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SFCE Dec 3
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Blast of Fresh Air Quiets Calls for Beijing Mayor's Head
Dec 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
A cold front that swept choking smog from northern China couldn't have come sooner for Beijing's mayor. After days of hazardous pollution forced people to wear masks and huddle indoors, residents of China's capital turned their attention to the mayor, Wang Anshun, and his bold vow last year to clear the air. -
“Tired of Being in the Dark,” Africa Announces Radical Renewable Energy Plan
Dec 3, 2015 | GOOD Magazine
By Eric Pfeiffer
Africa has does little to contibute to global warming, but showed some serious climate leadership this week by announcing a $20 billion plan for a massive renewable energy initiative. New goals under the African Renewable Energy Initiative, announced Tuesday by the African Development Bank and heads of state, would bring online... -
It's official: New York State to get a 50% by 2030 renewable energy program by July 2016
Dec 2, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Christian Roselund
On Sunday November 22, the New York Times and Associated Press reported that New York Governor Cuomo had given the order for state regulators to create a 50% by 2030 renewable energy mandate for the state, in line with previously established goals. Despite these press reports, the governor's office had declined to confirm this mandate. -
EBRD allocates US$500 million for Egypt’s solar programme
Dec 2, 2015 | PV Tech
By Tom Kenning
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated up to US$500 million in support of Egypt’s solar energy programme in 2016. The programme is aiming for up to 2GW of utility-scale solar capacity delivered through 40 projects of 50MW each. This will be part of the country's target to source 20% of its... -
Yingli pulls plug on development activities in China
Dec 2, 2015 | Recharge
By Karl-Erik Stromsta
Yingli, the Chinese solar giant in dire financial straits, has ceased all downstream project activities in China, as it looks to conserve capital while it chips away at its menacing debt pile and attempts to woo potential financial saviours. While most of its peers are profitable and expanding their production capacities and shipments...
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Blast of Fresh Air Quiets Calls for Beijing Mayor's Head
Dec 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
A cold front that swept choking smog from northern China couldn't have come sooner for Beijing's mayor.
After days of hazardous pollution forced people to wear masks and huddle indoors, residents of China's capital turned their attention to the mayor, Wang Anshun, and his bold vow last year to clear the air. If pollution wasn't brought under control by 2017, Wang said at the time, he would cut off his own head and present it to the country's leadership.
“Hi Mayor, I'm here, waiting for your head,” a person using the Internet handle “I Love Rao Zizhao” wrote Dec. 1 on a discussion board on the Weibo social network, with dozens of others reposting the comment. Earlier, the official count of PM2.5—the particles that cause the greatest risk to human health—had exceeded 500 micrograms per cubic meter, more than 20 times the World Health Organization's recommended limit.
The smog surged in northern China on Nov. 30 during President Xi Jinping's visit to Paris, where he vowed to work with U.S. counterpart Barack Obama and other world leaders to stem carbon emissions and fight climate change. The capital raised its pollution alert to orange—the second-highest level—for the first time in 13 months on Sunday, the same day that the Chinese government said it had met pollution-reduction targets for the year.
Late Dec. 1, winds began to flush the smog from the region and, by the morning of Dec. 2, PM2.5 levels in Beijing had plunged to single digits. But the skies couldn't clear before people began mocking local officials who had so frequently vowed to control the pollution (230 DEN A-8, 12/1/15).
Mayor's Vow
“The mayor has vowed on his own head to control the smog, but we still have to rely on the wind to control it,” Sichuan People's Radio wrote on its official Weibo account. “What do you think?”
While China's Internet is tightly controlled and politically sensitive posts are often deleted, the censors do tolerate some criticism of local officials and national issues. In March, an online documentary discussing the government's failures to fight industrial pollution attracted more than 200 million views before disappearing from the Chinese Web.
Wang made his anti-pollution vow during a local legislative meeting in January 2014, saying the city would invest 76 billion yuan ($11.9 billion) on air quality, including replacing coal-fired heating systems in urban areas with natural gas systems. The mayor's office didn't immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Dec. 2.
The controversy was noticed by the Communist Party's People's Daily, which published on its website an article titled, “What We Need is Clean Air, Not the Head of Beijing Mayor.” The by-lined piece acknowledged the challenge of fighting air pollution and said efforts to shut industry and clear the skies during events like Xi's military parade in September and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum last year showed the government's resolve.
Actions Needed
“What we need most is the actions for solving the problem, rather than just warnings that predict the imminent problem,” the article said. “It is the determination and active actions that will lead to the most-wanted clean air, not the promised ‘head.’ ”
Another Weibo user named Little Li From the Village questioned whether Wang would fare so well if he worked for China's neighbor, North Korea. “I bet his head would already be on the table in front of Kim Jong Un, if he was a North Korean official,” it said.
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“Tired of Being in the Dark,” Africa Announces Radical Renewable Energy Plan
Dec 3, 2015 | GOOD Magazine
By Eric Pfeiffer
Africa has does little to contibute to global warming, but showed some serious climate leadership this week by announcing a $20 billion plan for a massive renewable energy initiative.
New goals under the African Renewable Energy Initiative, announced Tuesday by the African Development Bank and heads of state, would bring online 300 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030—that’s twice as much electricity as is currently produced on the continent.
The announcement was deemed “game changing” by organizations and officials participating in the summit.
"This is an exceptional moment in Africa's history, I am proud to see Africa, despite its current low emissions, lead the world in realizing these easily available and under-utilized natural resources. Increased access to renewable energy will drastically increase the wellbeing of energy-poor Africans,” Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid's Senior Climate Advisor, said in a statement. “What we now need is for world leaders to support this effort and get behind Africa's renewable energy revolution."
At the unveiling of the new goals, the French government pledged 2 billion Euros to the effort over the next five years. Since 2009, a number of other countries have reportedly pledged $100 billion toward the AREI.
“The world, and in particular the developed world, owes the African continent an environmental debt,” French President Francois Hollande said.
“This initiative can transform Africa's energy systems, grow African economies and help improve energy access. African countries have abundant renewable energy resources—now these will power our future," added Asrat Yirgu, WWF Africa's Climate Change Coordinator.
Even though Africa is not one of the world’s major contributors to carbon emissions they are nonetheless suffering from the effects of global climate change, with expanding desert spaces encroaching on farmland and rising sea levels threatening the landscape.
Additionally, only 32 percent of those living in sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity. The African Development Bank has said that addressing access to energy resources gives the African Union an opportunity to put renewable energy resourses at the forefront of that effort and is pledging $12 billion toward the effort.
Said Akinwumi Adesina, head of the bank, "Africa is simply tired of being in the dark."
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It's official: New York State to get a 50% by 2030 renewable energy program by July 2016
Dec 2, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Christian Roselund
On Sunday November 22, the New York Times and Associated Press reported that New York Governor Cuomo had given the order for state regulators to create a 50% by 2030 renewable energy mandate for the state, in line with previously established goals.
Despite these press reports, the governor's office had declined to confirm this mandate. That changed today, when Governor Cuomo produced a letter to New York State Department of Public Service (DPS) CEO Audrey Zibelman to create a program for 50% renewable energy by 2030.
Significantly, the letter includes a timeline: DPS must create this policy by July 2016. It also clears up the role of nuclear in the program, which had been a subject of wide speculation.
Governor Cuomo has ordered the PSC to provide “additional attention” to ensure that sources of nuclear power remain operational. It specifically notes that the shutdown of “upstate” nuclear facilities would wipe out emissions progress made through renewable energy programs.
The signifier “upstate” may be a reference to the FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Station, which plant operator Entergy Corporation said that it would close a month ago. This geographical distinction would also exclude the Indian Point nuclear power plant, which is located 25 miles north of New York City.
However, this support will be “separate and distinct” from the renewable energy mandate.
What is still unknown is the actual mechanisms which will be used to support the 50% renewable energy target, which will be revealed in coming months. The previous Renewable Portfolio Standard had mandated that 0.5% of state electricity production come from distributed generation by 2015, and 29% from renewables overall.
GTM Research Solar Analyst Cory Honeyman warns against the assumption that the new Clean Energy Standard will be closely modeled on the the policy which was successfully completed this year, stating that the Reforming the ongoing Energy Vision (REV) proceeding “Should spur some innovative approaches”.
“It probably won't be done like it was before,” Honeyman told pv magazine. “(REV) definitely changes the conversation about how an RPS will be implemented.”
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EBRD allocates US$500 million for Egypt’s solar programme
Dec 2, 2015 | PV Tech
By Tom Kenning
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated up to US$500 million in support of Egypt’s solar energy programme in 2016.
The programme is aiming for up to 2GW of utility-scale solar capacity delivered through 40 projects of 50MW each. This will be part of the country's target to source 20% of its electricity from renewables by 2020.
Many of these projects will be located on a planned 1.8GW site near Benban in north Egypt.
The EBRD expects to finance several such plants and mobilise up to US$1.5 billion in debt and equity from other financiers for these ventures. The total cost of the projects is expected to be in the region of US$4 billion.
The solar projects, to be constructed entirely by private firms, have been supported by recent reforms. The EBRD said it has worked closely with the Egyptian authorities to provide technical cooperation during the development of a legal and regulatory framework for renewable energy. This included contractual agreements, the solar grid code and environmental and social due diligence.
Nandita Parshad, EBRD director for power and energy, said: “Successfully implementing the feed-in tariff programme will unlock Egypt’s potential by providing a regulatory framework that can attract private capital. This initial programme is significant in itself. But the really exciting element is that once the country has an established model for private investment in renewables, there will be huge potential for widespread, rapid deployment, thanks to Egypt's fantastic resources and the falling cost of renewable generation.”
EBRD recently approved a US$250 million credit facility for private sector renewable energy projects in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia. Once implemented, the total EBRD investment in renewables will surpass US$5 billion.
In August, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) have announced three new tenders for 500MW of new solar and wind capacity for the West Nile area of the country.
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Yingli pulls plug on development activities in China
Dec 2, 2015 | Recharge
By Karl-Erik Stromsta
Yingli, the Chinese solar giant in dire financial straits, has ceased all downstream project activities in China, as it looks to conserve capital while it chips away at its menacing debt pile and attempts to woo potential financial saviours.While most of its peers are profitable and expanding their production capacities and shipments, Yingli is reining in nearly all of its commercial activities to focus on debt repayment. Much of the proceeds it is counting on for those repayments are expected to come from asset sales.
Yingli revealed Wednesday that its downstream development business in China has been "suspended" since September. The company is now trying to offload its project pipeline, and has already sold 115MW of projects.
It is negotiating with “leading corporations” in China to sell another 200MW in various stages of development – some of those projects already financed. Those sales could raise as much as 500m yuan ($78.2m), chief financial officer Yiyu Wang said in a conference call.
Yingli relied on the sale of idle land owned by subsidiary Fine Silicon to pay down medium-term notes in October.
Yingli pushed into project development in China in a big way in 2013-14, as a way to diversify away from the volatile PV manufacturing business. As recently as this summer it was still winning new projects in China.
The company continues to develop PV projects at a modest scale in foreign markets.
While Yingli has made some progress in paying down its near-term liabilities, current liabilities still exceed current assets by more than 7bn yuan ($1bn), and it is unclear how the company can close the gap.
Aside from selling projects, other options include “the potential introduction of strategic investors and potential new cooperation models with our business partners”, says chief executive Miao Liansheng.
In doing so, the company hopes to “gradually improve” its financial situation, Liansheng says.
In its efforts to get back on its feet, Baoding-based Yingli has the "recognition and dedicated support" of "all relevant parties, including the government authorities and commercial banks", Liansheng says.
Yingli, the world’s largest maker of PV panels until 2014, is in the unenviable position of having to retrench at the same time most of its rivals are expanding to take advantage of the booming global solar market.
As expected, the company's third-quarter results were dismal. Yingli posted a net quarterly loss of 3.2bn yuan, compared to a loss of 122.8m yuan in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue fell 34% to 2.23bn yuan.
In its all-encompassing bid to preserve cash, Yingli has idled many of its production lines. As a result, it expects to ship 2.4GW of PV modules at most this year, compared to 3.4GW in 2014.
In comparison, Chinese rival Trina Solar, which supplanted Yingli as the world’s largest supplier last year, expects to ship as much as 5.6GW in 2015.
Shares of New York-listed Yingli rose more than 8% on Wednesday morning, but at $0.78 they remain in danger of being de-listed. The shares began the year at $2.35.
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