8 renewable energy focus September/October 2009

News/Headlines

■ The US Department of Energy (DoE) is

investing nearly US$300 million in its Clean

Cities Grant from the American Recovery

and Reinvestment Act to support clean fuels,

vehicles and infrastructure development. The

25 cost-share clean vehicles projects that will

benefi t from the funding could place 9000

alterative fuel and energy effi cient vehicles

on US roads and establish 542 refuelling loca-

tions across the USA. http://www.renewable

energyfocus.com/view/3585/doe-to-invest-

nearly-us300m-in-clean-vehicles-initiatives/

Asia, Africa, Middle East

■ The Danish, German and Spanish governments

have helped Egypt set up the 360 MW Zafarana

windfarm near the Gulf of Suez. According

to the Wind Power Works campaign lead by

the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC),

average wind speeds in the area are 9 m/s. The

Zafarana windfarm consists of a series of linked

windfarms, which saw construction starting in

2001. To date, the total installed capacity has

reached 360 MW. http://www.renewableener-

gyfocus.com/view/2467/european-governments-

help-egypt-to-build-zafarana-windfarm/

■ Crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) module

manufacturer, Suntech Power Holdings,

has entered into a number of strategic agree-

ments to develop 1.8 GW worth of solar

power projects in China. The solar power

project agreements are with: Shaanxi provin-

cial government, Shizuishan city govern-

ment, Ningxia province, Qinghai provincial

government and Panzhihua city govern-

ment, Sichuan province to develop 300 MW,

500 MW, 500 MW and 500 MW of solar power

projects respectively. http://www.renewableen-

ergyfocus.com/view/2533/suntech-to-develop-

multigw-solar-power-projects-in-china/

■ Vestas will supply a total of 75 MW of wind

turbines to a large Chinese Independent

Power Producer (IPP). The fi rst order consists

of 7 units of the V90 1.8 MW wind turbine and

6 units of the V90 2.0 MW wind turbine for

a wind energy project in the Shandong prov-

ince, China. The second order is for 25 units of

the V80 2.0 MW wind turbine for a project in

the Guangdong province. http://www.renewa-

bleenergyfocus.com/view/2571/vestas-to-supply-

75-mw-of-wind-turbines-to-china-/

■ ENN Solar Energy has announced the

launch of its new silicon thin-fi lm solar

products manufactured with Applied

Materials’ tandem junction technology.

ENN’s modules are produced on a SunFab

production line supplied by Applied Materials,

and the line is China’s fi rst production line

for silicon thin fi lm tandem junction PV

modules with a surface of 5.7m2. http://www.

renewableenergyfocus.com/view/2719/enns-

sunfab-production-line-underway/

■ Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) ASA

of Norway is building a solar panel manu-

facturing complex in Singapore’s Jurong,

which will reportedly be one of the largest in

the world. REC is investing S$3.4 billion into

the fi rst phase alone. The entire project is

expected to cost more than S$6 billion. http://

www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3105/rec-

to-build-solar-plant-in-singapore-/

■ India is targeting 20GW of solar power as

part of its climate and energy strategy. India

will launch a solar power target by September

2009, which could increase the output from

almost nothing to a staggering 20GW by

2020 – in a bid to fi ght global warming. To

put this in context, today’s global PV installed

capacity stands at around 14GW. http://www.

renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3106/india-

plans-massive-increase-in-solar-energy/

■ Oerlikon Solar and Tianwei have

completed one of mainland China’s largest

thin-fi lm solar panel factories, which in the

fi rst phase could produce 500,000 thin-fi lm

solar modules totalling 46 MW per year.

The Tianwei plant is using Oerlikon Solar’s

Amorph High Performance solar photovoltaic

(PV) technology for the fi rst phase. http://

www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3815/

oerlikon-solar-and-tianwei-open-46-mw-solar-

thinfi lm-production-in-china/

Row ■ Vestas has received an order for 37 units of

its V90-3.0 MW wind turbine, for a wind farm

project in South Australia. The order for the

Waterloo Wind Farm project has been placed

by Roaring 40s Renewable Energy Pty

Ltd – a partnership between energy giants

China Light & Power (CLP) Group and

Hydro Tasmania – which has been a long-

term Vestas customer through three existing

wind farm projects in Australia. http://www.

renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3232/vestas-

receives-order-for-111-mw-in-australia/

■ Australia’s Clean Energy Council (CEC) has

signed a clean technology agreement with the

Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency

(KOTRA) – a fi rst between the two countries.

“This agreement strengthens Australia’s ties

with Korea and will drive investment and devel-

opment in clean tech between both nations,”

says Matthew Warren, CEO of CEC. http://www.

renewableenergy focus.com/view/3254/australia-

signs-new-trade-agreement-with-korea/

■ Nano Solar Technology (NST), a newly

formed Russian high-tech fi rm, has ordered

a 120 MW Micromorph® line for production

of thin-fi lm solar modules from Oerlikon

Solar. With the envisaged production

capacity of one million solar modules

annually, this could the largest production

equipment order to-date in 2009 for the

thin-fi lm photovoltaic (PV) market. http://

www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3303/

nst-places-120-mw-order-with-oerlikon-solar-

for-solar-pv-factory-in-russia/

RWE npower renewables’ Rhyl Flats Off shore Wind Farm

started generating renewable wind energy at the North

Wales coast, UK, early July. The fi rst of the windfarm’s 25

wind turbines will start producing power while construction

works continue on site to complete installation of the

remaining wind turbines and subsea transmission cables.

The wind power from the windfarm is taken to shore by

subsea transmission cables, and then through cabling

underground to the recently completed substation at

Towyn, where the voltage of the electricity is converted

for transmission over the national electricity grid. In the

coming months, the other 24 wind turbines will come on

line and it is expected that the windfarm will become fully

operational during the fi nal quarter of 2009. http://www.

renewableenergyfocus.com/view/2538/rhyl-fl ats-off shore-

wind-farm-starts-producing-power/

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