Europe > Renewable energy

Renewable energy in Europe

  • The Commission for Environment, Energy and Climate Change (ENVE) of the European Committee of the Regions met in Tallinn today

    ESTONIA, 2017/07/29 The Commission for Environment, Energy and Climate Change (ENVE) of the European Committee of the Regions met in Tallinn today under the auspices of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Committee is the EU’s assembly of cities and regions. Its mandate is to contribute to EU policy-making and legislation through what are known as 'opinions', which gather recommendations based on the competencies and expertise local and regional authorities have, in a wide range of policy areas. The topics of the environment and climate change were on top of the schedule today in Tallinn Creative Hub (Kultuurikatel).
  • Swiss company to build $839 million wind farm in Iran

    IRAN, 2016/09/23 Switzerland’s MECI Group International signed an agreement with Iran’s government to build a 750 million-euro ($839 million) wind farm, Bloomberg reported. The project, located in the mountainous region in northern Iran, will have 270 megawatts installed capacity, according to a statement from the Swiss holding company. Turbine testing is by presently happening onsite, according to MECI Chairman Jeremiah Josey. “Iran is at a very interesting point in history,” Josey said in a phone interview. “There is so much increase to be had. They can get through at least 20 years of technological catch-up in five years.”
  • Clean energy won’t save us – only a new economic system can do that

    WORLD, 2016/07/16 Before this year media outlets around the world announced that February had broken world temperature records by a shocking all. March broke all the records, too. In June our screens were covered with surreal images of Paris flooding, the Seine bursting its banks and flowing into the streets. In London, the floods sent water pouring into the tube system right in the heart of Covent Garden. Roads in south-east London became rivers two metres deep. With such extreme events becoming additional commonplace, few deny climate change any longer. Finally, a consensus is crystallising around one all-significant fact: fossil fuels are killing us. We need to switch to clean energy, and fast. But while this growing awareness about the dangers of fossil fuels represents a crucial shift in our consciousness, I can’t help but fear we’ve missed the point. As significant as clean energy may be, the science is clear: it won’t save us from climate change.
  • The high cost of electricity in the Caribbean is pushing many to install alternative energy sources

    FRANCE, 2015/11/27 Negotiators from the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are intent on striking a transaction to keep the world temperature rise at 1.5 degrees of pre-industrial levels, but a lot of fear that a 10-year-old agreement to buy cheap petroleum from Venezuela puts their discussions in jeopardy. Across the region, nations are rolling out their “1.5 to Remain Alive” Campaign to raise awareness about the effects of climate change, while building momentum for the region’s negotiating position ahead of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC) in France in December. Some say the petroleum agreement could cause friction between member nations because of new incentives inclunding assistance with healthcare and agriculture through a Caribbean Economic Development Zone. President of the Venezuelan Republic Nicolas Maduro pledged to maintain the PetroCaribe transaction, a legacy of his late predecessor Hugo Chavez alive, while celebrating its 10th anniversary in Jamaica on September 9.
  • Wind farms generated more energy than nuclear plants in Sweden

    SWEDEN, 2015/06/07 On Monday, Sweden’s 5.5GW of wind farms contributed additional energy to the Scandinavian country’s grid than its 9.5GW of nuclear power plants, a renewable energy succcess that prompted the below tweet by the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figuerres. As the table shared by Figueres shows, hydro (vattenkraft) was the biggest energy supplier for Sweden on June 1, followed by wind (vindkraft), nuclear (kärnkraft) and small amounts of biomass (varmekraft) and unspecified fossil fuels (ospecificerat).
  • Germany to construct wind farms in Uzbekistan

    GERMANY, 2015/04/25 The German GEO-NET and Intec-GOPA have evaluated the predictive potential of Uzbekistan in the field of wind electricity in additional than 520,000 megawatts of installed capacity on 17,000 square kilometers with a production of 1.07 trillion kilowatt / hours of electricity annually, the message of the Uzbekenergo National Joint Stock Company (SJC) said. Before it was reported that in summer 2014, the German companies began a study of the wind energy potential of Uzbekistan within the framework of the contact signed with the Uzbekenergo. The arrangement envisaged the study of Uzbekistan’s wind potential in six regions to find out the opportunities for industrial production of electricity with average annual wind gust strength of 100 meters per second.
  • Photovoltaic energy a 'growing market in MENA area'

    EUROPEAN UNION, 2014/06/09 Photovoltaic energy is growing in the Middle East and North Africa and is showing great potential someday, according to a study published on Friday by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) analyzing the sector's world perspectives until 2018. If in Europe - next the boom recorded in 2011 with Italy and Germany as protagonists - there has been an inversion in the trend over the last year with fewer new systems, the opposite trend has been registered in MENA nations. Percentages remain low here compared to the Old Continent but the trend is growing, the research noted. The MENA market today makes up for approximately 2-4% of the world market but is expected to grow to 7-10% by 2018.
  • Operating wind power capacity in Greece grew by 7.9%

    GREECE, 2014/01/05 Operating wind power capacity in Greece grew by 7.9% in the second half of 2013, amounting to 1,864.6 megawatts (MW), Kathimerini online reports quoting market data released this week by the Hellenic Scientific Association of Wind Energy (ELETAEN). The new wind power capacity installed within that period comes to 71.15 MW, according to the same data. The figure is double compared to the initial six months of 2013 and seven times additional than the same period in 2012. On a regional level, Central Greece leads in installed wind power with 30.8%, or 573.8 MW, while the Peloponnese follows with 18.6%, or 347.55 MW. Five groups share about two-thirds of the installed power.
  • China PV makers squeezed by EU duties

    CHINA, 2013/06/28 Chinese solar panel firms said Wednesday that the EU's punitive duties on imported photovoltaic products from China will erode their low margins and could even drive them out of a key market. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht announced Tuesday that the EU will impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of solar panels, cells and wafers from China. An interim punitive business of 11.8 % will apply to all Chinese solar panel imports starting from Thursday. The business will be raised to an average of 47.6 % two months later if both sides fail to find a solution.
  • EU grants 15m euros for renewable energy

    EUROPEAN UNION, 2013/06/08 The European Union (EU) Thursday announced a 15-million-euro donation to member-states of the Indian Ocean Commission (COI) to enable them fund their projects on renewable energy and energy sustainability, the COI Secretary General, Jean-Claude de l’Estrac, disclosed.