According to foreign media reports, the European Union will develop a plan to "digitize the energy system" and will officially announce it next week. The plan would require the EU to invest 565 billion euros (about 3.94 trillion yuan) in infrastructure by 2030 to achieve its green plan and end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. It is reported that the document proposes several green action plans: install solar panels on the roofs of all commercial and public buildings in the EU by 2027; install photovoltaic systems on all new residential buildings in the EU by 2029; Install 10 million heat pumps in the next 5 years; put 30 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by the end of 2030. According to the "Washington Post" report, affected by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, due to the sharp reduction in natural gas supply by Russia, Europe is facing a severe winter dilemma, and energy prices have risen by about 1,000% compared with before the conflict. According to the report, as the conflict continues, European energy prices have soared and the cost of living has risen sharply, which has also made it difficult for many Europeans to bear. Judging from the performance of European countries, the United Kingdom has set off a wave of pet abandonment, Poland is even preparing to burn garbage for the winter, and the German people have begun to clean up the stoves used for burning coal and wood to survive the winter. Against such a background, European consumers have no choice but to rely on burning wood for fire, which in turn drives up the price of wood, and even makes some risky periods of illegality, so that theft cases surge. The UK has seen a new wave of installations of residential photovoltaic power generation systems due to soaring gas and electricity energy prices in Europe. As a result, the market of related photovoltaic solar system has risen, and some products have even been in short supply. A photovoltaic module manufacturer said that compared with last year, orders for photovoltaic products have increased by 4 times this year, and the supply is in short supply, and the delivery time has been delayed from the past two or three weeks to two or three months. Data show that in the first half of this year, the installed capacity of solar energy power generation systems in the UK reached 556MW, an increase of 80% year-on-year. According to the latest data released by the German Federal Network Agency, in the first half of this year, Germany installed a total of 3.2GW of photovoltaic power generation systems, compared with 2.75GW in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 16.4%. In June this year, Germany's newly installed photovoltaic capacity was 615MW, compared with 428.5MW in the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 43.5%. In addition, as of the end of June this year, all subsidized PV installations in Germany totaled 55.9GW. In order to ensure energy security, the German government has formulated a...

Saudi Arabia has launched five new renewable energy projects to produce electricity sustainably, as the world's largest oil exporter pursues a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The wind and solar energy system projects, with a combined capacity of 3,300 megawatts, were launched by Saudi Electricity Procurement Company as the main buyer, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday. Of the five projects, three will utilize wind energy and two will utilize solar energy, Spa reported. The total output of wind energy projects is 1,800 MW, with one project in Yanbu with a capacity of 700 MW, another in Al Ghat with a capacity of 600 MW and the third in Waad Al Shamal with a capacity of 500 MW. The news agency said the total capacity of the new solar panel projects is 1,500 MW, with one in Al Henakiyah 1,100 MW and the other in Tubarjal 400 MW. Under its Vision 2030 economic plan, Saudi Arabia is focusing on renewable energy. In December, Saudi Arabia announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in renewable energy projects. It aims to increase the share of natural gas and renewables in its electricity mix to 50% by 2030. The projects are part of the fourth phase of Saudi Arabia's National Renewable Energy Plan overseen by the Ministry of Energy. Saudi Arabia is the largest electricity consumer in the region and its electricity demand is growing rapidly. Total electricity demand in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach 365.4 terawatt-hours (TWh) by 2030, up from 299.2 terawatt-hours in 2018, according to a report by the Riyadh-based King Abdullah Petroleum Research Center.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will develop 241GW of solar PV by 2030, a technology that will dominate the new capacity. According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), by the middle of this century, if countries in the ASEAN region adopt 100% renewable energy power supply, their installed capacity can reach 2.4TW. In this scenario, solar PV will account for nearly 60% of installed renewable energy capacity by 2050. Regardless of the scenarios studied in the report (the share of renewable energy mix in 2050 ranging from 34% to 100%), solar PV will be the "flagship resource for ASEAN decarbonisation". From 2018 to 2020, due to the rapid expansion of solar photovoltaics, the share of installed renewable energy capacity in ASEAN member countries increased from 28% to 33.5%. Turning to investment needs, the report said that to support a full transition to renewable energy between 2018-2050, more than $1.2 trillion in solar panel alone will be required. Investments at the end of the decade stood at $156 billion. Indonesia (24.18GW), Vietnam (17.86GW) and Thailand (11.15GW) will lead other countries in annual solar PV additions and will become countries with annual installed capacity exceeding 10GW by 2050. IRENA estimates that ASEAN countries as a whole will add 64 GW of solar PV capacity annually by 2050. Earlier this year, Vietnam deemed its solar energy target for the decade "too high", largely due to grid constraints that have disrupted renewable energy development. The target set by the Vietnamese government falls well short of IRENA's outlook for the country over the next few decades. IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera said, "As the region commits to more ambitious climate goals, including net zero emissions, we must now start planning in earnest. While ASEAN has ambitious renewable energy in the short term target, but this area needs to be considered and planned for long-term development." In addition, solar PV hotspots in the region are located in Sumatra, Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia, as well as in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Along with Indonesia's Java-Bali, these three countries are also the most electricity-hungry countries in the ASEAN region. By 2050, with 100% renewable energy, Indonesia's two islands alone will import more than 1,000TWh of electricity, three times the UK's electricity demand in 2021. This requires nearly $200 billion in grid investment across the region in the short term, while scaling up national and international transmission to better integrate renewables. Singapore is one of the countries heavily reliant on renewable energy imports due to a lack of land supply, with the city-state planning to import up to 4GW of low-carbon electricity by 2035. According to IRENA, several ASEAN countries have large quantities of key mineral resources that can be used in renewable technologies and require manufacturing support policies to enable solar PV module and cell...

Spain announced that its fourth round of renewable energy tenders will be held on November 22, including 1.8GW of solar photovoltaic projects and 1.5GW of wind energy, new energy installations aimed at accelerating the decarbonization of Spain's power system. The country’s Ministry of Ecological Transformation (MITECO) also announced that it will also accept upgrades or hybrid system projects of existing projects in this latest round of tenders. In addition, if part of the allocated capacity is not fully used for solar energy sytem or wind 1.5GW, then this capacity can be transferred to other technologies. This will be the fourth tender held in Spain. The first tender was held in January 2021, when more than 2GW of solar system projects were signed; the second, in October 2021, signed only 866MW of solar. The third tender, originally scheduled for April this year, will finally take place on October 25 and will procure 520MW of renewable energy, including 140MW of distributed solar. The announcement comes as Spain will implement a series of measures over the next few months to bring about a 5% reduction in natural gas consumption. This is in line with the EU's pledge to reduce gas demand and accelerate renewable energy development ahead of winter, with European solar development expected to hit a record 40GW this year. Earlier this year, the Spanish government said it would impose a windfall profits tax on power companies and banks starting next year to help Spaniards deal with soaring inflation. In addition, MITECO announced the launch of a public proposal to accelerate the development of energy storage co-located with renewable energy projects.

The once-in-a-century heat wave is sweeping Europe. The United Kingdom has declared a state of emergency. The temperature in the western French city of Nantes reached 42 degrees Celsius on July 18, setting a new record. Germany set a record for solar photovoltaic power generation on Sunday, and a repeat of that is expected in the coming days amid a harsh heatwave across Western Europe, according to Bloomberg. The news site reported that Germany's solar panel production surpassed 38,174MWh on Sunday and is expected to hit a new high on Tuesday, when it could reach 38,190MWh. This is up from about 32,000MWh on Saturday. According to the European Energy Exchange (EEX), Germany has not generated more than the 35,000MWh mark on a single day in the past year, with the closest point being the European heatwave in March. According to EEX data, at 12 noon on July 18, Germany’s solar energy system power generation peaked at 34,222MWh, below the estimated value of 34,352MWh. A devastating heatwave is currently spreading across western Europe. Wildfires have been reported across much of France and Spain, while the UK looks set to set its record temperature of over 40C on Tuesday. Temperatures in Germany peak on Tuesday or Wednesday, and the warm air will also slow wind power production. That sent electricity prices in Germany to €396.07/MWh ($400.27/MWh), which Bloomberg said was the highest level on the European Power Exchange spot market since March. European power purchase agreement prices have surged a staggering 47% year-on-year as the continent's energy crisis persists, but PPA prices remain "attractive" as wholesale electricity prices remain high. European Q2 solar quotations rose 19.1%! PPA up 47% Germany already has more than a third of the European Union's installed solar capacity, and the recently elected coalition government is committed to accelerating the decarbonization of Germany's power sector while reducing energy imports. In the next decade, Germany will accelerate photovoltaic development.

Global solar PV costs will continue to decline in 2021 as supply chain challenges and rising commodity prices have yet to fully impact project costs. That's the conclusion of a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The report shows that the global weighted average levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of new large-scale ground-mounted PV projects commissioned in 2021 fell by 13% year-on-year to US$0.048/kWh. According to the report, the rapid decline in total installed cost, the increase in capacity factor, and the decline in operation and maintenance costs have driven the cost of solar energy power generation to decline significantly, and economic competitiveness has continued to improve. However, solar panel prices climbed in 2021 after a decade of steady declines due to rising material costs and insufficient supply due to supply chain disruptions. According to the report, crystalline silicon PV module prices in Europe will increase by 4-7% in 2021 compared to 2020. A systemic factor for this increase is the rise in polysilicon prices. Polysilicon prices have jumped sharply in recent weeks. Not all material cost increases translate into equipment prices and project costs, IRENA said. Average solar panels prices could be a fifth higher than in 2020, given material prices and other supply chain pressures for the rest of the year. Despite current supply chain issues, solar and wind projects have relatively short lead times, IRENA said. Solar and wind projects are a "critical link" in countries' efforts to rapidly reduce and eventually phase out fossil fuel use, limit the macroeconomic disruption of fossil fuels, and achieve net-zero emissions. Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA, said: "2022 is a stark example of the economic viability of new renewable energy generation. Renewable energy frees economies from the price volatility of fossil fuels and imports. , restraining energy costs and increasing market resilience. This is especially true if today's energy crisis continues." High coal and fossil natural gas prices in 2021 and 2022 will also severely reduce the competitiveness of fossil fuels, making solar and wind more attractive, the study found. On average, the fuel and CO2 costs of existing gas-fired power plants in Europe in 2022 are four to six times the life-cycle cost of new solar PV and onshore wind projects commissioned in 2021. A report by energy giant bp earlier this year predicted that the global LCOE of solar energy could fall by 55% by 2030.

The European and Ukrainian solar industry associations have called for Ukraine's post-war recovery to be based on renewable energy. The association also urged Ukrainian leaders to set a target of at least 50% renewable energy generation by 2030. SolarPower Europe, the Ukrainian Solar Energy Association and the wind energy trade group said that to achieve this, EU and Ukrainian policymakers should establish a technology and investment partnership, as well as a vehicle for "Ukrainian renewable energy" as part of Ukraine's reconstruction. "By removing Europe's and Ukraine's dependence on Russian fossil fuels, Ukraine and the European continent can be freed from the influence of energy as a geopolitical lever," they wrote in a joint statement to the assembly, which was attended by EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson , Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko also attended online. The association calls for the 50 per cent renewable energy target to be achieved through a combination of rooftop and ground-based solar panel, onshore and offshore wind. Artem Semenyshyn, CEO of the Ukrainian Solar Energy Association, said: "We see that solar power supports the resiliency of the Ukrainian grid. Flexible solar reduces the vulnerability of the energy supply to attack. In parts of Ukraine, it is solar that lights up the lights. ."

On July 1, PetroChina's first water surface solar system project, the Daqing Oilfield Spark Water Surface solar system Demonstration Project, was connected to the grid for power generation, which marked the overall acceleration of the integration of Daqing Oilfield's new energy business into the main business. Daqing Oilfield vigorously cultivates new energy and new forms of business, and strives to build a green industrial structure and a low-carbon energy supply system. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, it strives to build a green and low-carbon sustainable development demonstration base with a new energy installed capacity of more than 2 million kilowatts. The replacement rate of clean energy is more than 20%. According to Wang Jun, manager of the strategic development department of CNPC, the project uses two water surfaces, with a construction land of 400,000 square meters and an installed capacity of 18.73 megawatts. It only took more than 4 months from the completion of the project to the completion of the project, and the efficient and on-time production was realized. Daqing Oilfield Spark Water Surface Photovoltaic Demonstration Project, as the first water surface solar panel project of PetroChina, has completed the successful exploration of independent design and construction of water surface photovoltaics. The successful commissioning of this project indicates that Daqing Oilfield is implementing the national "dual carbon" goal and the group company's green low In the journey of carbon development, a key step has been taken. This provides a solid technical reserve and beneficial construction experience for the subsequent development of various new solar energy project, and plays a positive role in stimulating and promoting the vigorous development of new energy business in oilfields.