[SMM PV News] South Korea Targets 2,500 'Sunlight Income Villages' by 2030

Waaree Energies has greenlit an INR 39 billion capital expenditure to build a solar glass manufacturing facility with a 2,500 MT per day capacity via its subsidiary, Waaree Green Glass. Additionally, the company's board approved an INR 1.9 billion cash acquisition to increase its equity stake in Waaree Transpower (formerly Kotsons) from 64.04% to 75.10%. Expected to close by June 2026, this move aims to fund capacity expansion for the subsidiary's advanced transformer solutions and further vertically integrate Waaree's supply chain.

Saudi Arabia installed a record-breaking 7.8 GW of solar capacity in 2025, bringing its cumulative solar total to an estimated 12.4 GW. While this cements solar as the nation's dominant renewable source, analysts at 'GlobalData' warn the current growth trajectory falls short of the 130 GW required by the 'Vision 2030' target, which demands over 23 GW of annual additions. To close this gap, experts urge the kingdom to implement standardized 'PPAs', streamline permitting, and heavily invest in grid flexibility and solar-plus-storage. Notably, the Saudi Power Procurement Company recently signed a massive 15 GW renewable energy deal (including 12 GW of solar) to accelerate future deployment.

The UK government has supported over 780 solar projects since July 2024, ranging from school rooftops to utility-scale power plants. Recent data reveals 8.1 GW secured backing through the 'contracts-for-difference' ('CfD') scheme across the sixth and seventh allocation rounds. An additional 2.7 GW gained approval via the 'National Significant Infrastructure Project' ('NSIP') stream, including the massive 600 MW Cottam Solar Project. Furthermore, 'Great British Energy' and the Community Energy Fund have backed hundreds of distributed installations, while the state-owned National Wealth Fund is injecting hundreds of millions of pounds into gigawatt-scale 'BESS' deployments to support the growing renewable grid.