Iberdrola has signed a collaboration agreement with the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) for joint development of new renewable energy projects in the country.

As part of the agreement, the company will invest $5bn into Mexico’s energy sector over the next four years.

Iberdrola chairman Ignacio Galan and CFE managing director Enrique Ochoa Reza have signed the agreement, which covers the exchange of ideas and experiences in the energy sector.

The deal also includes electricity generation, energy transmission and distribution and natural gas storage in Mexico.

The deal is likely to strengthen the company’s commitment to Mexico, where it has an operating capacity of more than 5.2GW in wind farms and combined cycle power plants.

Under the agreement, the team will exchange information on implementing new technologies and managerial experiences.

Iberdrola’s generation projects in Mexico include the new Baja California III combined cycle power plant and the extension to the Monterrey facility, which is also a combined cycle plant.

Iberdrola, which started operations in Mexico in 1998, noted that its expansion plans in the country are based on the good prospects of Energy Reform, under which the government calls for around $25.5bn in investment for electricity generation by 2020.

The company is planning to invest appeoximately $5bn in Mexico between 2014 and 2018, with initiatives worth $1.5bn already underway.

The Indian Government is planning to construct four giant solar power plants, with a capacity of 1,000MW each, as part of its efforts to accelerate the solar energy program.

The potential solar projects are expected to be located in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

In order to make renewable energy more affordable, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) plans to bundle solar and conventional power, The Economic Times reported.

In order to deal with larger project delays, several sites and cities have been surveyed by the government to assess the solar power’s potential and viability in the country for receiving adequate radiation during its 300 days of sunshine a year.

On condition of anonymity, a senior MNRE official said with the clean energy sector receiving an investment of $7bn last year, where private sectors invested 70%, the ministry is hoping that it would double up by the end of the second phase in 2017.

“Now that MNRE is under the same minister as power, synchronising of common issues such as grid connectivity and sale of power would be better. Policy delays hamper the investment, both domestic and foreign,” official said.

The government is also planning to re-design the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, aimed at achieving the target of commissioning of 20,000MW of solar power generation capacity ahead of targeted 2022.

Additionally, the Electricity Act 2003 scope may also be expanded to push for higher renewable energy utilisation.

Indian Power Minister Piyush Goyal said that the ministry has an opinion that the Electricity Act scope should be expanded to empower renewable energy.

Goyal said, “The Electricity Act 2003 does not deal extensively with renewable energy and state utilities cannot be compelled to procure expensive solar power through policies and regulations alone.

“It is believed that cost of solar power can be brought down by increasing the scale of demands for panels and equipment in the country.”

LONDON — Meeting the world’s energy supply needs by 2035 will require $40 trillion of investment, as demand grows and production and processing facilities have to be replaced, the International Energy Agency said.

China will limit its total carbon emissions by the end of this decade, China’s Advisory Committee on Climate Change chairman He Jiankun said.

The Guardian quoted Jiankun as saying at a conference in Beijing that the nation would introduce an absolute cap on carbon emissions.

The target will be included in country’s next five-year plan, which is effective from 2016, Jiankun said.

“The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap,” Jiankun told Reuters.

“The opinions expressed at the workshop were only meant for academic studies. What I said does not represent the Chinese government or any organisation.”

The plan comes the day after the Obama administration announced its new plan guidelines for reducing carbon emissions from power plants by 30% by 2030.

Australian National University climate change economics and policy expert Frank Jotzo said, “The announcement of intent of an absolute target doesn’t tell us anything substantive….[On the US side] we have a policy for the electricity sector but not an overall national number.”

Greenpeace UK chief scientist Doug Parr said China and US have sent a powerful signal in the past 24 hours of crucial climate talks later this year to other world leaders.

“The Chinese government has already set out ambitious plans to cut the country’s reliance on coal – an additional cap on CO2 suggests the country’s leaders are serious about tackling their emission problem,” Parr said.

Greenpeace in China climate and energy campaigner Li Shuo said a carbon cap marks a “positive and natural step forward” and follows the implementation of a cap on energy use, which was announced in 2011.

John Lammas, GE Vice President Thermal Engineering says that high-efficiency 9HA gas turbine technology should prove to be an appropriate solution for Europe, once market design takes into account the need for more secure, flexible gas-fired power to combat the volatility of renewables.

GE together with Toshiba announced a fresh order for the latest in its H-Class high efficiency combined cycle gas turbine technology this week requested by Hokkaido Electric Power. Although an Asian introduction Lammas sees there being a future point when the technology is increasingly relevant to Europe.Much of the content of Tuesday’s key note speeches at the POWER-GEN Europe event in Cologne, Germany centred on the need for a new market design aimed at assisting gas-fired power’s role in energy security for the bloc. Features inherent to the high-efficiency 9HA Gas Turbine destined for the Ishikariwan Shinko Power Plant Unit 1, HEPCO’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled thermal power plant in Japan, look an ideal fit for Europe’s needs should a new design come into being.

“I see a situation in Europe where there is this great penetration of renewables and you need something that can respond when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing an I think that gas turbines are part of that solution,” Lammas told Power Engineering Internationalat the POWER-GEN Europe event. “It probably won’t be totally base load but you need flexibility which is another element that we are building into these machines; it’s that ability to get to full gas turbine output in approximately ten minutes and full plant in less than 30 minutes, which allows it to work in harmony with the renewables so we think long term there is definitely a future for these sorts of machines in Europe.”

The combined-cycle thermal power generation system combines GE’s latest high-efficiency 9HA Gas Turbine with Toshiba’s most-advanced steam turbine. Toshiba will be the prime contractor for the Hokkaido project. The gas turbine combined-cycle system ordered by HEPCO is expected to achieve a thermal efficiency of 62 per cent, the world’s highest1, at the lower heating value. The plant will have an output capacity of 569.4 MW and construction is expected to start in October 2015.

Lammas anticipates a worldwide demand for the newest in H-class. “Certainly there is a trend in the industry towards the larger machines to get the CAPEX advantage at the plant level and then high efficiency particularly where gas prices are high; around the world this is a trend we are seeing. The machine we are building is greater than 61 per cent. Obviously as we test the machine we will be able to potentially improve that efficiency rating but it brings value from both the CAPEX element and the operational cost as well.

Brian Gutknecht, Vice President Thermal Engineering at GE told the POWER-GEN Europe show newspaper that there was another key advantage to their latest offering. “Through this plant we offer the lowest life cycle cost of electricity. Compared to prior F-Class technology it’s about a 5 per cent reduction in cost of electricity that would translate to $21m per year of net savings at the life cycle value; that would be for a 9HA02 plant running at about 6000 hours a year. So balancing the higher performace with low maintenance costs as well.”

BERLIN — There’s bad news in the pipeline for Germany’s small-scale producers of renewable energy, the backbone of the country’s heralded Energiewende, or clean-energy transition.

Rural off-grid renewables specialist Sunlabob Renewable Energy and sustainable energy firm Relitec have announced a partnership agreement aimed at Myanmar’s growing on-site solar market.

Laos-based Sunlabob and Yangon, Myanmar-based Relitec said they plan to collaborate on addressing Myanmar’s growing demand for renewable energy.

According to estimates, less than 30% of the nation’s 60 million people have access to grid-connected electricity, and only 4% of the rural population has electricity.

Sunlabob offers on- and off-grid products and services ranging from hybrid mini-grids and solar home systems to energy efficiency consulting. Relitec specialises in the engineering, installation, and operation and maintenance of solar projects, and has implemented a number of solar projects in Myanmar.

Andy Schroeter, Sunlabob’s CEO, said, ‘Sunlabob’s experience implementing rural, off-grid renewable energy throughout the developing world will complement Relitec’s on-the-ground knowledge of the local Myanmar market.’

‘Myanmar is just seeing the tip of the iceberg for solar energy’s potential,’ said Than Aye, Relitec’s managing director. ‘We are excited to be well-positioned to meet the upsurge of solar activity.’

For the LEGO Group, growth has been as consistent and precise as the red plastic blocks that snap together to construct cars, castles, and kingdoms.

The Billund, Denmark-based iconic toy company, which has a movie, theme park, and several successful superhero product lines, increased its revenue by 13 percent this past year, and then decided to drastically decrease its carbon footprint for its supply chain, manufacturing, and distribution.

“We have a duty to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow and therefore addressing the real issues around man made climate change is a key part of that,” said Morten Vestberg, communication manager for the LEGO Group. “By doing so, we move towards our goal of positive impact, reduce our energy use, cut operating costs, and ensure we are a business fit for the future.”

As part of the LEGO Group’s ambition to deliver a positive impact on the planet, the toy manufacturer signed a partnership with World Wildlife Fund to be a member of the Climate Savers Programpledging to intensify their work to improve performance on a range of environmental priorities – including greater focus on collaboration with suppliers to reduce total carbon emissions. The LEGO Group plans to: • Initiate test projects together with suppliers to co-create best solutions to address the supply chain carbon emission impact. • Work with an environmental strategy for materials, which could include producing products using fewer materials, keeping the recyclability high and using renewable or recycled materials. • Look into how it can best innovate its products to be more sustainable. • Reduce the energy used to manufacture one ton of LEGO elements by 10 percent by the end of 2016. • Produce more renewable energy than the company uses in its facilities; be 100 percent renewable by 2016.

“We have experienced strong growth for eight consecutive years and, as we grow, we are becoming increasingly aware of the impact we leave on the planet,” said Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, LEGO Group’s CEO. “Partnering with WWF is an important step in our efforts to get the best out of our sustainability initiatives.”

Innovative suppliers

In 2013, the LEGO Group had a total of 110 suppliers. If the company reduced carbon emissions directly related to production at LEGO factories by a minimum of 10 percent, which is the target, this would remove approximately 10,000 tons of carbon emissions.

But, only 10 percent of the total carbon emission from the entire value chain related to LEGO products originates from the processes taking place at factories during moulding, decoration, and packaging of LEGO bricks.

The remaining 90 percent of the carbon emissions stem from supply chain activities such as raw material extraction and refinement, indirect procurement, distribution from LEGO factories to toy stores around the world and end of life impact when the products are eventually scrapped.

If the toy company is able to enable its supply chain to also achieve a reduction in production at a similar level, the total emissions would be reduced by 100,000 tons, which is equivalent to taking approximately 28,000 cars off the streets.

“We are undertaking a number of pilot projects with key suppliers in our materials supply, machinery providers, and transport partners,” Vestberg said. “We are currently developing an approach through co-creation with these important stakeholders rather than implementing a predetermined standard as we feel this is how we will achieve effective and long lasting impact reduction.”

Since 1997, the LEGO Group has required suppliers and business partners to sign their Supplier Code of Conduct to ensure responsible sourcing. To promote sustainable supply chains the toy manufacturer has ongoing dialogues with suppliers on how to best take a proactive stance together to handle the environmental issues impacting the globe.

Responsible manufacturing

While the LEGO Group is now increasing focus on suppliers – it still remains ambitious and dedicated on reducing its own environmental impact. For a number of years the LEGO Group and the WWF have had a dialogue on a range of sustainability topics such as sourcing sustainable packaging materials through FSC and partnering on the launch of the WindMade initiative. Now the formal partnership puts focus on going beyond zero carbon emissions. The LEGO Group is already right on track to meet this ambition with concrete action by investing $532 million in a new offshore wind farm in northern Germany where the production of energy from the LEGO Group’s part of the wind farm equals the energy consumption of approximately 100,000 residential homes. The offshore wind farm, Borkum Riffgrund 1, will support the LEGO Group’s goal to generate enough renewable energy capacity to meet the company’s energy needs by 2020. The wind park is being built and operated by DONG Energy.

“As the LEGO Group works to achieve the ambitious aim to produce more renewable energy than it uses, the company follows a strict energy hierarchy of 1.) Reduce demand, 2.) Energy efficiency, and 3.) Renewable energy,” Vestberg said.

First, the company cuts energy use, or avoids processes that require excess energy. Secondly, they improve the efficiency of the equipment and buildings through controls optimization, insulation or reuse of heat and cooling. In this stage, the company would consider the use of combined cooling, heating and power systems, and will install such a system in its new Hungary factory.

“Then we evaluate the potential of renewable energy, initially onsite if feasible and if not, offsite,” Vestberg said.

Sustainable raw materials

In 2013, LEGO increased its efforts to find and implement more sustainable alternatives to the raw materials used for the toy bricks, as these contribute 30 percent of the company’s greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030, LEGO’s vision is to find and implement sustainable alternatives to its current raw materials.

The raw material for LEGO bricks starts out as a fragment currently distilled from crude oil. Through a number of processes, the large molecules from crude oil are processed via small molecules into long chains of molecules to make the raw material for the brick. As the company continued to grow its production throughout 2013,it used 68,000 tons of raw materials.

Even though it is a challenge to find materials that do not compromise the current high quality and safety standards of LEGO products, the company has set goals to find more environmentally friendly materials. The LEGO Group has:

• Established a separate department, anchored in top management, with the sole focus of moving into sustainable raw materials by 2030.

• Launched a number of initiatives in cooperation with both suppliers and selected cooperation partners to start the journey towards a sustainable material vision. The toy company will increase cooperation with cutting-edge material suppliers to develop more sustainable materials suitable for LEGO products and production.

• And start measuring the environmental sustainability of new materials to ensure that LEGO reduces its total impact and does not trade off between different environmental impacts.

“We are committed to improving our environmental performance year after year as we strive for positive impact on our sustainability agenda,” Vestberg said. “We seek to embed environmental sustainability into everything we do.”

Restrictions in finance and delays to both planning and grid connections are preventing Scotland’s rural communities from achieving the full benefits of renewable energy, claims rural energy specialist Nick Green.
Speaking at the All-Energy Conference in Aberdeen this week, Mr Green, who is head of energy for Savills in Scotland, said that while the recently-released Agri-renewables Strategy for Scotland provided a positive roadmap for the industry, there were still key barriers to entry in the form of finance, planning and grid capacity.
“Land has been used to power industry for thousands of years and renewable energy has the potential to fundamentally transform the profitability of business in the rural sector,” he said.
“Until recently, however, it has been seen by some as difficult, risky and expensive to get community, farm-scale and rural renewable projects off the ground.
“Farm and community-scale renewable energy generation offers significant opportunities for Scotland’s landowners and managers to diversify their risk, deliver additional revenue streams and hedge against future energy price rises.
“Indeed, land is the key asset in order to produce energy. But the conditions for investment need to be spot-on.”
Mr Green added: “Scotland can and must continue to be a pioneer of renewable energy technologies, but this needs to happen in a context of global energy demand and technology development. As an industry, we need to stand above the rhetoric and focus on the future of rural and community energy generation.”