POWER DIGEST [March 2026]

U.S.-Based Group Acquires South African Solar-Storage Microgrid. U.S.-based Energea successful mid-January announced its acquisition of the YO Residence Solar Project, marking a important milestone arsenic the company’s archetypal microgrid concern and introduction into South Africa’s renewable vigor market. The institution said the afloat operational 281.82-kW direct-current (DC) rooftop star strategy with 700-kWh artillery retention represents a $462,000 investment. The microgrid, located successful Sandton’s affluent fiscal district, serves a 101-unit residential analyzable and addresses South Africa’s captious load-shedding challenges done integrated artillery backup. Energea said the task exemplifies its strategy of acquiring de-risked, operational assets that supply contiguous worth portion advancing cleanable vigor adoption crossed emerging markets. The task is interconnected to the City Power of Johannesburg organisation web and benefits from broad instrumentality warranties that transportation with the acquisition, ensuring semipermanent show protection. The locally manufactured Freedom Won artillery strategy provides further operational advantages with established South African enactment infrastructure. Energea volition negociate the installation done Hooray Power’s operations and attraction services, providing broad monitoring, preventative attraction programs, and information protocols aligned with South African regulatory standards. India Renewable Energy Company Announces Major BESS Project Now Online. A subsidiary of India-headquartered Juniper Green Energy successful precocious January said its 100-MWh artillery vigor retention strategy (BESS) task successful Bikaner, Rajasthan, has entered afloat commercialized operation. The autarkic powerfulness shaper focused connected renewable vigor said the task is operated done subsidiary Juniper Green Cosmic. The institution successful precocious December had announced the archetypal 60 MWh of retention capableness was online. Juniper Green Energy is owned by Singapore-based household bureau AT Capital Group, and works crossed technologies including solar, wind, and vigor storage, including hybrid projects. The caller BESS is connected to the grid via the Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre, from which Juniper Green Cosmic received support aft a play of proceedings operation. The BESS exertion was supplied and integrated by Envision, a Chinese upwind turbine, vigor retention system, and integer vigor services company. Juniper said the 100-MWh BESS offers “significant imaginable for merchant gross streams,” which could see highest arbitrage done load-shifting and grid-balancing services, arsenic good arsenic ancillary services marketplace participation. Currently, ancillary services specified arsenic frequence regularisation successful India are delivered done thermal powerfulness plants; wider marketplace frameworks to let batteries to enactment are not yet open. Officials said the main opportunities for the Bikaner task look to beryllium done vigor trading and gathering the requirements of commercialized and concern energy users. Juniper Green Energy besides said it has different 400 MWh of BESS nearing completion successful Fatehgarh, besides successful Rajasthan, with commissioning owed by summer. Juniper besides said it intends to adhd artillery retention to each of its transmission system–connected star powerfulness procreation facilities. Prime Data Centers Will Expand into Finland. U.S.-based information halfway relation Prime is expanding into Finland with plans for a caller improvement extracurricular Helsinki. Officials with the metropolis of Järvenpää precocious announced Prime Data Centers would physique a information halfway successful the Vähänummi concern country successful the city. Prime is reportedly processing the task successful collaboration with its section partner, Nordic existent property capitalist Brunswick Real Estate. Officials said the planned information halfway would correspond astir a $2 cardinal investment. “We are pleased to denote the Järvenpää information halfway task and motorboat the biology interaction assessment,” said Nicholas Laag, laminitis and CEO of Prime Data Centers. Construction is expected to statesman successful 2027, taxable to the completion of the biology interaction appraisal process and the indispensable permits for the project. The task includes a program for discarded vigor betterment and imaginable transportation to the Järvenpää territory heating network. Prime’s existent portfolio is mostly centered successful the U.S. successful California, with campuses besides successful improvement successful Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona. The institution announced plans to determination into Europe successful 2023 with a three-building, 124-MW field successful Saeby, successful bluish Denmark. Another 40-MW field is successful improvement successful Madrid, Spain. Investors successful Prime Data Centers see Macquarie Capital, Ares Management, Siemens Financial Services, Snowhawk, and Nuveen. UK Renewables Operator Awards Projects successful Sicily. UK-headquartered renewable vigor radical ContourGlobal precocious awarded astir 80 MW of projects successful Italy done FerX and NZIA tenders, confirming the company’s maturation strategy successful star photovoltaic (PV) and artillery vigor retention systems (BESS). One task awarded nether the FerX tender is for a 37-MW star PV works successful Sicily, with 2 projects awarded nether the NZIA tender for a full of 43 MW. The institution said the tenders are portion of the FerX Transitional framework, a mechanics approved by the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) to enactment the improvement and operation of caller renewable vigor procreation capacity. The awarded projects originate from the LIMES portfolio, acquired by the radical successful February 2025. ContourGlobal said it plans to motorboat operation activities successful Italy this twelvemonth for caller star PV projects successful Sicily, and to proceed upgrading assets already successful its portfolio, with the purpose of doubling its installed capableness successful Italy by 2027. The institution besides expects to statesman operation of its archetypal BESS projects successful Italy this year, aft reaching 3 GW of BESS capableness successful cognition worldwide successful 2025. ContourGlobal said the institution is connected way to treble its star PV capableness successful Italy by 2027. The institution presently operates 71 plants crossed 14 regions. India Solar Energy Leader Receives Contract for Modules. GREW Solar, among the starring star powerfulness instrumentality manufacturers successful India, precocious announced it has secured a declaration from India-based vigor radical NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd. (NTPC REL) for the proviso of high-efficiency star photovoltaic (PV) modules. The institution said the bid amounts to 1,464.5 MW crossed aggregate locations successful Uttar Pradesh. The cumulative declaration is valued astatine astir $223 million, marking 1 of the largest module proviso partnerships nether NTPC REL’s existent renewable vigor program. GREW Solar said it would proviso advanced, high-efficiency star PV modules crossed aggregate sites. The institution said the task volition play a pivotal relation successful supporting NTPC REL’s renewable vigor expansion, portion advancing India’s semipermanent cleanable vigor modulation and decarbonization objectives. GREW Solar, founded successful 2022, said it wants to grow its manufacturing footprint to support gait with the rising nationalist request for high-performance star modules. The institution is presently expanding its Dudu works to 11 GW of manufacturing capacity, making it 1 of India’s largest artificial quality (AI)-powered, integrated star PV module manufacturing plants. ENGIE Completes Acquisition of BESS astatine Decommissioned Coal-Fired Plant successful Australia. France vigor elephantine ENGIE successful precocious January said the institution was taking afloat power of a 150-MW artillery vigor retention strategy (BESS) task successful Australia. ENGIE has operated the Hazelwood task for much than 2 years, and has present bought retired its insignificant spouse and task builder Eku Energy. The task astatine the tract of the erstwhile Hazelwood ember excavation and adjacent 1,600-MW coal-fired powerfulness plant, which was closed successful 2017, came online successful 2023. Eku Energy is simply a battery-focused spinoff of Macquarie Group. ENGIE said it apt volition grow the tract with a 2nd battery. The institution is presently gathering its 2nd large artillery project, the 200-MW, two-hour duration Pelican Point portion successful South Australia, adjacent to a ample earthy gas–fired powerfulness station. The institution said it besides plans much large-scale BESS projects, on with respective star and upwind powerfulness installations. Eku continues to run the 200-MW, two-hour duration Rangebank installation successful Victoria successful Australia, and has announced plans for astatine slightest different 8 units successful Australia and New Zealand. Eku said it wants to absorption connected projects wherever the institution would beryllium the bulk proprietor and operator. —Darrell Proctor is simply a elder exertion for POWER.