utility scale

Irish solar will reach grid parity in less than a decade, according to predictions by the country’s transmission system operator, despite having no large scale ground mount solar currently installed.

Lincolnshire-based solar developer Lark Energy collapsed owing more than £48.6 million, it has been revealed.

Yorkshire-based high voltage power specialist Smith Brothers has said solar and renewables are now a mainstay of its offering after completing two complex solar farms earlier this year.

Stuart Elmes, CEO at Viridian Solar and director at the Solar Trade Association, gives his two cents on this week’s long-awaited announcements from the government and Ofgem.

The new BlackRock and Lightsource solar initiative will target both large and small portfolios on the UK secondary market as it opens its hefty cheque book.

UK solar jobs, turnover and operating companies all witnessed significant declines last year as a result of what the Renewable Energy Association has termed a Westminster policy ‘bonfire’.

Lightsource and BlackRock Real Assets have combined to launch a £1 billion play to consolidate the UK’s secondary solar market.

Yesterday’s development from Ofgem and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have garnered a significant response from the industry, the majority of which has been overwhelmingly positive.

Yesterday the government and Ofgem published its strategy for a modernised, smart and flexible power system, the result of its eagerly anticipated response to last year’s Smart Power Call for Evidence. Solar Power Portal picks through the document to assess how the domestic solar and storage industries may benefit.

Business secretary Greg Clark has unveiled the first phase of a £246 million investment in battery technology with the launch of the Faraday Challenge, designed to boost research and development and position the UK at the forefront of energy storage.