Financially constrained PV manufacturers are advised to look at alternative ways other than relinquishing hard-to-find cash to end wafer supply deals with suppliers after a long-standing dispute between Conergy and MEMC was partially resolved via old-fashioned bartering.
The Austrian government has doubled its renewables budget to €50 million for 2013 and set to decrease by €1 million annually. Economy and energy minister Reinhold Mitterlehner, social minister Rudolf Hundstorfer and environment minister Nikolaus Berlakovich have introduced a combination tariff and grant scheme.
Suspicions of the strength of German influence over European politics appear to not be unfounded. Earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for dialogue between the Chinese and European Commission. It has been announced that the EC and China’s Ministry of Commerce have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Brussels to increase cooperation between the EC’s competition department and China’s antitrust authorities.
According to informed sources close to those involved, Jerry Stokes, president of Suntech Europe has agreed a settlement with senior management of Suntech Power Holdings to leave the company. Stokes joined the company in 2006. Suntech's newly appointed chief executive officer, David King recently set about restructuring senior management roles with the exit of Andrew Beebe, Suntech’s chief commercial officer and regional heads reporting directly to King.
French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy and the Ministry of Productive Recovery has released a report detailing long-term operational recommendations and proposals for structural reforms to the renewables industry. The government will make a decision based on this report at a later unspecified date.
Gloom pervaded the Spanish solar industry when minister of industry, energy and tourism José Manuel Soria’s 19% tax on renewables receiving a FiT was announced in July to end the tariff deficit of US$30 billion. However, the cabinet has now launched a draft umbrella tax of 6% payable by all energy suppliers, irrespective of power generation method, lifting the mood a little.
United Insurance Brokers (UIB), an international insurance and reinsurance broker with headquarters in London, UK, has announced that it has won a contract to provide reinsurance for a 100MW power plant in southern Ukraine.
SunEdison, a provider of solar energy services, has announced that it has secured an additional US$40 million for its project finance revolving credit facility, bringing the total capacity of the facility to US$150 million.
SunEdison announced that, along with Firelight Infrastructure Partners, it has attained financial close for a 10MW solar project being built in Ontario. Completed through a construction and term debt credit facility, the project is owned by SunEdison and Firelight as equity partners. Deutsche Bank worked as the private placement agent for the transaction, which was supported by a consortium of lenders.
Italian solar firm Aion Renewables has signed a preliminary agreement to sell 30MW of PV projects to Luxembourg-based Avelos. Aion Renewables is a specialist in the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of PV systems.
