Market consolidation » 02.04.2012
Q-Cells is bankrupt
According to a report in dpa, Q-Cells will be filing for insolvency tomorrow. A court ruling last week apparently left the firm, which was the global market leader only a few years ago, no other choice. read more »
Nuclear power » 30.03.2012
Nuclear phaseout in Japan and elsewhere
While Germany's decision to switch off eight of its nuclear reactors has drawn a lot of attention, Japan only has a single nuclear reactor running at the moment. Even without declaring it a national policy, the Japanese may be completely nuclear-free this summer. And elsewhere, nuclear power has faced setbacks over the past few weeks. read more »
Wind power » 29.03.2012
Hochtief offshore
Founded in February, Hochtief Offshore Development Solutions of Essen has expanded its portfolio with the takeover of four offshore wind farms from project developer Enova, which is behind the Offshore Northsea Windpower 4-7 (NSWP 4-7) projects that have gone up since 2009. read more »
Energy policy » 29.03.2012
Solar thermal UK
While the changes to the UK's feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics have attracted a lot of attention, the country has also ramped up its support for solar thermal, but details about the eligibility of homeowners are still being discussed. read more »
The switch to renewables » 28.03.2012
"The conventional energy sector is running scared"
Over the past month, US wind energy expert and feed-in tariff proponent Paul Gipe has been widely cited in international reports critical of support for renewables and wind power in particular. Renewables International spoke with him about why he does not feel his views have been properly represented. read more »
Feed-in tariffs » 28.03.2012
Last round for new solar FITs in Germany
The coalition parties in the Bundestag have made changes to the bill for an amended Renewable Energy Act to take account of concerns voiced by party members in the Bundesrat, which seemed poised to veto the changes. Opposition parties were not invited to talks. But not all of the changes will please PV proponents. The switch to decrees not dependent on parliamentary procedure has been done away with, but rates will be cut for small systems even more drastically. read more »
Trade barriers » 27.03.2012
Chinese PV firms react pragmatically
The Chinese have reacted to the threat of import duties on their PD products shipped to the US, and they do not seem worried. At least one major Chinese player might simply begin producing in the US. read more »
Bioenergy from waste » 27.03.2012
Biogas generally better than composting
An Austrian study compared different ways of using biowaste and found that the production of biomethane of natural gas quality is the most efficient in terms of energy balance and the greenhouse effect. read more »
Energy policy » 26.03.2012
UK Supreme Court rejects cuts to PV
On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to hear the government's appeal after a lower court rejected the government's premature cuts to feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics before the consultation period had ended. read more »
Energy policy » 26.03.2012
Ontario's new feed-in tariffs
On Thursday, changes to the Canadian province's Green Energy Act were announced. The rates paid for solar power and wind power are to drop by at least 20 and 15 percent, respectively, but the rates for hydropower, biogas, biomass, and waste gas will remain the same. read more »
Comment » 23.03.2012
Have FITs served their purpose?
While the main problems in the proposals for changes to German feed-in tariffs seem to have been solved, proponents of feed-in tariffs are not exactly off the hook. Indeed, we have shot ourselves in the foot by continuously speaking of grid parity as the goal of feed-in tariffs. Guess what – grid parity is here, and everyone in Germany's solar sector still wants feed-in tariffs. read more »
Energy policy » 23.03.2012
The finishing touches on Germany's solar FITs
Feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics are still to be revised in Germany, but the most obvious problems in the changes proposed were done away with this week after fierce protests from a wide range of experts, including a large number of politicians within the coalition. read more »
Belgium » 23.03.2012
First 6MW turbine offshore
On March 21, wind turbine manufacturer Repower and Belgium's C- Power NV set up the first offshore turbine in the world with a capacity of six megawatts. At the Thornton Bank II wind farm some 28 kilometers off the Belgian coast, 48 of these turbines are to be set up by 2013. read more »
Photovoltaics » 21.03.2012
US could impose trade tariffs on PV from China
CASM has reached its goal – sort of. While the organization founded to push back imports of solar components from China to the US got what it wanted – import duties on products from China – the duties to be imposed are not quite as high as the organization wanted. read more »
Photovoltaics » 21.03.2012
Germany's PV growth corridor
In a press release from the Photovoltaics Task Force of Baden-Württemberg, Wolfgang Seeliger, Director of Corporate Strategy at Centrotherm, points out how Germany reached its growth corridor of 3 to 3.5 gigawatts per year of newly installed PV capacity – and why lowering that target would mean the country will fail to reach its targets for renewables. read more »
