China plans to build three marine renewable-energy trial parks by 2016, to help speed up the commercial expansion of the wave and tidal power industry. “The parks will be developed in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Zhoushan, Zhejiang province and Weihai, Shandong province, to help accelerate research and development in marine energy technologies,” said Kang Jian, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department of the State Oceanic Administration, on the eve of the World Oceans Day. Such parks generate electricity by converting the energy of waves and tides. The site in Zhuhai will be a wave park, where a 300-kilowatt wave farm and a test site will be built, while the Zhoushan site will have a tide farm with a 1 megawatt (MW) or more capacity and a test zone. The one in Weihai will be a comprehensive project for wave and tide power. Because the parks are still in the design phase, authorities did not disclose the total investment involved. Lian Lian, Researcher at the State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, applauded the plan, saying the trial parks will be platforms connecting scientists and engineers with users, forming a complete chain from research and development (R&D) to testing and final application. The State Oceanic Administration’s latest marine resources survey, released in 2011, estimated that marine energy potential in the coastal areas can reach 1.6 billion kW. The 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15) on renewable energy spelled out that by 2015, the country plans to build offshore marine power farms with a total capacity of 50,000 kW, helping lay the foundation for commercial expansion, the China Daily reports.

Scientists are researching whether so-called solar chimneys, with a height of half a kilometer or even higher, might produce enough clean energy to help reduce China’s chronic air pollution. A test plant is running successfully in Inner Mongolia and scientists want to build full-sized versions in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. The researchers have suggested the towers could be constructed inside new skyscrapers. The technology involves covering an area of several square kilometers to create a greenhouse around a high chimney. The hot air produced in the greenhouse rises through the tower, driving turbines that generate electricity. The higher the tower, the stronger the updraft and the more power created. The highest previous attempt to master the technology, which has been discussed for decades, ended in failure when a 195-meter tall tower in Manzanares, Spain, collapsed in 1989 due to structural failure. But Professor Wei Yili, the leader of the project at the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, said he was confident they could now build safe and efficient towers higher than a kilometer. The 50-meter high test “solar updraft tower” has been running in the Gobi desert in Wuhai for nearly four years. The project has managed to generate up to 4,800 kilowatt-hours of electricity a day. One design integrates the solar tower into a high-rise building. “Many Chinese cities are considering the construction of buildings more than 500 meters high, but have met strong resistance due to their high cost and energy consumption. The updraft tower will make a skyscraper ‘green’ and strengthen its physical stability as well,” Wei said. “If all new high-rise buildings are built with updraft towers, large cities’ demand for coal-fired power plants will be significantly reduced, air quality improved, and smog reduced.”

Suntech Power, the Chinese solar panel maker that is in bankruptcy proceedings, is seeking up to USD150 million to revive its business, according to its court-appointed liquidators. Suntech plans to seek USD100 million to USD150 million of working capital from a strategic investor over the next six to nine months, said David Walker, one of the company’s two provisional liquidators. The focus is to develop the retail solar business in the U.S., Japan and Europe after losing its main manufacturing assets in China, he said. Suntech’s troubles followed a slump in solar module prices as expansion in production capacity outpaced growth in demand. The solar industry shakeout also forced Q-Cells of Germany to sell itself and Solyndra into liquidation. Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology missed payment on its debt in March in China’s first onshore bond default. Suntech, which is based in Jiangsu province, defaulted on USD541 million of convertible bonds in March last year and filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in Manhattan in February this year to seek protection from U.S. creditors. Suntech’s main manufacturing unit in China, Wuxi Suntech Power, was pulled into onshore bankruptcy proceedings by Chinese banks after the bond default. Shareholders of Hong Kong-listed Shunfeng Photovoltaic International in April approved its acquisition of Wuxi Suntech for CNY3 billion, which paved the way for the company to rejoin the ranks of the largest solar manufacturers. The Wuxi-based company expects to ship at least 2.5 gigawatt (GW) of panels this year, exceeding the 2.1 GW it delivered in 2011 that made it the world’s biggest supplier.

A unit of Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) will build an unspecified number of solar power plants in Britain, generating a total of 300 megawatt (MW). The announcement comes after the sale this year of its first UK project to Foresight Solar Fund, a British independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager. AVIC International Holding Corp would like to invest more in the industry, its Executive Vice President Pan Linwu told China Daily in London. We mostly “built the solar plant using our own technology, materials and components,” Pan said. “The success of this project is a good foundation for our investment in renewable energy in the UK and maybe other European countries. It also helped us to get to know the UK’s renewable industry.” The 12 MW farm, about 112 km northeast of London near Saffron Walden, Essex, was linked to the national grid in March. Development and construction took over a year. It is the biggest project of its type undertaken in the country by a Chinese firm. The 48-hectare Essex plant generates 30,000 kilowatt-hours daily in summer and supplies electricity to 2,500 households, equivalent to burning 23 tons of coal daily. “In May, we will set up three new solar plants, which will generate a total of 25 MW in the UK,” the General Manager of AVIC’s UK unit, Lou Yucheng said. “We will use the same format as the first one. If it succeeds, we will launch another 50 MW solar project soon.” State-owned and Beijing-headquartered, AVIC International Holding Corp was established in 1979. It had CNY150 billion in revenue last year. More than 60,000 people work for the company, including at 400 subsidiaries in more than 180 countries.

United Photovoltaics plans to invest CNY10 billion this year to almost triple its solar power plant capacity. It will buy 1 gigawatt (GW) of plants, Chief Financial Officer Li Hong said in Shenzhen. It currently operates 531.7 MW of solar projects and the acquisitions may also include 100 MW of projects overseas. United Photovoltaics is increasing spending on solar farms as worsening air pollution spurs demand for renewable energy. Its biggest shareholder, China Merchants New Energy, last month bought 13.6 million shares and increased its stake to 13.4%. About 20% of the investment would come from its “own capital”, Li said. The company said on April 16 that it had secured a financial lease of at least CNY10 billion from China Financial Leasing. China Merchants Group, the parent of China Merchants New Energy, might provide further capital to its subsidiary to help raise funds for the expansion. The company agreed last month to buy equity interests in 300 solar power projects to be developed by Yingli Green Energy over the next three years. The projects would be in provinces including Hebei, Guangxi, Shanxi and Shandong, Yingli said.