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Newsletter (copy 17)
How Greece became a solar leader
Good morning,
We’re officially one month away from our Policies for the Planet conference, a collaboration with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s South African arm. We have a stellar line-up of speakers (seriously). More info and registration details here.
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Greece has overtaken the Netherlands to become Europe’s solar PV leader, with 19% of its electricity coming directly from the sun in 2023, according to data collated by Ember.
Greening the grid: All renewable technologies now cover half of Greece’s annual electricity requirements, with a slight decline in hydro output in recent years being more than offset by the surge in solar installations and steady growth in wind (now at 22% of the mix).
As a result, coal’s share has slipped to a historic low of less than 5%, and will continue to decline with a number of plant closures scheduled in 2025. The government aims to phase out the dirtiest fossil fuel by 2028 at the latest, with 5 billion euros set aside to assist communities that currently rely on the sector.
Policy support for PV: While solar installations were initially driven by a feed-in tariff scheme and state-led auction programme, the country has seen a marked acceleration in deployments since 2019 thanks to a range of policy tweaks.
In particular, Ember notes, the country introduced a temporary feed-in premium for small ground-mounted solar PV systems, simplified permitting procedures, and encouraged subsidy-free power purchase agreements within the private sector.
- Read the full story here.
This free-to-attend online conference, a collaboration with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL’s) South African arm, will look at the policies and projects that are leading the way to a better, more sustainable world.
We have a great line-up of speakers, including Ramón Méndez Galain, architect of Uruguay’s transition to circa 100% renewable electricity.
- Find out more and register here.
The European parliament has reached a provisional agreement on the “right to repair” directive, which is aimed at making it easier for consumers to repair damaged or defective products.
The context: It’s often easier for consumers to dispose of and replace broken appliances — things like vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, coffee machines, refrigerators, and mobile phones — than it is to have them fixed, especially when legal guarantees have expired.
Towards a circular economy: The new directive creates incentives for consumers to prolong the life of broken products. Among other things, it obliges manufacturers of certain goods to repair damaged products for free, or at a “reasonable price”, and seeks to provide consumers with all the information they need on repair services.
- Read the full story here.
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Korean solar module manufacturer Qcells has partnered with Solarcycle to recycle its decommissioned panels in the US.
“Working together, the companies will accelerate their shared vision of building a circular clean energy supply chain that creates jobs and reduces US reliance on imported raw materials that are frequently subject to supply chain disruptions,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Qcells operates the largest silicon-based solar panel factory in America, and makes one in three of the panels installed on the country’s rooftops.
When those panels are damaged or reach their end of life, Solarcycle will recover aluminium, silver, copper, silicon and low-iron glass from them. The company says it can extract more than 95% of a panel’s value.
- Read the full story here.
The city of Amsterdam says it will soon start developing its first community-run “solar meadow”, the proceeds of which will go towards projects that assist poorer residents.
- Read the full story here.
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