CHINA RIVALS NARROW GAP ON WIND LEADER VESTAS
COPENHAGEN, March 15 (Reuters) - Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas retained its world-leading market position in 2010 despite fierce competition from Chinese rivals rising up the ranks, a report published on Tuesday showed.
"Vestas maintained its leading market position in 2010 based on the strength of its global install activity," MAKE Consulting, a specialist in the wind energy industry, said in an extract from the report.
AFDB MAY LEND ESKOM $270 MLN FOR GREEN POWER PROJECTS
JOHANNESBURG, March 15 (Reuters) - The African Development Bank may lend South African power utility Eskom [ESCJ.UL] $270 million to fund its wind and solar power projects, the bank's climate change and energy director said on Tuesday.
Hela Cheikhrouhou said the bank would mediate an additional $100 million from the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund.
SUNPOWER SAYS JAPAN QUAKE DAMAGE WON'T HURT OUTPUT
NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - SunPower Corp does not expect any change in its 2011 output of solar modules because of the massive earthquake in Japan, the company said on Tuesday.
It said its Japanese suppliers have seen some operations disrupted because of the disaster but have not sustained major damage to facilities.
WIND POWER SECTOR BOOSTS OUTLOOK, CLOUDED BY NUCLEAR
BRUSSELS, March 15 (Reuters) - Global wind power capacity will more than double by 2015, but the current debate over nuclear safety clouds predictions of the future energy mix, the Global Wind Energy Council said on Tuesday.
"By 2015, the global installed wind power capacity will more than double to 450 gigawatts from 194.4 gigawatts at the end of 2010," GWEC said in its five-year forecast.
DRC SEES INGA 3 GENERATING POWER BY 2017/18
CAPE TOWN, March 15 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo expects its Inga 3 hydro project to start generating power by 2017/18 to supply the DRC and neighbouring states from the 4,300-5,000 MW scheme, a government official said on Tuesday.
A pre-feasibility study on the $8-10 billion Inga 3 plant, as well as a separate 40,000 MW Grand Inga project, is expected by September as the mineral-rich DRC moved to kick-start a project stalled last year.
SAFRICA, DRC IN TALKS ON REVIVING HYDRO PROJECT
CAPE TOWN, March 15 (Reuters) - South Africa is talking to the Democratic Republic of Congo to revive a stalled $8-$10 billion 5,000 megawatt hydro power project on the Congo River, South African energy minister Dipuo Peters said on Tuesday.
Last year, the DRC rejected a proposal by the Western Power Corridor (Westcor), a joint venture between five southern African governments and power utilities that would have led to exports of up to 3,000 MW to South Africa and another 1,000 MW to neighbouring countries by 2015.
PHOENIX SOLAR SHIES AWAY FROM GIVING 2011 OUTLOOK
FRANKFURT, March 15 (Reuters) - German solar wholesaler Phoenix Solar shied away from providing an outlook for the current business year as regulatory changes in key markets increased uncertainty about the sector's future.
Germany, the solar industry's No.1 market, is set to cut solar power subsidies up to 15 percent from this summer, six months earlier than originally planned, a move hurting the company, which makes most of its sales there.
INDIA'S SUZLON SAYS FOUNDERS SELL 2.25 PCT OF SHARES
MUMBAI, March 14 (Reuters) - India's Suzlon Energy Ltd , the world's third-biggest wind turbine maker, said on Monday its founders sold 2.25 percent of the company's shares, and would use the proceeds to extend financial support to the company.
Suzlon, which has been the subject of occasional reports of a possible sale, also said proceeds from the share sale will be used for strategic initiatives.
CHINA'S XINJIANG GOLDWIND TARGETS AFRICAN GROWTH
CAPE TOWN, March 14 (Reuters) - China's Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology , the world's No. 5 maker of wind turbines, opened an office in Cape Town on Monday with the aim of supplying equipment and project finance in Africa.
The company, which since the turn of the millenium achieved an average growth of more than 100 percent a year, listed on the Hong Kong bourse late last year and will use the roughly $900 million raised to help fund debt and equity projects in Africa, the Americas and Australia.
EDP RENEWABLES SEES WIND TURBINE PRICES DOWN 9 PCT
LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - EDP Renewables, the wind energy unit of EDP Energias de Portugal, expects costs for wind turbines this year and next to fall 9 percent from peak prices, the company's finance chief told Reuters.
"For EDPR, the total cost of building 1 megawatt this year and the next should be around 1.2 million euros ($1.67 million) - 1.3 million euros per MW," Chief Financial Officer Rui Teixeira said in an interview on Monday.
A-POWER TO DEVELOP $30.5 MLN POWER PLANT; SHRS UP
March 14 (Reuters) - A-Power Energy Generation Systems Ltd said it signed a contract for about $30.5 million to develop a biomass power plant in Shandong province in China, sending the Chinese green power firm's shares up 11 percent in pre-market trade.
The power plant, which will consist of two 15 megawatt power generation units, will be built for Xin County Guangchao Biomass Power Generation LCC.
BAY STREET-WHY GEOTHERMAL REMAINS A BURIED TREASURE
VANCOUVER, March 13 (Reuters) - As renewable energies go, geothermal energy has a lot on its side.
The naturally occurring heat trapped deep in the earth can be pumped up to the surface to produce electricity that's clean, is always available without the fickleness of wind and solar, and, according to some studies, is even cheaper than coal-fired power.
OERLIKON SOLAR COULD EXPAND INTO CIGS MARKET
LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Reuters) - Solar equipment maker Oerlikon Solar is keeping a close eye on the development of so-called CIGS technology and could expand into that market down the road, a senior executive said on Friday.
The unit of Swiss conglomerate Oerlikon Corp AG sells manufacturing equipment to companies that make "thin film silicon" solar panels, but has not ruled out expanding into rival technologies such as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) cells.
KAZAKH STATE NUCLEAR FIRM TO BUILD SOLAR PANELS
ASTANA, March 11 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's state nuclear company, Kazatomprom, plans to expand into solar panel production by investing around $230 million in a new factory in Astana, the head of the company said on Friday.
Construction of the plant would begin in March in the capital and take at least two years, Kazatomprom President Vladimir Shkolnik said during a meeting in the Senate.
CHINA POWER OUTPUT GROWTH REBOUNDS IN JAN, FEB
BEIJING, March 11 (Reuters) - China's electricity output increased 15.4 percent from a year earlier in February and gained 11.7 percent in the first two months of this year, government data showed on Friday.
The National Bureau of Statistics did not provide power generation data for January, but Reuters calculations based on official figures showed output in January grew about 8.2 percent on year.
SEMPRA UNIT TO BUILD SOLAR PLANT IN CALIFORNIA
March 10 (Reuters) - Regulated utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), a unit of Sempra Energy \, signed a contract with renewable energy company Tenaska Solar Ventures for a 150-megawatt solar power plant in southern California.
Under the 25-year power-purchase deal, Tenaska Solar -- a unit of natural gas marketer Tenaska -- will develop and operate the ground-mounted plant.
U.S. SOLAR GREW SHARPLY IN 2010, STILL LAGS EUROPE
LOS ANGELES, March 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. solar power sector grew 67 percent in 2010 but still lagged European markets by a wide margin in installing solar systems, the industry's trade group said on Thursday.
The U.S. market for solar energy reached $6 billion in 2010, up from $3.6 billion the previous year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
SUNPOWER TO SUPPLY SOLAR PANELS TO TOSHIBA
March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. solar power company SunPower Corp, which makes solar panels that turn sunlight into electricity and also builds solar power systems, agreed to supply 48 megawatt of solar panels to Japan's Toshiba Corp during 2011.
Toshiba will use the panels to support the company's residential solar offering in Japan.
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