US tech giant Apple will support 650 MW of renewable energy projects as part of a major expansion of its clean energy investments in Europe, aiming to reduce its carbon footprint.   Apple stated that in 2024, energy consumed to power and charge Apple devices accounted for approximately 29% of its total greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, the company plans to generate 3,000 GWh of renewable energy annually by 2030. To achieve this goal, Apple will invest over $600 million (RMB 42.76) in projects expected to generate over 1,000 GWh annually, which will cover approximately one-third of its target. Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, said: "By 2030, we want our customers to know that all the energy used to charge their iPhone or power their Mac will be matched by clean electricity. Our new projects in Europe will help us achieve our ambitious 2030 goals while contributing to healthy communities, prosperous economies, and secure energy supplies across the continent." According to the announcement, Apple is significantly expanding its clean energy projects in Europe, currently developing large-scale solar and wind farms in Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, and Romania. In Poland, Apple has secured a 19-year power purchase agreement with Econergy for its 40 MW Resko solar project, which is expected to begin commercial operations later this year. In Romania, Apple has also secured a long-term power purchase agreement with Nala Renewables for its 99 MW wind farm. In Latvia, Apple secured a long-term power purchase agreement through European Energy for one of the country's largest solar farms, adding 110 MW of capacity. In Spain, Apple supported ib vogt's 134 MW Castano solar farm, which became operational earlier this year. In Greece, the company has signed a long-term agreement to purchase electricity from a 110 MW solar project owned and operated by HELLENiQ ENERGY. In Italy, Apple is supporting the development of a 129 MW portfolio of solar and wind projects. The first project, a solar project in Sicily, is expected to become operational this month.

In the past two years, low voltage issues have frequently occurred at end-users during peak periods of electricity consumption in scenic spots. This has not only impacted residents' lives and tourists' enjoyment, but has also become a bottleneck restricting local industrial development. Take the ongoing popularity of the Scottish Premier League as an example. Driven by the competition, cultural and tourism revenues across Jiangsu cities have increased significantly. At the same time, each match and surge in tourism poses a significant challenge to local electricity demand. According to data from State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power, during the summer vacation, the peak load on the Jiangsu power grid reached 152 million kilowatts, breaking the record for the third time this year. Among these, the catering, comprehensive retail, and indoor entertainment sectors, core sectors of the "night economy," performed particularly well. During the four hours between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM daily, electricity consumption exceeded 1.05 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 14.3%. Facing the high electricity demand challenges brought on by the competition and high temperatures, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power actively sought electricity from western and northern regions, leveraging existing inter-provincial and inter-regional transmission projects. On the other hand, the new energy storage power station can be fully utilized to discharge energy to the power grid during the peak electricity consumption in the evening.   Scenic Areas + Energy Storage: Standard Configuration With green tourism becoming a new industry trend, energy storage has become a "standard," not an "optional," energy security feature for scenic areas. In September 2025, the Haokun Lake Scenic Area in Lingyun County welcomed its first 0.4 kV low-voltage mobile energy storage device, which was officially put into operation and connected to the grid in the Sanhe Substation in Lingzhan Township. This low-voltage mobile energy storage device acts like a "power bank," offering rapid response and intelligent regulation capabilities. When the voltage on any phase falls below 195 volts during peak hours, the device instantly "discharges" to replenish energy, stabilizing the terminal voltage to around 225 volts, a safe range. During off-peak hours, it automatically "recharges" the stored energy to reserve power for the next round of peak load regulation. This energy storage device provides a targeted solution to low terminal voltage issues in specific areas, and its operation has immediately improved the quality of electricity used in the scenic area. Last September, Dianguanjia New Energy and Haichang Polar Ocean World successfully reached an in-depth collaboration, jointly developing the park's first commercial energy storage project. The project boasts a capacity of 20MWh. The addition of energy storage will flexibly adapt to the park's overall electricity pricing. By storing energy du...

On September 25th, local time, the groundbreaking ceremony for the 60MW Saguning floating photovoltaic project in Indonesia, undertaken by China Energy Construction Gezhouba Group, was held, marking the official start of construction on this green energy project with an estimated annual power generation of 129 million kWh.   The project, located in the Saguning Dam reservoir area in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, is the first renewable energy project to commence construction since the release of the Indonesian government's New Electricity Plan (2025-2034). It will include a 60MW (AC side) floating photovoltaic power plant, a 150kV booster station, an 8.5km-long 150kV double-circuit transmission line on the same tower, and a 150kV switchyard.   The project utilizes advanced floating photovoltaic technology, with solar panels mounted on floating structures. Compared to traditional ground-based photovoltaic power plants, this not only conserves land resources but also reduces water evaporation, inhibits algae growth, and improves power generation efficiency. Upon completion, the project will save 56,000 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 149,000 tons annually, helping Indonesia achieve its renewable energy development and green transformation goals. During construction, the project is expected to create over 1,600 direct and indirect jobs, significantly boosting local economic and social development. Once successfully operational, the project will provide a valuable model for Indonesia's energy transition and promote the implementation of more floating photovoltaic projects in Indonesian archipelago waters.

Recently, several photovoltaic projects have commenced construction, including the China Resources New Energy Xintian Sanjing 60MW Agri-PV Complementary Photovoltaic Power Generation Project, the official commencement of the EPC general contracting project for Datang's 60MW Photovoltaic Power Generation Project in Yunnan, and the commencement of construction on a 100MW photovoltaic power generation project in Shanxi.   China Resources Hunan 60MW Agri-PV Complementary Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Commences On September 15th, construction successfully commenced on the China Resources New Energy Xintian Sanjing 60MW Agri-PV Complementary Photovoltaic Power Generation Project. The project, located in Sanjing Town and Xinxu Town, Xintian County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, covers an area of ​​approximately 1,200 mu (approximately 1,200 mu). Invested and constructed by China Resources New Energy (Xintian) Co., Ltd., it will have an installed capacity of 60MW. The project, with an estimated total investment of 261.3021 million yuan, plans to build a new 220 kV substation, 20 new photovoltaic arrays, a total length of 4.664 kilometers of access roads, and 4.6 kilometers of buried collector lines. The project received its construction contract on September 5th.   Datang Yunnan 60MW Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Commences On September 18th, the EPC general contracting project for the Datang Yunnan Ganlongtang (60MW) Photovoltaic Power Generation Project, jointly undertaken by China Energy Engineering Group Guangxi Hydropower Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., China Energy Engineering Group Anhui Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd., and China Gezhouba Group Electric Power Co., Ltd., officially commenced. The project, located in Nijiao Township, Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, has a rated capacity of 60MW and consists of 3,948 photovoltaic strings and 29 photovoltaic arrays. It is equipped with 188 inverters and 29 box-type transformers, with power collected via two collector lines and connected to the Shuangyangdong 220kV substation.   Shanxi 100MW Photovoltaic Power Generation Project Commences Recently, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Shangao New Energy Group's 100MW (Phase II) photovoltaic power generation project in Hanbei Town, Wuxiang County, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, was held at the Wuxiang Hanbei Phase I Photovoltaic Power Station. The project has a total construction capacity of 100MW, with a total investment of no more than 400 million yuan. Upon commissioning, it is expected to generate an average annual power generation of 148 million kWh and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 111,600 tons. Shangao New Energy Group Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group Co., Ltd.) is a subsidiary of Shangao Holding Group and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (01250.HK). The company is committed to developing clean energy and explori...

China advances the integration of AI and new energy, covering areas such as power forecasting, electricity markets, and O&M   On September 8, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly issued the Implementation Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of ‘Artificial Intelligence+’ in the Energy Sector, calling for seizing the major strategic opportunity of AI development, focusing on application-driven objectives, and accelerating the deep integration of AI into the energy industry.   The document outlines eight typical application empowerment scenarios, including power grids, new business models, new energy, oil and gas, thermal power and hydropower.   In the field of “AI+New Energy,” the document emphasises tackling the volatility and intermittency of new energy output by accelerating AI applications in high-precision power forecasting, electricity markets, smart operation of power plants, new energy planning, and post-project evaluation.   It calls for continuously driving the upgrade and innovation in key new energy materials and products, advancing large-scale forecasting models for complex scenarios and transitional weather conditions to achieve finer scales and higher accuracy, supporting the coordinated optimisation of wide-area new energy resources, promoting smart operation and maintenance (O&M) for new energy sites in remote areas, and building an integrated smart production model for new energy that combines “weather forecasting+power forecasting+smart trading+intelligent O&M” to fully support stable new energy supply.   Additionally, the document highlights the need to address power grid security, new energy consumption, and operational efficiency under the new power system by developing applications for power supply and demand forecasting, intelligent grid diagnostic analysis, and the smart formulation of planning schemes, while strengthening the smart construction management of grid projects.   Chinese company signs 600MW Kyrgyz PV project   On September 2, CECEP Solar Energy Technology, together with Kyrgyzstan First Energy, Jiangsu Jollerge Group, and Tianjin Shiyizhongji Technology, jointly signed the “Batken Green Energy+Green Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Industrial Park” project cooperation agreement.   The project is led by the Green Energy Foundation under the Cabinet of the Kyrgyz Republic and jointly promoted by four enterprises, including Kyrgyzstan First Energy and CECEP Solar Energy.   CECEP Solar Energy will be responsible for the investment in and construction of a 600MW PV power plant in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan, with a total investment of approximately US$400 million (equivalent to RMB 2.853 billion).   Upon completion, the power plant is expected to generate approximately 1 billion kWh of clean electricity annuall...

The Government of Uganda has authorised engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor Energy America to build a 100MWp solar PV plant, integrated with a 250MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).   Located in Kapeeka, in the central Ugandan district of Nakaseke, the project will be developed by Energy America’s regional development subsidiary, EA Astrovolt.   It will be equipped with technology designed for tropical and equatorial climates. The systems will offer high energy yields in heat and high irradiance, modular and scalable battery architecture, centralised monitoring with grid integration, and low-maintenance, long-life assets built to international standards for grid stability, off-peak delivery, and resilience in extreme conditions.   The authorisation comes from a Gazetted Policy Direction under section 16 of the Electricity Act, which is a part of the government’s plan to develop 1GW of solar-plus-storage projects in the country.   A power purchase agreement (PPA) was secured with Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL), a state-owned distribution network company.   Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, minister of energy and mineral development at the Republic of Uganda, said that the policy direction “will harness clean energy technology, foster local employment and skills development, and accelerate Uganda’s transition to a modern and resilient electricity system.”   The solar PV plant will be fourfold larger than the 24MW solar PV plant from UAE-based renewable power developer AMEA Power, which at the time was said to be the largest in the region. AMEA Power began construction of the Ituka solar PV plant last year and is expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2025.

According to data provided by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), solar power generation hit a record high in many European countries in the first half of 2025. Germany is in the lead, with a total of 40TWh of electricity delivered to the grid from its photovoltaic systems, an increase of 30% from 30.7TWh in the same period last year. Other European countries also saw significant increases in photovoltaic power generation in the first half of this year: France's photovoltaic power generation reached 15.1TWh in the first half of the year, compared with 11.3 TWh in the same period last year; Denmark increased from 2.0 TWh in the same period last year to 2.3 TWh; Poland's solar power generation in the first half of the year increased from 8.8 TWh in the first half of 2024 to 10.3 TWh in the first half of 2025.   However, despite the increase in the contribution of solar energy to the net generation of public electricity across Europe, the overall contribution of renewable energy fell from 358.1TWh in the first half of 2024 to 344.4TWh in the first half of 2025, mainly due to the decline in the contribution of wind energy. In Germany, for example, the contribution of wind power falls from 73.4 TWh in 2024 to 60.3 TWh in 2025, accounting for 31.6% of public net electricity generation. “This is about six percentage points less than in 2024, simply because there is less wind than last year,” said Professor Bruno Burger, senior scientist at Fraunhofer ISE EnergyGraph. “The increase in solar power can only partially make up for this shortfall.” Overall, the share of renewable electricity in Germany’s public net electricity generation is 60.9%, down from 65.1% in the first half of 2024.

On July 7, the maximum power load of the Jiangsu power grid hit a new record high for the third time this year, reaching 152 million kilowatts. Just the night before, under the unified command of the power control center of State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., Ltd., 93 new energy storage power stations in Jiangsu Province concentrated on discharging to the power grid during the evening power peak, with a maximum discharge power of 7.14 million kilowatts, realizing the largest-scale centralized call for new energy storage in my country, and testing the friendly interaction of all links of the new power system during the peak power consumption period in summer, and comprehensively improving my country's clean energy utilization level.   What is new energy storage? Energy storage means "charging" when there is sufficient power generation from new energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaics, and "discharging" to the power grid or customers during peak power consumption or extreme scenarios. New energy storage, known as "super charger", generally refers to electric energy storage technology other than pumped storage, and is one of the regulatory means to cope with the many challenges brought by the construction of new power systems. In this centralized call for new energy storage, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power, through a new generation of dispatching support system, issued discharge instructions to more than 7 million kilowatts of new energy storage at the same time during peak power consumption, which can meet the power demand of about 48 million households for one hour at the same time. In addition, during the peak of photovoltaic and wind power generation, the dispatching department issued charging instructions to the new energy storage power station, which can add a "super charger" that can store 14.5 million kWh of electricity to Jiangsu, and play its positive role in power supply and new energy consumption.   Three new highs, 152 million kilowatts At present, continuous high temperature weather has occurred in many parts of my country, and the power grid load has continued to rise under the high temperature. On July 7, the maximum power load of the Jiangsu power grid has set a new record for the third time this year, reaching 152 million kilowatts. On the evening of the 6th, in order to support the evening peak power consumption of the power grid, State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power carried out the largest-scale centralized call-up of new energy storage in my country. A total of 64 grid-side energy storage and 29 power supply-side energy storage power stations participated in the centralized discharge, with a total participating capacity of 7.248 million kilowatts. The actual maximum call-up scale was 7.14 million kilowatts, following the centralized call-up of 4.55 million kilowatts of new energy storage last year, which once again broke the record of centralized call-up scale, an increase of 56.9% year-on-year.   "Ti...