NRG ENERGY TO EXPAND SOLAR AFTER HALTING NUCLEAR
HOUSTON, April 26 (Reuters) - Leaving its ambitious nuclear development plan behind, NRG Energy Inc will focus on expanding its solar business, chief executive David Crane said on Tuesday.
NRG currently has 533 megawatts of solar capacity under construction and another 1,000 MW in advanced development, a fraction of its total portfolio of nearly 25,000 MW of natural gas, coal, wind and nuclear generation in the United States.
EUROPE SOLAR COMPANY ETRION EYES N. AMERICAN BUYS
VANCOUVER, April 26 (Reuters) - Solar energy company Etrion Corp is looking to diversify from its Italian base this year across the Atlantic, its chief executive said on Tuesday, at a time when Europe's third biggest solar market is slashing its generous incentives for sun-generated power.
Despite the cutbacks in rates, the small but fast-growing company will keep expanding in Italy, its only market so far. It expects to be able to develop solar projects there profitably as solar panel prices and other costs drop.
TRANSALTA CAUTIONS ON PARTS SUPPLY AS PROFIT JUMPS
CALGARY, Alberta, April 26 (Reuters) - TransAlta Corp's first-quarter profit surged 240 percent on strong power markets and hedging gains, although it cautioned some new projects could be hampered by supply problems stemming from the disaster in Japan.
TransAlta, which runs coal and gas-fired power plants and renewable energy facilities in Canada and the United States, said on Tuesday it is formulating alternative plans for some power plant projects that were to have Japanese parts, such as turbines.
FRANCE TOLD SET TO MISS GREEN ENERGY GOAL
PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - France will miss its 2020 renewable energy target by over a third unless it cuts red tape and raises support to a sector that lags its European neighbours, a renewable energy sector group said on Tuesday.
France set in 2007 an ambitious target to reach 23 percent of green energy in its mix by 2020, over the 20-percent target fixed by the European Union.
MIASOLE, INTEL STRIKE MANUFACTURING CONSULTING DEAL
LOS ANGELES, April 26 (Reuters) - Thin-film solar company Miasole reached a deal with Intel Corp under which the chipmaker will provide training and expertise to help the solar start-up ramp up manufacturing and lower costs.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
SPAIN RAIN EASES CROP WOES, HYDRO RESERVES EBB
MADRID, April 26 (Reuters) - Spanish irrigation reserves rose after heavy rain last week, helping grain crops, while hydro-power reserves eased, according to official data released on Tuesday in the major grain- and gas-importing country.
Dry weather in the first half of April caused concern that the winter wheat and barley harvest might suffer damage.
GT SOLAR GETS $93.9 MLN ORDER FROM TAIWAN'S POWERTEC ENERGY
April 25 (Reuters) - Solar equipment supplier GT Solar International Inc said it received an order worth $93.9 million for polysilicon production equipment from Taiwan's Powertec Energy Corp.
The company, which had cash reserves of $320.36 million as of Jan 1, said the orders would be included in its backlog for the first-quarter ending July 2.
GOOGLE'S ENERGY UNIT TO BUY MORE WIND POWER FROM NEXTERA
BANGALORE, April 21 (Reuters) - A NextEra Energy Inc unit will sell 100.8 megawatts (MW) of wind energy to Google Inc's energy subsidiary, the companies' second such agreement that would help the Internet search giant power its data centers using renewable sources of energy.
As part of plans to reduce its carbon footprint, Google has been buying renewable electricity to power its data centers. Its strategy is to select a clean power project that is on the same grid as one of its centers.
ETHIOPIA SAYS WON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO EXAMINE NEW DAM
ADDIS ABABA, April 21 (Reuters) - Ethiopia will deny Egypt a chance to examine a new mega dam it is building on the Nile unless Cairo inks a new deal relinquishing its veto powers over allocation of the river's waters, an official said on Thursday.
Egypt has been locked for more than a decade in a dispute with other countries through which the river passes, refusing changes to colonial-era treaties contested by Ethiopia and other upstream nations.
BULGARIA LAW AIMS TO COOL SOLAR, WIND ENERGY SURGE
SOFIA, April 21 (Reuters) - Bulgaria approved a new law on renewable energy on Thursday that aims to cool a surge in solar and wind power projects that threatens to overwhelm its ageing power grid and boost electricity prices.
The law changes the government's obligatory purchase of electricity produced from renewable energy generators at high, fixed prices, which has led to a jump in projects totalling over 6,000 megawatts -- well above the country's grid capacity.
LUVATA SEES COPPER PRODUCT BOOST FOR RENEWABLES
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Luvata expects higher sales of copper products used in renewable energy in coming months and years as governments around the world look away from nuclear power, a company executive told Reuters.
Japan's earthquake and tsunami, which has crippled some of the country's nuclear power plants, has thrown the spotlight on renewable energy as an alternative, said Jussi Helavirta, head of Luvata's special products division said this week.
CANADIAN SOLAR WINS ANOTHER EUROPEAN MODULE SUPPLY DEAL
April 21 (Reuters) - Canadian Solar Inc said it will supply 97 megawatts (MW) of solar modules to Germany's GP Joule in its second such deal with European customers in as many days.
Solar sector shares fell in the last year on worries that falling subsidies in top markets such as Germany and Italy will lower demand this year and solar panels prices will dive faster than producers expected.
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