carrefour Polska has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDP to supply its properties in Poland with clean electricity from 2 EDP Renewables projects. It is EDP’s maiden corporate PPA in the country to combine solar and wind under a single contract, allowing more flexible long-term supply. It covers the supply of an additional 50 GWh of renewable power annually, helping Carrefour avoid more than 54,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. It follows earlier cooperation in 2024, when EDP installed rooftop PV systems totaling 650 kW across selected supermarkets.
50 MW Battery Storage in Wilhelmshaven: Germany-based European energy company Uniper has received full approval to build and operate a 50 MW battery storage facility at its former Wilhelmshaven power plant site. The use of BESS is designed to boost grid flexibility and reliability by helping balance fluctuating renewable power. The project follows the shutdown of the coal power plant in 2021 and joins other developments at the location, including a solar plant now under construction on the former ash landfill. The solar project is scheduled to be commissioned in July 2026 to generate a planned output of 17,500 MWh. Uniper had previously unveiled the solar project’s installed capacity as 17 MW (see Europe Solar PV News Snippets).
