Thursday, 13 August 2026

Three Mireo Plus H hydrogen trains will start regular passenger service on a non-electrified line in Bavaria in December, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The rollout is a joint deployment by Südostbayernbahn and Siemens Mobility.

The report describes the three sets as two-car units, each replacing diesel multiple units currently working the Mühldorf-Burghausen route from December.

Hydrogen Fuel News characterised the deployment as pioneering zero-emission regional service on the line.

Australia's Tomago aluminium smelter will not run on 100 percent renewable supply until 2033, according to RenewEconomy.

The timeline puts full renewable coverage for the smelter years out, on the date reported by the specialist outlet.

Squadron and other parties want the smelter's future power needs covered by multiple supply deals rather than a single arrangement, RenewEconomy reported.

Myanmar's military government has stepped up efforts since June to restart the China-backed Myitsone Dam, a hydropower scheme that has sat suspended for 15 years, according to Mongabay.

The push became public at a June 30 press conference in Naypyidaw, where junta spokesperson Khaing Khaing Soe said the Myitsone project would be resumed to generate electricity for Myanmar, Mongabay reported.

The scheme dates to 2009, when it was estimated to cost USD 3.6 billion, per Mongabay. It was planned along the Mali and N'mai Rivers in Kachin state, northern Myanmar.

Mongabay reported the dam was designed to run 1,310 meters long and stand 139.6 meters high.

Construction stopped in 2011, when then-President Thein Sein suspended the project following widespread public opposition over its environmental and social impacts, according to Mongabay. That suspension has now run for 15 years.

On timing, Kachin state chief minister Khet Htein Nan said the project could be completed within 8.5 years if construction begins this year, Mongabay reported.

The head of the junta's Myitsone Project Implementation Committee said authorities held 38 meetings with local communities about the project between January and the end of July 2026, according to Mongabay.

The UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero updated its Renewables Obligation certificates and generation tables on 13 August 2026, according to the department's Energy Trends: UK renewables release.

The publication covers the renewables sector, with data on capacity, electricity generation and liquid biofuels consumption, per DESNZ.

DESNZ states that the Renewables Obligation monthly data runs three months in arrears, and that the monthly table appears on the second Thursday of each month. That schedule means the certificates figures released alongside a given update describe generation from an earlier reporting period rather than the month of publication.

The Renewables Obligation issues certificates to accredited generators for eligible renewable output, and the monthly table pairs those certificate counts with generation data.

Scatec has brought online the final 564 MW phase of its Obelisk solar-plus-storage development near Nagaa Hammadi in Upper Egypt, completing what the company describes as Africa's largest project of its kind, according to ESS News.

The hybrid plant pairs 1.1 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity with a 100 MW / 200 MWh battery energy storage system, ESS News reported.

Scatec said Obelisk will generate more than 3,000 GWh of clean electricity a year and reduce emissions by over 1.2 million tonnes annually. Output is contracted to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) under a 25-year power purchase agreement.

The capital structure leans heavily on development finance. Total project cost is around USD 590 million, of which USD 479 million came as senior debt from a consortium comprising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the African Development Bank (AfDB), British International Investment (BII) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), according to ESS News. That leaves more than 80% of the cost classified as non-recourse debt.

"Reaching full commercial operations at Obelisk marks a defining milestone for Scatec," said Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog. He said the project demonstrates the company's ability to develop, finance and deliver large-scale renewable projects in emerging markets, and called it a tangible contribution to Egypt's energy security.

Obelisk lifts Scatec's operational solar fleet in Egypt to roughly 1.5 GW, joining its existing 380 MW BenBan portfolio, ESS News reported.

The plant feeds into Egypt's national goal of sourcing 42% of its electricity from renewables by 2030, rising to 60% by 2040.

Finland brought 478 MW of utility-scale solar capacity online in the first half of 2026, according to figures from Renewables Finland cited by pv magazine. The addition more than doubled the country's cumulative large-scale solar fleet, which now stands at 842 MW across 45 operational PV farms larger than 1 MW.

Eight new solar plants entered production so far this year, pv magazine reported. The largest is the Kalanti solar park at 204 MW, the biggest operational PV site in Finland to date.

Solar remains a small share of Finnish renewable capacity. Total renewables capacity passed 10 GW during the first half, with wind power at 9,535 MW, according to the same figures.

The pipeline continues into the second half. One 100 MW solar park is expected to start electricity production by the end of the year, with a few smaller projects under construction and expected to be ready at some point during 2027, according to the comments carried by pv magazine.

The near-term additions sit well below what researchers see as the country's technical ceiling. Research from LUT University found Finland has the potential to build out up to 68 GW of PV capacity by 2050.

Japan's Renewable Energy Foundation has rejected a proposed 30% maximum shading rate for agrivoltaic installations, arguing the limit is contradicted by real-world sites where panel shade has helped produce high-quality crops, according to pv magazine.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is taking public comments on the proposal until August 22, with implementation planned before the end of September, pv magazine reported.

Shading is not the only screen applied to farm-mounted solar. Updated guidelines give authorities the power to refuse approval where crop yields fall by 20% or more, where agricultural activity is neglected, or where panel height and spacing block farm machinery, according to pv magazine.

The rule change lands in a market that has already crossed a symbolic threshold. Japan's cumulative solar capacity likely passed 100 GW by the end of last year, with roughly 5.8 GW added in 2025, pv magazine reported.

Fire crews in the UK attended 212 blazes involving photovoltaic installations during 2025, against 91 in 2022, an increase QBE puts at 133%. The insurer's findings were reported by pv magazine.

The fleet behind those callouts is expanding. QBE counted roughly 1.93 million photovoltaic systems running in the UK in 2025, with the tally crossing just over 2 million as of June 2026.

Modules are not where QBE locates the problem. The cause often sits in "faulty cable connections, connectors, or other electrical components" rather than the panels, said Tobias Mehl, risk manager at QBE Germany. Mehl's assessment points to direct-current wiring and plug connections as the recurring failure point.

QBE also logged battery incidents on a different scale: 1,760 lithium-ion fires handled by UK fire services in 2025. E-bikes accounted for 520 of those callouts, electric cars for 279 and e-scooters for 182.

Trina Solar has introduced a line of typhoon-resistant photovoltaic (PV) modules carrying mechanical load ratings of up to 8,000 Pa, aimed at solar projects in areas exposed to extreme winds, according to pv magazine.

The standard version of the product is built to take a rear-side mechanical load of 4,500 Pa, against 2,400 Pa for conventional modules, pv magazine reported. Rear-side loading is the pressure regime that governs uplift during high-wind events, when suction rather than downward force tends to strip modules from their mounting rails.

The top configuration, branded MAX, is derived from Trina's Vertex N Shield module. Trina lists a static mechanical load capability above 8,000 Pa for that version, with a reworked frame delivering 30% higher downward and 67% higher upward load capacity, per pv magazine.

The frame itself is 10% wider and 11% thicker, a change Trina attributes to improved load transfer into the supporting structure, according to pv magazine. Heavier extrusion adds mass per module, which shifts the balance of racking and foundation design on wind-exposed sites.

Mounting hardware has been reworked alongside the frame. Trina claims that its patented slot-based, self-locking clamp design can cut installation time by about 25%, pv magazine reported. Labour hours per megawatt are a live cost line for developers in coastal and island markets, where crews often work around narrow weather windows.

Hail resistance is specified separately. Trina's official product data states that the Vertex N Shield can withstand 75 mm hailstones at a 60-degree tilt, according to pv magazine. Steeper tilt angles reduce the effective impact energy on the glass by lowering the angle of incidence, so tilt is a material qualifier on any hail rating.

Standard utility-scale modules are typically certified well below the 4,500 Pa rear-side figure Trina cites for its base typhoon product, and the gap against the 2,400 Pa conventional benchmark is the commercial argument the company is making. For projects in typhoon corridors, the question is whether the added frame material and the higher load rating offset the price premium over a conventional module plus reinforced racking.

The 30% and 67% capacity uplifts on the MAX frame point at asymmetric engineering: uplift capacity has been raised more than twice as much as downward capacity. That prioritisation is consistent with a design brief written around wind suction rather than snow load, and it separates this product from the reinforced modules marketed for high-snow regions, where downward loading dominates.

A total of 368 utility-scale power plants entered service in the United States between January and June, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data cited by Inside Climate News.

The largest additions were wind. SunZia Wind South and SunZia Wind North in New Mexico came online this spring with a combined generating capacity of 3,650 megawatts, making them the largest wind farms in the country, Inside Climate News reported.

Natural gas also features on the list. Trumbull Energy Center in Ohio is a 900-megawatt combined-cycle plant, and Inside Climate News described it as part of an expansion of natural gas power in the PJM Interconnection grid region.

Hybrid projects pairing generation with storage rank high as well. Green River Energy Center in Utah is the fifth-largest new plant at 800 megawatts, split evenly between 400 megawatts of solar and 400 megawatts of batteries, according to Inside Climate News.

ForeFront Power has completed its first Erthos solar energy system, built for the city of Fresno, California's Northeast Surface Water Treatment Plant, officials told Solar Builder. The array reached full commercial operation status in March 2026.

As of Aug. 13, the system had delivered about 862 MWh to the city of Fresno, according to Solar Builder. ForeFront officials said the project has "consistently outperformed expectations" since commercial operation began.

The Erthos design places panels on the ground rather than on racking. Solar Builder reported that the panels can follow contours of up to a 15% slope, which let the installation adapt to the natural landscape in Fresno.

ForeFront, a commercial and industrial solar project developer, says it first approached Erthos in 2023, citing a combination of inflation and supply chain pressures.

The two companies signed an Energy Service Agreement after the project was finished, under which Erthos takes responsibility for maintaining the system. That work includes regular panel cleaning using the ErthBot PV solar array cleaner, the companies said.

The Junta de Castilla y León has opened public review for two renewable hydrogen electrolysis projects in Soria with combined capacity above 760 MW, according to Hydrogen Fuel News.

The larger of the pair is DH2 Energy's 460 MW facility at Los Rábanos, Hydrogen Fuel News reported.

Alkeymia Energy accounts for the remainder with a 300 MW plant at Almazán, per the same report.

Both sit in a province that already hosts electrolysis capacity, though on a far smaller scale: the 2.5 MW H2Duero plant at Garray, according to Hydrogen Fuel News. The two projects under review together would add more than 300 times that capacity.