Monday, 13 July 2026

Utility-scale solar draws a persistent criticism that it competes with agriculture for land, according to CleanTechnica. That tension carries particular weight in the Philippines, where CleanTechnica reports arable land is both limited and economically important, making the debate over solar versus farming increasingly relevant.

CleanTechnica presents agrivoltaics as a different approach to the land-use conflict between solar generation and agriculture.

Agrivoltaics places solar panels and farming on the same land, allowing both food production and electricity generation to continue, according to CleanTechnica.

The approach appeals because it appears to address two land-use problems at the same time, CleanTechnica reported. Under the model, the farm keeps producing while the panels generate power.

OPmobility SE has launched StackPack, a single-module hydrogen power unit built for heavy-duty buses, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The module combines fuel cell stacks, air supply and controls into one plug-and-play package aimed at long-range, zero-emission heavy-duty routes.

The design integrates fuel cell stacks, air supply, cooling and control systems into a single package, Hydrogen Fuel News reported. The publication described the plug-and-play format as intended to make hydrogen mobility more accessible for local transit operators, giving bus makers a ready-to-install unit.

Gold Hydrogen and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical have launched a feasibility study on producing green methanol from South Australia's natural hydrogen reserves, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The study combines geological hydrogen extraction with established methanol technology to explore a low-emission feedstock pathway.

Gold Hydrogen Limited is an Australian company focused on exploring natural hydrogen resources, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

The partnership between the two companies was announced in late June, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

HRS, a French hydrogen station manufacturer, will maintain six HYmpulsion hydrogen refueling stations in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes under a five-year contract, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The agreement covers upkeep of the stations operated by HYmpulsion in the region. Hydrogen Fuel News reported the deal is intended to reinforce Zero Emission Valley infrastructure reliability.

Plug Power and European Energy have brought a 5 MW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer online in Denmark to produce green hydrogen, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The unit converts renewable electricity into hydrogen to support industry and transport, Hydrogen Fuel News reported. The electrolyzer is fed by wind and solar assets owned or operated by European Energy.

Plug Power is a U.S. provider of PEM fuel cells and electrolyzer systems, while European Energy is a Danish renewable developer, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BSO) has received the Windea Clarke, its fourth commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) from builder Ulstein Verft in the past year, World Oil reported.

The ship brings to seven the number of Ulstein-design offshore wind service vessels running in the BSO fleet, according to World Oil.

World Oil said the Windea Clarke is built on Ulstein's TWIN X-STERN hull, with hybrid battery propulsion and a methanol-ready setup meant to raise fuel efficiency and lower emissions during offshore work.

Onboard equipment includes a helideck rated for helicopters weighing up to 8.6 tonnes and a 3D motion-compensated crane that lifts up to five tonnes, World Oil reported.

The vessel earned DNV's voluntary SILENT-E class notation for reduced underwater noise during its sea trials, according to World Oil.

Matthias Müller, managing director of Bernhard Schulte Offshore, said the Windea Clarke "completes a strategically important series of vessels" and adds reliable tonnage for offshore projects, per World Oil.

The delivery closes out the latest CSOV series, with the Windea Clarke alongside sister ships Windea Curie, Windea Clausius and Windea Carnot, World Oil reported.

The Dinawan project, an 800 megawatt solar farm paired with a four-hour battery, has secured federal environmental approval after moving through a large volume of public objections during the state approval stage, according to RenewEconomy.

RenewEconomy reported that the project won state approval in April, after being referred to the IPC in January over 82 objections that came almost entirely from people living more than 100 kms away.

The federal approval under the EPBC carries conditions, according to RenewEconomy. These include annual compliance reporting and a requirement to report any non-compliance with the environmental plans agreed with federal and state authorities within two days.

The project holds a connection agreement after winning a spot inside the South West renewable energy zone (REZ), RenewEconomy reported. Those access rights, awarded in April last year, allocated only 300 MW of capacity.

Squadron Energy is a third of the way through construction of the 414 MW Uungula wind farm, with nearly all concrete foundations poured, according to RenewEconomy.

The developer has started pre-installation of the site's 69 wind turbines and taken delivery of transformers for the project's electrical infrastructure, RenewEconomy reported.

More than 100 turbine components have arrived at the Uungula site, with up to 26 deliveries each week, according to RenewEconomy.

Squadron Energy is wholly owned by Andrew Forrest's investment vehicle Tattarang, per RenewEconomy.

Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport will be powered by 100% renewable electricity through a rooftop solar system and a battery, according to RenewEconomy.

The airport is Australia's first new airport in more than 50 years and is being built on the western outskirts of Sydney, RenewEconomy reported.

CleanPeak Energy will invest over AUD 50 million to develop a 9 MWp rooftop solar system, adding to an existing 4.5 MW array, plus a 30 MW/120 MWh battery, according to RenewEconomy.

CleanPeak says the system will deliver more than 18 GWh of on-site renewable electricity each year.

Renewable technologies generated 14,020 GWh in Spain in June 2026, 12% more than the same month a year earlier, accounting for 58.4% of total generation, according to Red Electrica REE.

National electricity demand fell 0.9% in June 2026 against the same month last year, after adjusting for working patterns and temperatures, Red Electrica REE reported.

Solar photovoltaic led generation for the third consecutive month with a 29.4% share, contributing 7,071 GWh, up 17.1%, according to Red Electrica REE. The technology reached its highest-ever share in the electricity mix on 6 June, when it supplied 34.9% of the total, the operator said.

Nuclear was the second largest technology in the June mix at 18.5%, followed by wind at 15.75%, combined cycle at 15.65%, and hydro at 8.9%, according to Red Electrica REE.

Generation free from CO2 equivalent reached 79.8% of the total in June, representing an 11.2% increase in zero-emission GWh produced, the operator reported.

Battery storage and pumped-storage hydro integrated 1,003 GWh into the grid during the month and supplied 592 GWh back, holding 411 GWh of stored energy at month end, according to Red Electrica REE.

The subsea link between the Peninsula and Mallorca covered 24.9% of electricity demand in the Balearic Islands in June, the operator said.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike used the World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam to set out plans for importing green hydrogen from the Netherlands, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government wants to supplement local renewable energy resources with international supply chains anchored at the Port of Rotterdam, which Hydrogen Fuel News described as Europe's biggest seaport.

The move ties into the city's Zero Emission Tokyo strategy, which targets net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

Tokyo has a population of more than 14 million people, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

Japan and India plan to support a green hydrogen and ammonia project led by IHI Corporation and ACME Group, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The project is designed to harness renewable energy for low-carbon fuels used in power generation and industry, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

According to Hydrogen Fuel News, the project aims to convert renewable energy into low-carbon ammonia and green hydrogen at large scale, supplying cleaner energy to industries and power plants.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published a special feature article on hydrogen production and demand in the UK covering 2022 to 2025 as part of the June 2026 edition of Energy Trends, according to DESNZ.

DESNZ first published the hydrogen article on June 30, 2026, and updated it on July 6, 2026, with the release of data tables, according to the department.

The June 2026 Energy Trends set includes a further paper on data centre electricity consumption in Great Britain covering 2020 to 2024, according to DESNZ.

A separate paper in the June 2026 special feature articles covers grid-scale battery storage statistics, according to DESNZ.

The June 2026 special feature articles also include methodology changes for reporting electricity used by road vehicles, according to DESNZ.

The final vessel in a four-ship newbuild run has entered the Bernhard Schulte Offshore (BSO) fleet, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. The commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) Windea Clarke, fourth in the series, will run a seasonal charter on a UK North Sea offshore wind project.

The naming took place on June 30 at Ulstein Verft in Norway, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported. Windea Clarke rounds out four CSOVs that BSO has folded into its offshore fleet since mid-2025. That handover lifts the offshore fleet to seven vessels.

Built on an Ulstein design, the ship carries the TWIN X-STERN configuration and hybrid battery propulsion, and its layout leaves room to convert to methanol fuel later, according to Offshore Engineer OEDigital. It also carries DNV's SILENT-E class notation, which certifies that underwater radiated noise stays within set limits.

Managing Director Matthias Muller said the vessel completes the series and gives BSO reliable tonnage to support offshore projects while cutting its environmental footprint, Offshore Engineer OEDigital reported.

South Korea's Ulsan region is hosting a multi-year trial of a 14-ton hydrogen fuel-cell excavator that stores hydrogen in its counterweight using solid-state metal alloys, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

A partnership spearheaded by HD Hyundai Construction Equipment has put the HW155H, a 14-ton excavator powered by a 90 kW fuel cell, onto active job sites, Hydrogen Fuel News reported. The machine holds hydrogen in solid-state metal alloys built into its counterweight rather than in conventional pressurized tanks.

The project aims to validate 12-hour runtime and fast refueling, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. It is also gathering data on performance, safety and economics to guide future regulations and commercial rollouts.

Over Easy Solar has switched on its first commercial vertical solar array in Canada, mounted on the roof of Vancouver's Science World museum in British Columbia, pv magazine reported.

The rooftop system rates 19.5 kW and splits across three arrays, using 76 of the firm's XM-3 vertical PV units set on ST125 feet, according to pv magazine.

That array sits within a wider museum overhaul costing CAD 39 million (USD 27.4 million), pv magazine reported. The same project adds air-source heat pumps, electric chillers and five inches of insulation fitted inside the museum's dome. Combined, the upgrades should trim the building's energy use by 42%, according to pv magazine.

BC Hydro said the Science World array will test how vertical PV performs in snowy weather and under low-angle sun. The utility wants to extend such installations across parts of British Columbia where snow is a bigger obstacle.

Over Easy Solar told pv magazine it is running a separate trial in Quebec alongside utility Hydro Quebec. In April, the company said it had reached the US market through an installation in New York, pv magazine reported.

The U.S. solar industry supports over 280,000 workers but cannot find enough qualified people to meet accelerated project timelines, according to the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report and the IREC National Solar Jobs Census cited by pv magazine.

The study finds the industry will need roughly 355,000 workers by late 2026 to hit installation targets of 60 GW to 70 GW, leaving a projected near-term gap of 53,000 positions, according to pv magazine.

The electric power generator sector employed 933,800 workers in 2024, with close to 40% of them in solar, according to the USEER as reported by pv magazine.

Construction held the largest share of solar sector jobs, accounting for 181,700 workers, or 49.0%, according to pv magazine. Professional and business services, including engineering, financial and investment services, permitting and compliance, and consulting, followed with 58,500 workers, or 15.8%.

Companies are moving to build local training pipelines. Cypress Creek Renewables provided $25,000 to Piedmont Community College in Roxboro, North Carolina, to help develop programs training workers in the skills the company needs, according to pv magazine.

Skills often carry across technologies. Jack Roberts of Ecotal said SCADA skills transfer easily from solar to battery systems, while nuclear needs commissioning specialists and engineers, and data centers and battery energy storage need land acquisition expertise, according to pv magazine.

Workforce coordination runs through industry bodies. CEWD is a non-profit consortium of more than 140 energy companies, associations, unions, educational institutions, and government entities focused on attracting and developing a skilled workforce, according to pv magazine.