[Solar: Germany’s Armsheim advances 50MW agri-PV and battery project]

Chile’s National Energy Commission has approved the final terms of the 2026/01 Supply Tender, which will procure energy and capacity for regulated customers of distribution companies. The tender includes two blocks totaling 2,835GWh per year once fully implemented. It does not require awarded energy to come solely from renewables or set technology-specific quotas, but bids cannot be backed by assets using coal, petcoke, diesel or No. 6 fuel oil as primary fuels, while natural gas remains eligible. The rules explicitly allow energy storage systems to back supply commitments, provided they are connected to Chile’s National Electric System and have sufficient annual injection capacity. Bids are due by Dec. 4, 2026, with awards scheduled for Jan. 13, 2027.

The Netherlands’ Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management plans to introduce a temporary framework tightening permit rules for new solar parks near airports. The move follows a March 2025 incident in which glare from nearby solar panels forced Schiphol’s Polderbaan runway to close to landing traffic for about two hours, leading authorities to order the removal of around 78,000 panels and replacement of the remaining modules. The new framework will define how aviation stakeholders and regulators should be involved in assessing flight safety aspects of solar park designs, and will apply to Schiphol and other Dutch airports. Dutch PV association Holland Solar expressed concern, arguing that stricter rules should not be imposed on all airport-area solar projects based on a single known incident.

Italy had 3,630 active renewable energy communities with a combined capacity of 302.9MW as of June 30, according to GSE data. Systems up to 10kW accounted for nearly half of all REC configurations, with 1,673 installations, while only 35 RECs exceeded 1MW. Total membership, measured by connected points of delivery, reached 37,821. Under the PNRR REC funding scheme, 48,750 applications were submitted between April 8, 2024 and Nov. 30, 2025, of which 29,820 were approved, corresponding to EUR 768.3 million in awarded grants and 1.74GW of capacity. Around 1.33GW of applications remain unfunded. Grant awards must be finalized by Aug. 31, 2026, while the completion deadline for funded projects has been extended to Dec. 31, 2027. SMM believes Italy’s REC mechanism is supporting distributed PV, collective self-consumption and local energy autonomy, though grant review, grid connection and eligibility compliance remain key constraints.