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 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.

(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.

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.

Mumbai, May 22 -- China Lutian Machinery Co Ltd of Taizhou, China received approval from Office of The Trade Marks Registry on the trademark LUTIAN (2239101).

The description of the mark registered is "Electricity generating device by wind power, washing apparatus, pumps [machines], gasoline engine, alternators, hydraulic engines and motors, engines for boats, cleaning appliances utilizing steam, starters for motors and engines, dynamos, internal-combustion engine (not including automobile, tractor, com combine harvester, motor van, chain saw, engine of the steamer), gas engine, carburetor, wind powered equipment, road sweeping machines [self propelled], centrifugal pumps, lubricating pumps, pumps for heating installations, beer pumps, air suction machines, vehicle oil pump, lubricating pump for automotive engines, cleaning (machines and apparatus for -) [electric], carpet shampooing (machines and apparatus for -) [electric], dust exhausting installations for cleaning purposes, high pressure washers, bicycle dynamos, diesel engine, wind machine and its fittings, water powered equipment, sweeping machines (road -) [self-propelled], vehicle washing installations, pumps [parts of machines, engines or motors], pump diaphragms, air pumps [garage installations], pumps (vacuum -) [machines], compressed air pumps, hydraulic pump, vehicle water pump, gasoline pump for automotive engines, snow ploughs, dust removing installations for cleaning purposes, current generators, generators of electricity, boats (motors for -), motors for boats, atomizers [machines], agricultural machines, tools (hand-held -), other than hand operated, metalworking machines." It comes under Class 7 Trademark classification.

(600401) "Hareon Solar Technology Co., Ltd." (the Company) -- Announcement on Outward Investment of Establishing Turpan Haixin Photovoltaic Power Generation Co., Ltd. and Building 20 MW Photovoltaic Grid-connection Power Generation Project by Wholly-owned Subsidiary

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

In a fleet, a business decision would emanate from the top and be enforced on lower-level operations. The STARS Alliance of nuclear power plants in the western USA aims to develop common policies through technical collaboration and consensus-building. Alliance leaders argue that it will improve performance and increase member savings. Its first five-year operating plan in 2013 has ambitious targets for improving performance in terms of industry ranking: improvement from the bottom 25% to the top 25% of US plants in operations and maintenance cost, for example, and from the top 75% to top 25% of US nuclear plants in each of nuclear safety and personnel safety (Table 1). And in December 2012 it received clearance from the US Department of Justice to begin common procurement activities in areas such as valve services and low-level radwaste management.

 Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Consolidated Edison Development (ConEdison Development) today announced an agreement to partner in two of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's solar power facilities, the 150-megawatt (MW) Copper Mountain Solar 2 plant near Las Vegas and the 150-MW Mesquite Solar 1 power plant near Phoenix.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120103/LA29138LOGO)

Under the sales agreement, each company will own a 50-percent interest in the two solar facilities, which are among the largest photovoltaic plants in the U.S.  Sempra U.S. Gas & Power will continue to provide operations and maintenance services to both plants.

The diesel generators, which are a part of the power plant's safety systems, are for the Olkiluoto 1 and Olkiluoto 2 units. The contract was signed with Teollisuuden Voima Oyj, or TVO, an electricity generating public company that owns and operates two nuclear power plants in Olkiluoto on the west coast of Finland.

A draft bill being drawn up to improve the functioning of state power distribution companies proposes to give more teeth to electricity regulators and make distributors more accountable for lapses in implementing reforms.The draft of the State Electricity Distribution Responsibility Bill proposes to give electricity regulators the power to enforce loss reduction programmes for these power distribution companies (discoms),monitor their subsidy payments and fund borrowing plans.The move is aimed at ensuring discipline among state discoms after they are through with the central governmentinitiated scheme for financial restructuring.According to estimates,the cumulative losses of state discoms in 2011-12 stood at.80,000 crore,against about.63,500 crore two years ago.Besides,more than 50% of the discoms have poor creditworthiness on account of low operational and financial performance capabilities.The draft legislation came up for discussion at a recent meeting of the Forum of Regulators,a body of state electricity regulators,that has been mandated by the power ministry to suggest the new guidelines."The consultants have identified areas such as devising a time-bound programme for loss reduction,advance subsidy payments to discoms,setting up of special courts to tackle theft,and allowing discoms to borrow funds only to create physical assets and not for funding operational losses,among others," said a member of one of the state electricity regulatory commissions.Commenting on the move,a top executive of a state discom said: "We are already highly regulated and governed by the Electricity Act 2003.The proposed legislations will increase our burden,since regulators will have higher control over even administrative matters." The regulators are also considering introduction of a code of conduct for the directors and top officials.Power Play DRAFT PROPOSES TO give electricity regulators the power to enforce loss reduction programmes for these discoms,monitor subsidy payments and fund borrowing plans DRAFT LEGISLATION came up for discussion at a recent meeting of the Forum of Regulators CUMULATIVE LOSSES OF state discoms in 2011-12 stood at.80,000 crore,against about.63,500 crore two years ago,according to estimates

Department of Energy & Climate Change, UK Government has issued the following news release:

"Green Growth, with investment in renewables at its heart, is a central plank of our future prosperity." This is a transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered.
The Rt Hon Edward Davey MP
Introduction

It’s great to be here with you in Aberdeen.

Since becoming Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change almost 16 months ago, I have been a regular visitor.

ADURAI, May 22 -- After a brief lull in electricity outages due to high output by windmills, Tamil Nadu Electricity Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has been forced to revert to unscheduled power cuts of around 10 hours due to dip in wind power generation and outages in units of three power stations, including Madras Atomic Power Station.