Hitachi Entering Nuclear Power The massive global backlash against nuclear energy has seen a number of top nuclear equipment manufactures like GE, Siemens, Toshiba pulling back. While Siemens and Toshiba have already announced plans to retrench from nuclear energy, GE has also voiced concerns about nuclear power being unviable compared to natural gas and renewable […]
Investment in Offshore Wind Energy The growth potential in offshore wind energy has attracted a large number of top global industrial conglomerates despite the industry not living upto its potential. Offshore wind energy is facing a mounting number of problems like logistics, high cost and project delays. However this has not deterred companies from making billion […]
The Tsunami Nuclear Energy Disaster which is unfolding in Japan highlights that Nuclear Energy can cause some very serious damage though the safety of the nuclear reactors are highly touted in the media by the Nuclear Energy Industry.These Nuclear Plants in Japan are quite old but so are most of the Nuclear Energy facilities in the West.Most of these Nuclear Plants are susceptible to serious natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.In case of a nuclear meltdown the radiation from the Nuclear Plants can not only cause more deaths and injuries from natural causes but also make the area around the Nuclear Plant uninhabitable for hundreds of years.India and China are on a major Nuclear Energy Building Spree even though their nuclear plants have faced minor accidents in recent years.With this Nuclear Disaster,the protests in the se countries are set to grow with NIMBY becoming the biggest hurdle.Already protests are being held in Jaitapur in Maharashtra over damage to the ecology,expect the Japan’s nuclear reactor incident to basically kill this Areva-NPCIL plant.Nuclear plants in the US and Europe are already facing huge cost and time overruns.This new problem should cause those projects to also die off.
The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) which is being jointly developed by India and Japan will also see the development of 24 Green Cities.The ambitious infrastructure project being built with $50-90 Billion will see a freight/railway/road transport corridor between India’s 2 most important cities of Delhi and Mumbai.The resulting development along this transport corridor which will be passing through 6 states will make use of Green Technologies.Japanese Conglomerates like Hitachi,Toshiba,Mitsubishi will be involved in the building of this massive projects and will use their advanced energy efficient technologies to develop these Green Cities.
Hitachi has been running large losses at its Lithium Batter Division due the the severe global competition in the international Lithium Battery Market.With huge growth expected in the Green Automobile Industry in the future,everyone is trying to establish a strong foothold in this emerging segment.Hitachi is one of the lesser known names in the Battery Industry and the company does not expect profits in the next 3 years.However the company’s fortunes in the Green Industry might change as it has teamed up with Automobile Parts Giant Johnson Controls.JCI is a multi billion US company with leadership position in the Energy Efficiency,Lead Batteries and Automobile Parts.The company has shown increasing profits and revenues in all of its division in the last quarter.It would suit both companies to design,develop and market batteries for the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Segments.
Rosatom has strong competencies despite the Chernobyl disaster as a black mark in its history.The Company has already constructed reactors in China,India and Iran during the Soviet Union Days and is constructing 5 reactors in foreign markets.With strong technology expertise and with laxer safety standards at home,it is trying to outflank Areva in its home turf.Note Areva is already facing losses from the Finland Nuclear Project which has proved to be a huge disaster.It additionally faces competition from Toshiba-Westinghouse which is ramping up its efforts to compete with Areva.GE-Hitachi suffers from a technological handicap compared with Toshiba and Areva,however GE cannot be underestimated because of its Global Reach and Industrial Strengths.Rosatom is that last thing that Areva needs in its shrinking home turf of Europe.Germany is facing huge opposition just for extending the life of its nuclear reactors while France has pretty much saturated its Electricity Market with Nuclear Energy.