2012 was a record year for the US. However, despite renewal of the so-called Production Tax Credit for a further year, GWEC believes that "broader market conditions and politics" may impact the level of support available to renewables in the country in the short to medium term.

Market consolidation and rationalisation in China, and a lapse in policy in India were the main reasons for the significant slowdown in Asia in 2012, but these conditions are expected to be short-lived, and Asian dominance of global wind markets is expected to continue.

The United States Army, The Government of USA has issued the following news release:

On May 9, 2013, the Defense Logistics Agency Energy (DLA Energy), in close coordination with the Army Energy Initiatives Task Force (EITF), released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to procure solar energy from a photovoltaic Renewable Energy Generation System (REGS) located on Fort Irwin in California. The government estimates the size of the system at 15 megawatts, subject to final specification by the selected developer. The Solicitation, SP0600-13-R-0412, is posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website at www.fbo.gov.

By the end of this year, it is likely that renewables will be the country's main source of electricity, providing more power than nuclear, coal or gas. Far from being "alternative energy", renewables is now a major part of our energy mix, and a significant part of Scotland's economy.

Latest figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change showed that in 2011 renewables in Scotland generated more power than coal or gas for the first time ever, and that we are very much nipping at the heels of nuclear power - the largest single source of generation.

Publication No. WO/2013/069785 was published on May 16 by WIPO.

Title of the invention: LIGHT GUIDE BODY, SOLAR CELL MODULE, AND PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION DEVICE

Applicants: SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA [JP/JP]; 22-22, Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 5458522 (JP)
Inventors: TSUKIO Daisuke; .
UCHIDA Hideki; .
UMEDA Tokiyoshi; .
YUI Hideomi; .
ASAOKA Yasushi;

International Resource News - 20 May 2013

ContourGlobal, a New York based international power-generation company, has acquired 100 percent of the shares in the company that holds the wind and diesel power generation assets on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, from the company's shareholder administrator.

 ContourGlobal announced today that it has acquired 100% of the shares of the company holding the wind and diesel power generation assets on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire from the administrator of the company's shareholder.  The assets are the sole power generation facilities on the island of Bonaire and integrate renewable and conventional energy production sources to provide reliable power to the island's 16,500 inhabitants.

GENEVA, May 20 -- Publication No. WO/2013/067698 was published on May 16.

Title of the invention: "COMBINED POWER GENERATING DEVICE USING SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY." Applicants: QINGDAO MINSHEN WIND POWER TECHNOLOGY LTD. CO. (CN) and Chunhui Jiang (CN). Inventor: Chunhui Jiang (CN). According to the abstract* posted by the World Intellectual Property Organization: "A combined power generating device using solar and wind energy is provided, which comprises a generator and an airflow generating device.

CHENNAI, May 20 -- Power transmission losses, which had continued to rise under the DMK regime and peaked at 9.82 per cent in 2009-10, reduced during 2011-12, after the AIADMK led by J Jayalalithaa took over the reins of the government.

These are among the inferences contained in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which was tabled in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on May 15, on the functioning of the State's electricity body between 2007 and 2012.

GENEVA, May 20 -- Publication No. WO/2013/069785 was published on May 16.

Title of the invention: "LIGHT GUIDE BODY, SOLAR CELL MODULE, AND PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER GENERATION DEVICE." Applicant: SHARP K.K. (JP). Inventors: Daisuke Tsukio, Hideki Uchida, Tokiyoshi Umeda, Hideomi Yui and Yasushi Asaoka. According to the abstract* posted by the World Intellectual Property Organization: "A light guide body has a first principal surface and a first end surface and includes at least one optical functional material. The at least one optical functional material includes a first optical functional material that emits light anisotropically. The light guide body is configured at least so as to allow the light emitted from the first optical functional material to propagate and exit from the end surface. The first optical functional material is oriented so that an angle formed by a direction in which the emission intensity of the light emitted from the first optical functional material is the largest and the normal line of the first principal surface becomes a critical angle or more." The patent was filed on Nov. 9, 2012 under Application No. PCT/JP2012/079171. *For further information, including images, charts and tables, please visit:

GREEDY energy giants have pushed up household bills by more than £250 a year and given their profits a multi-billion pound boost.

New research reveals today that power industry mark-ups - the difference between what firms pay for energy and the price they charge customers - rocketed by 39% for electricity and 69% for gas in the past 10 years.

Europe could save €45bn by 2030 if renewable energy installations were built on sites that offer the highest power yields, according to a new study by Siemens.

In 2009, Coenraad van Blerk, a director of Green Hydro Power, obtained a patent from the South African patent office for an "electricity generating arrangement" but two years later Rand Water put out a tender for what he has claimed is the same thing.

At stake for Rand Water is a tender to build four hydropower plants on Johannesburg's vast hydraulic network, which could generate R43-million worth of electricity each year.

New Delhi, May 20 -- USA based Areva Solar Inc filed patent application for systems and methods for producing steam using solar radiation. The inventors are Conlon William M, Tanner Peter M, Venetos Milton and Hanson Robert J.

EMEC - the European Marine Energy Centre - on Orkney is a facility Scotland should be proud of. In the nearly 10 years since it opened its doors it has achieved a solid reputation and is now involved in a number of overseas collaborative projects.

This is good for Scotland and good for the marine energy sector.

Analysts at Douglas-Westwood have been tracking new generation UK renewables since their genesis in the 1990s. Aberdeen-based manager Frank Wright delivers his take on the industry and where it might be heading.

The low-carbon drive and the need to replace older power plants mean that the UK desperately requires new generation capacity from a variety of sources including offshore wind.

At the same time, it is clear that costs in these emerging sectors are extremely high, and the benefits to UK plc have thus far been lower than expected.

-- Acquisition adds to ContourGlobal's growing Caribbean and Renewable Energy Portfolio

 ContourGlobal announced today that it has acquired 100% of the shares of the company holding the wind and diesel power generation assets on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire from the administrator of the company's shareholder.  The assets are the sole power generation facilities on the island of Bonaire and integrate renewable and conventional energy production sources to provide reliable power to the island's 16,500 inhabitants.

May 19, 2013 (FinancialWire) -- Electric energy company NextEra (NYSE: NEE) said it recently ordered 59 wind turbines from General Electric (NYSE: GE) to expand NextEra's 100.3-megawatt Tuscola II project in Tuscola County, Michigan. With construction expected to be complete by the end of the year, utility provider DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE) has agreed to purchase the electricity for 20 years, according to reports.

Dubai, May 17 -- Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable-energy company, and the Export Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) - the official export credit agency of the United States - today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in which they will explore opportunities to structure and deploy up to $2bn worth of Ex-Im Bank's finance supporting U.S. exports to Masdar's future projects.

Power generation by all plants run by Ukrainian National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom fell by 5.4% to 29.982 billion kWh in January-April 2013, the company has said.