Cleantech Investor

First published on the Cleantech Investor website, November 2011. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd.

Inspiration on the future for wind energy from Jorge Calvet at the LSE/Spanish Chamber of Commerce in London

Gamesa Chairman and CEO, Jorge Calvet, delivered an inspirational speech at the London School of Economics on 16 November, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. A key message from Calvet was that Gamesa is a global company: it was the only major turbine manufacturer to increase its global market share last year and has entered into 31 new countries with 45 new clients since Calvet's appointment two years ago. 

First published in Cleantech magazine 2011 Issue 5. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd

Brazil’s integrated industrial and energy policy is paying off as wind prices fall below natural gas

By Anne McIvor

Given its potential wind resources, Brazil has been slower than fellow ‘bric’ economies, China and India, to embrace wind. It is, however, catching up fast. A report by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and the Brazilian Wind Energy Association (ABEEólica), in partnership with the Renewable Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), forecasts that Brazilian wind power deployment will exceed 5GW by 2013. Brazil currently has installed capacity of 1.4GW, representing around 1% of the country’s total installed generating capacity. Electricity consumption in Brazil is forecast to rise by 60% by 2020, on the back of rapid economic growth, and wind power is expected to account for a growing part of the mix. The 5GW forecast assumes that wind will contribute over 4% of the nation’s power generating capacity by 2014, according to ABEEólica.

Brazil’s wind energy is currently derived entirely from onshore generation, with the bulk of the resources concentrated in the north east and the south. The country has massive resources of onshore wind and there is little inclination to explore the potential of offshore wind at this point.

First published in Cleantech magazine 2011 Issue 5. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd

By Euan Sadden

Rare earth metals (REMs) are classified as those chemical elements with atomic numbers between 57 and 71. These include 15 metals from within the chemical group called the lanthanides. In addition, scandium (Sc, 21) and yttrium (Y, 39) are grouped within the lanthanide family because of their similar properties, resulting in a total number of 17 rare earth metals.

First published in Cleantech magazine 2011 Issue 5. Copyright Cleantech Investor Ltd

By Anne McIvor

The UK's Feed-in Tariff (FiT) regulation came into force for Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) accredited turbines in July – at which point seven turbines were eligible: under the FiT scheme, householders receive 28p for every unit of electricity produced by a wind turbine.

The Government, already under pressure due to the planning disarray surrounding solar PV installations (it had backtracked on plans for an FiT for larger solar installations), came under attack for having permitted a logjam of applications for small wind turbines to build up. One of the most vocal critics was Scottish turbine manufacturer, Proven Energy, which lobbied its constituency MP, Michael McCann, to raise the issue in Parliament at Prime Minister’s Question Time in June of this year. The Prime Minister instructed a representative from the Business Department to meet with the company.