Recent share placements by renewable energy companies suggest the industry has passed through a financial bottleneck, but investor appetite for further stock sales could vanish as quickly as it surfaced.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) through UNDP has selected National Energy Conservation Centre (Enercon) to initiate a regional project titled 'Barrier Removal to Energy Efficiency Standards and Labelling', in Pakistan costing $7.8 million of which an amount of $1million has been allocated to ease regional trade in energy efficient appliances.

Suntech Power Holdings Inc and ReneSola Ltd lowered their full-year forecasts on Thursday as the credit crisis has choked off funding for renewable energy projects, sending shares of the Chinese solar power companies down sharply.

Chinese solar company Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd said it was starting a 1.5 megawatt rooftop solar system project in Jiangsu province in China and the project is expected to be eligible for subsidies by the Chinese government.

The photovoltaic module maker said it was building the system in HuaiAn City with state-owned Jiangsu Guoxin Asset Management Group.

China said on Monday it will boost state reserves of refined fuels, its first official plan to expand beyond its crude reserves, and help cut high inventories held by oil companies.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will focus on renewable fuels during his visit to Beijing this week, hoping to team up with China to develop bio-fuels, the Caijing Magazine has reported.

Lula arrived in Beijing on Monday and will pay a state visit for three days.

German solar companies that have not yet set up US and Chinese production plants are likely to lose out on significant subsidies and will struggle to bring down their production costs to the levels of their Asian peers.

Bangladesh and Russia on Wednesday signed an agreement on peaceful use of nuclear energy enabling Dhaka to launch negotiations with Moscow to set up nuclear power units in Bangladesh.

China is considering investing a more than 3 trillion yuan (US$440 billion) in the renewable energy sector by 2020, an official with the National Energy Administration said on Tuesday.

Bangladesh and Russia might sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday on installation of a nuclear power plant, officials said on Monday.

Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina provisionally approved the draft MoU, officials said last week.

A high-powered Russian delegation is expected to arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday to sign the deal.