Ethiopia seems to be planning two more major hydropower projects on the Nile River. The country is aiming for 20 GW of power production within the next 10 years, a goal that requires major power capacity development. Ethiopia is planning to spend about USD 12 billion over the next 25 years in order to install more power capacity in the country.
Aqumarine Power announced the company has been granted a GBP 3.4 million investment loan from Barclays Corporate. The agreement is touted to be the first in the UK for a marine energy project, representing a milestone for this industry.
Voith Hydro has been awarded the contract to supply four 404 MVA generators for the Teles Pires hydropower plant which is being developed in Brazil, on the border between the Mato Grosso and Para states. The power plant, rated at 1850 MW of power, will feature five Francis hydroturbines.
Ocean Power Technologies has deployed a PowerBuoy device off the coast of New Jersey, some 20 miles away. The installation is for testing purposes, and has been done in cooperation with the US Coast Guard, under the US Navy's Littoral Expeditionary Autonomous PowerBuoy program dealing with coastal security and maritime surveillance.
The Carbon Trust has offered support for the first Welsh tidal stream energy project, in the form of 60% funding (GBP 390,000) for the monitoring activities involved in the assessment of environmental impacts associated with the installation of the project. The tidal stream device is to be deployed in Ramsey Sound, off the coast of Pembrokeshire.
SN Power is going to acquire a major stake in the Brazilian renewable energy company Desenvix, which is a power generation arm of ENGEVIX, for an estimated USD 440 million. The company has a portfolio of 162 MW of renewable energy capacity in operation in Brazil, with another 176 MW under construction. Additionally, Desenvix also has a large project portfolio slated for development totalling about 1600 MW of capacity.
GDF Suez and International Power (70% owned by GDF Suez) have announced a positive result from the energy auction held in Brazil on August 17, whereby as a result the Jirau hydropower project, being built in this South American country on Madeira river, will be expanded with another 450 MW of installed capacity by adding six more power generating units. This means, the 3300 MW planned initially, will grow to 3750 MW of installed capacity at the power plant. The majority of this capacity has already been reserved through power purchase agreements.
Existing Katsu river dam in Lesotho.
Siemens has decided to separate its renewables business into two separate divisions, one dealing with wind energy and the other with solar and hydropower sectors – Siemens Wind Power and Siemens Solar & Hydro. The company explains the move is a consequence of the markets being at different levels of development. Solar & Hydro will move towards research and development in solar power, creating an opportunity for Siemens to further increase its competitiveness in the global solar energy market. Wind Power will concentrate on the wind energy market, where Siemens' presence is very strong, in order for the company to continue to grow further on the previously achieved success in this sector.
In what could be considered a blow to the wave energy industry, RWE npower renewables has decided to pull out of the Siadar Wave Energy Project (SWEP), which was to have 4 MW of installed capacity. Located at Siadar Bay, Scotland, the wave farm was conceived as a demonstration project showing that wave power was a feasible commercial scale technology. This latest development leaves RWE's partner, Wavegen (wholly owned subsidiary of Voith Hydro), without financial support, forcing the company to start seeking a new developer/owner for the project estimated to represent a GBP 30 million investment.
