Country Focus

Reversing Russia’s reluctance

A recent study to quantify renewable energy deployment in North America by the US-based National Academies of Science found that, in terms of national wind power potential, Russia came way ahead of its nearest rivals, with more than 118 Pwh (Petawatt hours). Next on the list was Australia, with a meagre-looking 86 Pwh. No wonder, perhaps, that investors are beginning to gaze over Russia's famed steppes and shorelines at a bottomless natural resource that has been barely harnessed.

But despite the favourable natural conditions and attractiveness of wind power there are still no huge wind farms, nor single wind farms around the rural villages and suburban areas in Russia, a situation the Russian Association of Wind Power Industry (RAWI) would like to see rectifie

Located firmly in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the ‘American Heartland', Iowa was once a part of the French colony of New France, and is known as the "Food Capital of the World". However, Iowa's economy, culture, and landscape are diverse, with a strong and burgeoning wind energy industry. PES investigates.

A recent report released by the American Wind Energy Association ranks Iowa first in the nation in its percentage of total electricity produced from wind power and in wind manufacturing jobs. According to the US Wind Industry Annual Market Report, Iowa is placed second in overall wind energy production, behind Texas and ahead of California. It's an impressive achievement, and one that is prized highly by loca

The reduction in Feed-in Tariffs and an overall declining economic climate along with a less than sympathetic Federal government are combining to make the going tough for Germany's PV industry with many manufacturers now looking to increase their markets substantially abroad. PES reports on a difficult situation in the country that many others looked to previously as a model for an economically green and sustainable future ....

A declining economic situation is likely to mean that major photovoltaic (PV) projects are only going to be carried out with difficulty in Germany throughout 2011. Solar energy subsidies are decreasing dramatically - no outdoor installations in fields have been commissioned since last summer, for instance. For this reason, project devel

It may come as a surprise to learn that during the 1970s and 80s, Romania was one of the world's leading providers of photovoltaic technology, having installed approximately 860,000 square metres of photovoltaic cells. Though the quality of the cells was considered relatively low, at the time Romania boasted the third largest surface area of PV in the world...

In recent years, Romania has begun to re-establish itself as a major user of photovoltaic systems. The Covaci Solar Park - which is currently under construction on a 60 hectare plot of land to the north of the city of Timişoara - will be one of the world's largest thin-film photovoltaic power plants. The park will upon completion, be a 35-megawatt system using state-of-the-art thin film technolog

Wind energy has set two new records in 2011: in March, it produced more electricity than in its history and, for the first time, it was the technology that generated more power in Spain than any other resource.

Spanish renewables generation over the first two months of 2011 covered 38 per cent of national consumption, with wind producing nearly half of this, according to statistics from grid operator Red Eléctrica de España (REE). To give these figures some context, during March wind energy in Spain produced enough electricity to meet Portugal's monthly consumption.

"This historic milestone reached by wind energy shows that this technology is not only indigenous, clean and competitive, but also capable of supplying alr

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