The project may be small, but it is symbolically very important. The first wind power plant in West Africa has been connected to the grid in Gambia, and everyone hopes that more will soon follow.
The solar industry is slipping into crisis. But alongside the failures, there are some spectacular successes. And thanks to falling prices, many a project may find it easier to meet the yield expectations of the banks.
Blessed with gigantic oil deposits, Abu Dhabi has the world's highest per capita consumption of energy. Now, a green metropolis is being built there, eventually to become a center for regenerative forms of energy. Is this going to work? A report from the construction site.
The international momentum of renewables is leading to new proprietary structures. Will future wind and solar parks be predominantly owned by utilities or can independent power producers hold their ground? Financially strong players and experienced project developers are well positioned.
In the fourth quarter of 2007 the clean energy sector saw a sharp increase in the use of private equity expansion capital, but investment in buyouts evaporated in the face of the credit crisis. Venture capital investment, meanwhile, maintained the high levels seen in the previous two quarters.
As Austria revises its Green Electricity Act the clean power industries reject the draft on the table as inadequate. To reach its climate protection targets the country will have to massively buy in CO2 certificates.
