US SOLAR COMPANIES URGE SOLARWORLD DROP CHINA CASE
WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - A coalition that says it represents 97 percent of the U.S. solar industry urged solar panel maker SolarWorld on Thursday to withdraw a petition asking President Barack Obama's administration to slap punitive duties on China for unfair trading practices.
"The severe tariffs SolarWorld seeks would have a very damaging effect on the solar industry in the United States and would fundamentally undermine many years of effort by all of us who care about the future of solar power," the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) said in a letter to SolarWorld President Gordon Brinser.
U.S. INTERIOR TO ANNOUNCE OFFSHORE WIND DECISIONS
Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Tuesday will make several announcements regarding renewable energy programs, both onshore and offshore, his office said.
Salazar planned to hold a news media teleconference at 12 noon EST (1700 GMT). Energy experts said Salazar could announce the issuance of the nation's second federal offshore wind power lease to NRG Energy's Bluewater Wind unit.
CHINA SAYS INDIA MAY START PROBE INTO SOLAR IMPORTS
HONG KONG/NEW DELHI, Dec 20 (Reuters) - India may launch an anti-dumping probe into imports of Chinese solar products within a month, China's commerce ministry said, but a top Indian renewable energy official denied on Tuesday that any such plan was in the works.
If New Delhi investigates allegations of unfair Chinese trade in the solar energy sector, it could be yet another challenge for China's solar companies, weeks after the United States decided to probe sales of their solar panels.
SPAIN HYDRO, IRRIGATION RESERVES EDGE HIGHER
MADRID, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Spain has more water than a week ago for generating hydropower and irrigating crops, the latest official data showed on Tuesday, which should ease the country's hefty gas and grain import needs.
Water stored in hydropower reservoirs was enough to produce 11,189 gigawatt-hours of electricity, up 8 GWh on the week, the Ministry for the Environment and Rural Affairs said in its latest bulletin on water stocks.
GOOGLE TIES UP WITH KKR FOR CALIFORNIA SOLAR PROJECTS
Dec 20 (Reuters) - Google Inc and KKR & Co said they will acquire a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic projects in California from Recurrent Energy, a unit of Japan's Sharp Corp .
The deal will be financed with a combination of debt and equity from Google and SunTap Energy RE LLC, a new venture formed by KKR on Tuesday to invest in solar projects in the United States.
PATTERN'S TEXAS WIND POWER LINE GETS FEDERAL OKAY
HOUSTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Pattern Energy Group's Southern Cross transmission line, designed to move abundant West Texas wind power beyond the state's border, has obtained key federal regulatory approval to move forward, the company said on Monday.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said the $1 billion project will not threaten the regulatory status for transmission providers within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which are currently exempt from direct FERC jurisdiction.
FOREIGN INVESTOR EYES MASSIVE SOLAR PARK IN SERBIA
SARAJEVO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Luxembourg-based Securum Equity Partners said it planned to start building a 2 billion euro ($2.6 billion) solar park in Serbia, which could be Europe's largest when it opens.
The head of the company's Serbia unit, Ivan Matejak, said on Monday the project would include installation of photovoltaic units with a combined capacity of 1 gigawatt in an area of some 3,000 hectares (6,600 acres) in the south of the country.
SOITEC INVESTS $150 MLN IN CALIFORNIA SOLAR MODULE FACTORY
Dec 16 (Reuters) - French silicon company Soitec SA said it will invest more than $150 million in a manufacturing facility in California to produce concentrator photovoltaic modules (CPV) for the U.S. renewable-energy market.
The French company said the facility will have a manufacturing capacity of 200 megawatts (MW) of CPV modules. The company's CPV technology involves converting sunlight into electricity via concentrator optics and solar cells.
DONG ENERGY BUYS ONE THIRD OF TWO UK WIND PROJECTS
COPENHAGEN, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Danish state-owned DONG Energy has bought a 33.3 percent stake in two UK offshore wind projects from a joint venture of Mainstream Renewable Power and a subsidiary of Germany's Siemens , it said on Friday.
DONG Energy, a leading developer of offshore wind parks, said in a statement it paid 15 million pounds ($23.22 million) for the stake in the Heron Wind Ltd and Njord Ltd offshore wind projects, with a potential total capacity of up to 1 gigawatt.
GREEK, CHINESE FIRMS BID FOR MACEDONIA HYDRO PROJECT
SKOPJE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Greece's dominant power utility PPC and China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) have placed bids for concessions to build two 526 MW hydro power plants in Macedonia, the economy ministry said on Friday.
The two companies were among ten that had been shortlisted after the first stage of a tender for the construction of the Cebren and Galiste power plants at a cost estimated at up to 700 million euros ($909.8 million).
E.ON STEPS UP RENEWABLE EFFORTS IN 7 BLN EUR PLAN
FRANKFURT, Dec 15 (Reuters) - E.ON , the world's top utility by sales, aims to spend 7 billion euros ($9.1 billion) to expand its renewable energy business over the next five years, as the group steps up its efforts to adjust to the end of nuclear power in Germany.
"We have invested 7 billion euros in renewables during the past five years, and we will invest further 7 billion euros over the next five years as a substitute for other power generation," Chief Executive Johannes Teyssen said in a statement.
RENEWABLES NEED NOT COST MORE-EU ENERGY CHIEF
BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - A shift to renewable energy would ultimately cost around the same as business as usual and the EU needs to make progress on setting a 2030 target for greener fuel soon, the bloc's energy commissioner said.
Guenther Oettinger was laying out the European Union's latest road map for mostly eliminating carbon from the fuel mix by 2050 and guiding investors beyond the Commission's existing set of energy goals.
COLUMN-AMBITIOUS RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGETS FLAWED-GERARD WYNN
LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Ambitious targets for renewable electricity in the medium-term are likely unfeasible, given they demand forced, early write-offs of fossil fuel power plants and may downplay rival shale gas and the unpredictability of wind and solar power.
The European Commission on Thursday unveiled its "Energy Roadmap 2050" laying out options for making sweeping carbon emissions cuts through a combination of efficiency and renewable energy and other low-carbon technology.
CHINA SCALES UP SOLAR POWER CAPACITY PLAN BY 50 PCT -REPORT
BEIJING, Dec 15 (Reuters) - China has further revised up its solar power development target for 2015 by 50 percent from its previous plan, state media reported on Thursday.
The government has set a target for installed solar power generating capacity to reach 15 gigawatts by 2015 and wind power capacity to hit 100 GW, China National Radio reported, citing an announcement from the National Energy Administration.
CROWN ESTATE OPENS N.IRISH WATERS TO RENEWABLE POWER
LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Crown Estate has launched leasing rounds for up to 800 megawatts (MW) of wind and tidal power generation offshore Northern Ireland, it said on Thursday.
Development will be focussed on two areas, development of wind power of up 600 MW capacity off the southeast coast of County Down and tidal power of up to 200 MW around Rathlin Island and Torr Head.
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