Chinese Solar Module Maker Works To Meet European Demand      (Investor's Business Daily)
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Investor's Business Daily - If you're looking for a hot sector, you can't get much hotter than the sun.
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By Goh Thean Eu  HOMEGROWN companies, especially those with water treatment and environmental protection expertise, are urged to venture into China's water sector as demand for clean water grows.
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HONG KONG China Power International Development, a unit of China&#39;s fifth-biggest electricity generator, is seeking as much as 2.57 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $330 million, in an initial public offering of stock, bankers involved in the sale said Monday
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China Power International Development Ltd., a unit of China&#39;s fifth-biggest electricity generator, plans to raise as much as HK$2.
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NEW YORK -- Investors' appetites for new alternative energy companies remain robust but tastes have shifted: while ethanol makers seem to have exhausted their favor, Chinese solar cell makers continue to pull in fresh capital.
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Investor's Business Daily - When the U.S. began slowing last year some analysts began hoping for a trade-off.
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MADRID/LONDON  - Spain's Iberdrola  is to buy Scottish Power  for an agreed 11.6 billion pounds ($22.5 billion) in cash and shares to create Europe's third-biggest utility and a world leader in renewable energy.
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A novel solar technology hits an important milestone as it competes with other forms of solar power plants.
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EU adopts green energy plan.Plus: Robotic salamander sides with evolution.... President Bush says go solar? And more.
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E.ON, Germany's biggest power supplier, has said it planned to invest 25.3 billion euros (33 billion dollars) over the next three years, primarily in the construction and modernisation of power plants.
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The company continues to bolster its growing position in renewables.
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(InfoWorld) - In a sign ofÂ China's growing importanceÂ as a center of semiconductor manufacturing, Chinese chip makers will spend more than ever before on cutting-edge factories over the next two years. Chinese spending on chip plants will top $9.8 billion between 2006 and 2008, with most of these funds going towards the construction of factories that produce chips on 300-millimeter wafers, industry group SEMI said. If realized, this spending forecast will top combined Chinese spending on chip plants over the last five years, which amounted to $8.7 billion, it said. Around 70 percent of the money that will be spent on new Chinese plants will go towards factories that use 300-millimeter wafers, which will result in an annual increase in production capacity of 16 percent by 2008, SEMI said. At least five new 300-millimeter plants are expected to come online by 2008, it said. While the fast growth of China's market presents opportunities for established chip makers as well as new entrants, established players -- especially those with Chinese government backing and overseas funding -- will fare better over the long term, SEMI said. Leading China's charge forward in chip production is Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., the country's largest chip maker. Among a string of production plants across China, SMIC has one 300-millimeter plant in production and another two under construction in Beijing. The company has also signed an agreement to manage the operations of other plants, including a 300-millimeter fab to be constructed in Wuhan. That agreement helpedÂ spark a lawsuitÂ by rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., which said the deal violated the terms of a 2005 settlement agreement that ended a patent infringement lawsuit brought against SMIC by TSMC. The latest lawsuit is currently pending in a California state court.
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Investor's Business Daily - Exchange traded funds finally are starting to get traction in the 401(k) plan market.
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(InfoWorld) - Sharp is planning to double production of solar electricity modules at a factory in Wales, it said Friday. Behind the planned expansion is growing demand for solar energy systems in several European countries including Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, and France. Sharp said long hours of sunlight coupled with electricity buy-back programs, which allow consumers to sell surplus electricity back to the power company, are driving the demand. The company will invest Â¥2.2 billion ($18.2 million) to take annual production to a total of 220 megawatts of panels. The factory in Wrexham began operations in early 2004 and is Sharp's second international solar module production base after a manufacturing plant in the U.S. Sharp's announcement comes on the same day that a major international report is expected to lay theÂ blame for global warmingÂ at the feet of man's actions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)Â reportÂ will be published in Paris later Friday. Companies and consumers are becoming increasing concerned about the issue and some are investing vast sums of money in solar power systems that will likely pay off in the long run through lower power bills. Last year Google said it would build a 9,000-panel generation system to power its Mountain View, California, headquarters. The system will use Sharp panels. Sharp is one of the world's largest producers of photovoltaic panels, which convert sunlight into electricity. Last year it spent about Â¥3.5 billion increasing production at a factory in Japan to 600 megawatts per year.
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Investor's Business Daily - A solar energy IPO may seem so 2007. And indeed, it has been seven months since the end of the solar invasion that started in late 2006. Meanwhile, the bear market has pounded solar stocks down some 30% to 40% from their cloud-busting highs.
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Investor's Business Daily - Energy companies led Chinese stocks to a record high Friday. Turnover in Hong Kong was the second-highest ever.
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Two of the nation&#39;s  biggest power companies are teaming up with a solar start-up to  create one of the world&#39;s largest solar power projects, which  they say could make electricity at a competitive price.