Wind Energy | Green World Investor

China cracks down on illegal mining of rare earth minerals which are essential for Green Technology

21 May, 2010

China,Electric Vehicles,Renewable Energy,Wind Energy

China which possesses 97% of the total rare earth minerals required by the new age Green Industry has further tightened its grip by cracking down on illegal mining.These rare earth mineral are essential for the growth of the Green Industry finding diversified uses in the making of electric vehicles ,semiconductors,lasers,optoelectronics, batteries ,wind turbines and thin film solar.They are also essential to the manufacture of some defense technologies like missile guidance.Having a monopoly over these resources will give a strategic leg up to a country’s green companies in the future

China plans crackdown on illegal rare earth mining – Reuters

China plans to launch a six-month crackdown on illegal exploration and mining of strategic rare earth and other minerals in June, the Ministry of Land and Resources said on its website.

The campaign will shut down unlicensed exploration and mining operations by demolishing construction, confiscating equipment and products, closing shafts and cutting off water, power and explosives supplies, said Ji Wenlin, director of ministry’s general office, in a conference transcript published on the ministry’s website (www.mlr.gov.cn).

China tightening its exports affecting Japanese automakers

China has set up an export quota of rare mineral exports since 2000 to hoard these scarce resources for future use just like the US does for oil.Japan which has large rare mineral requirements by its automakers Honda and Toyota depends on these illegal mining exports for making electric vehicles like the Prius.Cracking down on these illegal exports will have a repercussions in the electic vehicle ambitions of its automakers.

Japan’s increasingly frantic efforts to lead the world in green technology have put it on a collision course with the ambitions of China and dragged both government and industry into the murky realm of large-scale mineral smuggling.

The robust international trade in illegally mined, quota-busting rare-earth metals highlights China’s near monopoly on the raw materials for environmental technology – a 95 per cent dominance of world supply that is likely to become more widely noticed as China tightens its grip.

World Demand for Rare Earth Minerals Exploding

Demand for rare earth mineral has explosed from 40000 tons in 2000 to 130000 tons now due to a range of new applications mostly related to the green industry and defence industry ( missile guidance).This is expected to increase to 200000 tons by 2014 creating a major supply shortage which China hopes to exploit through its monopoly and export quotas.There are few other places in US (California) and Australia which have the potential for producing large quantities but development has been hampered by environmental regulations and financing difficulties

Green IPO: Chinese Wind Heavyweight Goldwind gets approval for $1.5 billion Hong Kong Listing

17 May, 2010

China,Goldwind,Green IPO,Wind Energy

China has massively increased its wind installations to become the world’s second biggest market in 2009 . It has also managed to cultivate its local home grown industry to join the ranks of top 10 world turbine makers. Foreign dominance of China’s wind market has completely disappeared as the share had declined to 5%. Now Chinese wind equipment makers are spreading their wings outside their overcrowded home market with APower planning a massive wind farm in Texas.Both Sinovel and Goldwind which are the two largest wind equipment producers are planning IPOs to raise more capital and increase their visibility. Goldwind which was planning a HK listing since January has got regulatory approval to raise $1.5 billion in Hong Kong making it one of the biggest green offerings in the world this year .

China’s Longyuan Power Group Corp., the country’s biggest wind power producer managed a very successful IPO raising more than $2.6 billion in HongKong in December 2009 . 2 other big Chinese electricity utilities (Huaneng Group and Datang group) are thinking of raising money from the market as well by spinning off their renewable energy units.Would be interesting to see if China manages to dominate wind like it has done in solar.

Goldwind says China regulator approves HK listing – Reuters

Chinese wind power producer Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co said on Monday that China’s stock regulator had approved an offering of up to 454.59 million overseas shares, as it prepares for a Hong Kong IPO that could raise up to $1.5 billion.

The listing still requires approval from the Hong Kong exchange.Goldwind, which is already listed on the mainland’s Shenzhen stock exchange, said in October it planned to float shares in Hong Kong. China has sought to encourage expansion of renewable energy production

US wants a piece of China’s Clean Energy Boom;But China only Wants Technology

16 May, 2010

China,First Solar,Solar Energy,USA,Wind Energy

US wants the booming China clean energy sector to help boost its exports to meet Obama’s mission of doubling exports in the next 5 years.However the implicit trade barriers are too high for the foreign companies to surmount.China has managed to dominate the world’s solar industry and is on its way to doing it in wind also.Foreign competition faces formidable hurdles in competing in China as they have to fight huge subsidies and support both explicit and implicit in China.Foreign share of China’s wind market has come down from 70% in 2005 to 12% as China put high local content requirements and transfer of technology to support local companies.The government only awards contracts to selected foreign companies like First Solar and eSolar which have truly path breaking technology.The policy of the government is very simple – “Give Technology to Get Access” .

US, Europe look to China for clean energy sales – AP

U.S. leaders want China’s clean energy boom to drive technology exports and are sending a sales mission to Beijing this week. But Beijing wants to create its own suppliers of wind, solar and other equipment and is limiting access to its market, setting up a new trade clash with Washington and Europe.

China passed the United States last year as the biggest clean power market, stoking hopes for Western sales of wind turbines, solar cells and other gear. But U.S. and European companies find that while Beijing welcomes foreign technology, it wants manufacturing done here and know-how shared with local partners. In the wind industry, foreign suppliers with factories in China say they are shut out of major projects.

The biggest impact of China’s industrial curbs has been in wind. Beijing has declared it a strategic industry and wants to build local turbine producers such as Goldwind Science & Technology Ltd. and Sinovel Wind Co. into global players. Chinese companies also get grants and tax breaks to develop solar, biomass, fuel cell and other technology.

The foreign share of China’s wind turbine market plunged from 70 percent in 2005 to 12 percent last year, according to the European Union Chamber of Commerce’s Renewable Energy Working Group. The chamber complains that Chinese authorities help local companies by basing purchases on upfront prices and ignoring a project’s lifetime cost, where more durable foreign equipment wins.

Will China Dominate Global Wind like it is dominating Solar ; Europeans bleed while Chinese capture marketshare

10 May, 2010

China,Goldwind,Sinovel,Solar Energy,Wind Energy

China’s rise in solar manufacturing has been nothing short of spectacular.From less than 5% of world marketshare it has gone to more than 50% in the current quarter.Some of its companies like Trina and Yingli are the lowest cost producers of solar modules in the world today.The Europeans like Solarworld and Q-Cells which were dominant until 2 years ago have been swept aside with Q-Cells bleeding red ink . Even in wind energy , China’s growth over the last 2-3 years has been awesome with more than 100% CAGR . It has helped in growing wind turbine manufacturers through domestic content requirements.Now that these companies have sufficient technology and are able to leverage their low cost advantages , China has removed the restrictions in Jan 2010 to attack other markets. Vestas the leading European turbine manufacturer like the solar makers has fallen into the red. The only way for these companies to survive is to move their manufacturing to Asia . Ultimately the technology will also follow ( Applied Materials has also move its R&D to Shanghai). Just like the semi and electronics industry,Europe will start looking like a marginal player in the global alternative energy industry. Despite strong domestic demand and policy support , the European industry has been outsmarted and outplayed by the Chinese.

China Longyuan to Spend $13 Billion to Lead Wind Power League – Bloomberg

China Longyuan Power Group Corp. plans to spend about 92 billion yuan ($13 billion) over the next five years to become the world’s No. 1 wind-power producer as global demand for clean energy increases.

The Hong Kong-listed company aims to install at least 16,000 megawatts of wind turbines in China and overseas by 2015, President Xie Changjun said in an interview after a climate conference in Beijing today.

China’s wind sector steps on the accelerator – Renewableenergymagazine

Sinovel and Goldwind, the two leading Chinese wind turbine manufacturers, have announced expansion plans, which include floatation on the stock market through Initial Public Offerings (IPO). The aim of both companies is to increase capital to construct more plants and boost sales both in China and abroad.

Dalian, the state holding company which has majority control over the shares of Sinovel, has confirmed its intention to generate 3.5 billion Yuan (approximately €0.4 billion) through an IPO of 10% of Sinovel’s shares on the Shanghai stock exchange.Meanwhile, Goldwind, licences and, since a year ago, owner of the Germany technology, vensys (used by Eozen, Enerwind amd ReGen Powetech), has confirmed to local press that it plans on floating on the Hong Kong stock exchange to generate around $36 million (€26 million) from the sale of up tom 15% of its share capital. The company explains that this is the first step to internationalise its business.

In turn, several sources report that Huangeng aims to collect €1.5 billion (€1.1 billion) from an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Huaneng will use the funds to acquire new wind farms which, one observer reports, will include 550MW in the provinces of Hebei and Gansu.

Q-Cells Declares 2009 Loss of $1.8 Billion; CEO Resigns Amidst “Huge Loss of Confidence”- Greentech Media

Leading German cell producer Q-Cells has gone from weakness after weakness over the last 12 months, and someone had to pay. As things turned out, it happened to be the man at the top. CEO Anton Milner quit his job last Thursday, citing a “huge loss of confidence” on account of the company’s terrible 2009 results. The company declared a loss of 1.36 billion Euros ($1.84 billion) for 2009, compared to a net profit of 190 Euros (about $257 million) in 2008. It would be difficult to feign surprise at the outcome: the company had cut working hours for about 80 percent of its staff in April, later laid off 500 employees in August, and slashed its 2009 sales outlook no less than three times in six months. The question, however, remains: how did the number-one cell producer in the world in 2008 (see chart) virtually bleed itself dry? What follows is an attempt to provide some answers.

Vestas in red as competitive pressures increase in the Wind Industry

29 Apr, 2010

Goldwind,Green IPO,Renewable Energy,Sinovel,Vestas,Wind Energy

The Global Wind Industry increased by 31% in 2009 despite a bad year for the world economy boosted by the movement towards cleaner energy and the relatively good economics of wind compared to other renewables like solar energy. Despite this Vestas which is the world’s largest turbine maker reported a loss making quarter . I think Vestas will continue to lose ground due to competitive pressures from Chinese wind makers like Sinovel and Goldwind which have captured most of the orders in China the fastest growth market. Also Vestas is not strong in the USA which is the second largest market. With no compelling technology to beat the low cost Chinese players I think Vestas will continue to lose ground in the wind market.
Vestas Has Surprise Loss as Credit Crunch Cuts Orders – Businessweek

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, reported an unexpected loss after tighter financing led customers to delay renewable- energy projects. The shares fell 4.6 percent. Vestas lost a net 82 million euros ($108 million) in the first quarter compared with profit of 56 million euros a year earlier

The order book was worth 2.9 billion euros at the end of the quarter compared with 4.9 billion euros at the same time a year earlier. Vestas installed 178 turbines with a combined capacity of 387 megawatts in the quarter compared with 490 turbines producing 885 megawatts in the same period of 2009.

Vestas will also increase 2010 investments by 400 million euros to 1 billion euros to help it speed up the introduction of its new V112-3.0 megawatt model, which works both on sea and land.

FPL Group Inc., the largest U.S. power company, said yesterday that it would build 600 megawatts to 850 megawatts of wind-energy plants this year, reducing its target from 1,000 megawatts previously. FPL cited low power prices and uncertainty regarding climate-change legislation.

Global installations of wind turbines this year will gain about 9 percent, adding 41 gigawatts to power capacity, Bloomberg New Energy Finance has estimated. That’s the equivalent of an investment of $65 billion and enough to power more than 12 million homes, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Wind Energy Association.

What a climate bill could do to increase renewable energy

28 Apr, 2010

Climate Change,Siemens,Solar Energy,USA,Wind Energy

The Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change turned out to be a dud despite the huge media hype and hoopla . But despite indifferent support of climate by world governments , investments in climate change by private sector has increased by leaps and bounds despite the slowdown brought on by the financial crisis.Both wind and solar installations increased by almost 50% in 2009 despite no climate change bill enacted by the US. Makes you wonder where we would with a climate bill.Siemens CEO here talks about investing in renewable energy with or without a climate change bill. With great technology and investments devoted to energy efficiency,wind energy and solar energy,some think of Siemens as one of the best green investments in the world right now.
Siemens CEO: Lack Of Climate Bill Won’t Stop Energy Plans – WSJ

The U.S. Congress’s lack of action climate-control legislation will not cause Siemens AG (SI) to retreat from investments in renewable energy, Siemens Chief Executive Peter Loescher said Tuesday.

“You have to look beyond daily politics,” Loescher said during an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. “We are very bullish about the market opportunity that exists in the U.S. for renewable energy and particularly for wind energy.”

Loescher has sharpened Siemens’ focus on energy since becoming CEO of the industrial and engineering company in 2007.

Energy legislation that included limits on greenhouse gasses passed the U.S. House last year, but encountered stiff opposition in the Senate. It’s uncertain whether or when a Senate version of an energy bill will come up for a vote this year.

Even without climate legislation, Loescher said that demand for alternative energy continues to increase.

“This is a major push by governments around the world,” he said. “We have a massive order book that goes into the billions” of dollars.

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