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.

The following information was released by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt:

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 Administrations 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 nations electricity supply.

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.

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.

A COMPANY that specialises in helping utilities and electricity-distribution companies improve electrical grids across Europe is on course to increase its workforce by almost half this year.

Since its establishment in 2008, Swansea-based S&C Electric Europe, has seen rapid growth with the number of employees increase by over 127% between 2010 to 2012.

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.

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)

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.

Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) May 20, 2013

The demand for alternative energy is becoming increasingly more prominent and production companies are responding by turning their focus onto mobile power and back up generators. With emergency situationsin mind, Intermountain Wind and Solar are introducing a line of highfunctioning mobile energy generators. These compact trailers combinethe efficiency achieved through Utah solar panels with a mobile platform, creating a compact and functional alternative to expensive homegenerators or Idaho backup power systems.

Good morning. My name is Joe Pyne, and I am the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kirby Corporation, the nation's largest inland and coastal tank barge operator. Kirby has revenues of approximately $2.5 billion per year and has a market capitalization of approximately $4.5 billion. We employ some 4,600 Americans and operate over 1,300 Jones Act vessels. Kirby has been in the marine transportation business since 1969. I am pleased to appear before you today on behalf of the American Maritime Partnership (AMP) to stress the importance of the domestic U.S.-flag fleet and the coastwise laws to our U.S. transportation system and the role that they play in meeting the economic, homeland, and national security needs of the United States.

Background on the American Maritime Partnership and Kirby Corporation

ContourGlobal announced that it has acquired 100 percent 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 state government's approval for Western Australia's first waste-to-energy plant has ticked another box on New Energy Corporation's checklist, but it's yet to overcome significant funding, waste supply, and energy off-take hurdles.

Minister for Environment Albert Jacob has today announced the government will support New Energy's proposal to build a plant at Boodarie in Port Hedland.