United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen - COP15
The United Nations climate change conference (
COP15) will take place on
7-18 December in Copenhagen, Denmark. Negotiators from all over the
globe are hoping to come to terms on a binding agreement regarding
emission reductions that both developed and developing nations can agree
to. This conference represents the final step in negotiations years in
the making, and will be a turning point in the fight to prevent climate
disaster.
Side Event
at COP15 Copenhagen on 15 Dec 2009 20:00-21:30
IRENA and REN21, together with the IEA, the IEA RETD, and EREC /
Greenpeace, will present the leading renewable energy scenarios to show
how renewables can help meet CO
2 reduction targets and secure affordable
energy supply.
GLOBAL
Renewable energy costs drop in ’09, solar halved
Solar energy costs will drop by half in 2009 while other low-carbon
technologies will see their pre-subsidy costs drop by 10-20 percent.
Levelised costs for solar energy power, or the lifetime cost per kWh
before government subsidies, will drop this year, with thin-film solar
power generation rates falling to as low as USD 3 per watt.
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AFRICA
South Africa NERSA decision on renewable energy feed-in tariffs - phase II
The National Energy Regulatory of South Africa (NERSA) announced that
the renewable energy feed-in tariffs were approved.
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USD 1.1bn goes to 6 African countries for renewable energy
Six African countries will receive USD 1.1bn in new financing to develop
renewable energy from the US-based Climate Investment Fund (CIF).
Mozambique, Niger, and Zambia will receive between USD 50-70 million in
low interest loans while Morocco, South Africa, and Egypt will receive
USD 150m, USD 500m and USD 300m respectively, to bolster investments in
clean energy.
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Kenya: new policy to boost Kenya’s bid to go green
Kenya’s five year strategy developed by the Ministry of Energy aims to
drive processing and marketing environmentally friendly green fuel made
from Jatropha curcas among other trees grown locally.
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New Alliance established in Addis Ababa - Stakeholders come together to boost Renewable Energy in Africa
Their aim is to speed up electrification and fight climate change at the
same time. Representatives from various African countries today in Addis
Ababa established the African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA). In this
Alliance, utilities, industry, policy-makers and the civil society will
work together to boost the take-up of sustainable electrification and
thermal power.
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ASIA
China selects 294 PV projects for Golden Sun Subsidy
The Chinese government has identified 294 PV projects with a total
capacity of 642MW in its Golden Sun pilot programme, with expected cost
of CNY 20bn (USD 2.93bn) and which will be ready for use within the next
two or three years.
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Hu, Obama sign clean energy partnership agreement
China and the US will pool resources to research and develop renewable
energy under a seven point accord signed in Beijing by President Barack
Obama and Hu Jintao. Electric vehicles, energy efficiency and carbon
capture are part of the pact.
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UN halts China wind farms amid funding dispute
The United Nations body in charge of managing carbon trading has
suspended approvals for dozens of Chinese wind farms amid questions over
the country's use of industrial policy to obtain money under the scheme.
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Solar mission to start with 1,300MW, reach 20,000 by 2022
India’s solar mission will set up, in its first phase, 1,100MW of solar
power through the electricity grid and 200MW off the grid, with the
objective of making solar power as cheap as power from coal by the end
of the mission.
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Central government to give 50p incentive for every unit of wind power
In keeping with India’s national effort to move to path of low carbon
intensity development, the Union Cabinet is expected to approve a
proposal to incentivize generation of wind energy through a generation
based incentive. The proposal suggests an incentive of Rs 0.5 (USD 0.01
cent) per unit of wind energy produced.
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United States and India to cooperate on clean energy technologies
President Barack Obama and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed
a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on November 24 for
their nations to work together to speed up the development and
deployment of clean energy technology.
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Philippines renewable energy standards to be completed in first quarter of 2010
The National Renewable Energy Board (NREB) targets to complete the
guidelines on renewable energy use in the country by the first quarter
of next year. Arthur Aguilar, NREB chairman, said the board already set
up committees to study the country’s renewable portfolio standards and
feed-in-tariff for the use of green energy.
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Philippine contracts worth USD 2.2bn awarded for renewable energy projects
The Philippines Department of Energy has awarded 87 new contracts worth
a combined USD 2.2bn in the renewable energy sector to 18 companies. The
contracts entail the development of biomass, geothermal, hydropower,
ocean, solar and wind energy resources, with a total power generation
potential of 4,042MW. This development is being touted as the largest
number of contracts awarded in a single day.
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BPI, IFC extend collaboration for sustainable energy schemes
The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and the International Finance
Corporation (IFC) have jointly agreed to expand an existing financial
agreement to continue funding sustainable energy projects in the
Philippines.
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South Korea considers using biofuel
The introduction of a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) system, which would
mandate the use of a mixture of biofuels and petrol in vehicles, is
currently under consideration. The government will review its plans and
if everything works out the RFS system could be implemented as early as
2013.
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European Investment Bank signs agreements to finance renewable energy projects in Pakistan
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing EUR 100m to the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan to part-finance investments in the renewable energy
sector. The operation will be co-financed with the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) under an innovative arrangement.
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Azerbaijan introduces licensing for renewable energy activities, including geothermal
The Azerbaijani President has endorsed the Statute on the State Agency
for Alternate & Renewable Energy Sources under the Ministry of Industry
& Energy of Azerbaijan to develop renewable energy sources in the
country.
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AUSTRALIA / PACIFIC
Australia invests USD 235m in renewable energy projects
The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, awarded
USD 235m to four commercial-scale renewable energy projects from the
Renewable Energy Demonstration Programme on 9th November.
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EUROPE
Investing in the future: Commission calls for additional EUR 50bn in low carbon technologies
In a proposal on "Investing in the development of low-carbon
energy technologies", the Commission estimates that an additional
investment of EUR 50bn in energy technology research will be needed over
the next 10 years. This means almost tripling the annual investment in
the European Union, from EUR 3 to 8bn.
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Commission approves Dutch Green Funds Scheme for environmentally-friendly investment projects
The European Commission has authorised, under the EC Treaty’s rules on
state aid, a revised version of a Dutch tax incentive measure, first
approved by the Commission in August 2006 as "Regeling Groenprojecten",
to stimulate investments in projects that have a positive effect on
nature and the environment in the Netherlands.
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EU reaches agreement on energy savings in buildings
EU lawmakers last night (17 November) forged a long-awaited compromise
on the recast buildings directive, agreeing that all new buildings would
have to comply with high energy-performance standards and supply a
significant share of their energy requirements from renewable sources
after the end of 2020.
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Germany to post record rise in solar capacity
Germany will add a record of up to 3GW of photovoltaic capacity this
year due to unexpectedly strong demand in the final months of 2009, the
head of Germany’s BSW solar industry association said.
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German parties' plans on energy policy
Following autumns parliamentary elections in Germany, the coalition
talks to form the new government were anticipated with a mix of
incertitude and anxiety by renewable energy proponents. The resulting
coalition agreement is qualified by the German Renewable Energy
Federation (BEE) as "satisfactory" with regard to the envisaged energy
policy. BEE welcomes the recognition of the major role of renewables in
energy supply, destined to replace an ever-growing amount of
conventional forms of energy. Plans to extend nuclear power plant
lifetimes, however, are judged a wrong signal. Reuters produced a "FACTBOX"
on German parties' plans on energy policy. (
BEE
Press Release in German language)
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Feed-in-tariff introduced in Serbia via regulation on promoting power generation from renewables
The British government has unveiled a policy white paper for a wide-scale
low-carbon energy switch to help meet its ambitious 2020 emissions
reduction targets. Energy and climate change minister Ed Miliband
announced targets to double the proportion of UK power generated from
low-carbon sources to 40 percent by 2020. Of that portion, more than
three-quarters, or 31 percent of all power, would come from renewables.
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Spain projects solidify its top solar-thermal ranking
Spain’s government has approved a plan to allow 6GW in wind and 2.4GW in
solar thermal electricity generation projects by 2012, providing much
needed predictability to the sector.
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Spain’s Congress brings relief to the renewables sector
Spain’s Congress of Deputies has cheered up a worried renewable power
sector by voting against the Senate’s shock decision last week to repeal
parts of the current law, a move that might have threatened hundreds of
projects.
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Finnish Government adopts 80 percent GHG reduction target by 2050
The Finnish Government adopted on October 15th the Foresight Report on
Long-term Climate change and Energy Policy. Setting a target to reduce
Finland’s GHG emissions by at least 80 percent from the 1990 level by
2050 as part of an international effort, the report marks out the road
to a low-carbon Finland in 2050.
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Greece plans new incentives to boost clean energy
Greece’s new socialist government plans to unveil a new law in November
to boost renewable energy production as part of its ‘green growth’ model
and revive stalled projects with a capacity of more than 7,000 MW.
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Czech cut solar feed-in tariffs by 5 percent for 2010
Generators who produce solar energy sold to any of the country’s three
main power distributors will receive 12,250 Czech crowns (USD 709.3) per
MWh, down from 12,890 crowns per MWh in 2009, according to the Energy
Regulatory Office.
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Bulgaria set for massive growth in wind power
Bulgaria is set to dramatically expand its wind power output in the next
10 years, from the current 330MW installed to over 3,000MW by 2020, wind
energy will meet 13.5 percent of Bulgaria’s electricity demand.
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MIDDLE EAST / NORTH AFRICA
Kuwait turns to solar energy to meet 5 percent renewable energy target for 2020
Kuwait plans to call a tender next year for a solar energy plant, in its
bid to obtain 5 percent of total supply from renewable energy by 2020.
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First Energy Bank to build USD 1bn Saudi solar plant
Bahrain based First Energy Bank plans to build a USD 1bn polysilicon
plant in Saudi Arabia with a local partner to cater to rising regional
investments in solar power.
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Morocco unveils USD 9bn solar power scheme
Morocco is going to be the next country to undertake an ambitious solar
project. Theirs is slated to be worth USD 9bn and is anticipated to
produce 38 percent of the country’s installed power generation by 2020.
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NORTH AMERICA
Export-Import Bank adopts carbon policy to encourage renewable energy and climate-friendly technologies
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im BANK) became the
first Export Credit Agency to adopt a comprehensive Carbon Policy to
guide its support of United States experts in light of climate change
concerns.
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Secretary Chu announces USD 620m for smart grid demonstration and energy storage projects
Chu announced that the Department of Energy is awarding USD 620m for
projects around the country to demonstrate advanced Smart Grid
technologies and integrated systems that will help build a smarter, more
efficient, more resilient electrical grid.
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Department of Energy awards USD 338m to accelerate domestic geothermal energy
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced up to USD 338m
in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of new
geothermal fields and research into advanced geothermal technologies.
These grants will support 123 projects in 39 states, with recipients
including private industry, academic, institutions, tribal entities,
local governments, and DOE’s National Laboratories.
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Schwarzenegger signs two major solar initiatives, vetoes 33 percent plan
Two initiatives approved by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on 11 October
could trigger a proliferation of commercial rooftop solar power systems
and will require utilities to pay consumers with solar panels for any
extra power generated.
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M.I.T developing ‘liquid battery’ for grid-scale electricity systems
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is testing an energy storage
technology which provides a different approach to addressing one of
renewable energy’s main challenges.
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SOUTH AMERICA
Wärtsilä wins more power plant operation contracts from Brazil
In Brazil, Wärtsilä has now achieved the impressive position of having
1.0GW of electrical output under operations and maintenance agreements.
The agreements cover 12 power plants in different locations.
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Investment in wind power blows into Chile
The combination of pro-renewable energy legislation, economic stability
and industrial demand are fuelling a vibrant wind power sector in Chile.
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Enel to invest USD 240m in Chile geothermal power
Italy’s biggest utility, Enel said on 12 Nov it plans to invest USD 240m
over the next four years to develop geothermal power in energy-starved
Chile.
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