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29 July 2025
PV Magazinepowerplant
Jul 29, 2025PV Magazine
TotalEnergies has started building a 1 GW solar project in southern Iraq. The solar farm, located in the Basra region, will be built in four units and is scheduled for full commissioning by 2028.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani told the Iraqi News Agency that the first 250 MW unit is expected online before the end of the year. Once operational, the facility will supply power to 350,000 homes.
TotalEnergies holds a 45% stake in the project, with Basrah Oil Co. holding 30% and QatarEnergy holding the remaining 25%.
Iraq aims to deploy 12 GW of solar power by the end of the decade. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the country had 42 MW of solar by the end of 2024.
In June, US-based developer UGT Renewables signed a contract with the Iraqi government to build a 3 GW solar project.
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1.2 Gw Tianwan-7 Nuclear Reactor Enters Commissioning Stage (China)Not available
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01 August 20251 min read1.2 Gw Tianwan-7 Nuclear Reactor Enters Commissioning Stage (China)
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Scotland Grants Consent For 4.1 Gw Berwick Bank Offshore Wind ProjectThe Scottish Government has granted consent for the 4.1 GW Berwick Bank offshore wind project, located approximately 38 km off the Scottish Borders coastline. The project, developed by SSE Renewables, received Section 36 consent for its main offshore wind farm array in the outer Firth of Forth near East Lothian coast.
The project’s delivery will depend on SSE Renewables securing a contract under the UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme and a final investment decision. At full capacity, the Berwick Bank project is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than six million homes annually. Over its operational lifetime, the wind farm is expected to contribute around £8.3 billion to the UK economy.
The project could increase Scotland’s current operational renewable electricity capacity by nearly 25 per cent, supporting the UK’s goal to install 50,000 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 under the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.
Reglobal Org
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01 August 20251 min readScotland Grants Consent For 4.1 Gw Berwick Bank Offshore Wind Project
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India Announces 3.2 Gw Of Renewable Projects, Mainly In Uttar Pradesh And BiharNot available
ENER Data
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01 August 20251 min readIndia Announces 3.2 Gw Of Renewable Projects, Mainly In Uttar Pradesh And Bihar
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Kyrgyzstan Signs Deals To Build A 1.9 Gw Solar PlantThe Kyrgyz Ministry of Energy has signed an investment agreement with RECA and Rox Energy Global, two Vietnamese companies, to build and operate a 1.9 GW solar plant in the Kyzyl-Oruk village of the Toru-Aigyr rural district of the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. The project is currently at the start-up stage, and the completion date is 2027. The project will be implemented with foreign investment.
Kyrgyzstan, whose installed capacity (5 GW) is dominated by hydro (3.6 GW) and coal (around 650 MW), has currently no operational solar plants.
ENER Data
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01 August 20251 min readKyrgyzstan Signs Deals To Build A 1.9 Gw Solar Plant
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Afreximbank Backs 1 Gw Floating Solar Project In ZimbabweAfreximbank has signed a $4.4 million project preparation facility for a planned 1 GW hybrid floating PV system in Zimbabwe.
The agreement, signed between the bank and developers Green Hybrid Power earlier this month, will finance bankability and feasibility studies for the project, as well as the selection of transaction advisers.
Green Hybrid Power plans to deploy the 1 GW hybrid floating solar system on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba, the world's largest artificial lake and reservoir by volume.
The project is set to be implemented in two phases. A pilot test phase will target a generation capacity of 500 MW, with the energy to be wholly sold to a consortium of industrial and mining energy users in Zimbabwe under a 20-year power purchase agreement, with a cost-reflective tariff.
Afreximbank said its project preparation facility could unlock an estimated $350 million investment.
Zimbabwe had deployed 70 MW of solar by the end of 2024, up from 46 MW at the end of the previous year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
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01 August 20252 min readAfreximbank Backs 1 Gw Floating Solar Project In Zimbabwe
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Waaree Energies Opens 1.8 Gw Solar Module Plant In IndiaFrom pv magazine India
Waaree Energies has kicked off production at its new 1.8 GW solar module manufacturing facility in India.
The new facility in Chikhli, Gujarat, boosts Waaree’s total installed PV module production capacity to 16.8 GW per year. The company also operates a 5.4 GW solar cell manufacturing line and is aggressively expanding its upstream and downstream capacities.
By the end of fiscal 2027, Waaree Energies aims to scale up to 25.7 GW of annual solar module manufacturing, 15.4 GW of solar cell production, and 10 GW of ingot and wafer capacity.
Waaree Energies is also setting up a 3.5 GWh lithium-ion storage cell and energy storage system manufacturing line, a 3 GW solar inverter production facility, and a 300 MW electrolyzer unit to support green hydrogen initiatives.
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01 August 20251 min readWaaree Energies Opens 1.8 Gw Solar Module Plant In India
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Croatia’S Solar Capacity Reaches 1.1 GwCroatia’s cumulative solar capacity reached 1,099 MW at the end of June 2025, according to figures from the Renewable Energy Sources of Croatia Association (RES Croatia).
The total figure consists of 980 MW connected to the distribution grid and 119 MW to the transmission grid. At the end of June, solar accounted for 5.4% of total electricity generation in the country.
RES Croatia told pv magazine that an average of 32 MW was added in each of the first six months of the year. Croatia installed a total 397 MW of solar in 2024, bringing its cumulative capacity to around 872 MW, and surpassed the 1 GW milestone in May. If the trend seen in the first half continues throughout 2025, it is expected that Croatia’s solar capacity will reach 1,290 MW by the end of the year.
RES Croatia said the self-supply segment is experiencing the most dynamic growth, particularly among households and public institutions. Households secured subsidies covering up to 50% of installation costs in the first half of the year through the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, alongside local incentives from counties and municipalities. The C&I sector also expanded, supported by co-financing from the Modernization Fund.
In contrast, RES Croatia said the utility-scale segment remains largely stagnant due to regulatory barriers, although two utility-scale solar plants with a total capacity of 17.5 MW were connected to the transmission grid during the first half of 2025.
When asked what regulatory changes are needed to support Croatia’s solar market, RES Croatia said the unit grid connection fee for the transmission grid – legally required since 2022 – has yet to be implemented. It noted that this is blocking around 50 projects, most of them solar, with a combined capacity of 3 GW.
Restrictive provisions around energy storage development was cited as another barrier. The association is calling for a regulatory framework for battery energy storage systems, along with incentive schemes for both household and utility-scale projects, and noted that preparations for a national support scheme began in the first half of the year.
RES Croatia added that while amendments to the country’s RES and High-Efficiency Cogeneration Act in the first half of the year brought some market improvements, key objectives of the EU RED III Directive remain unmet – particularly on accelerating renewables deployment and related infrastructure.
“The second half of the year is expected to bring further legislative changes, which we hope will be more favorable for both citizens and large-scale producers,” the association told pv magazine.
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01 August 20253 min readCroatia’S Solar Capacity Reaches 1.1 Gw
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Chinese Pv Industry Brief: China Adds 268 Gw Of Renewables, Led By SolarThe National Energy Administration (NEA) said China added 268 GW of new renewable energy capacity in the first half of 2025, up 99.3% year on year and accounting for 91.5% of all new power installations. Solar contributed 212 GW of the total – 100 GW from utility-scale projects and 112 GW from distributed systems – followed by 51.39 GW of new wind capacity, 3.93 GW of hydropower, and 710 MW of biomass. By the end of June 2025, total installed renewables capacity had reached 2.159 TW, or 59.2% of China’s total power generation capacity. Solar stood at 1.1 TW, wind at 573 GW, hydropower at 440 GW, and biomass at 47 GW. Solar power generation rose 42.9% year on year to 559.1 TWh, with a national utilization rate of 94%, said the NEA.
China Huadian Corp. has launched a 2025-26 centralized procurement tender for solar modules. The first lot includes 18 GW of n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) bifacial double-glass modules with efficiency above 22.5%. The second lot seeks 2 GW of high-efficiency modules, including TOPCon, heterojunction (HJT), and back-contact (BC) technologies, with conversion efficiency above 23.8%. The framework agreement runs through June 30, 2026, or until the next tender round begins.
Golden Solar said it has secured a CNY 100 million ($13.76 million) administrative debt investment from Cinda Investment to support daily operations and ramp up production for overseas HJT solar cell orders. The loan has a term of up to two years and an annual interest rate capped at 8%.
The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNMIA) said polysilicon prices rose slightly last week. N-type recycled material averaged CNY 47,100 per ton, up 0.64% from the previous week, while granular silicon averaged CNY 44,300, up 0.68%. Production recovered to 10 domestic producers, with July output reaching 107,800 metric tons, a 5.7% increase from June. Cumulative output from January to July totaled 704,900 metric tons, down 41.5% year on year. August production is expected to rise to about 125,000 metric tons.
The CNMIA separately said that wafer prices continued to rise, with n-type G10L wafers (182 mm × 183.75 mm/130 μm) averaging CNY 1.10 per piece, up 4.76%. G12R wafers (182 mm × 210 mm/130 μm) rose 8.70% to CNY 1.25, while G12 wafers (210 mm × 210 mm/130 μm) increased 6.67% to CNY 1.44. Operating rates across the wafer industry remained steady. Downstream, solar cell prices climbed CNY 0.02 to between CNY 0.26/W and CNY 0.27/W, and modules rose CNY 0.01 to between CNY 0.66 and CNY 0.67. While recent increases have eased pressure on wafer producers, future pricing will depend on how much cost inflation downstream buyers can absorb, said the CNMIA.
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01 August 20253 min readChinese Pv Industry Brief: China Adds 268 Gw Of Renewables, Led By Solar
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Ppl Electric ‘Advanced-Stage’ Data Center Pipeline Grows 32%, To 14 GwHowever, discussions on potential electricity service agreements aren’t far enough along for the joint venture to commit to buying turbines and it is unclear when it would be able to announce any news, according to Sorgi.
“We've made no material financial commitments to date as it relates to the joint venture,” he said.
PPL intends to make sure that the joint venture’s deals don’t change the company’s credit risk profile, Sorgi said.
PPL supports pending legislation in Pennsylvania — H.B. 1272 and S.B. 897 — that would allow regulated utilities like PPL Electric Utilities to build and own generation to address a resource adequacy need, Sorgi said.
The bills would also encourage utilities to enter into agreements with independent power producers to help “derisk” their new generation investments, according to Sorgi.
“We are primed to act quickly once this proposed legislation becomes law,” he said.
PPL Electric Utilities estimates it will need about 7.5 GW of new generation in the next five to seven years, according to Sorgi.
“Given both federal and state support for new natural gas plants, natural gas pipeline expansion and streamlined siting and permitting, we are optimistic this generation can get built,” he said.
PPL estimates that it costs about $2.2 million to $2.5 million per MW to build a gas-fired combined cycle power plant, according to Sorgi.
The PJM Interconnection’s last two capacity auctions will increase customer bills by about $20 a month, without bringing new generation onto the grid, according to Sorgi.
“That was simply a transfer of wealth from utility customers to IPPs and to their shareholders,” Sorgi said. “What we're seeing in the market today is contracting long-term deals with hyperscalers for nuclear capacity. I would expect that to continue.”
IPPs are reluctant to build new generation because it would cannibalize the value of their existing fleets by lowering capacity prices, according to Sorgi.
“So it's not a surprise to us that the competitive markets are not delivering on this much needed generation,” he said.
Also, PJM’s interconnection queue has about 10 GW of new generation in Pennsylvania, with about 1.2 GW of dispatchable gas and nuclear generation, with the rest comprised of solar and batteries, according to Sorgi.
“We see real issues with the solar developers being able to get their projects completed,” he said. “So we're clearly staring at a near-term supply and demand issue that we believe needs to be addressed ASAP.”
PPL expects its utilities in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island will spend $20 billion in infrastructure improvements from 2025 to 2028, resulting in average annual rate base growth of 9.8%, according to Sorgi.
While PPL expects strong customer growth in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, weather-normalized sales at the company’s utilities in the states grew 0.5% in the second quarter and were essentially flat over the previous 12 months, according to the presentation.
In the second quarter, residential sales dipped 0.5% in Pennsylvania. Industrial sales fell 2.4% in Pennsylvania and 2.1% in Kentucky.
The decline in industrial sales was caused by one steel manufacturer in Pennsylvania and possibly weather in Kentucky, according to Joseph Bergstein, PPL chief financial officer.
Utiltiy Dive Generation
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01 August 20253 min readPpl Electric ‘Advanced-Stage’ Data Center Pipeline Grows 32%, To 14 Gw
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Aep Expects To Add 24 Gw Of Load By 2030, Mainly From Data CentersAmerican Electric Power expects its utilities will interconnect 24 GW of new load by 2030 — up nearly 15% from its previous estimate — with 18 GW coming from data centers, according to William Fehrman, AEP president and CEO.
The 24 GW is backed by signed customer commitments and consists of 13 GW in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market, 9 GW in the PJM Interconnection and about 2.5 GW in the Southwest Power Pool, Fehrman said Wednesday during an earnings call.
In ERCOT, the pending load includes about 5 GW in cryptocurrency operations and 2 GW in data centers, according to Fehrman. “Texas is clearly becoming the crypto center for us,” he said.
The pending load in PJM includes about 3.7 GW of data centers in Ohio and about 3.1 GW of data centers in Indiana Michigan Power’s service territory, Fehrman said.
AEP’s utilities have inquiries about possible new load totaling 190 GW, Fehrman said — a significant increase for a 37-GW system. “Potential customers are drawn to AEP's footprint because of our advanced transmission network capable of delivering consistent large load power,” he said, adding that the company owns more 765-kV lines than all other utilities combined.
AEP’s weather-normalized peak demand grew 12%, to 37.6 GW, at the end of the second quarter, up from 33.5 GW a year earlier, according to Trevor Mihalik, the company’s CFO. Data centers and other industrial customers coming online in Indiana, Ohio and Texas largely drove the increase, he said, resulting in about $200 million in additional revenue.
AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio, expects weather-normalized retail electricity sales by its utilities will increase 5.7% this year, up from 3% growth in 2024. The company anticipates sales will jump 8.4% next year and 8.9% in 2027, according to an earnings presentation.
In part due to those new load expectations, AEP expects this fall it will increase its five-year capital spending plan by 30%, to about $70 billion, up from $54 billion, Fehrman said.
AEP expects transmission investments will account for half the additional expenditures, followed by generation at 40% and the distribution system at 10%, according to Fehrman. Under the pending capital expenditure plan, AEP Texas could spend about $7 billion on transmission.
Changes to federal clean energy tax credits signed into law July 4 don’t appear to affect AEP’s $9.9 billion plan to build wind and solar projects, according to Fehrman.
A few renewable energy projects potentially could be affected by a July 7 executive order directing the U.S. Treasury Department to issue guidance on determining when a project may be deemed “under construction,” a key issue for qualifying for tax credits, Fehrman said.
In November, AEP agreed to buy 100 MW of fuel cells from Bloom Energy, with an option to buy up to 1 GW in total by the end of this year, the company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday. AEP’s subsidiaries are offering the fuel cells to data centers and other large customers as an immediate option for addressing their needs while grid infrastructure upgrades are being completed to accommodate their demand. Ohio Power, an AEP utility, has two contracts approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, totaling about 98 MW, for electricity service from fuel cells, according to the SEC report.
Ohio H.B. 15, which takes effect Aug. 14, repealed the statute that permits electric utilities to provide customer-sited renewable generation service such as fuel cells, but the law grandfathered the two PUCO-approved contracts, AEP said.
Texas H.B. 5247, which became law in June, is “incredibly constructive” legislation for AEP Texas, according to Fehrman. The bill allows eligible utilities to use a “unified tracker mechanism” to recover their expenses, reducing regulatory lag, he said.
The cost-recovery mechanism could increase AEP Texas’ return on equity by 0.5% to 1%, according to Mihalik. The utility has an 8.6% earned ROE, he said.
“This is highly supportive of increasing our capital allocation to Texas as we participate in the massive infrastructure build-out needed to drive the economic growth in the state,” Fehrman said.
AEP’s utilities have about 5.6 million customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Utiltiy Dive Generation
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01 August 20254 min readAep Expects To Add 24 Gw Of Load By 2030, Mainly From Data Centers
Utiltiy Dive Generation
01 August 2025
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Atlantica Acquires Statkraft’S Canadian Platform With 236 Mw In Operation And A 0.81 Gw PipelineAtlantica Sustainable Infrastructure has announced the acquisition of Statkraft’s Canadian platform, bringing together 236 megawatts (MW) of operational assets and a 0.81 gigawatt (GW) development pipeline. This transaction covers the entirety of Statkraft’s portfolio in the country, including wind, solar, and storage projects, mainly located in Quebec and Alberta.
A multi-technology portfolio and long-term contracts
The platform includes a 51 % stake in the l’Érable wind farm, with a capacity of 100 MW, in operation in Quebec since 2013. This asset benefits from a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with an investment-grade utility company, providing predictable cash flows. The transaction also includes a 136 MW wind asset in Alberta, commissioned in December 2024 and backed by a long-term industrial PPA. On average, the remaining PPA contract duration is fifteen years.
Completion of the transaction remains subject to approval under the Competition Act and other customary regulatory authorisations, with finalisation expected before the end of 2025.
Solar, wind, and storage development
In addition to operational assets, the acquisition includes a pipeline of around 0.81 GW of projects under development, spanning solar, wind, and storage across several Canadian provinces. This portfolio positions Atlantica to capture new growth opportunities in the Canadian market and broaden its exposure to power generation and storage technologies.
The integration of Statkraft’s local team will support operations management and the development of all transferred projects. According to Santiago Seage, Chief Executive Officer of Atlantica, this transaction represents a strategic step to strengthen the group’s presence in Canada.
The Canadian renewable energy and storage sector continues to expand, supported by demand for low-carbon energy solutions and favourable regulatory developments.
Energy News
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01 August 20252 min readAtlantica Acquires Statkraft’S Canadian Platform With 236 Mw In Operation And A 0.81 Gw Pipeline
Energy News
01 August 2025
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New York Announces Rfp For 1 Gw Energy StorageNew York has launched bulk energy storage request for proposals (RFP). The initiative aims to procure 1 GW of bulk energy storage as a part of the state’s 6 GW energy storage roadmap. The solicitation is being administered by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) via its Bulk Energy Storage Program. Further, the solicitation seeks to advance a range of energy storage technologies and timely progress towards procuring three GW of bulk energy storage over the three solicitations.
The Bulk Energy Storage Program by NYSERDA employs the Index Storage Credit (ISC), which is a market-based mechanism providing project owners greater revenue certainty while incentivising them to participate in wholesale energy and capacity markets. ISC’s will be created on the basis of a project’s operational availability, and will represent 1 MWh of energy storage capacity that is operational and available to discharge on a given day.
Step One is the initial qualifying step in which proposers must demonstrate their eligibility for the program. Proposals can be submitted to NYSERDA by September 4, 2025. New York’s 6 GW energy storage roadmap recommends the deployment of 6 GW of energy storage and also authorises funds for NYSERDA to support 200 MW of new residential-scale energy storage and 1,500 MW of new commercial and community-scale energy. Additionally, at least 35 per cent of the benefits of these new energy storage projects will be allotted to disadvantaged communities.
Renewable Watch
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31 July 20252 min readNew York Announces Rfp For 1 Gw Energy Storage
Renewable Watch
31 July 2025
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