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Bernama - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
August 14, 2007
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today proposed harnessing solar
energy and wind power to generate electricity for people in remote areas now
dependent only on generator sets. He
proposed that wind turbines be utilized to harness power from the wind for use
as alternative electric power. He said, “If we can harness (such power) well
here (in Pulau Banggi), we can use a similar method in other places as well
because it is highly expensive to channel energy from the main grid to remote
areas."
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IndustryWeek
August 3, 2007
Toyota Motor Corp. announced on July 24 that it plans to
inititiate "sustainable plant" activities aimed at increasing the
sustainability of its production operations. The activities are to emphasize
the role of nature in creating production sites that harmonize with their
natural surroundings, Toyota said. Toyota
has set goals of reducing CO2 by using renewable energy, including biomass and
natural energy sources, such as solar power and wind power.
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Stuff.co.nz – New Zealand
July 25, 2007
Resource consents for a wind farm in North Canterbury are
expected to be lodged with the Hurunui District Council next month or early
September. MainPower wants to build the farm on a 3km ridge running north-east
from the summit of Mount Cass, 6km east of Waipara. It could be generating
power by late 2009 to between 4000 and 10,000 homes, depending on its size and
turbine selection.
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ABC.net – Australia
July 24, 2007
The federal Tourism Minister has joined the fight to stop
the proposed Smeaton wind farm going ahead in central Victoria. Fran Bailey met
the opponents in Hepburn Springs last night. She says wind farms need to be located away from tourism
areas and other alternate energy forms like solar need to be considered
instead. "I am very concerned about this and I do join with local
residents. I do not think wind farms are appropriate in iconic tourist areas
and I think that the Hepburn Springs area is one such area," she said.
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Economic Times – India
July 15, 2007
While Asia is emerging strongly on the installed wind power capacity map,
Africa too has, for the first time, made its mark in global statistics of wind
energy generation by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA). The world is witnessing a rapid shift from
Europe to Asia and America. Asian giants, China and India, are adding
capacities like never before. Lately, wind power majors have also started
taking interest in African market where the economies are doing slightly better
than before and seeking more power.
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Thanh Nien Daily - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
July 10, 2007
The southern coast province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau has given the go-ahead to a
proposed Swiss wind energy station on Con Dao Island. Aerogie.plus has proposed building the first
wind farm on the island's Chim Chim (bird) Cape. It plans to pour US$19 million
in its first wind energy plant with generation capacity of 6-7.5MW. The project
will be expanded to other locations, including Ca Map (shark) Cape, with an
expected output of 9-12MW. According to
current plans, the first wind farm will open before the end of 2008.
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Asahi Shimbun - Tokyo, Japan
July 3, 2007
Power-generating wind turbines will soon have to comply with
tough new technical standards to ensure they can withstand typhoons, lightning
strikes and other extreme weather conditions. Wind-power generation is a major pillar in the
government's push to use alternative energy sources to fight global warming. In
recent years, however, storms have caused extensive damage to many wind
turbines. International standards drawn
up in Europe are not sufficient to protect wind turbines from Japan's weather
patterns, according to Japanese officials.
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Scoop.co.nz - New Zealand
June 29, 2007
The government is welcoming an announcement from lines company Vector, that it
will undertake a trial of a wind turbine, suitable for home or small business
use. Energy Minister David Parker says
Vector’s move is in line with a burgeoning number of companies taking steps
towards carbon neutrality. Hesaid the
draft New Zealand Energy Strategy recognised the potential contribution that
domestic-scale renewable generation, such as micro wind turbines, would be able
to make in the future.
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Stuff.co.nz - Wellington, New Zealand
June 28, 2007
The
$3 billion Australian finance company, Allco, says its New Zealand subsidiary
is considering whether to appeal against constraints on its proposed windfarm
in the Tararuas. Allco Wind Energy NZ
(AWE) was last night granted approval to build a windfarm in the Tararua Ranges
on the overlap of the Manawatu and Horowhenua districts, but on a much smaller
scale than it had hoped.
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Channel NewsAsia - Singapore
June 25, 2007
The private sector has been urged to play a more active role
in protecting the environment by investing in more advanced technologies, such
as wind-powered generators, during a panel discussion at the World Economic
Forum on East Asia. The forum
participants also pushed for private firms to take on environmental protection
issues as part of their corporate social obligation.
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VietNamNet Bridge - Hanoi, Vietnam
June 24, 2007
During the seminar, held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and the German
Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), participants focused their discussions
on alternative energy potential and a strategy on wind power development in
Viet Nam. According to the Energy Institute, Viet Nam has vast potential in
alternative energy resources, including solar energy, wind power and biomass
energy.
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Scoop – New Zealand
June 15, 2007
The Wind Energy Association says the public are unlikely to
be swayed from supporting wind farms by the shrill attacks on wind energy from
Anton Oliver. Wind Energy Association
(NZWEA) chief executive Fraser Clark said today that the public would not be
impressed by Mr Oliver’s contradictory statements, reliance on exaggeration,
and lack of accurate information. “Mr Oliver needs to get his line straight on
this issue.
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The Daily Yomiuri - Osaka, Japan
June 6, 2007
High-ranking officials from 14 Asian and European countries gathered in a
conference room at Vestas Wind Systems AS, a maker of wind power generators in
Ringkobing, a town in western Denmark known for being the birthplace of Hans
Christian Andersen. Vestas Chief
Executive Officer Ditlev Engel reminded the officials, "Wind is
free." Zhou Jian, vice minister of
China's State Environmental Protection Administration, and the first secretary
of the Indian Embassy in Denmark, were among the visitors who listened keenly
to Engel's words.
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Melbourne Herald Sun - Melbourne, Australia
June 6, 2007
Thriving wind and biomass energy businesses that pump billions of dollars into
the economy would be killed off if the states are forced to abandon clean power
schemes, the renewables sector peak body has warned. The Business Council for
Sustainable Energy will meet government officials today to argue against a
recommendation by Prime Minister John Howard's carbon emissions task group that
effectively ceases incentives for the industry.
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The Age – Australia
May 24, 2007
Wind energy generator Babcock and Brown Wind Partners (BBW)
has completed a $1.68 billion refinancing of its global wind farm portfolio,
the company announced on Thursday. The refinancing will combine its project,
asset and corporate level debt across three continents and five countries and
nine wind regions into an efficient single corporate facility. The new
multi-currency structure will have a single borrower for each region
(Australia, Europe and USA).
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New Zealand Herald – Aukland, New Zealand
May 17, 2007
Local residents opposed to a massive wind farm on
Wellington's south coast say they may appeal the Environment Court decision
allowing the construction to go ahead. The court has given the go-ahead for 66
turbines to be built at Makara, cutting the number of turbines approved in
resource consent by four in its 152 page verdict. Meridian Energy says the $500
million wind farm will generate enough power for most of the Wellington region.
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Scoop.co.nz - New Zealand
May 15, 2007
An Environment Court decision in favour of Meridian’s West
Wind Project near Makara in Wellington has demonstrated that large wind farms
do have a place in New Zealand, the Wind Energy Association (NZWEA) chief
executive Fraser Clark says. The decision from the Environment Court today is a
major step forward for wind energy generation in New Zealand, Mr Clark said.
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Stuff.co.nz – New Zealand
May 13, 2007
A Government submission in favour of Meridian Energy’s
proposed Central Otago wind farm says it will benefit all New Zealand, a
hearing was told yesterday. Crown Law office solicitor Roanna Chen told
commissioners hearing the application in Alexandra that the Government recognised
“the many positive benefits this proposed wind farm would have on achieving the
Government’s current and future policy”.
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Tvnz.co.nz – New Zealand
May 2, 2007
The green light to build the world’s biggest wind farm in
Central Otago hinges on consent hearings which got underway on Monday. Meridian
Energy wants to erect more than 170 giant turbines many as tall as a 45-storey
building in an area opponents say is too beautiful to be spoiled. The Project
Hayes wind farm planned for Central Otago’s windswept Lammermore Range would
produce enough electricity for more than quarter of a million homes. It would
cover up to 92 square kilometres of land near Middlemarch.
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Ortago Daily Times – New Zealand
April 30, 2007
A last-ditch effort by Meridian Energy to stop the Central Otago District Council (CODC) hearing an application for the Project Hayes wind farm has been scuttled, documents obtained by the Otago Daily Times reveal. In a written appeal to Environment Minister David Benson-Pope to intervene, Meridian Energy chief executive Dr Keith Turner accused the CODC of dragging its feet over the application.
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Viet Nam News - Hanoi,Vietnam
April 20, 2007
Switzerland-based Aerogie.plus Corporation is planning to construct a US$19
million wind power plant with a capacity of 6MW in Con Dao Commune.
Aerogie.plus representatives visited the commune to look into the feasibility
of erecting wind turbines in the region. Following a meeting with the
Provincial People’s Committee, the company was given permission to erect wind
turbines in Chim Cape. Aerogie.plus is also planning to build more power
plants, including one in Ca Map (Shark) Cape with a capacity of 7.5MW.
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Scoop.co.nz – New Zealand
April 17, 2007
In an Environment Court decision released yesterday, an
application by Unison Networks to establish a 37 turbine wind farm in the
vicinity of the Te Waka Range has been declined. The Environment Court found that while the
proposal would have positive effects in terms of climate change and had
benefits in establishing a renewable energy source, this was outweighed by
landscape effects and the affects on the value of the Te Waka range to local
tangata whenua.
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TheAge.com.au - Australia
April 12, 2007
A $250 million wind farm planned for rural Victoria will help
“drought-proof” struggling farms. The Victorian government on Thursday signed
off WestWind Energy’s plan to build a 160-megawatt wind farm at Mt Mercer, 30km
south of Ballarat. WestWind Energy plans to build 64 turbines on 2,600 hectares
of land, which crosses several farm properties. The company’s planning manager,
Tobias Geiger, said the project would help drought-proof farms for another two
to three generations because of the extra income it would bring the farmers.
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News.com.au - Australia
April 12, 2007
The Victorian Government has approved a 64-turbine wind farm
to be built at a rural site west of Melbourne.
The 160MW wind farm will be built on 2600ha of farm land at Mt Mercer,
about 30km south of Ballarat. It is
expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 73,000 homes. Planning Minister Justin Madden said the
development, approved on the recommendation of an independent panel, was an
economic and environmental boon for Victoria.
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Odt.co.nz – New Zealand
April 11, 2007
The huge Project Hayes wind farm would be visible from many
parts of Central Otago and should be turned down, a major planning report says.
The report said the turbines would be visible from many places and would have a
“significant adverse effect”. It questioned why such a large group of turbines
was necessary, asking why they could not be established in small, scattered
groups.Meridian wants to install up to 176 wind turbines with a generation
capacity of 630MW. The planned turbines are 160m high and the wind farm site covers
92sq km.
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Forbes - NY,USA
April 9, 2007
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is stepping up its renewable
energy power systems business, with plans to introduce an industry-leading wind
turbine model in Europe by 2010 and establish additional manufacturing bases
for solar-cell panels overseas, the Nihon Keizai shimbun reported. The wind
turbine for the European market will feature output of 5 megawatts, compared
with the 2-3 mw models currently available. A single unit will be capable of
generating enough power for 4,000 households, it said.
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Asahi.com - Japan
April 6, 2007
Wind power is generally regarded as an environmentally
friendly source of energy. However, we often hear reports about “bird strikes,”
in which birds hit wind turbines and get injured or killed. Nature
conservation groups in areas where there are plans to build wind power plants
are voicing concerns that they could have a negative impact not only on birds
but on the local environment as a whole. Not everything about wind power
generation is eco-friendly.
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New Zealand Herald - Auckland, New Zealand
April 2, 2007
Contact Energy says Government forecasts for wind power
generation underestimate its cost and overestimate its likely performance. High
international turbine prices mean only about 750MW of turbines could be built
that would produce power at a cost of less than $80 a megawatt-hour, Contact
said, a third of that estimated by the Government.
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Thewest.com.au - Australia
March 29, 2007
State governments want to scrap mandatory
targets for renewable energy sources, Prime Minister John Howard says. Under
the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) scheme, two per cent of all
electricity generated is supposed to come from renewable sources like wind and
solar power. Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd has previously called for the
target to be lifted to five per cent. Labor backbencher Michael Danby on
Wednesday asked Mr Howard when the government would substantially increase MRET.
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Stuff - New Zealand
March 29, 2007
State-owned Meridian Energy has denied reports it may
scuttle its West Wind power project near Wellington because of rising costs.
The estimated cost of building the wind farm is now $500 million, $120 million more
than just two years ago, because of higher steel, transport and construction
costs. Meridian chief executive Keith
Turner was reported as saying this had made the project at Makara - considered
"the best wind site in the world" - marginally viable.
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