The head of a wind energy lobby group has said that the industry in Ireland needs to invest

Outside the white-walled town of Moura in the rolling plans of southern Portugal, more than 240,000 solar panels covering an area equivalent to 150 football pitches are slowly being manoeuvred into position in what will be the world's biggest photovoltaic power plant. A few kilometres away, at Alqueva, the Guadiana river has been dammed to create the largest reservoir in western Europe and one of 18 hydroelectric power projects under way in Portugal's river valleys. In the north-west Alto Minho region, one of the world's biggest wind farms is under construction.

Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation, a step-down subsidiary of Suzlon Energy Ltd, has got a repeat order to supply 200 MW of wind turbine capacity from Horizon Wind Energy, Texas of the US. The order is in the range of $200 million-240 million. The original contract included an order of 400 MW of turbine capacity to be delivered in 2008 and 2009. Agreement

The State Electric Company (STELCO) will change their electricity generators to hybrid systems and provide power to some of the islands using the new systems before the end of this year, the Company said on Wednesday. Director Ahmed Niyaz said that preliminary surveys on establishing a hybrid system (an engine that can convert diesel as well as renewable energy such as wind and solar power to electricity) had already been conducted in some islands.

World's fifth largest wind turbines maker Suzlon Energy on Wednesday said its US-based arm has secured a contract from a local company in that country for supply of 200 mw. The contract is an extension to the order placed by Horizon Wind with Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation, which is a step-down subsidiary of Suzlon Energy. "The original contract calls for delivery of 400 mw of turbine capacity in 2008 and 2009, and now has been expanded to include an additional 200 mw in 2009," Suzlon Energy informed the BSE.

China's Huaneng Group will start in June building the country's largest wind farm of 300 megawatts, a Chinese paper said, as the world's second-largest energy user seeks to grow its tiny renewables se

There is an urgent need to popularise renewable energy sources such as small hydro, biomass, solar, wind, etc., as the first and possibly the most viable option.

The wind energy capacity addition in the State during the current financial year, which will end on Monday, is likely to be less than what it was in the previous years.

An electric company plans to install a huge patchwork of solar cells, 10 times bigger than any previous such installation, on more than 100 large rooftops around Southern California.

The Alternative Energy Development Board has provided land to 24 potential investors in Sindh for installing wind energy mills to produce 1,200 megawatts of power.