News in brief - 1 October 2008
Vattenfall acquires AMEC Wind Energy
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, October 7, 2008. Vattenfall AB is acquiring 100% of AMEC Wind Energy Limited, a major UK developer of commercial wind farms for around £126.6 million.
Round 3 offshore wind farm tender opened
LONDON, UK, October 7, 2008. The British Crown Estate has issued an ‘Invitation to Negotiate’ to registered developers for the Round 3 offshore wind farm leasing programme for the delivery of up to 25 GW of new offshore wind by 2020.
Fuel cells in the air
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY, October 7, 2008. A manned airplane that can take-off and fly exclusively with a fuel cell has been presented at Stuttgart airport by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
REC to deliver US$450m of wafers
SANDVIKA, NORWAY, October 6, 2008. REC has entered into a US$450 million long-term agreement for the supply of multi-crystalline silicon wafers to Taiwanese Neo Solar Power until 2015.
Masdar invests €120m in WinWinD
ABU DHABI, UAE, October 6, 2008. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar renewable energy and clean technology initiative has bought a €120 million equity stake in WinWinD Oy, a Finnish wind turbine manufacturer.
39.7% solar cell efficiency
FREIBURG, GERMANY, October 6, 2008. A 39.7% efficiency for a multi-junction solar cell has been reached by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.
First phases of Roscoe wind farm opened
ROSCOE, TEXAS, USA, October 6, 2008. E.ON Climate & Renewables has officially opened the first two phases of its wind farm in Roscoe, Texas.
US Congress passes PTC/ITC extensions
WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, October 6, 2008. Solar is the big winner after the US Congress passed the tax credits extensions for renewable energy generation on Friday 3 October as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
EPA identifies wasteland for energy
WASHINGTON D.C., USA, October 3, 2008. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified “thousands” of contaminated properties that could be returned to productive use by hosting solar, wind or biomass energy production facilities.
New UK department of energy and climate change
LONDON, UK, October 3, 2008. In a cabinet reshuffle, the British Government has announced the establishment of a new department of energy and climate change to be headed by Ed Miliband.
Google proposes “Clean energy 2030”
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, USA, October 3, 2008. A Google analysis, led by Jeffery Greenblatt, suggests a potential path to weaning the US off coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 40%.
DoE injects millions into R&D
WASHINGTON D.C., USA, October 2, 2008. The US Department of Energy (DoE) announced several rounds of funding for biofuels, water power, solar power storage and photovoltaic (PV) research and development (R&D) projects in September.
Scottish investment package
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK, October 2, 2008. The proposed investment package for marine energy and other renewables from the Scottish Government have been welcomed by the trade body Scottish Renewables.
Small wind grows 80%
LONDON, UK, October 2, 2008. Small wind systems in the UK have enjoyed three years of 80% uninterrupted growth per annum. This is set to continue in 2008 and 2009, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA).
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