20110420 1925 Renewables Energy Related News.

SUNPOWER POWER PLANT APPROVAL SURVIVES APPEALS
LOS ANGELES, April 19 (Reuters) - A major SunPower Corp  solar power plant will move forward as planned in central California after San Luis Obispo County officials on Tuesday rejected appeals that sought to overturn the project's approval.
The county's five-member Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to reject the appeals.

ITALY PLANS TO SET CAP ON SOLAR INCENTIVES-DRAFT
MILAN, April 19 (Reuters) - Italy plans to introduce a cap on state incentives for solar power generation as it seeks to curb costs, according to a draft decree obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.
Italy's solar sector, among the biggest in Europe, has boomed since 2007 when state-backed production incentives were first launched.

SEMPRA ENERGY UNITS SDG&E, SEMPRA GENERATION INK WIND POWER DEAL
April 19 (Reuters) - Regulated utility San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) signed a 20-year contract with Sempra Generation for up to 156 megawatts (MW) of renewable power from Sempra's wind project in Mexico.
Both SDG&E and Sempra Generation are units of solar and wind power producer Sempra Energy .

FIRST OFFSHORE US WIND FARM CONSTRUCTION STARTS SOON
BOSTON, April 19 (Reuters) - After years of delay,   construction of what is expected to be the first U.S. offshore wind farm, located off Massachusetts' picturesque Nantucket Sound, could begin as early as this fall.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said on Tuesday the federal government has approved a construction and operations plan submitted for the Cape Wind Energy Project.

EDP RENEWABLES Q1 WIND POWER OUTPUT RISES 21 PCT
LISBON, April 18 (Reuters) - EDP Renewables , the wind energy subsidiary of Energias de Portugal , said its total power generation rose 21 percent in the first quarter, boosted by output growth in the United States.
EDPR, the world's fourth-largest wind energy company in terms of installed capacity, said on Monday total power generation rose to 4,421 gigawatt hours (GWh) while its U.S output jumped 37 percent from a year earlier to 2,430 GWh, overtaking output in Europe, which grew 7 percent to 1,985 GWh.

GE SELLS STAKES IN HUGE OREGON WIND FARM
NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - Google Inc  and two Japanese partners will pay General Electric Co  about $500 million for a majority equity stake in the world's largest wind farm under construction in Oregon, the partners said on Monday.
The $2 billion Shepherds Flat project, near Arlington, Oregon, is due to be completed next year. It will stretch over 30 square miles of north-central Oregon and generate enough energy for 235,000 U.S. homes. The site's developer is Caithness Energy.

CHINA STATE GRID ADDS LINKS TO MORE WIND GENERATORS IN Q1
BEIJING, April 18 (Reuters) - The State Grid Corp of China (SGCC) added wind power grid connections in the first quarter, boosting overall connected capacity by 17 percent, the dominant Chinese power distributor said.
At the end of March, 33.16 gigawatts of wind power generating capacity was connected to its networks, SGCC said in a report on its website (www.sgcc.com.cn).

NORWAY SAYS RENEWABLES SCHEME TO CURB POWER PRICES
OSLO, April 15 (Reuters) - Tradable "green certificates" will help lower power prices and boost supply in Norway and Sweden by stimulating renewable energy projects, Norway's government said on Friday on submitting the scheme to lawmakers.
The programme, agreed by the Scandinavian neighours last December and set to begin Jan. 1, 2012, is expected to generate 26.4 terrawatt hours (TWh) of additional electricity in 2012-2020, with each country financing half.

EGYPT TO TENDER FOR WIND POWER PLANTS IN MAY -REPORT
CAIRO, April 15 (Reuters) - Egypt plans to launch a tender in May to choose companies to build the first phase of 1,000 megawatt wind power plants in the Gulf of Suez, its electricity minister said on Friday.
The power plants will be constructed on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes told state-owned news agency MENA.

ITALY TO CAP SOLAR INCENTIVES COSTS
ROME, April 14 (Reuters) - Italy plans to put a six-monthly or annual cap on solar incentive costs rather than power output under a new renewable energy support decree and aims to scrap incentives from 2017, its deputy industry minister said on Thursday.
Rome, which has decided to scrap the existing generous solar incentives from June, has been drafting a new support scheme.

FIRST SOLAR OPERATIONS CHIEF SOHN DEPARTS
LOS ANGELES, April 13 (Reuters) - First Solar Inc's  president of operations, Bruce Sohn, will leave the world's most valuable solar company at the end of April and will not be replaced, the company said on Wednesday.
Sohn, who has steered technology and operations and managed the supply chain for First Solar since becoming president in 2007, will pursue opportunities outside of the company, First Solar said in a statement.