Enel Green Power (EGP) has been awarded a concession for the construction of a 99 MW wind project in the Antofagasta region, Chile. The concession has been awarded by the Ministry of Energy and National Assets, after a recent tender. The location of the new project is on public land in the Taltal district.
Exelon Wind has completed construction activities at the Michigan Wind 2 wind project in Michigan, USA. The 90 MW wind farm is now ready to enter commercial operation, marking the company's first commercial wind project.
Vattenfall, ArcelorMittal, Rhodia and SNCF have joined forces officially by forming Force Hydro, a joint venture company, for bidding for concessions for hydropower development in France. The tender for new hydro developments in France is to be launched by the government in 2012 for a total of 5.3 GW of new capacity to be developed in the coming years.
3Power Energy Group has entered into a frame agreement with an investment group from Albania, for the acquisition of 75% of development concession rights for a 127.6 MW hydropower project on the the Shala River.
Nordex has received the company's largest order from Ireland so far, for 42.5 MW (17 N90/2500 units) from Bord Gais Energy. The ordered turbines are to be installed at the Garracummer wind farm, located in Tipperary. Nordex is to additionally build the wind turbine foundations and provide service and maintenance for 15 years.
Suzlon is to supply 120 MW of its S97-2.1 MW units for a large wind energy project being developed in the western US. The project is expected to be able to generate enough electrical energy annually to supply about 36,000 average homes.
LaGeo, a Salvadoran geothermal company, has decided to start geothermal exploration in El Salvador in order to find new geothermal wells for power generation. After a pause of several years, LaGeo has allocated USD 41 million for this purpose in 2012. The investment plan includes exploration, recovery and maintenance of the wells. The main focus areas of the exploration are the fields of Chinameca and St. Vincent.
Vestas has closed 2011 with several orders for its wind turbines, amounting to about 560 MW of capacity. The orders from from various markets, including Pakistan, the company's first in this Asian country. Still, even though the company has had a successful year in terms of order intake, totalling about 7.4 GW, the revenue for 2011 still had to be downgraded by about EUR 400 million to be about EUR 6 billion. The company also encountered some unexpected costs in its development activities involving the V112-3.0 MW and the GridStreamer technology for the 2 MW family of turbines.
Cool Planet BioFuels announced that BP Technology Ventures has made an investment in the biofuels startup, as part of the company's C Round of investments. BP has this way joined General Electric, Google Ventures, ConocoPhillips, NRG and North Bridge Venture Partners as investors. GE, NRG and ConocoPhillips have made a joint venture investment company in early 2011, with a plan to invest in 30 venture and growth stage companies, including Cool Planet BioFuels.
JA Solar has entered into a supply agreement for 19 MW of PV modules for the Allstedt I solar park in Halle, Germany. The solar park is being developed by Solarhybrid, a German renewable energy developer.
