Estudo diz que apoio às renováveis representa só 1,9 euros na factura mensal de electricidade

PUBLICO.PT
Os custos da produção eléctrica com base em energias renováveis, financiada em regime especial, são afinal muito menores do que apontam as contas oficiais do sector, indica um estudo da consultora Rolland Berger para a Associação Portuguesa de Energias Renováveis (Apren), que será hoje apresentado em Lisboa. (...) As novas contas concluem que cada consumidor pagou, na factura eléctrica, uma média de 1,9 euros mensais para apoiar as energias renováveis em regime especial (regime que deixa de fora as grandes hídricas, ou barragens), entre 2005 e 2010 - um valor considerado aceitável pelos consumidores inquiridos pela Rolland Berger, abaixo dos 5,5 euros que são normalmente avançados. (...) Contas feitas, o estudo conclui ainda que a produção de origem renovável em regime especial teve um peso de 4% no custo total de geração de electricidade, entre 2005 e 2010, e não de 11% como tem sido avançado. E lembra as poupanças associadas à menor importação de combustíveis fósseis e de licenças de CO2, de 407 milhões de euros por ano.

JinkoSolar offers explanation, remediation for alleged toxic release at Haining PV cell factory

SolarServer
On September 15th - 17th, 2011 residents of Hongxiao, an adjacent village [to the Jinkosolar PV cell factory at Haining], gathered to protest the death of fish in a local waterway, with some protesters breaking into offices and destroying company property. On September 17th, 2011, JinkoSolar voluntarily closed the Haining plant.
Silicon wafer texturing and etching generate a fluoride solution as a by-product, which results in fluoride wastes. JinkoSolar (...) explained that a change in waste management contractors caused a delay in solid fluoride waste pickup, resulting in outdoor storage of waste. [D]ue to heavy rains in late August, fluoride waste "may" have leaked into a water channel near the factory.
JinkoSolar estimates that on September 5th, 2011, it became aware of the incident and commenced actions to clean up the affected area. The company isolated the water channel section and treated the affected water and soil, as well as constructing retaining walls, and building a water collection systems to prevent leakage. JinkoSolar has agreed to pay compensation for crop damage, as well as the death of any livestock or wildlife that may have been affected by the incident. It also notes that local environmental authorities are continually conducting water quality testing.

China eyes 3 GW rooftop solar capacity by 2015

Reuters
China is targeting 3 gigawatts (GW) of roof-mounted solar power generating capacity by 2015 and 25 GW by 2020, the China Securities Journal reported on Monday, citing a government renewable energy development plan that is likely to be unveiled soon. If the goals are confirmed, they suggest a third of China's solar power capacity would be roof-mounted by 2015 and a half by 2020, making rooftop solar panel installations a key direction in solar power expansion.

Solar Trust Switches 500MW Power Plant to PV

Greentech Media
Solar Trust said today that it will convert a 500 megawatt solar thermal power plant it had been planning in Blythe, California into a 500 megawatt plant made from photovoltaic panels.
The shift comes because of "improved market conditions" for building power plants with PV modules. Solar modules from some vendors now cost as little as $1.30 a watt, according to GTM Research. The switch will mean the company has to walk away from a $2.1 billion federal loan guarantee.
Switching to PV will also let Solar Trust build the plant in 250 megawatt increments, making financing and planning easier.

Moçambique aposta em energias renováveis

Deutsche Welle
Até 2014, Moçambique vai electrificar os seus distritos - também com energias renováveis. Neste momento, mais de dois milhões de moçambicanos beneficiam de energia eléctrica gerada a partir de fontes novas e renováveis.
Trata-se das energias solar, eólica, hídrica de pequena e média dimensões e biomassa, através do bagaço da cana-de-açúcar e da jatropha - todas energias produzidas no país à luz da estratégia nacional de energias renováveis aprovada recentemente pelo governo.
De todas as formas de energias renováveis que o país possui, a solar é a mais usada, principalmente para responder às necessidades das populações rurais, com painéis solares.
Moçambique tem ainda centrais mini-hídricas, com capacidade de gerar energia até 15 megawatts e que podem contribuir para iluminar pequenas comunidades. Possui ainda barragens de média dimensão, como a de Massingir, na provincia sulista de Gaza.

China to double solar capacity by year end: report

Reuters
China will double its solar capacity to around 2GW by the end of the year as the world's largest solar-panel maker ramps up domestic installation, a local paper said on Saturday citing a government-linked think tank.
To encourage the construction of more solar power plants, the [National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)] has set unified benchmark grid feed-in power tariffs for solar projects for the first time ever earlier this month.
The rates, set at 1 yuan for each kWh, were higher than many of those that were proposed and accepted by state-owned solar-power developers in China's previous official tenders, which ranged from 0.73 to 0.99 yuan for each kWh last year.
The solar feed-in tariff (...) could drop below 0.80 yuan (12.5 cents) for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) by 2015, which would be on par with conventional coal-fired power tariffs by that time, according to s report by the Energy Research Institute.
The report also said China was expected to produce 90,000 tonnes of polysilicon this year, representing 80 percent of its domestic demand.

Europe Lodges WTO Complaint Against Canada Over Renewable Energy

Bloomberg
The European Union lodged a complaint at the World Trade Organization against Canada over subsidies the province of Ontario gives to renewable-energy producers that use domestic technology.
Under Ontario’s feed-in tariff program, created by the province’s Green Energy Act, above-market rates are paid to producers of renewable energy provided it is generated with a certain percentage of Canadian-made equipment. The act aims to help Ontario meet its goal of shutting all its coal-power generators by 2014.
A provision of the program that began in October 2009 requires projects to use goods and labor from Ontario for as much as 60 percent of supply costs, depending on the type of renewable-energy source.
“This is in clear breach of the WTO rules that prohibit linking subsidies to the use of domestic products,” the European Commission said today in an e-mailed statement from Brussels. The Ontario Power Authority “has set conditions that favor domestic products and services.”