Western Europe

Acquisition of the technology center in Germany expedites Epsilon Advanced Materials’s plans to establish a lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) cathode manufacturing plant in India, Asia’s first outside of China

Solar and waste-to-energy producer SAEL has secured $1 billion from financial institutions including Norfund, DFC, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Tata Cleantech.

The French solar market grew by around 30% in 2023, reaching 3.15 GW, according to new data from Enedis. PV systems for self-consumption accounted for around one-third of all new capacity additions.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is selling REC Solar Holdings’ kerf-based polysilicon manufacturing arm REC Solar Norway to Elkem ASA, a silicon-based material provider. Upon completion of the sale, RIL will continue to retain the technology and intellectual property rights of kerf-based polysilicon.

Goldi Solar will supply its HELOC PRO series of 545 Wp PV modules to Engie India’s Sayla village project in Gujarat.

A lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery system recently exploded in a home in central Germany, preventing police and insurance investigators from entering due to the high risk of collapse. The explosion may have been preceded by off-gassing, but it remains unclear whether an external ignition source was the cause. Some scientists say thermal runaway may have triggered the blast.

The Assembly has decided to increase the viability gap funding for solar projects in member countries from 10% of the project cost to up to 35%, depending on the capacity and needs of the countries and their respective projects.

SJVN Green Energy Ltd will pilot a 2 MW floating solar project based on Norwegian firm Ocean Sun’s membrane-based floater technology. Once this pilot project succeeds, the two companies will collaborate to deploy this technology on a large scale in the southern part of India. 

Tanmoy Duari, chief executive officer at Axitec Energy India, told pv magazine that the planned capacity, 300 MW in Gujarat and another 300 MW in Tamil Nadu, will produce n-type TOPCon solar modules. Production will start in the first quarter of 2024.

Birla Carbon has acquired Belgium’s carbon nanotube manufacturer Nanocyl as it looks to establish a leadership position in materials critical to lithium-ion battery performance.