Silicon Coal Prices Unlikely to Increase

Romania’s Environmental Fund Administration may not run the Casa Verde rooftop solar grant program this year, after the scheme was also suspended last year. The program previously covered up to 90% of household PV system costs, but local reports suggest it may be transformed into a battery storage grant scheme for prosumers, of which Romania now has more than 250,000. RPIA said a proposed EUR 76 million budget in 2026 is expected to support hybrid PV-plus-storage systems for residential and C&I users, mainly targeting existing PV prosumers. SMM believes Romania’s policy focus is shifting from pure solar capacity expansion toward higher self-consumption, grid flexibility and distributed system resilience, with storage becoming a key driver for continued rooftop PV growth.

Japan awarded 1.25GW of battery storage capacity across 19 projects in its latest Long-Term Decarbonization Auction, including 551MW of lithium-ion battery storage and 699MW of non-lithium battery storage. OCCTO awarded a total of 7.3GW of derated capacity across 32 projects, with 4.26GW going to decarbonization-source projects and 3.04GW to LNG-fired thermal generation. Although new rules excluded storage projects with durations below six hours and introduced stricter battery procurement and cybersecurity requirements, awarded battery storage capacity only fell slightly from 1.37GW in the previous round.

Mendoza province has inaugurated the 360MW El Quemado Solar Park in Las Heras, making it the largest photovoltaic plant in Argentina, surpassing the 315MW Cauchari complex. The USD 220 million project was originally developed by provincial utility Emesa and later acquired and built by YPF Luz, with the first 100MW unit entering commercial operation last December. The plant covers around 620 hectares and includes more than 511,000 bifacial modules, 5,800 trackers and 1,170 inverters, with an estimated capacity factor of 31.4%. With El Quemado online, Mendoza’s installed solar capacity now exceeds 700MW, while its project pipeline is expected to surpass 1GW.