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Boston company cancels 468 MW Cape Wind project
 Boston-based Energy Management Inc has cancelled the offshore wind development lease for its 468-MW Cape Wind project off Massachusetts, according to a statement quoted by the media.

The company has informed the US Department of the Interior (DOI) that it will no longer be using its permit for the project. The lease was issued in 2010.

The 130-turbine Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound has been under development since 2001 and was expected to be the country’s first offshore wind farm. Multiple lawsuits delayed the project significantly, leading to the termination of power purchase agreements with NStar and National Grid (LON:NG) in early 2015.

In April 2016, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board denied the project developer's request to extend to May 1, 2017 the permits for subsea and onshore transmission lines. Later that year, the company dropped its appeal to the state's Supreme Judicial Court for a reversal of the rejection.

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Output: Energy Management has ended its 468 MW Cape Wind offshore project. The Boston-based firm told the US Department of the Interior (DOI) that it will no longer be using its lease, which was issued in 2010. The 130-turbine scheme in the Nantucket Sound has been under development since 2001. It was delayed by several lawsuits, which led to the cancellation of power purchase agreements with NStar and National Grid two years ago. In 2016, the Massachusetts Facilities Siting Board turned down the developer's request to extend permits for transmission lines, a decision that was upheld on appeal.


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Naval Energies cuts staff in shift to priority projects
 Naval Energies, a subsidiary of France's Naval Group, has confirmed it plans to reduce its headcount by about 100 jobs as it aims to focus resources on the highest-priority projects in tidal energy, floating wind and ocean thermal energy conversion.

The staff reduction will be implemented in the first half of 2018 and is expected to be evenly split between France and Ireland. In France some employees have already returned to Naval Group, the company said. Naval Energies' subsidiary OpenHydro, a tidal energy specialist, is based in Ireland.

The refocusing of resources comes as the marine renewable energy market is progressing more slowly than originally foreseen, the company explains and adds that this delay "is also linked to a lack of visibility of the political will of certain states, including France."

In an e-mailed statement, Naval Energies further said that its most advanced product is the tidal turbine. "Today, our priority is to ensure the success of our demonstration projects in Canada and Japan, and prepare the ramping up of the Normandie Hydro project in the Raz Blanchard," it says. According to the company, these projects will allow it to validate both its technology and economic model.

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Output: Naval Energies is to axe about 100 jobs as it focuses its resources on key projects in tidal energy, floating wind and ocean thermal energy conversion. The job cuts will take place in the first half of next year and be evenly split between France, where some staff have already returned to owner Naval Group, and Ireland, where its subsidiary OpenHydro is based. The company said its most advanced product is a tidal turbine.


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Snapchat claims they can command $1m a day for 3D branded AR images
 Snapchat’s 3-D augmented reality lenses are the newest marketing ploy that allows people to put virtual avatars or Bitmojis in a real-life setting. Brands like Budweiser, BMW and this month, McDonald’s have tested this AR development.

The AR lenses are not cheap — and Snapchat seems to be aggressively selling them to holding group agencies, claiming its AR technology is among the best, according to conversations with six ad buyers. How media agencies buy 3-D lenses and what they pay for them varies widely because pricing depends on factors like targeting criteria and when an AR lens goes live: One ad buyer from a major media shop said an AR lens typically costs between $500,000 and $1 million per day. This executive’s team recently paid over $700,000 for a branded 3-D lens for one day.

“Since the AR lens is a premium product, we typically support that with other types of ads on Snapchat,” said this person. “Snapchat has a rate card, but there are a million ways that advertisers can negotiate the price.”

The New York-based executive added that in the sales pitch, Snapchat’s senior leadership believes “AR is the next internet,” so a brand of the future needs to have an AR presence. “Snapchat highlights that it has superior AR tech in its sales pitch,” said this person. “Snapchat positions AR lenses as a standalone media buy — they are Snapchat’s most expensive [ad] product at the moment.”

Another holding group agency executive has a different experience. This executive said Snapchat didn’t pitch 3-D lenses as a standalone ad offering in its sales pitch — instead, Snapchat added them to a holistic media-buying plan. “We usually take an audience-first approach instead of one ad unit planning,” said this person.

While James Douglas, svp and executive director of social media for IPG Mediabrands-owned Society, said his clients typically make a big media commitment with Snapchat — some sign an annual media contract — with Snapchat Ads at the core and stickers and lenses as value-add placements.

It’s all about media negotiations, he said. For instance, if an insurance company that usually doesn’t think about Snapchat wants to get 20-year-olds to consider their 401(k) in one Snapchat campaign, Snapchat may charge $300,000 a day for a 3-D lens because the brand is unlikely to be a long-term client, according to Douglas.

“If it’s a well-known consumer packaged goods company, Snapchat may quote $200,000 for an AR lens, but not on a premium day,” he said. “Snapchat is very flexible to negotiate media investments with agencies, and I like that.”

A Snapchat spokesperson said $300,000 is the base price for a 3-D lens that can run for up to 12 months. But the final price an advertiser would pay depends on if it’s a national takeover on a premium day or if it’s a targeted audience lens priced on impressions.

“If a brand paid $750,000 for a day, it has been a holiday nationwide takeover where advertisers can reach up to 30 million unique people and 65 million impressions,” said the spokesperson. “On average, [effective] CPM for [3-D] lenses is between $8 and $20. This is lower than almost all premium video content on large platforms.”

For now, AR lenses — like standard lenses — are mostly manual ad buys, with agencies giving Snapchat ad assets and Snapchat doing the engineering. The entire lens development process can take up to six weeks, ad buyers said. But as Snap CEO Evan Spiegel mentioned in the company’s earnings call in November, Snapchat is testing a self-serve toolkit called Lens Studio with select brands. The New York-based executive’s team is in the pilot program, and this person said with the self-serve platform, advertisers can upload creative assets online and create an AR lens on their own in about an hour.

“Snapchat only offers the AR toolkit to a small number of top advertisers at the moment,” said this executive. “Snapchat plans to roll it out free of charge in the near future.”

Douglas said conversations with his Snapchat reps suggest the platform has worked aggressively on moving ad inventory to programmatic buying, with Snapchat Ads — a vertical video ad format — being the fundamental ad placement.

“In addition to Snapchat Ads, the platform is also moving filters, stickers and AR lenses into an actionable bidding environment,” said Douglas. “Those ad offerings need to grow and expand.”

Although Snapchat AR lenses are not cheap, advertisers interviewed for this story believe engagement with the lenses is high, and Snapchat offers brand lift studies to quantify brand awareness.

“We justify our ad spend [on 3-D lenses] because we see millions of people often use the lens and share it with their friends. People are 100 percent engaged with the brand — that type of engagement is valuable,” said the New York-based executive. “But most clients haven’t bought into the idea that everyone needs an AR lens yet. After all, those lenses don’t drive sales.”

Output: Snapchat can reportedly charge advertisers $1m a day for one of its augmented reality (AR) lenses -- digital images placed within its real-time videos. While one ad buyer said a branded 3D lens costs between $500,000 and $1m a day, Snapchat said its base price was $300,000. Final prices are dependent on factors such as whether the image is targeted at a specific audience, how long it runs and the nature of the impression. Advertisers can justify the cost because engagement with the lenses is high, according to a New York-based ad buyer.


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Brazil pledges $154m to Amazon solar projects
 The Brazilian development agency for the Amazonas Basin, the Superintendência do Desenvolvimento da Amazônia (SUDAM), and the Ministry of National Integration of Brazil, to which the agency is linked, have announced that the funds, Fundos Constitucionais do Norte (FNO) and Fundo de Desenvolvimento da Amazônia (FDA) will grant loans to private individuals who want to carry out solar energy projects.

According to SUDAM’s statement, the funds will be used to finance residential solar projects under net metering in the nine states of the Amazon Basin. A total of 500 million BRL (US$154.3 million) will be available in 2018 to finance these projects, according to the local portal Veja, which also reveals that the loans will be granted by the local banks Banco da Amazônia, Banco do Nordeste and Bank of Brazil.

The Minister of National Integration, Helder Barbalho, described the measure as “a fundamental achievement of an extraordinary social impact.”

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The current coverage area of the Legal Amazon, which accounts for approximately 59% of Brazil's total area, covers the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins and part of the states of Mato Grosso, Maranhão and Goiás. Around 55% of the indigenous population of the country reside in these states.

Output: Brazil has pledged BRL500m ($154m) towards residential solar projects in the Amazon basin next year. Development agency Superintendência do Desenvolvimento da Amazônia (SUDAM) and the Ministry of National Integration of Brazil said that loans will be granted to individuals who want to build solar energy projects in the nine states of the so-called Amazônia Legal. These will be backed by local banks Banco da Amazônia, Bank of Brazil and Banco de Nordeste. Helder Barbalho, minister of national integration, said the scheme should have "extraordinary social impact".


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JinkoSolar to start 2018 as world's largest PV module supplier
 JinkoSolar shipped 2,374 MW of modules in Q3, cementing the firm's market leadership position as it prepares for 2018.

The third quarter (Q3) financial results from JinkoSolar were largely unsurprising, confirming that the Chinese Tier-1 solar firm will head – as expected – into 2018 as the largest supplier of modules globally.

Rather than dwell on a 19% sequential contraction of revenues (down to $964.8 million in Q3) due to a 17.7% drop in module shipments (which fell from 2,884 MW in Q2 to 2,374 MW in Q3), JinkoSolar’s CEO Kangping Chen was instead eager to talk about the firm’s technological progress.

As stressed earlier this year in an interview with pv magazine, JinkoSolar is ramping up its half-cut cell production series, and is also pouring vast amounts of investment and energy into developing bifacial n-type cells and optimizing its mono wafer costs via diamond wire manufacturing techniques.

“We will continue to allocate resources towards innovating new and exciting solar technologies to strengthen our leading position in the market,” Chen said, hinting that JinkoSolar’s devotion to developing new technology will take priority over market expansion in the short term.

Despite the expected quarter-over-quarter contraction, this year’s Q3 figures were vastly healthier than last year’s. Revenue was 20.4% higher and module shipments 47.8% higher. The company was also able to increase its gross margin slightly – from 10.5% in Q2 to 12% in Q3 – having scaled back its use of OEM manufacturers and initiated a series of cost-cutting measures.

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Gross profit, however, was a little skinnier for the quarter, down to $116.1 million on the back of tumbling module average selling prices (ASPs) – balanced out by a fall in shipping costs.

On the market front, the CEO said that JinkoSolar will continue to monitor events in the U.S. closely, stressing that whatever the outcome of the Section 201 case the company “strongly believes in the U.S. market’s long-term growth trajectory”. Effusive words also came the way of India, Europe, Latin America and the MENA region.

On the capacity front, JinkoSolar ended the quarter with production capacities of 7 GW, 4.5 GW and 8 GW for wafer, cells and modules respectively. In Q4, the company is forecasting module shipments of between 2.3 GW to 2.5 GW, and is poised to end the year having shipped between 9.6 GW and 9.8 GW – approximately 10% of the global market share.

Output: China's JinkoSolar will head into 2018 as the market leader in photovoltaic (PV) modules after it posted strong Q3 results. While QoQ revenue contracted 19% as module shipments declined, YoY revenues increased by 20.4% as module shipments surged by 47.8%. Gross margin rose from 10.5% in Q2 to 12% in Q3. JinkoSolar is ramping up its half-cut cell production series, and is investing heavily in developing bifacial n-type cells and optimising its mono wafer costs via diamond wire manufacturing techniques, it said.


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Indian rooftop solar capacity surges 82% in 2017 to 1.9 GW
 As of September 2017, India's total PV rooftop capacity stood at 1,861 MW, according to Bridge to India. The analyst company has estimated that India will install 10.8 GW rooftop by 2021.

Indian solar market analyst Bridge to India has released the latest edition of its infographic report, ‘India Solar Rooftop Map’. As per the report, India added new rooftop solar capacity of 840 MW in the last 12 months ending September 2017, at y-o-y growth of 82%. The company has estimated growth with Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 77% for the next four years. As things stand, the total installed capacity as of September 2017 stood at 1,861 MW.

The rooftop PV report has highlighted that commercial and industrial (C&I) consumers remain the biggest consumer segment, accounting for 63% of total capacity and 66% of new capacity added in the last 12 months. Capacity additions in this segment grew 86% in the last 12 months.

The residential market, in contrast, grew at a more sedate pace of 45%. However, the major disappointment comes from the low uptake in the public sector, which added just 173 MW in the last 12 months against Bridge to India’s estimate of 200 MW.

Speaking at the launch of the infograph, Vinay Rustagi, MD of Bridge to India, said: “Rooftop solar has been growing robustly. Debt and equity financing is also flowing more freely now, but it is still abundantly clear that the 40 GW target for March 2022 is highly unrealistic. The government would be particularly disappointed by the slow pace of capacity additions in the public-sector segment despite providing a strong mandate and 25% capital subsidy. Net metering progress also remains patchy at best.”

Contributors

According to Bridge to India research, OPEX market share has increased to 30% (10% increase from last year). Among the power developers, CleanMax (Mumbai-headquartered, 15.8%), Cleantech Solar (Singapore-based, 15%) and Amplus Solar (Gurugram-based, 9.5%) are the clear leaders in OPEX project development category.

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Delta (Taiwan-headquartered) and SMA (Germany-headquartered) have maintained their dominance in the inverter market covering 50% of the share, followed by KACO (Germany), which covers 6.5% market. One of India’s biggest solar companies, Tata Power Solar remains the biggest EPC contractor in rooftop solar with 6.2% market coverage.

According to the report, Maharashtra, the western state of India, has overtaken Tamil Nadu state in the south to become the largest solar rooftop state in India. As of September 2017, Maharashtra has installed 237 MW compared to 191 MW in Tamil Nadu. The two states are followed by Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Gujarat, which have rooftop PV capacities of 129 MW, 125MW and 103 MW installation respectively.

Bridge to India’s revised estimate for expected capacity additions in 2017 is 887 MW, 28% lower than its previous estimation. Following the slower growth, the research and consultancy firm has revised downwards its projections for the next five years, with total estimated capacity additions of 10.8 GW by 2021 (down 18% over consultancy’s previous estimate, that is, 13.2 GW) expected. The estimation is 73% short of India's 40 GW rooftop PV target.

Output: India had installed a total 1,861 GW in rooftop solar power capacity by September, according to market analyst Bridge to India, with 2017 additions rising 82% YoY to 840 MW. Commercial and industrial buyers accounted for 63% after expanding 66% in the year to September, while the residential market grew 45%, the India Solar Rooftop Map report stated. The public sector fell short of expectations, adding 173 MW of solar power compared with Bridge to India's forecast of 200 MW. Installations are expected to grow an annual 77% over the next four years.


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France reduces grid fees for small renewable energy generators
 France’s Ministry Of Ecological and Solidary Transition (MTES) has issued a new decree that introduces a significant reduction of the grid fees for renewable energy power generators with a capacity of up to 5 MW.

According to the new provisions, which came into effect on December 4, the grid fee for PV installations not exceeding 100 kVa will be lowered by 40%, while those for solar power generators ranging in size from 100 kVa to 5 MW will be lowered between zero to 40% depending on the project size. The fee reduction will be applied to all PV projects, including installations under self-consumption and projects selected in the government’s tenders, Samy Engelstein of French renewable energy association SER told pv magazine.

“This,” Engelstein stressed, “makes projects under 5 MW more attractive, as there will be a significant improvement of their economic balance. In certain cases, it can be a key point to make the project profitable.”

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France is currently supporting residential and commercial PV through regulation for self-consumption and a three-year tender for rooftop PV installations above 100 kW in size. In the first two rounds of the tender, approximately 300 MW of PV capacity was allocated. The government expects developers to install 1,45 GW of PV through the three-year tender, which is open to rooftop PV systems installed on buildings, greenhouses, agricultural facilities and carports.

Output: France is lowering its grid fees for solar power projects of 5 MW or below, giving a boost to residential and commercial instalments. The grid fee for solar installations under 100 kVA has dropped by 40%, while schemes producing from 100 kVA to 5 MW will be lowered between 0% and 40%, depending on project size. The fee reductions will be applied to all solar schemes, including those under self-consumption and projects chosen in government tenders.


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Switzerland to replace solar feed-in tariffs with rebate scheme
 Switzerland’s regulatory framework for the promotion of PV will change starting in 2018. According to the Swiss Photovoltaic Association Swissolar, the current FIT scheme (KEV) for residential and commercial PV will be replaced with a rebate scheme (EIV).

From 2018, FITs will be paid only to projects that were registered for a FIT contract before mid-2012. All other PV systems will be funded through the EIV, which will guarantee a maximum of 30% of the investment costs, according to Swissolar.

With these new provisions, the number of supported projects could considerably increase. So far, the investment subsidy has been paid only for PV systems not exceeding 30 kW in size.

In recent years, a huge waiting list has been set up under the FIT scheme in the Alpine Republic. According to Swissolar, it contains around 38,000 PV projects, which are now being treated preferentially in the payment of the EIV. New applicants would, therefore, have to be patient, with projects up to 100 kW having to wait about 2.5 years.

However, these systems could already be installed without the commitment of the funding agency, according to Swissolar. For PV systems over 100 kW, the waiting period may be of more than six years. According to the association, there is no financial risk for the investors in both cases, as the payment of contributions is guaranteed by law.

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In addition, the new regulations will in the future allow collective projects for self-consumption. The simplified scheme also allows higher self-consumption rates, which makes these models more economically interesting for multi-family houses and commercial real estate, said Swissolar.

The calculation for the remuneration of surplus solar power, which continues to be fed into the grid despite optimized self-consumption, is newly regulated in the law. In many distribution areas, an increase in these “return rates” is to be expected.

In Switzerland, power providers set these tariffs for their areas independently, which is why they have differed widely regionally so far. According to reports from the Swiss Association of Independent Energy Producers (VESE), this year's average was 0.09 CHF (US€0.0855) per kWh. However, tariffs ranged from 0.04 CHF to 0.14 CHF per kWh.

Output: Switzerland is to replace feed-in tariffs (FIT) for solar projects with a rebate system. From 2018, FITs for commercial and residential solar energy will only be paid out to projects registered before mid-2012. All other schemes will receive funding through the rebate programme, which guarantees up to 30% of investment costs, Swissolar said. The changes mean the number of funded photovoltaic projects could rise considerably. Up to now, the subsidy had only covered projects not exceeding 30 kW.


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US 9-month solar output rose 47% in 2017: DOE
 The EIA’s Monthly Energy Review for December 2017 shows coal generation falling 1.5% in the first nine months of the year versus the first nine months of 2016.

By Mark Burger

The latest Electric Power Monthly by the U.S. Energy Information Agency shows solar PV continuing its impressive growth, generating 47% more electricity from January through September 2017 than the same time period in 2016.

Every state in the U.S. increased its output from solar, from South Dakota, the only remaining state that did not generate more than 1,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) or one gigawatt-hour (GWh) in the nine month period, to perennial PV giant California.

California, with its 24,877,000 MWh, more than laps the field over next place Arizona, with 4,593,000 MWh. However, as PV output growth across the U.S. accelerates, the Golden State’s share of PV generation, shrank from 48% in 2016 to 43% in 2017. Rounding out the top 10 generators are North Carolina, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas, Massachusetts, Georgia, Utah and Colorado.

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Of those top 10 states, Georgia had the highest year to year percentage growth, increasing 186% from 2016 to 2017, followed by Texas with 165% and Utah with 123%. Other states that made impressive percentage and quantity growth gains in the same time period are Minnesota, Idaho, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi.

In market segment terms, utility scale growth was twice as high, increasing 58% from 2016 to 2017, as small scale at 29%. The residential sector increased by 32% year-over-year, while the smaller sectors, commercial and industrial each grew 23%. Overall, PV continues its climb of market share of total electricity generated, going from 1.3% from January through September 2016 to 1.9% in the same time period in 2017.

Output: US solar output has risen 47% this year through September, according to the Department of Energy. Every state increased its solar output, including South Dakota – the only state to generate less than 1,000 MWh over the period – and photovoltaic giant California, which produced 24,877,000 MWh. Overall, solar made up 1.9% of total US energy production between January and September, up from 1.3% over the same period in 2016, the report showed.


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Ystrategies launches wind-turbine energy optimiser WindWISDEM
 US venture capital firm Ystrategies Corp (OTCMKTS:YSTR) announced today it has launched a startup that offers a cloud computing platform for wind farm performance optimisation.

The new company, called WindWISDEM Corp, is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is an expert in identifying cooperative action among multiple wind turbines by applying physics-based algorithms against unpredictable wind data. The advantages include reducing risk while increasing power production.

The team behind the startup is focused on the development, deployment and integration of advanced, proprietary cloud computing software systems and their application to wind farms, the venture capital firm noted.

Ystrategies has made an initial investment of USD 350,000 (EUR 296,000) in WindWISDEM to jump-start its commercialisation. The latter expects to introduce a Phase 1 system with customers in the second quarter of 2018.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.846)

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Output: US venture capital firm Ystrategies has launched WindWISDEM, a start-up that uses algorithms to calculate how to optimise energy output from wind turbines under different weather conditions. The cloud-based platform also helps reduce risks to turbines. Ystrategies made an initial investment of $350,000 in the start-up and expects to roll out a first-phase version to customers next year.


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Silfab Solar, Morgan to develop cheap low-silicon PV modules
 High-efficiency PV module manufacturer and distributer, Silfab Solar, a subsidiary of Italy’s Silfab S.r.l., has partnered with Morgan Solar Inc. to develop and mass produce solar PV modules for large commercial and utility-scale projects in the North American market.

The integration of advanced low concentration optics into standard PV modules, using standard manufacturing processes, is said to use “significantly less” silicon, while electrical output remains at a similar level.

In the new modules, which are currently being manufactured for test projects expected to be rolled out next year, 62% less silicon is being used, John Paul Morgan, CTO of Morgan Solar tells pv magazine in an interview. This could go up to 80%, he says.

Performance will be slightly reduced, he adds, but will pale in comparison to the cost savings. “Reduced cells and silicon use per-module can reduce overall module costs by as much as 30 percent,” said the two companies in a statement released earlier.

Current global average module prices for utility-scale are around $0.31 to $0.32/W, Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Jenny Chase recently told pv magazine. With limited movement on polysilicon prices in H1 2018, market leaders will see H1 prices of around $0.33/W (Based on 10% gross margin), and $0.30/W by mid-year.

Large-scale expansion

Around 10 MW of modules will be produced at Silfab’s Mississauga facility, located just outside of Toronto, for test projects in 2018. However, by 2019, “hundreds of megawatts” are expected to be manufactured, with this ramping up in 2020, if broader market acceptance occurs.

Currently Silfab’s production capacity is around 350 MW, with the company having ramped up from 180 MW in 2015. Morgan says this is being almost fully utilized, with the production of smart module technology, glass on glass solutions and bifacial modules.

To accommodate the expansion, therefore, Morgan says Silfab is currently investing in a “fairly significant” production facility expansion. He declined to go into specifics, and Silfab Solar could not be reached for comment.

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Morgan goes on to explain that the technology has been specifically designed to require the “bare minimum” in terms of modifications to standard solar module production lines.

A slicing step has been added, as the slices of cells are narrower – a ¼ cell or smaller is used, although the technology is also compatible with half-cut cells, explains Morgan – and, on the back of this narrower cell, the stringer needs to be modified.

As such, says Morgan, an investment in the hundreds of thousands would be needed to ramp up existing facilities for a large production volume of the new modules.

Morgan Solar is the developer of the SimbaX CPV module and Savanna dual-axis PV tracker. The company recently received CA$3.7 million investment from the Canadian government through the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) for development of both the SimbaX panel and its the translucent SPOTlight panel.

To date, says Morgan, tens of millions have been invested in the technology.

He adds the partnership arose after Morgan Solar made the decision two years that if it was to develop a low cost solar technology that could compete with silicon PV, it would need to use existing manufacturing facilities, as opposed to building its own.

Morgan says there is a “natural fit” between Silfab and Morgan Solar, which have worked together in the past on tracker projects.

The article was modified on December 5 to include comment by Morgan Solar; and on December 6 to remove information relating to the ongoing U.S. trade case, as a final decision is still to be made.

Output: Canadian companies Silfab Solar and Morgan Solar JV are to develop low-cost photovoltaic (PV) modules for North American commercial users. The pair plan to integrate low-concentration optic technology into standard solar PV modules. The technique is expected to reduce the amount of silicon needed by as much as 80% and cut costs by about 30%.


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First Solar debuts large-format modules for mass production
 First Solar marked a major milestone in its re-tooling towards producing large-format modules today, with the production of its first Series 6 module on new production lines at the company’s factory in Ohio.

The 1.2 x 2 meter modules are expected to become commercially available at 420-445 watts with efficiencies of over 17%, which is a testament to the thin film solar maker’s remarkable progress with cadmium telluride PV.

The retooling in Perrysburg began a year ago and has represented roughly $177 million in investment; when the retooling at First Solar’s much larger factory in Malaysia is complete the cost will be around $1.4 billion dollars.

First Solar expects to begin full-scale commercial production of Series 6 in Ohio in 2018, and to reach 600 MW-DC annually at this factory.

Concurrent with this milestone, First Solar has announced that it will not only be expanding its facilities in Vietnam to double the originally planned production capacity to 2.4 GW-DC annually. The twin factories in Vietnam are expected to begin production in late 2018 and early 2019.

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Altogether, this means that with both its current Series 4 and the new Series 6, First Solar expects to have around 3 GW of annual capacity in 2018, 5 GW in 2019 and 5.7 GW in 2020.

And there is no shortage of demand for the new product, especially given the exemption for thin-film PV under the Section 201 case. First Solar announced two deals, a 595 MW supply arrangement for a combination of its smaller-format Series 4 and Series 6 with Origis Energy and a 200 MW Series 6 deal with D.E. Shaw.

The Origis deal will run from this month through 2020, and First Solar will supply Series 6 to D.E. Shaw in 2019. All are destined for projects in the United States.

Update: This article was updated at 1:03 pm EST on 12/05/17 to put the retooling of First Solar’s Malaysia factory at a more precise $1.4 billion.

Output: First Solar has debuted large-format Series 6 modules that are expected to be made available at 420-445 W, with efficiencies of more than 17%. The company hopes to start full-scale commercial production of the two-metre units at its Ohio plant next year. First Solar also announced that it plans to double its production capacity at its two Vietnamese sites.


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China's Longi Solar claims PERC cell energy efficiency record
 Chinese solar manufacturer Longi Solar announced it has achieved an 82.15% bifaciality world record for its bifacial PERC monocrystalline cell, dubbed Hi-MO2. The company said the result was confirmed by China’s National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Products Quality (CPVT).

Bifaciality is commonly defined as the ratio of the output measured from the rearside of a cell over the output measured from its front side. According to Longi, the bifaciality of standard bifacial PERC solar in the market is currently around 75%.

Longi further said its bifacial PERC cell, in mass production, has a conversion efficiency of around 21.2%. “If the backside power yield increases the overall module efficiency by 10%, the power of bifacial PERC module can reach 330 watts for 60-cell module (300 watts from the front side), and 396 watts for 72-cell module (360 watts from the front side),” the company asserted in a statement released.

The company also claims that it offers more resistance to PID thanks to its double glass lamination, and that its average annual degradation is below 0.45% for 30 years and under 2% in the first year of its lifetime.

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In late October, Longi announced a 22.71% efficiency for its monocrystalline passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells. The company will start manufacturing its 22.0% PERC cells by the end 2017.

It expects its module power rating to be between 340 W and 345 W for a 60-cell panel format, and its PERC cell to surpass a conversion efficiency of 23.0% at some point in the “near future.”

Output: Chinese solar panel maker Longi Solar said it has set a record for the efficiency of a bifacial solar cell. Test results on its product, called a bifacial passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) cell, were backed by China’s National Center of Supervision and Inspection on Solar Photovoltaic Products Quality. Longi said the rear side of its bifacial module achieved 82.15% of the front side, compared with an industry standard of about 75%.


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Redrow Redrow third in this year’s NextGeneration Sustainability Benchmark
 Redrow, the leading UK housebuilder, has risen to third in this year’s NextGeneration Sustainability Benchmark – an independent, industry-specific initiative which benchmarks the sustainability performance of the UK’s top 25 housebuilders.

The 2017 NextGeneration Benchmark report rigorously evaluates the annual progress the homebuilding sector has made in delivering sustainable development, while highlighting best-in-class performance within the industry. Having received a Gold Award last year, Redrow’s move up the league table of housebuilders, from fourth place to third, shows the business’ sustainability strategy is delivering real social and environmental value.

Redrow’s ethos is based on creating thriving communities by building responsibly and valuing people. The housebuilder utilises its placemaking design principles to ensure social, environmental and economic aspects are incorporated into its developments. This includes communities, such as Colindale Gardens in North London, that will offer a wide range of local amenities for residents, including nine acres of dedicated open space, a new school and improved transport facilities.

In 2017 alone, the housebuilder invested £163million into community development, planted over 5,600 trees and 50% of its homes were built on brownfield land. In addition, 97% of Redrow developments are built within 500 metres of public transport.

Robert Macdiarmid, Group Sustainability Director at Redrow, said:

“We work hard to ensure that our developments are thriving communities with space and facilities to enable residents to connect with one another and the wider community. We also recognise the importance of designing places where people can play, get active and spend time in green space and nature, helping them to live happier, healthier lifestyles. We are proud of the work the business has done to rise to third place in this year’s NextGeneration Sustainability Benchmark. However, we are not going to rest on our laurels. Next year we will work even harder to become recognised as the UK’s leading sustainable housebuilder.”

Redrow places a premium on building sustainably. Over 90% of materials and subcontractors are sourced and employed locally to development, 99.9% of the timber in Redrow’s homes is responsibly sourced and the business works tirelessly to ensure that as little construction waste as possible ends up in landfill – in 2017 95% was recycled or diverted for other uses. The business is also actively nurturing the next generation of construction industry employees and 15% of its workforce are classed as trainees.

Output: Redrow has come third in the 2017 NextGeneration Sustainability Benchmark, which evaluates sustainable development among the top 25 UK housebuilders. The report evaluates the yearly progress the sector has made in sustainable development and also highlights best-in-class performance. This year, Redrow invested £163m ($218m) in community development and built 50% of its homes on brownfield land. The vast majority (97%) of its sites were built within 500 metres of public transport. Meanwhile, more than 90% of materials and subcontractors were sourced and employed locally to respective developments.


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South African wind, solar strategy 10% cheaper than coal, nuclear
 A least-cost electricity mix based on renewables may be between 10% and 30% cheaper than business-as-usual with new coal and new nuclear. This is the main conclusion of a new study conducted by Jonas Hörsch, a researcher from Germany’s Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies at the Goethe-University Frankfurt.

In the study, Hörsch has compared the total system cost for different electricity mixes in the South African electricity system for various input assumptions for the future cost of wind, solar PV and batteries, and has compared these costs with those included in the projections of the 2016 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Draft, the expansion plan for the South African power system until 2050, which was released in November.

When it was unveiled, the IRP was criticized for the new annual build-limits for solar PV and wind imposed by the South African government. At the time, the local solar association claimed that the capping of solar and wind development was artificial and cost-ineffective, and did not reflect the real potential that solar technology can play. At the time, South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) had also stressed how cost reductions of wind and solar technologies combined with the large wind and solar resources in the country made it uneconomical to build any further coal or nuclear power generators.

CSIR experts claimed that the power-system reliability of South Africa could be achieved on the back of wind, solar PV and flexible power generators at 10-20% costs lower than in the base case sketched by the Department of Energy in the IRP.

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According to Hörsch, the findings of the CSIR model, which did not take into account the influence of the additional wind and solar PV generators on the transmission network, can be confirmed even when grid investments are taken into account. “Even in the worst case,” Hörsch stressed, “assuming that the cost of renewables and batteries will not further reduce from today until 2050 at all, the wind and solar PV mix is still 10% cheaper than business-as-usual.”

If built, Hörsch went on to say, new coal and nuclear power plants will increase the total power system costs, and “would hence have to be cross-subsidized by the rest of the power system or by the taxpayers”.

South Africa’s PV capacity reached 1,474 MW at the end of December 2016, while wind power generation capacity topped 1,460 MW, according to a report released by the CSIR.

Output: A mix of solar and wind power combined with battery storage would be at least 10% cheaper than a combination of coal and nuclear power plants in South Africa, according to a study by the Goethe-University Frankfurt. It added weight to a study last year by South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which suggested renewable energy would be between 10% and 20% more cost-effective than what had been laid out in a 2016 Integrated Resource Plan. That proposal had come under fire for imposing caps on the building of solar and wind plants.


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Sirin Labs signs Lionel Messi as blockchain ambassador
 SIRIN LABS, developer of the SOLARIN ultra-secure mobile phone, announced today that it has signed Barcelona star Lionel Messi as its brand ambassador. The company seeks to raise awareness of Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term technology through an affiliation with the soccer legend.

SIRIN LABS has recently revealed an all-in-one PC for the blockchain generation and the crypto crowd. The company's line of blockchain-based products and services is mainly aimed at the existing cryptocurrency community. As such, the team is betting heavily on the market opportunity offered by Messi's legions of fans, although many of them may not have heard of the blockchain revolution.

Trailing just behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo "the Flea" Messi's posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are worth an estimated $500,000 each, giving him one the most valuable profiles of any athlete.

While some, out of curiosity, are speculating how much the deal cost SIRIN LABS, the firm has not revealed an exact figure. Others may wonder at the rationale behind spending big money to sign the Argentinian footballer, who is widely considered the world’s best.

Messi is joining the blockchain revolution as @SIRINLABS ambassador! Crazy fun times Big honor for us to partner up with him pic.twitter.com/vrp4AzGTuj — Moshe Hogeg (@moshehogeg) ٧ ديسمبر، ٢٠١٧

Moshe Hogeg, founder and CEO of SIRIN LABS, indicated that his firm wants to secure a long-term partnership with the world’s top-rated footballer.

In turn, Leo Messi wrote on his Facebook page that he is happy to join the SIRIN LABS project as an ambassador to "make blockchain more accessible through its next operating system for smartphones!"

He added in a promotional post: "I am usually busy trying to decentralize defenses and after digging deeper into Blockchain and decentralized systems, I'm excited to join SIRIN LABS as an ambassador to make blockchain more friendly with their upcoming operating system for smartphones!"

SIRIN LABS was in the news this year when it released its crowdsale event to support the development of FINNEY, an open source, secure smartphone and all-in-one PC, that runs on a fee-less blockchain.

The FINNEY devices will run on a SIRIN LABS operating system that will be designed to support crypto-related applications, such as wallets, secure Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term access, encrypted communications, and a P2P resource sharing ecosystem for payment and apps, all supported by the SRN token. The SRN token will be the network’s default currency and only SRN token holders will be able to purchase FINNEY devices.

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All the devices will form an independent blockchain network, a distributed ledger that is scalable and lightweight, powered by IOTA’s Tangle technology. According to the developers, it will be free of centralized backbones or mining centers, and capable of providing fast, fee-less and secure transactions

Output: Sirin Labs has signed Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi as a brand ambassador to boost blockchain awareness. Sirin Labs's line of blockchain-based products, including the ultra-secure Solarin mobile phone, is targeted at the existing cryptocurrency community. The company is hoping Messi, one of the most valuable athletes on social media whose posts have an estimated value of $500,000 each, will help it tap the large market opportunity of people who have not yet heard of blockchain.


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Ford's autonomous vehicle will be 'commercial grade'
 Ford revealed more details about the design of its upcoming self-driving car, which is expected to enter production in 2021 (but don't be surprised if it doesn't). The automaker previously said the car would use a dedicated platform and hybrid powertrain, and would be built with ride-sharing in mind. But it now appears the car will be very heavily focused on fleet use.

In a Medium post, Ford executive vice president Jim Farley said the company's first self-driving car will be "commercial grade." Similar to a police car, the autonomous vehicle will have certain components like the brakes upgraded to handle more strenuous duty cycles and higher mileage than comparable passenger-car components, Farley said.

That makes sense for a car used in ride-sharing services, since that work puts it under basically the same stress as a taxi. But this car won't necessarily be just a robotic Crown Victoria. Farley hinted that fleet use could involve jobs besides carrying passengers, referencing a test of autonomous pizza delivery vehicles conducted with Domino's as an area the Blue Oval wants to investigate further.

Farley also discussed the need for self-driving cars to communicate with human beings. Ford got a lot of attention when it dressed a man up as a car seat to test different ways for self-driving cars to signal pedestrians, and customers received voice instructions from the autonomous Domino's delivery vehicles in order to get their pizzas. Farley emphasized the need for systems like these, so it's possible that future Ford self-driving cars will "talk" to people.

As previously discussed by Ford, the self-driving car will feature a hybrid powertrain. This not only reduces emissions but also provides the necessary electrical power for the array of sensors and computers that make autonomous driving possible. Ford currently uses a fleet of Fusion Hybrids as autonomous test mules.

Output: Ford's next autonomous car will be built with ride-sharing in mind, and will be "commercial grade", according to Ford executive vice president Jim Farley. The company anticipates that production will begin in 2021. The new vehicle is expected to be capable of higher mileage than normal passenger vehicles, and will have the capacity to signal its next movements to pedestrians.


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Half of EU coal plants are not profitable
 Coal phase-out by 2030 could cut utility losses by €22 billion

LONDON, December 8 – More than half of all coal plants in the EU are loss-making, rising to 97% by 2030, finds a Carbon Tracker report launched today. It warns investors that utilities currently only plan to close 27% of capacity by then and that a complete phase-out of coal by 2030 could stem utility losses by €22 billion ($26bn).

Forthcoming air quality standards and carbon prices are pushing up coal operating costs while clean technology costs continue to fall. The report finds that building new onshore wind and solar PV projects will be cheaper than operating existing coal plants by 2024 and 2027 respectively.

“The changing economics of renewables, as well as air pollution policy and rising carbon prices, has put EU coal power in a death spiral. Utilities can’t do much to stop this other than drop coal or lobby governments and hope they will bail them out.” Matt Gray, Carbon Tracker analyst and co-author of the report

Carbon Tracker analysed the profitability of every coal unit in the EU to look at the financial implications of a coal phase-out in Europe consistent with the goal of the Paris Agreement.

German utilities RWE and Uniper could avoid losses of €5.3bn and €1.7bn respectively by closing plants by 2030. This strategy would cut losses for all of Europe’s 15 largest coal plant operators, except Italy’s Enel and Romania’s CE Oltenia.

Germany is home to the largest number of unprofitable coal plants, with potential losses avoided by early closure totalling €12 billion. In Poland savings could amount to €2.7 billion, while the Czech Republic, Spain and the UK could save €2.2 billion, €1.8 billion, and €1.7 billion respectively.

“Our asset-level model outlines a phase-out of coal-fired power consistent with the Paris Agreement. 54% of Europe’s coal plants are already running at a loss, and by 2030 virtually all of them will be.” Laurence Watson, Carbon Tracker data scientist and co-author of the report

Seven countries have already set a date for ending coal power by 2030 or earlier – Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and the UK – reflecting its growing unprofitability and incompatibility with emissions targets. “Coincidentally, by phasing out coal the UK is not only acting in the best interests of their citizens through improved air quality, but also the financial interests of utility shareholders,” the report states.

Lignite of the Living Dead notes that utilities may keep coal plants running at a loss for many reasons, including: hopes that governments will make capacity payments for guaranteed power supply or payments to retire plants; expectations that competitors will close plants, pushing power prices up; the clean-up costs associated with retiring plants; and opposition to closures from governments for political reasons.

However, stricter EU air quality standards will focus utilities to decide between investing in already unprofitable plants or cutting their losses. Coal plants will have to meet these standards by 2021, which will require 70% of existing capacity to install expensive new technologies. Rising carbon prices could also increase costs. The European Commission has proposed banning coal from receiving capacity market payments by 2025, undermining the chances of new support from member states.

Carbon Tracker analysed the gross profitability of 619 coal units in the 28 EU countries. It compared coal owners’ business as usual plans and member state phase-out policies with the International Energy Agency’s Beyond 2°C Scenario (IEA B2DS), which phases out all coal power in the EU by 2030 and gives a 50% chance of limiting global warming to 1.75°C.

To arrange interviews please contact:

Stefano Ambrogi – Head of News & Communications – sambrogi@carbontracker.org – +44 7557916940

Output: Over 50% of the 619 coal-fired power stations within the European Union are losing money, according to research by Carbon Tracker. The sector, described as being in a “death spiral,” will suffer €22bn ($26bn) in losses by 2030 if the bloc meets its climate change commitments. Higher carbon prices and tighter regulation against air pollution are likely to mean that even more plants become unprofitable, with 97% being loss-making by 2030. The falling cost of renewables is also expected to make it cheaper to construct new wind and solar farms than to run existing coal plants by the mid-2020s.


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Half of EU coal plants are not profitable
 More than half of the European Union’s 619 coal-fired power stations are losing money, according to a new report. As a result, the industry’s slow plans for shutdowns will lead to €22bn in losses by 2030 if the EU fulfils its pledge to tackle climate change, the report warns.

Stricter air pollution rules and higher carbon prices are set to push even more plants into unprofitability, according to the analysts Carbon Tracker, with 97% of the plants losing money by 2030. Furthermore, rapidly falling renewables costs are on track to make building new wind and solar farms cheaper than continuing to run existing coal plants by the mid 2020s.

Utility companies continue to run lossmaking plants in the hope that competitors will close their plants first or that governments will provide subsidies in return for guaranteed power, though the European commission wants to ban such payments. In Spain, the government has banned Iberdrola from closing its last coal plants, claiming it is concerned over energy security despite the country’s overcapacity in electricity.

Coal in Europe is in a “death spiral”, according to Carbon Tracker, with seven nations including the UK already having announced the end of coal power by 2030 or earlier. At the UN climate change summit in November, the launch of a new alliance of 19 nations committed to phasing out coal rapidly was greeted as a political watershed. “The time of coal has passed,” said the UK’s climate minister Claire Perry.

Until recently European utilities were strong performers, beating Europe’s Stoxx 600 index by 60% between 2000 and 2010. But since then, the utilities have plunged 20% in value as the rise of renewable energy and government policies radically reshaped the market.

Carbon Tracker analysed the revenues and operating costs of all the EU’s coal plants and found 54% are already loss making today. All coal power must be phased out if the EU is to meet the goals of the global Paris climate change agreement, but the current business plans of the utilities would see just a quarter of plants closed.

The new report estimates that closing all the plants by 2030 will avoid losses of €22bn for the plant’s owners, either shareholders or governments. Germany hosts the largest number of unprofitable coal plants and the losses avoided by early closure there total €12bn, with both RWE and Uniper highly exposed. Plans put forward to close German plants have been delayed by the failure of talks to form a new coalition government.

“The changing economics of renewables, as well as air pollution policy and rising carbon prices, has put EU coal power in a death spiral,” said Matt Gray, co-author of the Carbon Tracker report. “Utilities can’t do much to stop this other than drop coal or lobby governments and hope they will bail them out.”

Gray said coal-fired electricity capacity could be replaced by cheaper renewables, with building new onshore wind and solar PV projects projected to be less expensive than operating existing coal plants by 2024 and 2027 respectively. “That is a striking finding, something that would have been unimaginable five years ago,” he said. “The energy consumer deserves the lower cost options.”

However, Brian Ricketts, secretary-general at the industry group Euracoal, said coal was needed to keep the lights on in Europe because renewable energy is unreliable and said “price gouging” could be expected from gas operators without competition from coal.

Ricketts said government subsidies for clean energy now dominate the market: “Traditional economics, based on supply, demand and market equilibrium, has all but disappeared. Our preference would be to see decarbonisation take place under the economically efficient EU emissions trading system.”

Supporters of renewables reject the charge that renewables are unreliable, pointing out the lack of blackouts despite the fast rising proportions of green energy on grids and plunging coal use, and also the dropping cost of battery storage. The UK, where coal use will end by 2025, has gone from 40% of coal-fired electricity to 2% since 2012. The EU’s emission trading scheme has been criticised for providing far too many carbon permits, meaning the carbon price is low.

The expected coal use across the globe in coming decades, particularly in Asia, has fallen sharply recently. In 2013, the International Energy Agency expected world-wide coal-burning to grow by 40% by 2040 – it now anticipates just 1% growth.

Output: Over 50% of the 619 coal-fired power stations within the European Union are losing money, according to research by Carbon Tracker. The sector, described as being in a “death spiral,” will suffer €22bn ($26bn) in losses by 2030 if the bloc meets its climate change commitments. Higher carbon prices and tighter regulation against air pollution are likely to mean that even more plants become unprofitable, with 97% being loss-making by 2030. The falling cost of renewables is also expected to make it cheaper to construct new wind and solar farms than to run existing coal plants by the mid-2020s.


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Gene therapy treatment benefits haemophiliacs
 A new study conducted in the Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia (CHOP) reported positive results in a phase 1/2 clinical trial for the inherited bleeding disorder hemophilia B.

Credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki/ Shutterstock.com

A single blood vessel infusion of a novel bio-engineered gene therapy treatment allowed the adult participants safely produce sustained levels of clotting factor that avoided debilitating bleeding episodes. Participants were able to end the prophylactic treatments, a fusion gene therapy that eliminated their need for intravenous infusions of artificial clotting factor.

Lindsey A. George, MD, a lead investigator and hematologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) stated that the one-time therapy was sufficient to prevent bleeding without any medical interventions for hemophilia patients. A set of 10 patients safely experienced and sustained clinical benefit after one successful infusion, he added.

The research team published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine. Previously, they had reported preliminary reports from the trial at the comprehensive session of the American Society of Hematology annual meeting.

George is a member of CHOP's Division of Hematology and of the Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, which is a part of CHOP's Roberts Collaborative for Genetics and Individualized Medicine.

Katherine High, MD, a gene therapy pioneer, the study's senior author, president and head of Research and Development at Spark Therapeutics included 10 adult male participants in the phase 1/2 clinical session.

People who live with hemophilia face a lifelong need for vigilant monitoring and recurrent factor concentrate infusions to prevent spontaneous, potentially life-threatening bleeds and to protect their joints," Katherine High, Spark Therapeutics

"The discipline required to execute the usual prophylactic regimen can exact a heavy toll on quality of life that most people take for granted, and those regimens result in significant costs to patients, families and the health care system."

The team used a naturally occurring clotting factor that works 8- to 10-fold stronger than the normal factor. It was named the “Factor IX-Padua (FIX-Padua),” and was discovered in 2009 by a scientific team that included Valder R. Arruda co-author of the study, MD, PhD, at CHOP.

The team used an adeno-associated viral vector in the study to deliver the bioengineered payload of the gene that codes for FIX-Padua. Participants in the trial safely expressed that protein.

Participants with hemophilia have an inherited gene mutation that impairs them from producing the usual blood clotting factor, resulting in life-threatening or disabled bleeding, due to trauma.

Hemophilia B is a disease with low levels of clotting factor IX (FIX), which for more than two decades has been utilized to develop the gene therapy research. The actual strategy is to bring out a corrective gene in the participants by expressing the therapeutic levels of the developed blood clotting factor.

The experiments for hemophilia on animal models turned out to be successful, but in human trials the results were frustrating, as the immune response was defeated by sustained expression of FIX.

By taking advantage of FIX-Padua's attributes, the current research team aimed to attain clinical benefits by using the lowest dosage, as the higher doses of vector used previously stimulated a limiting immune response.

Participants maintained the factors levels of 33%, which is more than enough to reduce the severity of the disease and hardly eliminates bleeding. This condition aids them to avoid painful and disabling joint bleeds that occur in traditional treatments that utilize a regular dosage of blood clotting factor. The clinical benefits were maintained for 78 weeks of regular follow-ups.

After vector fusion effect, 8 out of the 10 did not require any external doses, 9 out of 10 participants experienced no bleeds, and none of the 10 participants had serious adverse effects due to gene therapy.

Only 1 participant among 10 had administered the factor previously due to baseline joint damage. But on the whole, nearly 91% of the patients used fewer factors than before the treatment.

George stated that they were looking forward to continuing the evolution of this therapy in a Phase 3 trial. “I am optimistic, this study is just the beginning of a true paradigm shift in the treatment of hemophilia" he added.

Source:

Output: Gene therapy could be used to treat patients suffering from blood clotting disorder haemophilia B, a clinical trial has shown. A study at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) showed that a one-time blood vessel infusion of the treatment enabled adult patients to safely produce sustained levels of clotting factor to prevent debilitating bleeding. Reporting the findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, lead investigator Lindsey A George said 10 patients gained a sustained clinical benefit after one successful infusion.


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UK van fleet cuts insurance rate thanks to telematic device use
 Downwell Group has reduced its annual insurance premiums by 20% and cut the number of accidents on its mixed fleet thanks to connected vehicle cameras.

The company provides demolition and other pre-construction services in the Essex area and installed the SureCam 3G forwarding-facing solution from Intelligent Telematics earlier this year across its fleet, replacing a previous tracking solution.

The 3G camera technology enabled an additional premium reduction with the company’s insurance partner due to its ability to show immediately identify the fault party in an accident.

Downwell Group is also using the connected vehicle camera to analyse driver behaviour and encourage improved driving practices by supporting targeted training, better engaging with drivers and implementing an incentive scheme. Moving forward, this will not only improve safety and ultimately save lives, but also contribute to reduced wear and tear on vehicles and lower fuel consumption.

For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Output: Downwell Group, a UK-based van fleet, has been able to cut its insurance rate by 20% this year due to its use of smart cameras which monitor how vehicles are driven. The firm also says it's seen a reduced number of accidents through using the technology. The insurance reduction is being granted since the use of the smart cameras allowed the fleet manager to show who the culpable party was in the event of collisions or accidents on the road.


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Wrisk, Etherisc and Sherpa chosen for FCA sandbox
 FCA selects three insurance start-ups to join its third regulatory sandbox

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has selected 18 firms to join its third regulatory sandbox cohort, including three companies – Wrisk, Etherisc and Sherpa – working in insurance.

The Sandbox will enable firms to test their products in a “live market” environment, says the FCA. It hopes that its sandbox underlines its commitment to financial services innovation.

It received 61 applications in total and under a third (18) of them were chosen to take part. Those involved cover a range of sectors.

Two fifths (40%) of firms selected were based outside of London, compared to just a quarter (25%) in the first cohort and a slightly over a third (35%) in the second cohort.

Output: The Financial Conduct Authority has selected three insurtech firms, Wrisk, Etherisc and Sherpa, to make use of the agency's sandbox. The sandbox will allow the start-ups to test their products in a live market without fear of regulatory backlash. A total of 18 start-ups have been selected. Wrisk provides users with usage-based contents insurance while also providing customers with a score assessing their insurability. Etherisc uses smart contracts to reimburse policyholders in the event their flights are cancelled. Sherpa creates a digital risk profile for customers and suggests products based on uploaded data.


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Swiss insurer Helvetia buys into Estonian insurtech
 Swiss insurer Helvetia has bought a stake in an insurtech company based in Estonia. The solution provided by the firm enables customers to get comprehensive coverage online.

Helvetia acquired a stake in Inzmo via its Venture Fund, the Swiss company said in a statement today. Inzmo developed a fully digital B2B2C insurance procedure covering all steps required – from contract to administration of policies and claims, Helvetia added.

Helvetia has been gaining experience with the Inzmo solution since June. The insurer paid less than 10 million francs for the stake.

Bicycle Theft

The technology allows users to buy coverage within minutes and to administer their policies. They can also file claims online, using the application.

Helvetia and Inzmo are active in selling insurance policies covering bicycles, electronic gear, glasses and watches. Inzmo will use the money Helvetia invested to develop the application further.

Output: Swiss insurer Helvetia has taken a stake in Estonian insurtech Inzmo. The insurtech uses technology to speed up the process of buying insurance, while also allowing policyholders to make claims via an online platform. The two firms are now working together to sell coverage protecting bicycles, electronic gear, glasses and watches.


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Passive funds increasingly vote against companies: Morningstar
 The asset management units of Deutsche Bank and Nomura Holdings are increasingly aggressive in voting against company boards, signs of the rise in active stewardship among passive funds, according to Morningstar.

Nomura Asset Management had the biggest jump in votes against companies’ proposals in the last three years: The firm voted against boards 22 percent of the time last year, up from 18 percent in 2015 and 13 percent in 2014, Morningstar said in a report Wednesday. Deutsche Asset Management voted against companies’ plans 23 percent of the time last year, rising from 21 percent in 2015 and 17 percent in 2014, the report shows.

Nicolas Huber, head of corporate governance at Deutsche Asset Management, said in an email that the fund manager takes corporate governance “very seriously.” The German firm cast the largest percentage of votes against companies’ proposals last year, according to Morningstar, which tracked the voting records of 12 passive fund managers globally.

“Whether it’s an index or active investment, we have the same rules,” Huber said in the email. “This has given us the advantage of having a very clear position on what is important to us. Our voting policy is very clear and precise and strives to reduce room for interpretation.”

The other passive fund managers in Morningstar’s report include Amundi, BlackRock, Geode Capital Management, LGIM, Lyxor Asset Management, Nikko Asset Management, State Street Corp., Charles Schwab Corp., UBS Group’s asset management unit and Vanguard Group.

While the report shows Deutsche and Nomura being the most aggressive in their voting against corporate boards, Vanguard’s track record was starkly different. The firm cast votes against companies’ proposals just 6 percent of the time in the year through June 30, according to Morningstar.

In an interview, Simon Jones, a senior investment consultant and head of responsible investment at Hymans Robertson, said the difference in voting patterns can be explained in part by the engagement policies of individual fund firms.

“Certain companies will vote quite explicitly against directors if they are not getting the engagement or the change they are seeking,” he said. “You will have managers that only vote against resolutions where channels of engagement have been unsuccessful, whereas others will use voting.”

[II Deep Dive: Meet the New Activists]

In a statement accompanying its report, Morningstar said that U.S. asset managers have traditionally been more unlikely to challenge companies through voting, compared to their European competitors, particularly in relation to environmental and social issues. But there are signs that this is changing, the firm said.

LGIM declined to comment. Amundi, BlackRock, Nikko, State Street, Charles Schwab and UBS and Vanguard didn’t immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

In an August interview with Institutional Investor, Glen Booraem, global head of corporate governance at Vanguard, said the firm believes it has a shareholder obligation to “advocate for actions” at companies, where necessary, to “enhance the long-term value.”

Output: Passive funds are increasingly voting against proposals made by their portfolio companies, according to a report from Morningstar. Among funds mentioned in the report, Deutsche Asset Management and Nomura Asset Management were found to be the most aggressive in voting against companies' boards. The two firms voted against board proposals 23% and 22% of the time respectively. Morningstar noted US-based managers were historically less likely to vote against boards than their European counterparts. There is evidence, however, this is changing with US managers becoming more willing to vote for change.


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Alibaba and Ford partner to tackle sustainable mobility issue
 Alibaba Group has formed a strategic alliance with Ford Motors to enhance consumer retail experiences and explore solutions for sustainable mobility.

As part of the three-year partnership, Ford will work with Alibaba’s four business units namely AliOS, Alibaba Cloud, Alimama and Tmall and jointly explore mobility services, connectivity, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital marketing.

Ford and Alibaba will initially focus on digital solutions for new retail opportunities at various stages of the automotive ownership cycle. Alibaba will also further leverage Ford's experience in selling vehicles globally.

Jim Hackett, Ford’s president and chief executive officer said: “China is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets, thriving on innovation with customers’ online and offline experiences converging rapidly. Collaborating with leading technology players builds on our vision for smart vehicles in a smart world to reimagine and revolutionize consumers’ mobility experiences,’’

Alibaba Group chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said: “Alibaba is excited to redefine the consumer journey and user experience for automobiles together with Ford Motor Company. Our data-driven technology and platform will expand the definition of car ownership beyond just having a mode of transportation and into a new medium for smart lifestyle.”

Output: Alibaba Group and Ford Motors have announced a partnership that will aim to explore solutions for sustainable mobility. The partnership will initially focus on digital solutions for retail that will cater to various stages of the car ownership cycle, and will include focuses on cloud computing, mobility services, connectivity and artificial intelligence. “Our data-driven technology and platform will expand the definition of car ownership beyond just having a mode of transportation and into a new medium for smart lifestyle”, said Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Publishers using code to crack down on mobile page redirects
 This is the third article in an occasional series on ad fraud. Other posts examined the state of video ad fraud and why old fraud tactics won’t die.

In a publishing environment that often resembles a house of horrors, the mobile redirect is one of the most infuriating — to both users and publishers. A person clicks a link they think will take them to a story on a reputable news publisher only to suddenly end up in the app store to download a random mobile game. Most users would end up hating the publisher for such an underhanded move, only the publisher more often than not has no idea the redirect is taking place.

“Every vendor has this problem,” said a programmatic specialist at a news publisher, requesting anonymity to avoid drawing attention to the crappy ads being served on his company’s website. “I’ve tested turning off everyone but Google AdX, and I still have issues. I can’t just keep these exchanges turned off because there is too much money on the line with them. That’d be like cutting off your nose to spite your face.”

The security of 0.5 percent of all ad impressions sold programmatically is compromised, and the main culprit of these attacks is site redirects, according to tech firm Confiant, which specializes in blocking bad ads from publishers’ webpages. While low-tier ad networks that resell inventory without the publisher’s authorization are part of the problem, even the ad industry’s most prominent buy-side and sell-side platforms are hooking publishers up with spammy ads that lead to redirects.

While 0.5 percent sounds like a low number, remember that webpages can be crammed with dozens of ads and that users see thousands of impressions in a single day. If a user spends much of their time online on sites that sell their inventory through programmatic exchanges, it’s likely the user will regularly get hit with redirects.

The website redirects that publishers complain about are familiar for anyone who spends a lot of time browsing the internet. They occur on both desktop and mobile, but they function slightly differently in each environment.

For example, on desktop a user opening up an article will get forced onto a new browser tab where a suspicious advertiser claims to be giving away Amazon gift cards in exchange for the user’s email address. On mobile, the redirects are more likely to be geared toward getting the user to download an app to their device.

This can be done by ripping users away from the article they’re reading and forcing them into the app store where an install for a malicious app begins. Mobile redirects can also send users to new webpages that beg them to download their app. As seen in the photo below, one tactic is to tell users that their device is damaged by a virus that can be quickly eradicated if users download the shady advertiser’s app, which claims to be a cybersecurity product.

These publishers’ observations were all anecdotal. Because the people behind the site redirects take a lot of precautions to obfuscate where their ad calls will lead users, publishers could not quantify how often redirects happen on their sites.

It takes some technical know-how just to catch and monitor a single ad that forces readers to another website. To do this, publishers have to set up a Charles Proxy, a server that allows web developers to monitor all of the code that a device exchanges with the internet. The bad actors forcing the redirects are careful to not ruin user experience too often, said Louis-David Mangin, CEO of Confiant.

“There is a fine balance to making something profitable for the bad guys but not painful enough that it prompts the industry to crack down on it completely,” he said.

Publishers were quick to blame supply-side platforms for their redirect issues. And that makes sense since SSPs are the vendors that publishers have direct relationships with. But SSPs are just one stop in the ad supply chain that is responsible for the problem, said Justin Kennedy, COO of Sonobi, a programmatic platform that operates on both the buy and sell sides.

Many demand-side platforms allow buyers to self-declare the type of creative they’re serving, and there is often little human oversight to check whether the advertisers submitting the creative are telling the truth, Kennedy said. The sales structure at many DSPs is also incentivized to bring as many advertisers into the platform as possible, which means lots of ad creatives get passed through without much vetting.

In November, Google announced it was working on an update to its Chrome browser that would block unwanted site redirects. Chrome controls about 60 percent of the internet-browsing market, according to NetMarketShare, so this could help publishers mitigate the problem. But publishers that spoke to Digiday for this story are only cautiously optimistic about getting help from Google. They also fear the ad blocker coming to Chrome could hurt their businesses.

Raising price floors is another tool publishers can use to lessen redirects since spammy advertisers tend to buy remnant inventory. However, of the two publishers that told Digiday they raised price floors to reduce redirects, only one said they’ve seen a decline in how often users contact their site to complain about redirects.

One source from a gaming publisher quipped: “It’s why we can’t wait to get away from the open exchange.”

Output: Publishers are usually blamed for mobile website redirects, but they're mostly unaware it happens on their sites. To tackle the problem of readers being taken to pages they didn't expect, publishers have set up a Charles Proxy, which monitors the code a device exchanges with the internet. Some are also raising charges to price the spammers responsible out of the market.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Agencies use NDAs to cover up sexual harassment charges
 Ad agencies are using nondisclosure agreements to hide sexual harassment claims.

Digiday spoke with 15 women for this story. All of them had not only signed some kind of confidentiality agreement stemming from a case of harassment — both sexual and nonsexual — but also knew of at least one other case of an NDA being signed at the company they worked for at the time.

What has emerged is a pattern of using confidentiality agreements to stop harassment charges from becoming public. This in turn has protected the harassers, according to these women. In every case, the women Digiday spoke to had nondisclosure agreements built into a severance package, while the harassers kept their jobs.

“My point of view is that big agencies and lawyers put so much pressure on an already difficult emotional situation that they basically bully the employee, eventually wearing them down to settle,” said one New York-based woman who worked at multiple agencies and tried to bring a wrongful termination suit. “Do I wish I never signed an NDA? Yes. I wish I took my agency all the way to court.”

Ever since The New York Times published a report detailing sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct allegations against filmmaker Harvey Weinstein, women across industries have come out to share their stories, and there has been more of a spotlight on how a culture of shaming and secrecy has helped protect harassers. Some of it is because women themselves choose to keep quiet and move on. But much of it is shielded because of high-powered, well-funded companies with attorneys who can push confidentiality agreements that prevent women from pursuing claims or lawsuits in perpetuity, in exchange for a settlement package.

One industry veteran who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years said she knew at least three cases where NDAs were signed. (“If I knew three, that meant there were probably 10,” she speculated.) In one, it was a senior male agency executive who settled with someone. Five years later, the same executive was again accused of harassment. That’s when he “retired,” taking on a consulting role that meant he still worked with clients and collected a paycheck, but had less day-to-day hands-on responsibility with staff.

The process is eerily similar across accounts: One woman who signed an NDA after being sexually harassed by a male colleague brought up the issue twice, once to her boss and another time to human resources. She then talked to a lawyer. The agency — which, like most holding-company owned agencies, has publicly proclaimed that it “never settles” — responded by negotiating a settlement package that included an NDA. The woman chose to take that option and not file a lawsuit. The man stayed in his job.

“What it felt like was it was taken out of the leadership’s hands, including that of my boss, and lawyers are the ones who drove this,” the woman said.

The industry veteran said women “don’t make a big deal out of it because they don’t want their names getting out there as someone who is hard to work with.” This woman said that in her experience, it’s an “unwritten rule.”

A ‘poisonous’ woman

“When things become personal, change happens,” theorizes Kim (not her real name), who signed an NDA as part of a harassment claim and went on to work in recruiting and coaching.

Kim was at the vp level at a major company. She said she’s experienced multiple forms of harassment. She internalized some of them: “I don’t know how to say this, so I just will: I’m tall; I’m slim; I like to dress myself well, and I am in shape. That has served me well in my professional career.”

Kim said she was good at her job, but often felt like people were told to take her to meetings or use the way she looked to close a deal or sale. “I was great at my job, but it didn’t dawn on me until later that I was being treated as a sexual object as being a good-looking woman,” she said. “I performed well, and I was compensated handsomely for it.”

Kim said she was one of the many women Digiday has spoken to who have been placed in an alcohol-heavy marketing atmosphere and felt she had to be doubly careful to avoid any miscommunication. “I was the boring one. I had men tell me that because I wouldn’t have the extra drink or go out late when we were on trips,” she said.

There were other things: At one point, Kim found out a rumor (untrue) was circulating that she was having an affair with a male colleague. “That hurt,” she said. Another was a culture in which people would joke that with certain executives, wearing a low-cut dress was the way to get a project approved.

When Kim got a new male boss, she was rated and ranked highly in performance reviews. Kim said the new boss harassed her with passive-aggressive comments, rumors about her work and leadership and other forms of harassment that she said undermined her. She went to HR. They suggested mediation or a relocation to an Asian office. She hired a lawyer. The company, she said, termed her “litigious” and “poisonous.” They gave her a package with an NDA and a year’s extra pay.

The deal was that she wouldn’t talk about the terms of her exit package. It didn’t name the perpetrator, but included that she wouldn’t talk to former colleagues or anyone else. Her lawyer told her it was standard legalese.

Kim ended up moving to a new city and got a new job. She said she wouldn’t have gotten it if she’d gone public. She went through therapy. “It was so raw. It was a lot,” she said, adding that she was depressed. Now, four years later, she said she wishes she’d stood up for herself more.

“With what’s happening today, it feels like women can get their power back and bring this out into the light,” she said. “It’s less shameful.”

Others agree. Two women mentioned they feel like agencies, scared of what could come out, will try harder today to remove known harassers from their jobs. That means there may be more NDAs, but with harassers having to sign them.

Another New York-based agency woman said NDAs are usually marked by a telltale departure, or sometimes, a normally high-performing woman is bundled into a round of layoffs. Sometimes, it’s built into the actual employment contract that the employee will resolve all personnel matters “privately.” That means confidentiality agreements before harassment even happens, if it ever does. There are “payouts,” she said. When an older married colleague sexually harassed her, she said she didn’t report it because she felt she’d be silenced. Or, people would “think I asked for that to happen and I was flirting back.” She said NDAs are a “Band-Aid.” “Brushing things under the rug seems like a fine short-term solution, but it’s unsustainable,” she added. “I’ve seen when harassment happens and it’s silenced, it enables other bad behavior, including what feels like a sanctioning of bad behavior.”

‘Time for heads to roll’

Kenneth Katz, an employment lawyer who has advised employees on harassment cases in many industries, said it’s still a gray area whether a judge will enforce a contract used to conceal a harassment offense. Sometimes they do: Companies can mandate that the employee who signed the NDA pay back the money, plus lawyer’s fees, or even damages. They can put in an injunction against a lawsuit if one is filed. But action on the part of the company rarely happens. “It’s kind of a scare tactic or something put in place so the employee can feel like there was a contract.” In Katz’s experience, it becomes a finality for the woman — “it’s usually a woman” — and they move on and stop talking about it. (There is a legal debate following the Weinstein case about whether NDAs should even be enforceable in harassment cases.)

Katz said companies often worry about copycats: If one NDA is signed, others come forward expecting similar terms, especially in cases of serial harassers. Katz said he expects that because of the so-called Weinstein effect, companies will be more willing to settle. The difference might be that harassers are quietly kicked out of agencies with no explanation. “[Harassment] is becoming a bigger story,” he said.

One top head of talent at an agency said she’s changed her mind about NDAs. “I used to think the NDA wasn’t a bad idea — people who want to keep their money and career prospects intact,” she said. “But now? This really bad behavior has to be stopped, and we can’t keep doing that. We won’t move anywhere as a society. It’s time for heads to roll.”

There haven’t been a string of high-profile departures. However, a recent report in AdAge said that according to anonymous sources, the recent exit of Joe Alexander, chief creative at IPG-owned the Martin Agency, was because of an investigation.

The woman who tried to bring a wrongful termination suit and signed an NDA said she’s proud she at least started the process. She bought herself jewelry — diamond earrings — with the money she ended up with after she paid taxes and lawyers. “They were quarter carats,” she said, “if that tells you anything.”

Output: A pattern is emerging among advertising agencies involving the use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to keep sexual harassment cases from going public, as women begin speaking out about their experiences. Multiple cases cite HR departments using NDAs, large severance packages or relocation offers whenever instances of sexual harassment are reported, particularly when a senior staff member is implicated. Kenneth Katz, an employment lawyer who advises on harassment cases, believes that recent events will change HR behaviours.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Stoke-on-Trent offers homes for £1 in regeneration scheme
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In the city of Stoke-on-Trent, England, the council is offering 25 homes for sale for just £1 each. The houses are mainly two-bedroom Victorian terraces, in a deprived area of the city where there are a large number of empty properties, and which has a reputation locally for high levels of disorder and antisocial behaviour. Clearly, the city council hopes the “Reviving Communities Scheme” will do just that.

This doesn’t mean that Christmas has come early for private landlords or property developers in Stoke. These properties must be renovated and lived in, rather than demolished or rented out, and there are strict criteria which applicants need to meet.

Would-be £1 home owners must have a local connection and earn no more than £27,000 each year if they’re a single person (up to £60,000 if they’ve got a family with children). This scheme includes a loan of up to £60,000 – repayable over 15 years – which funds renovations carried out by the council before new owners move in. This way, new owners can avoid the stressful process of organising the renovations themselves.

The big issues

Faced with ongoing austerity measures, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has had to make £172m in savings since 2010 and will need to find a further £34m by 2020. So one might wonder why the council doesn’t simply renovate the properties to rent them out and generate much-needed income in the process. The answer is that – rather than being a money-maker – this scheme sets out to address some of the deepest social issues facing Britain today.

It is estimated that there are more than 589,000 empty homes in England and Wales – more than 200,000 of which have been empty for six months or more. Against the backdrop of severe housing shortages across the UK – and an anticipated need to build over 210,000 homes per year – the £1 scheme can put disused homes back into use, providing short-term relief from some of the pressure on the housing market and freeing up extra rental spaces in the city.

The scheme has been introduced at a time when many young people are struggling to buy a home. Incomes are stagnating and, on average, house prices are 7.6 times the average UK salary, up from 3.6 times earnings in 1997. The Council of Mortgage Lenders recently revealed that less than 50% of people under 35 believe they are likely to buy a home within 10 years.

While there have been calls for young people to spend less and save for a deposit, the reality is often that young people – who are far more likely to live in private or social rented housing – routinely pay more in rent than they would for a mortgage.

The uncertainties of living in rented housing – exacerbated by short-term lets – have recently spread to council tenants and other social renters. The £1 homes scheme offers residents, and especially younger people, an affordable way to buy their own homes and escape these uncertainties.

Small but successful

Schemes like this have been tried before – in Stoke back in 2014, and in cities as far afield as Liverpool in the UK, Roubaix in France and Abruzzo in Italy. The previous scheme in Stoke proved remarkably popular, attracting hundreds of applications for just 35 homes.

There is evidence that they work, too – Stoke’s first £1 homes scheme led to reductions in disorder and anti-social behaviour, as well as improvements in local health outcomes and housing conditions in the local area. Meanwhile, The Portland Inn Project has encouraged local organisations to work together to turn the former Portland Inn into a community centre. In working to breathe new life into the former pub, they have helped local residents develop a stake in the community.

Schemes such as this can work in tandem with other initiatives to deliver real benefits for local people. For example, Stoke has been shortlisted for the UK City of Culture 2021 contest. The ambition to revive declining communities and support local cultural and heritage industries formed a key part of the bid.

In this sense, the £1 scheme can be seen as part of the broader plan to encourage and sustain the city’s long-term cultural revival. It has given the council a means to encourage and maintain stable inner-city communities, while delivering benefits for residents by creating a sense of safety, belonging and ownership. It can also encourage younger residents to make a long-term commitment to the local area, helping places to become communities that survive and thrive long into the future.

On their own, small projects such as £1 houses won’t give all residents a chance to own their own home – nor can they alleviate the insecurities of renting or make up for the nation’s housing shortages. Only the national government has the power to solve problems of this scale. But they do give local authorities the means to encourage a sense of ownership in their local communities. And for Stoke – and many other post-industrial centres across the UK and Europe – that commitment from residents is what helps cities thrive.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Output: Stoke-on-Trent is selling 25 homes for just £1 ($1.34) to help revive deprived areas and boost housing supply. The local council is selling the homes, mainly two-bedroom Victorian terraces, to applicants who promise to renovate and live in them. Potential residents must meet strict criteria, including having a local link and earning no more than £27,000 per annum as a single person, or up to £60,000 if a family with children. The scheme also includes a loan of up to £60,000, repayable over 15 years, to fund renovations made by the council before the new owners move in.