QUICK NEWS, August 4: STILL ROCKIN’ TO STOP NUKES; WIND CONSOLIDATING; A CHINA F-I-T; GE, WCG PARTNER ON KA, OK WIND

STILL ROCKIN’ TO STOP NUKES
Sun and Wind and Rock 'n' Roll: A Three-Decade Journey
Clint Wilder, August 1, 2011 (Clean Edge)

"News item: Several months after a crippled nuclear reactor disaster that shocked the world and upended long-term global energy strategies, a group of prominent rock musicians have scheduled a historic benefit concert on August 7, 2011. Performers led by Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills & Nash, the Doobie Brothers, and John Hall, under the banner Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), plan to raise funds and awareness against nuclear power, and in favor of clean-energy sources like solar and wind."

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""That very same paragraph, with a different concert date, could have been written 32 years ago – simply substituting Three Mile Island for Fukushima as the nuclear disaster, and New York City’s Madison Square Garden for Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California as the concert venue. This same group of musicians (Browne, Raitt, Hall, and Graham Nash) formed MUSE and played what was actually a series of five concerts in New York in September 1979, with a subsequent record album (yes, on vinyl) and concert film release. They also helped lead a Sunday afternoon rally on the Battery Park Landfill in Manhattan attended by 200,000 people…"


WIND CONSOLIDATING
Sector Snap: Analyst sees wind power mergers ahead
July 29, 2011 (Associated Press)

"The wind power sector is ripe for consolidation and investors may want to start eying potential take-out targets, Jefferies & Co. said in research note…One reason is the depressed share prices for wind companies…

"…[T]he catalyst for a buying spree may arrive in increasing orders in coming months as wind power gains traction in the marketplace…[But wind] power companies are cutting deals in a race to win market share, promising to lower their rates in return for higher payments later if they end up beating their production targets. That might help them win long-term sales, but it will likely hurt their profit margins in the short-run…"

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"With profits and stock prices dampened, mergers and acquisitions will likely heat up…That could be good for investors that get in early and choose their stocks wisely…

"European company Vestas [may be] a possible takeover candidate…Other firms that could participate in the mergers would be industrial conglomerates Siemens AG and General Electric Co…International firms that could be players are China Ming Yang Wind Power Group, Gamesa, Suzlon, Repower, Nordex, Goldwind, and Sinovel…"


A CHINA F-I-T
China to Introduce Solar FIT: Reports
Eric Rosenbaum, July 29, 2011 (The Street)

"A surge in Chinese solar market demand could give a jolt to inert solar stocks…Two new reports suggests that a national feed-in tariff, long delayed in China, is finally set to debut in the second half of 2011.

"If the reports are true, and China finally steps up and stimulates domestic solar demand, it will be a welcome change. The emerging giant's primary role in the solar sector has been to dole out capital to Chinese solar companies through state-owned banks, and that's only served to stimulate industry overcapacity."

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"Yet.. details about the Chinese national feed-in tariff system [are] lacking…Reuters reported that China would soon introduce a national feed-in tariff, though its source was a Chinese state news agency. Goldman Sachs…[reported] that a "temporary" FIT would be introduced only for 2011, and only for projects that had been endorsed by the government prior to July 1, and these projects had to be grid-connected by the end of the year. The FIT rate in China would also be much lower than FITs in Europe…

"If it's only a temporary FIT, then the Chinese plans are no panacea for the solar sector…Chinese policymakers made negative comments earlier this year about the European FIT model, so a temporary FIT would make sense..."


GE, WCG PARTNER ON KA, OK WIND
228 Advanced GE Wind Turbines Headed to Wind Capital Group Projects in Oklahoma and Kansas
August 1, 2011 (Wind Capital Group)

"GE and Wind Capital Group [WCG] have inked deals for 228 wind turbines and the accompanying operations and maintenance services for projects in Oklahoma and Kansas. This pair of projects will provide more than 350 megawatts of reliable, clean renewable energy for the Midwestern United States and create jobs and economic stimulus for local landowners and surrounding communities.

"GE will supply 94 of its 1.6-100 wind turbines for the Osage project in Oklahoma, which will provide power to Associated Electric CoOps Inc. (AECI), and 134 1.5-82.5 wind turbines for the Post Rock project in Kansas, which will supply power to Westar. The GE wind turbines for both projects are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2012…"


From WindCapitalGroup1 via YouTube

"The two new projects will increase Wind Capital Group’s U.S. wind power footprint to more than half a gigawatt…Wind Capital Group’s existing 150-megawatt Lost Creek Project in Missouri using GE wind turbines consistently runs at over 98% availability.

"…GE’s advanced 1-6-100 wind turbine [is] the World’s most efficient wind turbine when taking into account capacity factor in wind class…[It] features a 100-meter rotor diameter and offers a 47% increase in swept area, resulting in an 18% increase in annual energy production…The GE 1.5-82.5 wind turbines…are members of GE’s family of 1.5 machines, the most widely deployed megawatt class wind turbine in the wind industry…"