Two global companies, eSolar and Sanmina-SCI (Nasdaq: SANM), today announced that they have partnered to leverage their respective expertise in solar thermal energy solutions, local content-optimized component design, and manufacturing to offer industry-leading cost and value for utility-scale power plants.

eSolar, the leading provider of modular, scalable concentrating solar power (CSP) plant technology, and Sanmina-SCI, a leading integrated manufacturing services company that produces some of the world's most complex products, will work to optimize eSolar's solar collector system product offering - a system already deployed in operating CSP facilities.

EXETER-based SunGift Solar has started work on a major renewable energy installation at the Met Office.

The company was awarded the contract to design and install a 250 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) array after a competitive tender process involving a host of respected national installers.

GlassPoint Solar , the global leader in solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR), today announced CEO and President Rod MacGregor will speak at EOR & Heavy Oil World MENA on Monday, May 28th in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Addressing a crowd of senior executives from the oil and gas industry, MacGregor will discuss the advantages of using solar steam generators to expand production in gas-constrained locations.

BOSSES behind a giant wind farm that could be built off the Suffolk coast have cautiously welcomed the Government's proposed reforms to the electricity market.

Whitehall revealed its draft Energy Bill this week, outlining measures to attract billions of pounds of investment to overhaul the UK's energy system.

The South Africa Department of Energy (DOE) awarded an additional 88 megawatt (MWDC) photovoltaic (PV) project with preferred bidder status to the consortium of SolarReserve, a U.S. developer of utility-scale solar power projects, The Kensani Group, an experienced empowerment infrastructure player in the Southern African market, and Intikon Energy, a South African developer of renewable energy projects. This award brings the successful consortium's award to three projects totaling 238 MW and accounting for a 20 percent share of South Africa's solar energy market. The Jasper Solar Energy Project, located in the Northern Cape of South Africa, was developed in response to the DOE's second bidding window for the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

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Motech Americas LLC, a solar company with a 20-year heritage of manufacturing the highest quality solar panels, announced today that Ray Angelini, Inc. (RAI) () has won their East Coast Installation of the Year award for its solar photovoltaic (PV) system installations for the Long Branch School District, Long Branch, NJ. For a project to qualify as a Motech Installation of the Year it must embody innovative design, quality workmanship, efficient installation and best-in-class safety practices.

RAI utilized Motech IM60 235W solar modules manufactured in Delaware to successfully complete the design and installation of 10 solar photovoltaic (PV) system installations for the district-eight roof arrays and two canopy arrays. The largest array-559 kW consisting of 2,379 panels-was installed on the roof of the high school. There were seven other locations throughout the district where RAI installed solar panels, including a 100kW installation at Anastasia Elementary School, a 62kW installation at Gregory Elementary School, 156kW at Lenna Conrow Elementary School, 101kW at Audrey Clark Elementary School, 773kW at Long Branch Middle School, 189kW at Morris Avenue School, and 14kW at the Long Branch Board of Education.

Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA) announced today that it has been informed by Ormat Industries, Ltd., its parent entity ("Ormat Industries"), that the transaction by and among Bronicki Investments Ltd. ("BIL"), the controlling shareholder of Ormat Industries, and FIMI ENRG Limited Partnership, a newly formed Israeli partnership and FIMI ENRG, a newly formed Delaware partnership, both controlled by FIMI Opportunity IV (collectively, "FIMI"), to sell part of BIL's interest in Ormat Industries, previously announced on March 16, 2012, was successfully consummated on May 22, 2012. Ormat Industries provided the following additional information:

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RMT, Inc. (RMT), a renewable energy engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor specializing in the design and construction of wind and solar energy generating facilities, joined First Wind on May 1, 2012, to commemorate the start of major construction at the Palouse Wind project in northern Whitman County, Washington.

(SeeNews Renewables) - May 24, 2012 - Eletrosul, a subsidiary of Brazil's state-owned power holding company Eletrobras (SAO:ELET6), has been cleared by the country's energy sector watchdog Aneel to research technologies for electricity generation from solar radiation.

Eletrosul proposed to install a 1.026 MWp photovoltaic solar complex at the rooftop and parking of its headquarters in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina state, and to use it to study the viability of the nationwide use of the employed technology, ways of connection and forms of commercialisation of the solar power.

The tender for builders of the complex is still ongoing.

The following information was released by the American Wind Energy Association:

Two Cabinet secretaries met with 14 leaders of the U.S. wind manufacturing, construction, and development sectors at the White House today, advancing a bipartisan effort to extend the wind energy Production Tax Credit before Congress recesses for the summer, and retain 75,000 U.S. jobs.

A bipartisan coalition has been raising this issue since late last year as an urgent need for action by Congress, including for example Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Reps. Dave Reichert (R-WA), Steve King (R-IA), and Tom Latham (R-IA), as well as a bipartisan group of 23 governors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau, and the Edison Electric Institute.

Chandigarh, May 22 -- The Haryana Government has decided to set up five Bio-mass projects costing Rs 230 crore to generate about 51 MW of power and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four companies.

Brazilian state-run power company Eletrobras Eletrosul has been given permission by power regulator Aneel to begin construction of a 1.03MW solar plant at its Florianópolis headquarters.

India, May 23 -- Tamil Nadu is now a leader in renewable energy, with one of the largest regional installation of wind farms. The state has excellent solar energy potential. It is also blessed with abundant biomass resources.

KOLKATA: After dillydallying for nearly a year, the state government on Wednesday approved the policy on generating power from renewable energy sources.

This makes it compulsory for multi-storey buildings to have solar panels installed on the rooftops for power generation. According to state power minister Manish Gupta, building rules in the state have to be amended to make this happen and talks are on with the urban development and environment departments.

Local governments have stepped up efforts to introduce renewable energy systems with the aim of achieving self-sufficient electricity production.

A key challenge is that power generation from eco-friendly energy sources, which do not emit carbon dioxide, is inefficient and has a far smaller output compared to nuclear and thermal power generators. Therefore it is particularly difficult to build adequate renewable energy infrastructure in urban areas where large amounts of power is consumed.

At the Wakkanai mega solar power plant in Wakkanai, Hokkaido, immense solar panels are lined up on a large patch of land, across which cold winds blow. The plant, which is operated by the Wakkanai city government, has about 30,000 solar panels, consisting of segments about six meters tall. Its vast scale astonishes visitors.

A renewable energy company that plans to burn locally grown eucalyptus trees to generate 10 percent of Hawaii island's energy needs signed an agreement today to sell the power to Hawaii Electric Light Co.

TESTIMONY-BY: JESSE D. JENKINS, DIRECTOR

AFFILIATION: BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE, OAKLAND, CA

Statement of Jesse D. Jenkins Director Of Energy And Climate Policy Breakthrough Institute, Oakland, CA

Committee on Senate Energy and Natural Resources

May 22, 2012

Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski, distinguished members of the Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the role of the government in the process of energy innovation. It is an honor and a privilege to speak with you on a topic so critical to the nation's energy, economic, and environmental future.

I am the Director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Breakthrough Institute, an independent public policy research institute in Oakland, California (see http://thebreakthrough.org/energy.shtml ). The Breakthrough Institute is non-partisan and accepts only charitable contributions from individuals and foundations without a direct economic interest in our research and analysis. The Institute's Energy and Climate Program focuses centrally on identifying and advancing the optimal policies to accelerate innovation to ensure that advanced energy technologies become affordable, reliable, and scalable. This objective is essential to securely and sustainably fueling the national economy, improving public health and environmental outcomes, and ensuring U.S. technological leadership in the multi-trillion dollar global energy markets of the 21st century.

Guwahati, May 22 -- The ongoing power crisis and the mounting gap between demand and supply every year brings to the fore the need for acquiring power from unconventional sources. Power can be generated from unconventional sources such as solar, wind, biomass, etc., which are renewable and have little adverse impact on the environment. States like Gujarat have already made rapid strides on the solar energy front, generating as much as 600 MW which is more than Assam's overall power generation. The pathetic power scenario of the State makes it highly imperative to tap renewable energy sources, especially solar energy which has high potential here. According so scientific assessments, the State has solar energy potential of 4.4 KWh to 5.6 KWh per metre per day. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission envisages a target of 20,000 MW solar power in the country by end of the 13th Plan, i.e., 2022, and the Centre is providing huge amounts of subsidies to the States for the purpose. The Assam Government should exhibit some pro-activeness to take advantage of the policy and help ease its perennial power crisis. As per Central policy, NGOs, private set-ups, hotels, nursing homes, educational institutions, etc., will also get liberal subsidies for tapping solar power. Large-scale generation of solar power can reduce the dependence on conventional grids to a great extent.

The following information was released by the U.S. Army:

By Rob McIlvaine

The assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, in a bloggers roundtable today, said one of the reasons the Army is committed to one gigawatt of renewable energy is security.

"Right now," said Katherine Hammack, "the bases operate off of a nationwide electric grid, which as populations grow, just like much of the infrastructure in the United States, is getting aged and vulnerable. So this is really a move toward distributed energy where you are generating energy at the point of use. So we want to generate energy on the military bases."