The Swedish parliament has voted by the narrow margin of 174-172 to overturn a 30-year-old ban on the construction of new nuclear reactors and to allow the replacement of the country’s existing fleet of 10 reactors.
The Indonesian Government has approved electricity tariff increases of up to 18 per cent from July 1. Commercial, industrial and wealthy domestic consumers will be charged a higher rate, whereas less wealthy households (around 75 per cent of all domestic consumers) will be exempt.
Experts have said that a proposal to pay for green energy incentives and supports for peat-fired power plants could add €40 a year to Irish consumers’ electricity bills and significantly increase industries’ costs.
After being unable to attract funds from potential investors to build new power stations and upgrade existing units, Zimbabwe’s power expansion plans have failed to make any progress.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that his government is ending the national electricity rationing that started in January and has hindered the country’s efforts to climb out of recession.
The solar-powered CalRENEW-1 has been connected to the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) transmission grid under the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standards programme.
Officials of Sri Lanka’s power utility, Ceylon Electricity Board say they expect to lose 40 billion rupees (US$350 million) in 2010.
North China’s Shaanxi province saw its electricity use increase 26.4 per cent year on year to 286.52 TWh in the first four months of 2010, according to statistics from the Shaanxi Statistics Bureau.
Dwindling coal supplies have prompted eastern China’s Anhui province to activate an emergency plan ahead of schedule, limiting electricity use by more than 5000 local enterprises at peak times to ensure that there is no disruption to domestic supply.
The US Department of Energy (DoE), in its report International Energy Outlook 2010, predicts that the global installed capacity of green and renewable power will rise from 44 GW in 2007 to 62 GW by 2015, 70 GW by 2020, 91 GW by 2030, and 107 GW by 2035.