IEA, Renewable Policy Updated, Issue 16, 30 October 2017

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Renewable Policy Update

Based on the following sources: ADB, AfDB, All Africa, Baker MCkenzie, Biofuels Digest, Bloomberg, BNA.com, BNEF, Cleantechnica, Cronista, EBRD, El Financiero, ENDS,

Euractive, Europe, Enerdata, ESI-Africa, European Commission, IEA Press Intelligence, India Times, International Law Office (ILO), IPPJournal, Lexology, MINETAD.gob.es, OffshoreWind, Photon, PV Magazine, PV Tech, RAWI.ru, RechargeNews, RenewablesNow,

Reneweconomy.com.au, Reuters, RVO.nl, Senate.ca.gov, The Hindu Businessline, The Maghreb Times, ThinkGeoenergy, UK GOV, UNFCCC, URE.gov.pl, Utilities-me.com, Utility Dive, Wind Power Monthly, WindEurope, World Bank

Contents

Renewable energy auctions and tenders .................................................................................. 3

Concluded auctions ................................................................................................................ 3

India’s wind power tariff falls to a record low of Rs 2.64/kWh (USD 40.9/MWh) for 1 GW auction concluded in October ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Tamil Nadu wind tender gets bid of INR 3.42/kWh ........................................................................................ 4

Enel wins Ethiopia’s 100 MW solar tender ..................................................................................................... 4

Chile’s power tender attracts 24 bidders, fewer than in previous rounds due to decrease in power demand ........................................................................................................................................................... 4

German awards contracts for 1 GW of onshore wind projects with further price declines........................... 4

Spain awarded contracts to 3.9 GW of solar PV and 1.2 GW of onshore wind projects via capacity auction 4

French government approved bids for 500 MW PV ....................................................................................... 5

Poland contracts 4.725 TWh of power in renewable energy auction, Renesola awarded 42 MW of solar ... 5

Opened auctions ..................................................................................................................... 5

Mexico’s third energy auction results to be announced on 22 November .................................................... 5

Argentina's RenovAr 2 renewable energy auction draws 9.4 GW of offers, eight times higher than capacity auctioned ........................................................................................................................................................ 6

Senegal launches request for proposal (RfP) for 100 MW of solar PV projects ............................................. 6

Madagascar tenders 25 MW of solar PV ........................................................................................................ 6

Ethiopia launches request for proposal (RfP) for 250 MW of solar PV projects ............................................. 7

Queensland (Australia) opens tender for 400 MW renewables and 100 MW storage .................................. 7

Malaysia gets 1.64 GW of solar bids following RfP ......................................................................................... 7

India’s NTPC tenders 241 MW solar PV .......................................................................................................... 7

Saudi Arabia issued a request for qualification (RFQ) for a 400 MW wind project ........................................ 8

Sri Lanka launches tender for 10 MW solar project ....................................................................................... 8

Scheduled/future auctions ..................................................................................................... 9

India plans to auction 4.5 GW of wind capacity in coming months ............................................................... 9

Gujarat’s (India) 500 MW wind auction on hold ............................................................................................ 9

Dutch set December date for 700 MW offshore wind subsidy-free auction.................................................. 9

El Salvador to launch solar auction in December 2017 or January 2018 ........................................................ 9

Oman to launch tender for more than 200 MW of solar by end of 2017 ...................................................... 9

Russia plans 1GW renewable tender in 2018 ................................................................................................. 9

Victoria announces 650 MW renewable energy auction and introduces new RE target ............................. 10

Cancelled auctions ................................................................................................................ 10

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Poland cancelled biomass auction scheduled to take place in September and October 2017 .................... 10

Brazil cancels 557.4 MW of renewable projects in the 1st

de-contraction auction ...................................... 10

India’s SECI cancels 950 MW of solar tenders, seeks re-tender at lower rate ............................................. 10

Feed-in tariffs (FITs) ................................................................................................................. 12

Ukrainian government considering transition from FITs to auctions ........................................................... 12

German wind FIT falls to EUR 75/MWh from Q1 2018................................................................................. 12

European Commission approves Hungarian support scheme for renewable electricity ............................. 12

Other renewable energy news ................................................................................................ 13

OECD ..................................................................................................................................... 13

Australia signals end to renewables subsidies after 2020 and move away from renewable targets ........... 13

Denmark to provide level playing field for solar subsidies ........................................................................... 13

Luxembourg buys renewable energy produced in Lithuania to reach its 2020 target ................................. 13

German renewables levy to fall slightly in 2018 ........................................................................................... 13

UK confirms up to GBP 557 million for new renewable energy projects (CfD) ............................................ 13

Belgium’s Flanders region raises 2020 targets for solar and wind ............................................................... 14

Slovenia aims to boost biodiesel blending and B100 for heavy-duty trucks ................................................ 14

New Zealand fuel standards to allow higher biofuel blending ..................................................................... 14

City of Barcelona adopts fiscal incentives for solar PV systems with storage for self-consumption in public buildings........................................................................................................................................................ 14

California will extend its carbon cap-and-trade scheme through 2030 ....................................................... 15

Non-OECD ............................................................................................................................. 15

Indonesia and World Bank create USD 275m fund to push geothermal development in the country ........ 15

Taiwan raises 2025 offshore wind ambition to 5.5 GW from previously targeted 3 GW ............................. 15

Jordan to tender 30 MW/60 MWh PV power storage projects.................................................................... 16

India and Germany (GIZ) sign pact to improve grid integration of renewable energy ................................. 16

Uttar Pradesh may adopt 8% renewables goal ............................................................................................ 16

Tanzania opens bidding for 2.1 GW Rufiji Hydropower project ................................................................... 17

Brazil is working on a new ethanol policy RenovaBio................................................................................... 17

Ukraine adopts its energy strategy to 2035 ................................................................................................. 17

Europe to assist Mozambique in designing auction mechanism for renewables ......................................... 17

Madagascar introduces fiscal breaks for PV ................................................................................................. 17

Saudi Arabia approves net metering framework for systems up to 2 MW size ........................................... 18

Renewable energy finance ....................................................................................................... 18

EBRD and IFC provide EUR 215mn loan for wind farm in Serbia .................................................................. 18

World Bank’s Lighting Africa initiative set to deliver more solar to Tanzania .............................................. 18

AfDB to co-finance 50 MW of solar in Burkina Faso ..................................................................................... 18

World Bank approves USD 150 million for Kenya for off-grid solar projects ............................................... 18

Climate change/environmental news ...................................................................................... 19

Portugal’s 2018 budget to include tax on coal ............................................................................................. 19

AfDB issues its Light Up and Power Africa Bond ........................................................................................... 19

The Netherlands plan to shut down all coal-fired power plants by 2030..................................................... 19

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Renewable energy auctions and tenders

Concluded auctions India’s wind power tariff falls to a record low of Rs 2.64/kWh (USD 40.9/MWh) for 1 GW auction concluded in October Source: energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com Date: 5 October 2017 Additional sources:

MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) (2017), India gets Lowest Wind Tariff of Rs. 2.64 per kWh in second Wind Auction of 1 GW, Press release;

MNRE (2017), Guidelines and regulation for wind auction – tranche II;

The October 2017 auction was the second wind auction round held in India at the national level. The first auction was finalised in February 2017 when 1 GW of capacity was awarded to 4 companies at Rs 3.46/kWh price (USD 53.6/MWh). The second auction brought prices 24% lower in comparison to the earlier round, with the lowest bids reaching Rs 2.64/kWh price (USD 40.9/MWh) for 500 MW capacity. The remaining 500 MW capacity was contracted at Rs 2.65/kWh (USD 41/MWh).

Auction winners, project sizes and prices contracted Company name Project

size (MW)

Price in Rs/kWh

Price in USD/MWh

Contract duration

Scheduled commissio

ning 1 ReNew Power Ventures Pvt.

Ltd 250 2.64 40.9

25 years to be

signed with SECI

June/July 2019

2 Orange Sironj Wind Power Pvt. Ltd

200 2.64 40.9

3 Inox Wind Infrastructure Services Ltd

250 2.65 41.0

4 Sembcorp Industries Ltd’s Green Infra Wind Energy Ltd

250 2.65 41.0

5 Adani Green Energy (MP) Ltd 50 2.65 41.0 Total: 1 GW

These results were also lower than wind auction prices achieved three months earlier in Tamil Nadu state auction were Rs 3.42/kWh (USD 53/MWh) price was found for 200 MW of capacity. The record low prices of the October national auction can be attributed to a stable financial situation of the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) who is the offtaker party from the wind project developers. This allows wind developers to secure cheaper financing than projects contracted in the state auctions where the state distributor companies are the offtakers and their financial situation can be less stable. However, given record low contracted prices and costs resulting from the connection to the grid, developers have to be sure to secure the best possible location for their projects. High capacity factors and close proximity to the grid will be crucial to assure developers a return on their investments. Rules on the priority dispatch and line congestion will vary depending on where the projects will be located and will potentially impact the projects’ performance. In light of record low prices for wind projects achieved through auctions, it is reported that Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states offering FITs between Rs 3.82 and 5.56/kWh stopped signing contracts with new wind projects1. In the situation where states cease to sign new PPAs with wind projects under existing FIT schemes, and where timelines and capacity availability under future auction rounds are unsure, further price reductions through aggressive bids are likely to be seen in the future. Both February and October auction rounds were heavily oversubscribed as companies tried to secure future their project pipeline.

1 www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/falling-tariffs-may-dent-wind-power-industry-profits/article19867428.ece

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Note: Used 16.10.2017 exchange rate 1 INR = 0.0154 USD, https://finance.google.com/finance/converter. Price in USD might differ on other websites depending what exchange rate was applied. Tamil Nadu wind tender gets bid of INR 3.42/kWh Source: energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com Date: 29 August 2017 ReGen Power Tech Company submitted the lowest bid so far in an open renewable capacity auction in Tamil Nadu. The bid was for a 200 MW wind project for INR 3.42/kWh. This is slightly lower than the bids that were placed in an earlier auction that was held in Tamil Nadu in February. Win bids arrived than at INR 3.46/kWh. Enel wins Ethiopia’s 100 MW solar tender Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 23 October 2017 The tender process was launched by Ethiopian power utility EPP in May 2016. The solar plant will be built in Metehara, around 200 km east of Addis Ababa. The USD 120 million project is scheduled to come online in 2019 and to sell power to the Ethiopian power utility Ethiopian Electric Power (EPP) under a 20-year PPA. The awarded price has not been made public. The auction is part of the government’s plan to diversify its energy mix and increase the rate of electrification. Chile’s power tender attracts 24 bidders, fewer than in previous rounds due to decrease in power demand Source: rechargenews.com Date: 17 October 2017 Chile’s regulated power market tender received bids from 24 companies, of which around 10 were solar and wind projects, amid declining demand from a slowing economy that led the government to reduce the amount of electricity to be contracted. According to power sector regulator CNE, the 24 bids included proposals from Chilean, Spanish, US and Italian companies in relation to 2.2 TWh a year of power from wind, solar, hydro, biomass and gas co-generation projects for 20 years, starting in 2024. Among renewable energy bidders are Spain’s Ibereolica, Gas Natural Fenosa – through its renewable energy unit GPG – and Solarpack, Italy’s Enel, and the US’s Solar Reserve and JP Morgan through its global renewable energy joint-venture Sonnedix. According to the Chilean renewable energy association (Acera), the decline in the number of bids compared to last year was mainly due to the smaller amount of power demanded by power distributors. In the 2016 tender Chile contracted 12TWh a year. German awards contracts for 1 GW of onshore wind projects with further price declines Source: bloomberg.com Date: 15 August 2017 The cost of electricity from the next set of onshore wind farms in Germany fell by a quarter in a government auction for power purchase contracts run by the regulator Bundesnetzagentur. Bidders dominated by citizen groups won about 1 GW of capacity at an average price of 4.28 euro cents/kWh (5.03 U.S. cents/KWh), the Bonn-based agency said on Tuesday. That’s a reduction from the average of 5.71 cents/KWh from the first contest of its kind held in May and much lower than the average of 5.70 euro cents/KWh estimated by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) for prevailing prices across the region. The result confirms that the wind farms due to be built in the next decade are among the cheapest forms of electricity, rivalling fossil fuels including coal and natural gas. Spain awarded contracts to 3.9 GW of solar PV and 1.2 GW of onshore wind projects via capacity auction Source: minetad.gob.es Date: 26 July 2017 In the most recent capacity auction for renewable energy projects the Spanish Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda awarded contracts for 3.9 GW of solar PV and 1.2 GW of onshore wind projects. In total, 40 projects won contracts. In the previous auction organised in May 2017, almost no solar PV capacity was awarded with the majority of contracts going to wind projects.

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French government approved bids for 500 MW PV Source: photon.info Date: 31 July 2017 The French government has approved 77 bids to develop large-scale PV plants, for a total capacity of more than 500 MW, most of which are in the Occitanie (103 MW) and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (139 MW) regions. The capacity is between 500 kW and 17 MW each. According to French consultancy Enerdata, 94.59 MW were awarded to subsidiaries of Engie, namely Engie Green, La Compagnie du Vent, CNR and Solairedirect. The average price proposed by the winners is EUR 55.5/MWh for installations between 5 MW and 17 MW, and average price for all projects is EUR 63.9/MWh. The next bid approval will take place in December 2017 and will also involve a capacity of 500 MW, says the company. Poland contracts 4.725 TWh of power in renewable energy auction, Renesola awarded 42 MW of solar Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 10 July 2017 The Polish government has contracted around 4.725 TWh of power in the renewable energy auction it held on June 29, according to information provided to PV magazine by local PV analyst Piotr Pająk. According to Pająk, although the Polish authorities have not disclosed the number of PV projects selected in the auction, solar is expected to have the largest share of the 472 awarded projects. The lowest bid for the auction was PLN 195 (USD 52.6)/MWh, the highest bid reached PLN 398.97 (USD 107.6)/MWh. The Polish energy regulator URE had set a ceiling price for PV of PLN 450 (USD 121.3)/MWh.

Opened auctions Mexico’s third energy auction results to be announced on 22 November Source: elfinanciero.com.mx Date: 8 October 2017 Mexico’s third energy auction results are scheduled to be announced on 22

nd November 2017. The first two

Mexican energy auctions set record low prices for solar PV, but the industry expects that those records will not be brought further down with November announcements. This assumption is based on the fact that solar panel prices have stabilized and that the industry believes that solar PV costs will level out or even begin to increase. Further price cuts are expected to be achieved for wind projects.

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Argentina's RenovAr 2 renewable energy auction draws 9.4 GW of offers, eight times higher than capacity auctioned Source: cronista.com Date: 20 October 2017 Further reading:

Press release by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals of Argwentina here;

Cronista, 17 October 2017; Preliminary information indicates that the second round of Argentina’s RenovAR auction round was heavily oversubscribed. The auction was opened for 1.2 GW of renewable capacity and 228 proposals were submitted for over 9 GW of capacity. The Ministry of Energy and Mining of Argentina aim was to lower renewable electricity prices via the auction. The maximum prices for RenovAr 2 were set 10% lower vs. results of the last round in hope to further cut the prices. The average price awarded in RenovAr 1 and 1.5 was USD 57.44/MWh.

RenovAR 2 auction – capacities opened for auction with maximum prices caps and applications made

Technology Capacity

auctioned (MW)

Maximum price limit USD/MWh

Number of offers

received

Cumulative capacity of

received applications

(MW)

Results

Wind 550 56.25 58 3818 To be

announced on 29

November 2017

Solar PV 450 57.04 99 5290

Biomass 100 110 20 188

Small hydro 50 105 15 32

Biogas 35 160 32 60

Landfill 15 130 4 15

Total 228 9403

Bid submissions closed on 19 October 2017 with results to be announced on 29 November. From then until 15 May 2018, successful bidders will have the time to sign renewable electric energy supply contracts with CAMMESA (the wholesale power market administrator of Argentina) and FODER (Fund for the Development of Renewable Energies) adhesion contracts. PPA contracts will be signed for a period of 20 years. Successful bidders will have a 2 year time limit for the commissioning of the winning projects from the moment of the contract signature. In light of the huge interest in the last auction, the government does not exclude the possibility of running a round 2.5 in order to award additional projects beyond the 1.2 GW capacity opened initially. Additionally, by the end of 2017 Argentina plans to auction for the construction of at least four new transmission lines to accommodate the new capacities coming online. Senegal launches request for proposal (RfP) for 100 MW of solar PV projects Source: pv-tech.org Date: 18 October 2017 Senegal’s Electricity Regulatory Commission (CRSE) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFPs) for 100 MW of solar projects to be built in three regions. The tender will be structured through the World Bank’s “Scaling Solar” programme and projects are due to be located in three selected locations (Touba in the region of Diourbel, Kahone in the Kaolack region, or in Niakhar in the Fatick region of Senegal). Interested parties can submit their proposals until 5 February 2018. Madagascar tenders 25 MW of solar PV Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 10 October 2017 Madagascar’s Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons has issued a Request for Pre-Qualification (RFQ) for a 25 MW solar PV project planned to be built near Antananarivo, the country’s capital city. The first phase of the process will consist of the pre-qualification of potential bidders who have the required experience, expertise and financial capital to quickly complete the production of a big independent solar energy project of this volume. The tender will be structured through the World Bank’s “Scaling Solar” programme. Interested developers must submit their applications by 10 January 2018. Pre-selected bidders will then have access to the Request for Proposal (RfP) phase.

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Ethiopia launches request for proposal (RfP) for 250 MW of solar PV projects Source: pv-tech.org Date: 5 October 2017 State-run utility Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has issued a request for qualification (RfQ) for two solar PV projects each with a capacity of 125 MW. The tender will be structured through the World Bank’s “Scaling Solar” programme and the deadline for applications is 21 November 2017. Queensland (Australia) opens tender for 400 MW renewables and 100 MW storage Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 13 October 2017 The Queensland government in Australia has submitted an open tender calling for the development of 400 MW of large-scale renewables and 100 MW of energy storage projects. It has received 115 proposals from 79 different companies for the programme. Bids were placed on projects in a large range of technologies and energy storage projects. Among these were a 2.2 GW wind energy project, a 6.4 GW solar project, about 500 MW of other renewable energy technologies adding to 6 GW of energy storage projects. The tender was part of a raft of announcements, including confirmation of a commitment to source 50% of its electricity from renewables by 2030. Queensland currently lags behind the progress of other Australian regions in terms of renewable energy installed, but multiple projects have been announced. Malaysia gets 1.64 GW of solar bids following RfP Source: renewablesnow.com Date: 11 August 2017 Further reading:

Global Solar Finance and Investment website Malaysia’s Energy Commission (ST) received bids for nearly 1.64 GW of solar capacity in response to a request for proposal (RfP) for large-scale solar projects. The auction will award 360 MW of capacity in Peninsular Malaysia and 100 MW in the federal territory of Labuan for a combined 460 MW. The best offer received in that round was MYR 339.8/MWh (USD 79.1; EUR 67.3) for a 30 MW solar project on the peninsula. The highest bids were for MYR 530/MWh for Labuan projects of 5 MW and 2 MW. India’s NTPC tenders 241 MW solar PV Source: photon.info Date: 13 August 2017 The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has tendered 241 MW in three separate PV projects under the domestic content requirement (DCR) category to be developed across the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, according to consultancy Mercom Capital Group.

1. The 86 MW “Kawas-Gandhar” project will be tendered in Gujarat, consisting of a 65 MW and a 21 MW project. The entire capacity will be awarded to a single contract that will provide engineering procurement construction (EPC) and O&M services for 15 years period. The bid-submission deadline is October 10, 2017.

2. The 22 MW “Auraiya” project will be tendered in Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh. The project to be awarded to a single bidder in a single block of 22 MW. The project will be developed on turnkey basis and the bid-submission deadline is October 11, 2017.

3. The 133 MW “Anta” solar project was tendered in the state of Rajasthan. The project will be developed at the Anta Combined Cycle Power Project in Kota. The bid-submission deadline is on 10

th of October.

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Saudi Arabia issued a request for qualification (RFQ) for a 400 MW wind project Source: renewablesnow.com Date: 17 July 2017 Saudi Arabia has issued a request for qualification (RFQ) regarding a 400 MW wind project in Dumat Al Jandal, the Al Jouf region that would be the Kingdom’s first utility-scale wind farm. The RFQ was opened on Sunday by the Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. The RFQ window will close on August 10 and the qualified companies will then proceed to the request for proposals (RFP) stage. That process is scheduled to start on August 29 and close in January 2018. The Dumat Al Jandal wind project is part of round one of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), the other part being the 300-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) scheme in Sakaka for which an initial tender was issued on April 17, 2017. The winning bid for the solar project will be announced in November 2017. “The release of Dumat Al Jandal’s wind project RFQ, and upcoming RFP next month, ensures that we remain on course to tender 700 MW in round one this year,” said Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources. NREP seeks to have 3.45 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2020 and a total of 9.5 GW by 2023. The wind and solar projects will secure 20-year and 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs), respectively. Sri Lanka launches tender for 10 MW solar project Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 31 July 2017 Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), which is Sri Lanka’s largest electricity provider, has issued a Request for Proposals (RfP) for the construction of a 10 MW PV power plant. The CEB said the Vavunathivu Solar PV Power Project will be connected to a grid substation near Vavunathivu, a town in Batticaloa District. The project will have to be developed on Build Own & Operate (BOO) basis. The solar facility will deliver power to CEB under a 20-year PPA. The maximum price set for the tender is LKR 18.37 (USD 0.122)/KWh. Project proposals must be submitted to CEB by August 15, 2017. Earlier in the year (May 2017) Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy and the CEB issued call for tenders for 60 solar PV plants with 1 MW capacity each for BOO contracts with ceiling price standing also at LKR 18.37 (USD 0.122)/KWh.

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Scheduled/future auctions India plans to auction 4.5 GW of wind capacity in coming months Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com Date: 16 October 2017 The government is planning to auction 4.5 GW wind projects in the next four months to increase wind capacity addition in the country, sources say. "An additional bid of 1.5 GW wind projects will be rolled out in October. There will be two more wind bids of the same capacity in December this year and February next year," a government official aware of the developments told the newspaper. The successive bids come with a backdrop of meagre wind capacity additions this year and very low prices achieved in previous auctions, as the government is looking to enhance its capacity installation in the wind sector. “The government wants to speed up the capacity installation in wind projects," the official said. The auctions will be conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). Gujarat’s (India) 500 MW wind auction on hold Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com Date: 25 October 2017 The Gujarat High Court has passed an interim order restraining the state from holding its first wind energy auction scheduled for November 1. The court acted in response to a petition by Indian Wind Energy Association, which said the Gujarat State Electricity Commission’s permission to hold the auction was contrary to law because the Centre has not issued guidelines for the sale of state wind projects. 500 MW wind auction already received techno-commercial bids with a combined capacity of some 1.5 GW. Dutch set December date for 700 MW offshore wind subsidy-free auction Source: rechargenews.com Date: 17 October 2017 The economics ministry of the Netherlands has invited companies interested in a subsidy-free tender for the 700 MW Hollandse Kust South 1&2 offshore wind zone to hand in bids between 15 and 21 December. Only if the subsidy-free tender fails to yield an acceptable bid will a tender procedure that includes subsidies with the lowest bid price as main criteria be initiated. Awarded projects will have to be executed within 4 years from the auction results announcement making the auction condition more challenging. The Dutch government earlier this year decided to try out an auction for Hollandse Kust 1&2 without offering support, following the game-changing result of Germany’s first offshore wind tender in April in which 1.38 GW of offshore acreage was allocated to zero-subsidy bids. El Salvador to launch solar auction in December 2017 or January 2018 Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 19 October 2017 In December 2017 or January 2018 El Salvador’s energy regulator Consejo Nacional de Energía (CNE) wil launch a capacity tender for solar PV projects and perhaps for other renewable energy technologies. Exact details of the auction are not yet finalised. This will be a third renewable capacity auction held in El Salvador. Oman to launch tender for more than 200 MW of solar by end of 2017 Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 23 October 2017 Oman is currently preparing for a solar PV capacity tender. The capacity to be auction is not yet decided and will most likely range between 200 MW and 500 MW as various resources report. It is reported that the Oman Power and Water Procurement company (OPWP) completed a feasibility study for the utility-scale project and that the tender call will be launched by the end of 2017 with the winners to be selected in the third quarter of 2018. The project will be grid connected to the Main Interconnected System of Oman. Oman is targeting to add around 4 GW of renewable generation capacity by 2030, a figure that would cover at least 10% of its power demand. Russia plans 1GW renewable tender in 2018 Source: rawi.ru Date: 7 October 2017 The Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation plans to hold tenders in 2018 for the construction of

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renewable energy (RES) facilities with a total capacity of almost 1 GW. The First Deputy Energy Minister Alexei Texler mentioned that 57 MW capacity will be reserved for solar PV projects while almost 900 MW will go to wind projects. Victoria announces 650 MW renewable energy auction and introduces new RE target Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 23 August 2017 The auction will support legislation that is being introduced to the state parliament at the end of August to set the Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRETs). The state wants renewables to account for 25% of its energy mix by 2020 and 40% by 2025, according to an online statement. It remains uncertain how much of the auctioned capacity will be reserved for solar developers. The state government will start accepting expressions of interest from prospective developers in October.

Cancelled auctions Poland cancelled biomass auction scheduled to take place in September and October 2017 Source: ure.gov.pl Date: 30 September 2017 Further reading:

Additional auctions information available in Polish here; On 23

rd of August 2017, the Polish Energy Regulatory Office (URE) announced an upcoming biomass auction to

take place on four days in September and October 2017 (28 September; October 2, 4 and 6 October). URE was to open four auction baskets for new and already existing projects smaller and larger than 1 MW. However, the auctions were cancelled when on September 29 a new regulation was adopted by the government changing rules on the amount of renewable electricity to be sold. There was no announcement on rescheduling the auction. Brazil cancels 557.4 MW of renewable projects in the 1

st de-contraction auction

Source: pv-tech.org Date: 30 August 2017 Brazil’s energy agency ANEEL has cancelled nine solar projects totalling 249.7 MW of capacity and 16 wind farms with a combined capacity of 307.7 MW in its first ever de-contraction auction. The auction took place due to a high number of projects being contracted in Brazil’s first reserve energy auctions between 2014 and 2015 remaining unbuilt and becoming idle. This was partly the result of inexperienced players partaking in the initial auction. The de-contraction will allow the government to make more accurate predictions about energy generation in the future and avoid a situation of having excess energy. A release from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) said the de-contractions would also result in the reimbursement of BRL 105.9 million (USD 33.5 million) to the nation’s Reserve Energy Account (CONER). India’s SECI cancels 950 MW of solar tenders, seeks re-tender at lower rate Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 21 July 2017 One of India’s leading lights for solar deployment suffered a setback last week as it was forced to drop 950 MW of planned solar tenders due to tumbling prices. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has cancelled proposed tenders in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka after a sharp drop in the price of solar in India to just INR 2.44/kWh – at the Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan – turned the heads of would-be bidders. Following a series of delays, tenders for 950 MW of capacity – which was also to include storage support of 5 MW/2.5 MWh for every 50 MW of PV installed – were eventually announced between June and August last year. This capacity comprised 650 MW for Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa Solar Park Tranche-IV and 100 MW for Tranche-V, and an additional 200 MW at Karnataka’s Pavagada Solar Park Tranche-VI. However, the benchmark tariff set for these tenders was INR 4.43/kWh (USD 0.069/kWh) – a price that now appears quite uncompetitive given the recent cost reduction of solar projects across India. Mercom Capital reports that “steeply declining solar tariffs” may well have prompted the cancellation of the entire tendered

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capacity of 950 MW, but a SECI official has confirmed that there are plans afoot to renegotiate the capacity with state leaders based on new, lower tariffs more in line with current pricing. “The lowest solar tariff has fallen to INR 2.44/kWh, so even with VGF [Viability Gap Funding], a project that includes storage can never hope to match it,” SECI managing director Ashwini Kumar told the Economic Times. “Everybody in the industry is disappointed because it was the first time we were trying this.” The scrapped tenders’ storage plans were encouraging, and would have drastically boosted India’s installed storage base. India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy felt that its VGF support scheme would have helped offset the increased cost of storage, enabling developers to match these record-low tariffs that lacked both storage and VGF.

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Feed-in tariffs (FITs) Ukrainian government considering transition from FITs to auctions Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 16 October 2017 The Ukrainian government is discussing whether to replace the current FIT scheme for large-scale solar projects with a new incentive scheme based on auctions, according to information provided to PV Magazine by the Ukrainian Association of Renewable Energy (UARE). The association, however, believes that the proposal, which is being widely discussed in the legislative environment, may be premature as it overestimates the pace of decreasing the technology cost and underestimates the financial effect of project delays. The current FIT for large-scale PV projects connected between 2017 and 2019 is EUR 0.1502 (USD 0.1775)/kWh. According to the UARE, the introduction of a tendering system may discourage investors from financing renewable energy projects due to a series of weaknesses in pricing, such as the requirement in a qualitatively and clearly regulated tender procedure and the complexity of forming a tender lot due to the necessity to integrate decisions of different decision-making bodies. German wind FIT falls to EUR 75/MWh from Q1 2018 Source: renewablesnow.com Date: 31 August 2017 The fixed preferential tariffs for new onshore wind power capacity in Germany, built outside tenders, will drop by 2.4% from 1

st of January 2018 to EUR 74.93/MWh.

The rate for the first quarter of 2018 will be lower because installations over the 12 months to July 2017 were significantly above the government-set corridor. The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagetur) said that onshore wind deployment topped 5 GW in the period, triggering the steepest level of degression. Even at the new level, the feed-in tariff (FIT) remains much higher than the rates achieved in the country’s first two onshore wind tenders, completed in May and in August. The average successful bid in the first tender arrived at EUR 57.1/MWh, while in the second it dropped further to EUR 42.8/MWh. Together, the tenders awarded contracts to 1.8 GW of wind farms, most of which proposed by citizens' co-operatives. The tariffs for wind capacity outside tenders are being adjusted quarterly and apply for projects that have secured approval before the end of 2016 and can be realised in 2017 and 2018. From the start of 2017, new solar and wind projects bigger than 750 kW have to compete in tenders. European Commission approves Hungarian support scheme for renewable electricity Source: europa.eu Date: 11 July 2017 The European Commission has found the new Hungarian support scheme for renewable electricity to be in line with EU state aid rules. The scheme will help Hungary to reduce CO2 emissions, in line with EU energy and climate goals, whilst preserving competition. The scheme, with a yearly budget of up to HUF 45 billion (approximately EUR 146 million), foresees state support either through a FIT or through a price premium, in line with the following guidelines:

Support with a FIT will be limited to small installations (below 500 kW) and demonstration projects.

Installations with a capacity above 500 kW will receive a premium on top of the market price of electricity, exposing them to market signals. For installations with a capacity above 1 MW and wind installations, the premium will be determined and beneficiaries selected in a competitive bidding process.

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Other renewable energy news

OECD Australia signals end to renewables subsidies after 2020 and move away from renewable targets Source: rechargenews.com Date: 17 October 2017 Australia’s government has shifted away from renewables by rejecting a recommendation by the nation’s chief scientist to set a post-2020 clean energy target, instead opting for a 'technology-neutral' plan that prioritises reducing electricity prices. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull claimed in an online video that a new policy, known as the National Energy Guarantee, would reduce power prices and prevent a repeat of the crippling electricity blackouts seen in South Australia. “Past energy plans have subsidised some industries, punished others and slugged consumers,” said Turnbull in a statement. “Our plan has no subsidies, no certificates and no tax.” Denmark to provide level playing field for solar subsidies Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 28 September 2017 Solar power in Denmark is to be given a level playing field against the more dominant wind power sector following a decision this week by the government to allow PV to compete on the same subsidy tender auctions as onshore wind. As a world-leader in both on- and off-shore wind, Denmark has attained its lofty position via a combination of windy conditions, a vast coastline and generous subsidies for the sector. However, under pressure from the nascent but growing solar industry and the Danish People’s Party, the government is to allow the two technologies to compete on equal terms for the next two years’ worth of subsidies. The new measures will impose a limit on total subsidies offered to renewables between 2018 and 2019 of 1 bn Danish krona, which is USD 158 million. Luxembourg buys renewable energy produced in Lithuania to reach its 2020 target Source: euractiv.com Date: 27 October 2017 Lithuania and Luxembourg became the first EU member states to agree on the transfer of renewable energy statistics on Thursday (26 October), meaning the Grand Duchy will now probably hit its 2020 target. Estonia hopes to broker a similar deal to finance its wind power ambitions. In 2015, Lithuania met its 2020 renewable energy target of 23% and renewables now hold at least a 25.75% share of the Baltic state’s energy mix. Conversely, Luxembourg is yet to meet its 11% goal, managing only 5%. The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) allows member states to opt for statistical transfer agreements, under which a certain amount of renewable energy can be shifted from one country’s books onto another’s. Lithuania and Luxembourg are the first to take advantage of this mechanism, with the Grand Duchy revealing in its latest energy report that it plans to exploit these agreements in order to hit its target and help the EU reach its 20% by 2020 goal. German renewables levy to fall slightly in 2018 Source: cleanenergywire.org Date: 14 October 2017 The EEG surcharge – Germany’s levy to support renewables expansion that consumers pay with their power bill – will fall to 6.792 euro cents per kilowatt hour (ct/kWh) in 2018, from 6.88 ct/kWh in 2017. The country’s four transmission grid operators (TSOs) expect an increase of renewable power feed-in, mainly from onshore and offshore wind parks, but a projected increase in wholesale power prices would lower the support payments to renewable power producers. More than a third of the levy will be used to pay solar PV power producers, about a fourth for biomass and onshore wind respectively, and about 14% for offshore wind power producers, write the TSOs in a press release. UK confirms up to GBP 557 million for new renewable energy projects (CfD) Source: gov.uk Date: 11 October 2017

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Energy Minister Richard Harrington confirmed on 11 October 2017 that up to GBP 557 million will be made available for less established renewable electricity projects as part of the government’s Clean Growth Strategy, to drive economic growth and clean up the energy system. Project developers will compete for funding through Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions. The latest auction saw the cost of new offshore wind fall by 50% compared to the first auction held in 2015 and resulted in over 3 GW of new generation which could power 3.6 million homes. The next (third) CfD auction is planned for spring 2019. Belgium’s Flanders region raises 2020 targets for solar and wind Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 10 October 2017 The Energy Minister of the Belgian Flemish-speaking microregion of Flanders, Bart Tommelein, announced that EU targets for solar and wind power will be increased by one third in order to cover the missing power production that was expected to be ensured by a 556 MW biomass power plant located in Langerlo, for which its owners have recently declared bankruptcy. Tommelein said that, in order to reach the region’s 2020 renewable energy target, an additional 1 418 GWh is now needed and that solar and wind will fill this gap. The missing power production represents 5% of total power generation that the Belgian region must reach in order to achieve the EU targets, which envisage 25 074 GWh of renewable energy by 2020. Slovenia aims to boost biodiesel blending and B100 for heavy-duty trucks Source: biofuelsdigest.com Date: 12 October 2017 In Slovenia, the government has adopted a policy that seeks to boost the biodiesel blending mandate to an undisclosed level while requiring 10% of all heavy-duty trucks to run entirely on biodiesel in the run up to its policy banning the sale of new gasoline and diesel passenger vehicles from 2030. By then, one-third of buses and 12% of trucks will be required to run on natural gas while 12% of vans and small trucks will have to be electric. New Zealand fuel standards to allow higher biofuel blending Source: biofuelsdigest.com Date: 22 August 2017 In New Zealand, new fuel standards set to come in October 2 will boost maximum volume of ethanol blends to 3% from the current 1% and to 7% for biodiesel from the current 5%. The shift is expected to result in an increased demand for biofuel. The new rules will also bring sulfur limits in line with other developed countries such as Japan and the United States but those won’t apply until 1

st of July 2018.

City of Barcelona adopts fiscal incentives for solar PV systems with storage for self-consumption in public buildings Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 2 August 2017 Barcelona City Council has announced a USD 12 million (USD 14.1 million) plan for the deployment of rooftop PV systems on the city’s public buildings. The new initiative is part of the programme “Programa de Impulso a la Generación de Energía Solar”, which was announced by the city administration in March and is aimed at promoting solar for self-consumption in the city territory. The city administration has so far installed PV systems injecting power to the grid with a combined capacity of 752 kW. The new projects, however, are planned to be for self-consumption and to rely on storage, where possible. Of these projects, four are currently under construction, while another six projects will be tendered soon, the city council said. On top of this, Barcelona’s administration is also planning to tender another 31 rooftop PV projects totalling 1 MW in the near future. The plan, which does not exclude the participation of private investors, also entails solar rebates that may cover up to 60% of the cost for buying and installing a PV system, as well as fiscal incentives. At the same time, the government of the city will create a public power distributor specializing in renewable energy, which will start operating in the first half of 2018 and will sell power to private citizens and to the City Council.

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California will extend its carbon cap-and-trade scheme through 2030 Source: enerdata.net Date: 24 July 2017 The US state of California has adopted a new legislation package extending the existing CO2 cap-and-trade scheme, which was due to expire in 2020, through 2030. It also attempts to strengthen it by requiring large industrial sites to upgrade old equipment with more efficient and clean technologies by 2023. Under the new package, the number of carbon allowances granted for free will be cut by 40% by 2030 and carbon offsets will have to be exclusively sourced from California. The California emission trading scheme (ETS) was implemented in 2006 and the first permits were auctioned in 2012. It is linked to the carbon market of Quebec (Canada, since 2014) and will link to the new cap-and-trade programme of Ontario (Canada) in 2018. It is part of California's measures to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% between 1990 and 2020 and currently caps 85% of the state's total emissions. California has committed to continue CO2 cutting policies, including ambitious renewable policies, in spite of the White House climate policy.

Non-OECD Indonesia and World Bank create USD 275m fund to push geothermal development in the country Source: thinkgeoenergy.com Date: 21 October 2017 Indonesia pushes ahead with its ambitious geothermal development plan, now providing a newly founded geothermal fund of around Rp 3.7 trillion (around USD 275 million). The interest in the fund is considerable as the funds are able to lower financial risks on the developer side considerably. Based on the Regulation of the Minister of Finance (PMK No. 62/PMK.08/2017), funds for the provision of infrastructure of the geothermal sector can be used for lending activities, equity participation and/or providing data and geothermal information. For lending and equity participation activities, PT SMI (selected company to manage the fund) will implement under a corporate business scheme. Meanwhile, for the provision of data and information on geothermal, PT SMI will perform under special assignment by the Minister of Finance. Indonesia has a 23% renewable energy target in the energy mix to be reached by 2025. Taiwan raises 2025 offshore wind ambition to 5.5 GW from previously targeted 3 GW Source: rechargenews.com Date: 18 October 2017 Taiwan has signalled plans to raise its 2025 offshore wind goal to 5.5 GW from the 3 GW previously targeted. Economy minister Shen Rongjin said Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy (BOE) plans to announce the raised target as part of a “mixed tariff” strategy for development in the country, which has rapidly emerged as a key market in the offshore wind sector’s expansion beyond Europe. Projects in the Taiwanese approvals system that score the highest under an assessment carried out by BOE will fall under the feed-in-tariff mechanism earmarked for the original 3GW of capacity, the minister indicated. The remaining projects will have to compete to sell power at a lower price in a tender held by national utility Taipower for the extra 2.5 GW.

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Jordan to tender 30 MW/60 MWh PV power storage projects Source: photon.info Date: 15 August 2017 Further resources:

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) of Jordan tender documents available here;

The Government of Jordan through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) is seeking expression of interest from qualified developers interested in investment in electrical storage projects in Jordan. MEMR wishes to develop an electrical storage project on a designated site at the Ma’an Development Area No.1 with power of at least 30 MW and an energy capacity of at least 60 MWh primarily for ramp-rate control of PV and wind power plants, and energy shift of otherwise curtailed renewable energy. In particular, electrical storage projects are expected be developed in two phases. Phase 1 entails a pilot project with 30 MW charge and discharge power to be developed at the Ma’an Development Area 1 connected to the existing Ma’an solar substation. The electrical storage is foreseen to be completed by April 2019. According to MEMR, under Phase 1, an additional optional project may be tendered designated as Phase 2. The electrical storage size under Phase 2 is yet to be determined. Phase 2 is foreseen to be developed at Ma’an Development Area 2 and is expected to be completed by 2020. Phase 1 will involve building an electrical storage facility to be located 9 km South-East of the city Ma’an next to the existing NEPCO Ma’an Solar 33 kV/132 kV substation. Currently, this NEPCO substation is used for the integration of several PV plants with a total installed capacity of 164 MW under the Round 1 Direct Proposal Submission. The submission deadline was extended from September to mid-October 2017. To date, the results of the auction are unknown. India and Germany (GIZ) sign pact to improve grid integration of renewable energy Source: thehindubusinessline.com Date: 28 august 2017 India and Germany on Monday signed an agreement on technical cooperation under the Indo-German Energy Programme – Green Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC). The agreement was signed by India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India on behalf of Germany. An official statement said that the main objective of this programme component is to improve the sector framework and conditions for grid integration of renewable energy. In 2013, Germany had decided to provide concessional loans of up to 1 billion EUR through KfW (German Development Bank). In addition, it had offered to lend up to 10 million EUR under technical assistance in forecasting, balancing, market design, network management and demand side energy efficiency implemented by GIZ. These contributions have been further increased in 2015 and 2016 through concessional loans of up to 400 million EUR for transmission infrastructure. Germany also provides a loan of 7 million EUR for training activities in the photovoltaic solar rooftop sector and energy efficiency in residential buildings under technical assistance through GIZ. Uttar Pradesh may adopt 8% renewables goal Source: asian-power.com Date: 17 August 2017 The government of India’s northern state Uttar Pradesh has proposed the introduction of an 8% renewables target by 2022, the Hindu Business Line said on Tuesday. Solar power may have a major contribution for meeting the goal as the government has proposed the addition of 10.7 GW of photovoltaic (PV) capacity by 2022. According to the Draft UP Solar Power Policy-2017, about 4.3 GW of the total capacity is suggested to come from rooftop solar projects, the newspaper writes. Among the state’s proposals is the provision of an INR 10,000 (USD 155; EUR 133) subsidy per kW, or a maximum of INR 20,000 per consumer, for the first 100 MW of projects. To be distributed on a first-come, first served basis, the incentive will aim to promote the grid-connection of rooftop PV systems.

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Tanzania opens bidding for 2.1 GW Rufiji Hydropower project Source: esi-africa.com Date: 1 September 2017 The Tanzanian Ministry of Energy and Minerals has opened the tender process for the construction of the Rufiji Hydropower project, the Citizen reported. The project will see the construction of the largest dam in the country along the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve. According to media, the hydropower project is planned to have an installed capacity of at least 2.1 GW with a minimum guaranteed annual supply of 5 920 GWh. The Ministry plans 3 years for the project construction. The period for bid submissions closes on 16

th of

October 2017. Brazil is working on a new ethanol policy RenovaBio Source: reuters.com Date: 11 August 2017 Brazil is working on its new bioenergy policy, with a strong focus on ethanol, aimed at cutting the country’s carbon emissions, which should boost demand for cleaner fuels. The new federal program, called RenovaBio, will give fuel distributors targets to cut emissions, which will force them to gradually increase biofuels volumes, according to policymakers, executives and analysts following discussions of the new law. Ukraine adopts its energy strategy to 2035 Source: enerdata.net Date: 25 August 2017 The Ukrainian government has approved a new energy strategy document entitled "Security, Energy Efficiency, Competitiveness", which outlines an array of reforms in the energy sector, meant to reduce the energy intensity, increase the domestic supply of energy, improve energy efficiency and align the domestic policies with the European Union (EU). According to the document, nuclear power is expected to meet 50% of the domestic power demand by 2035 while renewable sources will encompass 25% and hydropower 13%. As of 2016, nuclear is the main power generation source with a share of 49%, followed by coal-fired plants (39%), gas (7%) and hydropower (6%). Europe to assist Mozambique in designing auction mechanism for renewables Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 13 October 2017 The European Union will provide the government of Mozambique with EUR 4 million in funds to support the initiative Projeto de Promoção de Leilões para Energias Renováveis (PROLER), which is aimed at creating a regulatory framework and an auction mechanism for the development of large-scale solar and renewable energy projects. In a press release published by several Portuguese media outlets, the local government said that the initiative is being implemented by the French Development and Mozambique’s state-owned power provider Eletricidade de Moçambique, E.P. (EDM), and that the EU funds will be allocated through the Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund. More details on when and how the new auction scheme may be implemented were not revealed. Madagascar introduces fiscal breaks for PV Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 13 September 2017 Madagascar’s government announced it has introduced a VAT and custom duty exemption for the imports of PV components and 50% reduction on the tax it imposes on the revenue generated by residential and commercial PV systems. According to a press release from the local Ministry of Finance and Budget, these fiscal incentives are expected to spur the development of rooftop solar for self-consumption across the country. Madagascar aims at granting access to electricity to up to 70% of households, and at covering 85% of its

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energy mix with renewables by 2030. Solar and wind are expected to reach both a 5% share, while hydropower will have the lion’s share with around 75%. Saudi Arabia approves net metering framework for systems up to 2 MW size Source: pv-tech.org Date: 21 August 2017 Saudi Arabia’s Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (ECRA) has approved a net metering scheme that will allow self-consumption and export to the grid. Eligible PV systems up to 2 MW in size will have exported power offset against consumption with a cash pay off for any differential. The rules will come into force from July 2018.

Renewable energy finance EBRD and IFC provide EUR 215mn loan for wind farm in Serbia Source: EBRD.com Date: 17 October 2017 Underscoring its commitment to investing in renewable energy, the EBRD and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are providing a EUR 215 million loan to Čibuk 1 wind farm, the largest wind project in Serbia and the Western Balkans to date. Total value of the project is EUR 300 million. The 158 MW Čibuk 1 wind farm is being developed by Vetroelektrane Balkana, owned by Tesla Wind which is a joint venture between Masdar, a renewable-energy company based in Abu Dhabi, and Čibuk Wind Holding, a subsidiary of the US-based wind-energy developer Continental Wind Partners. The Čibuk wind farm is a breakthrough for Serbia as the country works to meet its commitment to produce 27% of domestic power needs from renewable energy sources by 2020. World Bank’s Lighting Africa initiative set to deliver more solar to Tanzania Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 12 October 2017 A two-year consumer education campaign in Tanzania to promote solar off-grid lighting and energy products in off-grid communities has been jointly announced by the World Bank-IFC. The programme is part of the Lighting Africa project designed to provide accessible and cheap solar products. Mobisol and responsAbility have signed an off-balance sheet debt deal to provide financing for the electrification of more than 15,000 households and small businesses in Tanzania. According to Mobisol, the deal is one of the largest ever seen in the off-grid solar sector. The amount to be provided by the energy funds managed by responsAbility has not been revealed; however Mobisol stated that it is in the ‘eight-digit U.S. dollar’ range. The mechanics of the deal will involve local special purpose vehicles, which ring fence specific Mobisol customers exclusively for the responsAbility funds. The structure has been named MOOVE (Mobisol Off-grid financing vehicle). AfDB to co-finance 50 MW of solar in Burkina Faso Source: pv-magazine.com Date: 4 October 2017 The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has announced that it will provide an undisclosed sum to co-finance Burkina Faso’s plans to electrify several rural areas in the period 2017-2021. World Bank approves USD 150 million for Kenya for off-grid solar projects Source: worldbank.org Date: 26 July 2017 The World Bank today approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of USD 150 million to enable marginalized communities in Kenya to access modern energy services through off-grid solar. Off-grid Solar Access Project for Underserved Counties will serve an estimated 1.3 million people in 277 000 households across 14 counties. It will reach homes, schools, health centres, with maximum private sector involvement and investment to ensure sustainability. Ten of the counties are located in the north and north-eastern parts of Kenya as part of the North Eastern Development Initiative (NEDI).

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The project will use a combination of investments to provide modern energy services, to households, businesses and community facilities using practical business models that attract private sector investment, knowledge, sustainable services and other key efficiencies.

Climate change/environmental news Portugal’s 2018 budget to include tax on coal Source: endseurope.com Date: 20 October 2017 The 2018 budget currently being debated by the Portuguese parliament will include a tax to discourage electricity generating companies from using cheap imported coal as an alternative to natural gas. The measure, which eliminates the current exemption for coal from the existing tax on fossil fuels, will come into force in 2018 and raise an estimated ERU 6.8 to EUR 7.2 million per year. Half the proceeds are to be ring-fenced for investment in Portugal’s environment fund.

AfDB issues its Light Up and Power Africa Bond Source: esi-africa.com Date: 13 October 2017 The African Development Bank (AfDB) has issued the first Light Up and Power Africa Bond for USD 90 million (JPY 10 billion) sold to the Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, the sole investor in the transaction. The multilateral development finance institution noted that the Bond supports its ambition to achieve an important goal of realising Africa’s energy potential and bridging the continent’s energy deficit.

The Netherlands plan to shut down all coal-fired power plants by 2030 Source: reuters.com Date: 10 October 2017 The incoming Dutch government plans to shut all coal-fired power plants by the year 2030, it said in its coalition pact published on Tuesday. The five remaining plants in the country are highly controversial because they cost billions of euros to build and three have only recently been completed. The Netherlands is lagging behind other European countries in achieving its greenhouse emission reduction goals.

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