Paris, May 23 -- The controversial Jaitapur nuclear power project, against which local residents and activist groups have been protesting, may only be commissioned by 2021 at the earliest. That's if the contract for the two European pressurized reactors (EPRs) between state-owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd(NPCIL) and France's Areva SAis inked in the current calendar year. This looks ambitious, given that the two companies still need to iron out critical issues such as India's Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Bill, credit arrangements for the construction and the final cost of the project located in Maharashtra. The Euro7 billion general framework agreement signed in December 2010 during former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to India deals with the supply of two EPRs, each with a capacity to produce 1,650MW of electricity, and uranium supply for a period of 25 years for the Jaitapur project.

Industry responds to challenge from Government to provide solutions to 'green the grid'

CALGARY, May 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Alberta can once again be a leader in renewable energy development and address global concern about the province's environmental record by meeting rising electricity demand with new clean wind energy. WindVision 2025: A Strategy For Alberta, released today by the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA), makes the case for the strategic deployment of more wind energy in Alberta in a direct response to a challenge by Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes for the renewable industry to put forth policy solutions to help "green the grid".

Since the country's first wind farm was constructed in southern Alberta in 1993, the province has installed 1,100 MW of wind energy - but this represents just a small fraction of the available resource. Alberta currently sits in third place for total installed wind energy capacity - behind Ontario and Quebec. WindVision 2025 makes the case that Alberta is well positioned to take strategic advantage of its significant wind resource, access to skilled trades, and interest by independent power producers.

Japanese regulators are in the process of deciding which nuclear reactors are not safe enough to operate because of the existence of active faults, but the task has proved tough with clear room for improvement.

Assessments of suspicious faults at three nuclear power plants have been proceeding in parallel so far, and the first evaluation finalized by a panel of experts was accepted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday.

At a press conference, NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka gave full support to an assessment that a fault beneath the No. 2 reactor at the Tsuruga plant in western Japan is active.

KUWAIT CITY, May 22: Recording one of the highest energy consumption rates per capita in the world, Kuwait is keen on pursuing a sustainability plan that includes generating 15 percent of electricity from renewable resources by 2030. At the rate Kuwait is consuming energy, with the average Kuwaiti using 22 times more resources than the country provides per person, experts believe it will need as much as 20 percent of its oil production capacity just for energy generation by 2017 - a consumption pattern deemed unsustainable given that 66 percent of the country's GDP is dependent on the oil industry. On June 2-3, 2013, Kuwait's senior government officials, policymakers and influential private sector stakeholders will gather at the Kuwait Energy & Efficiency Conference at the Hilton Kuwait Resort to start mapping a national energy efficiency strategy. Organised by MEED Events and supported by the Ministry of Electricity & Water and Kuwait National Petroleum Company, Kuwait Energy & Efficiency 2013 will provide an excellent platform to debate and discuss a sustainable energy plan for Kuwait, including identifying concrete solutions that will help energy consumption in Kuwait. Kuwait's increasing energy consumption has been driven by a number of factors.

The office of Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., issued the following news release:

In a letter to President Barack Obama, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) joined five of his Missouri Republican colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to express their continued concerns surrounding the Obama Administration's proposed regulations, which would effectively ban the construction of new coal fired power plants.

The proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would establish unprecedented Greenhouse Gas (GHG) New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for power plants. In the letter, the Missouri lawmakers called on President Obama and his administration to amend the proposed rule and utilize a technology-based approach to reduce carbon dioxide emissions - an option that would not harm the economy or endanger the nation's electricity supply.

NEW DELHI, May 22 -- The government of India issued the following news release:

As per the re-assessment studies carried out by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) during 1978-1987, the hydro power potential in terms of Installed Capacity (I.C.) is estimated at 148701 MW out of which 145320 MW of the potential consists of hydro electric schemes having I.C. above 25 MW.

The following information was released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA):

On April 15, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released guidance clarifying the eligibility for the recently extended renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC). Congress passed the extension on January 1, 2013 as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA). EIA expects this extension could result in significant wind capacity additions over the next three years, leading to higher generation from wind.

The following information was released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA):

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly.

Note: Other includes petroleum, purchased steam, nonbiogenic municipal solid wastes, batteries, and other sources of electric generation.

The following information was released by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce:

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved H.R. 271, the Resolving Environmental and Grid Reliability Conflicts Act by voice vote. The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Reps. Pete Olson (R-TX) and Mike Doyle (D-PA), will ensure America's power companies are able to comply with Department of Energy emergency orders to maintain grid reliability without facing penalties for violating potentially conflicting environmental laws.

The following information was released by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Democrats:

Today the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis of the policy implications of enactment of a carbon tax. The CBO report makes a compelling case for inclusion of a carbon tax in any legislation to reduce the deficit or reform the tax code.

(600401) "Hareon Solar Technology Co., Ltd." (the Company) -- Announcement on Outward Investment of Establishing Gucheng Hareon Photovoltaic Power Generation Co., Ltd. and Building 50 MW Photovoltaic Grid-connection Power Generation Project

The abstract is for reference only. Please refer to the full text of the announcement on the very day.

Hyderabad, home to several information technology, pharmaceutical and construction companies, goes without power for more than eight hours every day, making the state capital akin to a very large and crowded furnace in these days of summer. The crowds may not stay quiet about this when elections to the state assembly come around next summer.

Reflecting its longstanding commitment to military recruitment, Southern Company has been named a top employer for both active duty and veteran military in a pair of recent surveys. Southern Company is the top-ranked energy company and No. 19 overall in the Military Times EDGE Best for Vets 2013: Employers survey and has been named to the Most Valuable Employers (MVE) for Military® winners by CivilianJobs.com for the fourth consecutive year.

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080801/SOCOLOGO)

Dubai, May 21 -- Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the largest producer of oil and gas in Oman, and GlassPoint Solar, the global leader in solar enhanced oil recovery, today announced the successful commissioning of the Middle East's first solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project. By harnessing the sun's energy with GlassPoint's Enclosed Trough technology, the solar EOR project produces a daily average of 50 tons of emissions-free steam that feeds directly into existing thermal EOR operations at PDO's Amal West field in Southern Oman. The 7MW system is in regular operation and recently passed its first performance acceptance test since coming online, exceeding contracted steam output by 10 percent.

New Delhi, May 21 -- A fabric that generates electricity on its own? It may seem unbelievable but it's true for a student of MTech Textile Technology from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute has actually invented something like this. Hrishikesh Kirkire has attempted to develop a solar cell fabric using the dye sensitised solar cell technology under the guidance of his professors VD Gotmare and DV Raisinghani.

Kirkire made use of textile materials/technology to develop a solar cell that is flexible and which can bring about a revolution in the photovoltaic industry. It can allow portable use of solar power for military applications. Soldiers need electricity for portable devices in remote areas, to power mobile and stationary electronic devices to communicate, cool and heat, etc.

TESTIMONY-BY: DONA L. CRAWFORD, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

AFFILIATION: LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Statement of Dona L. Crawford Associate Director, Computation Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Committee House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Energy

May 22, 2013

Thank you, Madam Chair, Ranking Member Swalwell, and Members of the Committee. I am Dona Crawford, Associate Director of Computation at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). I welcome the opportunity to provide my perspective on high performance computing (HPC). There are major opportunities and challenges associated with developing exascale computing, the next generation of HPC capability. At the same time, exascale computing is critically needed to support national security priorities, advance science and technology, and enable greater innovation in U.S. industry.

I applaud the Committee for its determined support to maintain U.S. leadership in HPC. The U.S. has benefited immensely from the investments the nation has made in developing and applying HPC capability. The U.S. has enjoyed a long record of success and unparalleled leadership in computing for many years. The world took notice, and many other nations started investing in HPC and now strive to challenge U.S. leadership in this critical arena. It is imperative that we continue to make smart investments of our limited resources to maintain U.S. HPC leadership.

Prior to March 2011, the emphasis for advanced fuel R&D activities was on improving the fuel performance for waste minimization and increased power density, as well as collaborating with industry on fuel reliability. Following the event at Fukushima in 2011, enhancing the accident tolerance of light water reactors (LWRs) became a topic of serious discussion in the United States.

The US Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) is conducting research and development on enhanced accident-tolerant fuels (ATF) for light water reactors (LWRs). This work is being carried out through the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Advanced Nuclear Fuels Pathway, and Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) Program Advanced Fuels Campaign (AFC).

A central goal of these coordinated programmes is to develop novel fuel and cladding concepts to replace the current zirconium alloy-uranium dioxide (UO2) fuel system (Figure 1). ATF concepts should provide improved performance, reliability and safety characteristics during normal operations and accident conditions, while minimizing waste generation, relative to the current UO2-zirconium alloy system. The initial effort focuses on implementation in operating reactors or reactors with design certifications.

ANILA, May 21 -- Mindanao-focused holding firm Alcantara Group on Tuesday said it is on track to produce an additional 282 megawatts (MW) and raise its total electricity generation capacity to 436 MW by 2016 to meet growing demand in the power-starved southern Philippine island.