REC solar cell plant expansion put on hold [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 3 Nov 2011.

Because of the ‘challenging’ market, not helped by current eurozone woes, Renewable Energy Corporation is putting on hold a second phase expansion of its S$2.5 billion Singapore solar cell facility.

This, however, could be revived in a year or two, said its president and CEO Ole Enger.

REC’s new Tuas plant – its biggest and most efficient worldwide – has held up well, he said, given current market overcapacity and stiff competition especially from Chinese and Taiwanese rivals who now account for almost 60 per cent of the global solar market.

The year-old REC Singapore, which has been steadily ramping up production, ‘has already exceeded 100 per cent of its (phase 1) design capacity,’ Mr Enger said in an interview yesterday. This means it has surpassed its designed output of 740 megawatts for wafers, 550MW for cells and 590MW for modules. Read more

REC Singapore poised to face challenges ahead [News]

By Ronnie Lim, The Business Times, 31 Oct 2011.

RENEWABLE Energy Corporation’s S$2.5 billion integrated Singapore plant – its biggest and most efficient worldwide – remains one of the few bright spots for the Norwegian solar company which is facing a demand slump in Europe on one hand, and stiff competition from Chinese and Taiwanese rivals on the other.

‘Demand has not picked up to the extent we had expected,’ REC’s president and CEO, Ole Enger, reportedly said at the group’s third quarter results presentation last week. ‘Lack of financing availability is the biggest problem we have in the solar industry.’

In Europe, countries like Germany, France and Italy have cut subsidies to cap booming solar installations, while rival Chinese solar makers have expanded output capacity considerably with this causing wafer and cell prices to plummet to ‘dramatically low levels’, the group said. Read more

The 2nd Clean Energy Expo Asia Highlights the Continued Interest and Growth of Clean Energy in Asia

The second Clean Energy Expo Asia Trade Fair and Conference was officially opened today by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources. Clean Energy Expo Asia is jointly organized by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) and Koelnmesse, and is part of the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). This year, there are more than 170 exhibitors, over 115 international speakers and about 5,000 participants from over 40 countries, in the Technology, Services, Finance and Government sectors. There is a 30% increase in participation from last year and the exhibition space at the Trade Fair has also doubled. Read more

HDB: Two Steps Ahead Towards Sustainable Public Housing In Singapore

As the public housing authority that houses over 80% of Singapore’s population, HDB has a key role to play in supporting Singapore’s commitment to sustainable development. Today, HDB made further progress with two key initiatives:

a) Procurement of 1MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) panels worth about $2.3 million from the Renewable Energy Corporation (REC). This is by far the single largest solar panel procurement in Singapore to date. The solar panels will be implemented at six HDB precincts covering about 3,000 residential units; and

b) Collaboration with Camp Dresser & McKee (CDM) to develop a modeling tool to quantify and formulate a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) on sustainability environmental targets in developing Punggol as an Eco-Town for the tropics. This will enable a more effective design for sustainability, and support HDB’s planning efforts to enhance resource efficiency and livability within Punggol Eco-Town. Read more