PTC Financial Services - a stock to look out for

The stock of PTC India Financial Services (PFS) has lost more than one-third of its IPO value since listing on March 30.

The sharp drop can be attributed to the aggressive pricing at the time of IPO and lack of visibility over the monetisation of its equity investments in power projects. However, a further fall in its valuations looks limited, given its sound fundamentals.

Unlike other power financing companies such as Power Finance Company (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), PFS also makes equity investments in power projects.

As on March 31, the company had an outstanding debt investment of Rs 675 crore and outstanding equity investment of Rs 460 crore in eight different projects. At present, the company's debt-toequity ratio of 0.6 is way lower than the average of five for other power finance companies.

The management plans to increase the ratio to four by FY13. This will allow the company to increase its loan book to at a compounded annual rate of 93% in the next two years. Despite rising interest rates, the company's cost of borrowings remained stable at 10.5% in FY11.

Given the company's plan to raise money through external commercial borrowings at 7%, interest cost may fall to 10% in FY12. PFS targets a minimum rate of return of 18% on its equity investments. While exiting from the invested companies, PFS has the option of promoter buyback at a fixed IRR or that of the IPO route.

For instance, it monetised a part of its stake in Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) last fiscal. It will monetise the remaining 5% stake by October 2011, which may fetch over Rs 55 crore. PFS has invested over two-third of its equity portfolio in three big projects.

Of these projects, the East cost project has received environment clearance after facing some issues on that front, according to the management, and will commission as per schedule in FY14. The other two projects — Ind Bharat Utkal and Meenakshi — are also on schedule.

At the current market price, the company is trading at a price-tobook value of 1.5, which is in line with REC and PFC which are trading at P/B of 1.5 and 1.6, respectively. Growth in loan book and timely commissioning of its invested projects will serve as major triggers for PFS in the medium term. 

RPower Krishnapatnam UMPP hits road block, may seek govt help - ET

HYDERABAD: Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power's 4,000-MW Krishnapatnam ultra-mega power project is facing road blocks due to various reasons, including a recent change in Indonesian law which mandates all parties to sell coal at market prices.

Earlier, Indonesian coal mines had the freedom to bilaterally agree coal prices with buyers. The recent change in law will impact the viability of this project as well as others that are based on imported coal, especially from Indonesia.

"This change by the Indonesian government will adversely impact not only Krishnapatnam, but all existing and future imported coal-based power plants in India, including UMPPs," Ashok Khurana, the Director General of the Association of Power Producers, said.

The association is likely to approach the government to find a solution in the interest of capacity addition in the country, he said.

Other issues impacting the Krishnapatnam Project include the condition of the soil where the foundation for the boiler has to be laid and land disputes at strategic locations.

A team of officials of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) recently visited the project site at Krishnapatnam in Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh. According to sources, the company has slowed down the construction of the project due to these factors.

"Even after going 75 meters down, engineers found marine sand, which may not be a good sign for laying foundation. If it has to be filled with layers, the cost would go up significantly," sources said.

When contacted, Reliance Power officials said the company has briefed their stand to the visiting CEA officials.

According to the CEA's latest report on the project, as of May 31, work on the boiler foundation is yet to start, sources said.

"90 per cent boundary work completed. Soil investigations for sea water intake systems are in progress. Work on boiler foundation has not yet started," the report said.

The Krishnapatnam UMPP was originally a 5x800 MW project, which was later configured to 6x660 MW.

It is expected that the project will start generating power from the year 2013 and will be completed before the contemplated schedule. The project achieved financial closure in July, 2009. The lenders for the project are a consortium of almost 12 banks lead by IDBI and the lending was done on a project finance basis for an estimated project cost of around Rs 17,450 crore ($ 4 bn) with a debt-equity ratio of 75:25.

Wind power to grow at 40% in India

Wind energy sector globally is recording fast phased growth after the 2008 slowdown. The order books with the major players will substantiate the health growth. Adaptation of newer technology will enhance this growth rate pointed the stalwart in the wind segment Tulsi Tanti. He was speaking on the side line of the release of the Suzlon’s latest S9X suite wind turbines.

India according to Tanti will “register close to 40 per cent growth rate in the wind segment. And also will continue to contribute the maximum to the renewable energy mix in the country.”

The new S9x series has been designed to cater to the global market. This series produces 14 million kilowatts of more power in twenty years in comparison to the existing S88 series. “The S9X series has a energy yield  of 14 per cent more, a greater grid compliance and technologically very advanced, ” pointed out  John O’Halloran, President Technology in his presentation. This new equipment is also enhanced with flexible speed technology which will enable it to manage the sudden fluctuations.

Tanti pointed out that the company’s order book stands at US $6.5 billion which is a clear indication of the global growth in this segment. Suzlon has presence in 28 countries globally with 17000 Mw operational. He added that the aim is make the company from 17 Gw to a 100 Gw by 2020. That means he said,an addition of 4500 Mw an year both from offshore and onshore put together.

Investment promotion drive to Nordic markets

Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde along with a delegation will visit Sweden and Italy from June 20-24, as part of efforts to woo foreign players to invest in the Indian power sector.Shinde would be accompanied by Power Secretary P Uma Shankar and central transmission utility PowerGrid''s CMD S K Chaturvedi, among others.


According to an official statement issued today, Shinde would visit Sweden and Italy from June 20 - 24 to promote cooperation in power sector with the two countries as well as attract foreign investors. Shinde would meet Swedish Minister of Enterprise and Energy and Communications Maud Olofsson. Shinde would also address members of the Swedish Trade Council on various reforms initiatives and investment opportunities in the Indian power sector.

In Italy, Shinde would hold talks with Minister for Italian Economic Development Paolo Romani apart from meeting industry representatives there. India expects to see about USD 300-400 billion investment in the power sector in next five years (2012-17) and most of the funds are anticipated from the private sector.

Coal shortage impedes power sector growth: Fitch

International rating agency, Fitch Ratings says that India’s power generation companies could be adversely affected by coal shortages, which are likely to persist over the short-to-medium term. The comment comes after a recent government decision to prioritise coal supplies to generators which sell electricity through power purchase agreements (PPAs) over merchant generators or those that run on 30 per cent imported coal. Hence, state-run power producers including NTPC Limited (‘BBB-’/Stable) and Damodar Valley Corporation (‘AA(ind)’/Negative) are likely to benefit from this decision.

“Coal demand has increased significantly with the commissioning of new coal-fired generation capacity. Given India’s chronic power deficit, this trend is likely to continue. A lower-than-expected increase in domestic coal production, particularly due to delays in the development of captive coal blocks allocated to the power generators, has added to the demand-supply gap,” says Salil Garg, Director in Fitch’s energy and utilities team.

Fitch notes that coal will remain the dominant fuel for the Indian power sector, given the lower-than-expected gas production from existing fields and no new major gas discoveries. Additionally, the majority of the future generation capacity additions will be coal-fired. Coal accounted for 54% of total power capacity at end-April 2011 and 66 per cent of total electricity generated in FY11.

Government-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) dominates the domestic coal supply market with a 80 per cent market share, although some industrial consumers, typically in the power and steel sectors, have access to captive mines. CIL’s non-coking coal production has grown by 3.7 per cent CAGR over FY07-FY11, below the rate of coal-fired capacity additions (7.2 per cent CAGR over the same period). Its production target for FY12 is 452 million metric tonnes (mmt), only marginally up from 431mmt recorded in FY11, as the development of some new fields has been hindered by environment ministry concerns. Environmental issues have also led to most consumers’ captive mine blocks lying idle. As a result, the coal ministry projects a coal supply shortfall of up to 142mmt in FY12.

Power Finance Corporation Limited’s (PFC, ‘BBB-’/Stable) government-backed initiative to set up ultra mega power projects (UMPP) has been delayed as bidding for two 4 gigawatt plants in Orissa and Chattisgarh has been postponed as captive mines earmarked for the projects fall in areas barred from mining by the environment ministry.

Rural Electrification to Buy Stake in New Projects - WSJ.com

Rural Electrification Corp. plans to buy stake in new power projects in India either independently or by setting up a private-equity company, three senior executives at the state-run lender to power projects said.

The move will help the company maximize returns on investments by directly taking part in India's expanding power sector. It may also enable the company to guide power utilities, both state-run and private, toward better managing their finances and operations amid a tight credit scenario, which in turn will benefit the lender.

Rural Electrification, currently, grants loans to its customers in the power sector and earns interest in return. The company plans to disburse 280 billion to 300 billion rupees in the financial year through March, and aims to raise up to $2.5 billion from overseas invesors in loans and bonds.

"The company may seek the board's approval for equity participation in power projects in the next two-and-a-half months," said a company executive, who didn't wish to be named. "There are a number of options for such equity participation."

The executive said Rural Electrification may form a private-equity company in a joint venture with overseas firms.

Private-equity firms such as SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Trust, IDFC Private Equity, and Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co. have already invested in India's power sector, which the federal government estimates will need $300 billion to $400 billion between 2012-2017 to expand the nation's power generation capacity of 174.36 gigawatts.

The world's second-fastest-growing major economy plans to add 100 GW in the decade until March 2017 to light millions of households and sustain economic expansion. Abhay Singhal, director at Konnect Corporate Advisory Services, said the diversification moves by financial institutions help to increase their valuation and augment their fund-raising appetite.

"I am not surprised [by REC's plans]," Mr. Singhal said. "We have seen many infrastructure financing firms diversify into fee-based sources of revenue such as consultancy, asset management and trading as an attempt to enhance their returns."

Kalpana Jain, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India's senior director, said the private-equity model will be a good opportunity for cash-rich overseas fund houses, which are wary of the "perceived complexities and regulatory issues of India's power sector" to cash in on the growth prospects.

"A well-informed, on-the-ground experienced partner may just be the answer to bite into the power opportunity in India," she said.

Jobs status in Indian Power Sector

Faced with talent crunch and increasing number of private players, the fast-growing Indian power sector is seeing higher attrition rate, especially in the public sector companies, say experts."The attrition (in power sector) is at the managerial level and more so at senior managerial level," leading consultancy Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India's Senior Director Vedamoorthy Namasivayam told PTI

"The increased investments by the private sector in this industry has resulted in increased demand for talent and, hence, the attrition from public sector entities," he noted.Going by estimates, men power shortage in the power sector runs into thousands while attrition rate could be in high single digits.

An official with a public sector power entity said that attrition has been slightly rising in recent times, mainly on account of increased number of private players. These players are luring talent with attractive packages, the official added.

"Traditional engineering education alone is not adequate, given the new demands of the (power) industry. Similarly at the work force level, multiple skills/competencies are required than single dimensional specialisation of earlier era," Namasivayam said.

A senior official with another state-run power utility pointed out that even though attrition was there, it was not at worrisome levels. The contribution of private sector players towards capacity addition shot up to 20% in 2010 from just 11.6% in 2006.
    
In the current five-year plan (2007-12), private entities are expected to account for nearly 30% of their total capacity addition. The power sector is expected to see a growth of at least 7%, if the Indian economy is to see around 9% annual growth.  Further, the sector is anticipated to see investments of $300-400 billion in the 12th five-year plan period (2012-17).

Tata Mundra plant : Emission Risks

The Tata Mundra power plant in Gujarat is going to be India's single largest generation unit across fuel categories. And, according to a recent study, it will also be the single largest power polluter. The coal-fired plant holds out the promise of cutting India's power shortage by a massive 4,000 mw. But the pollution record of its choice of technology is not considered proven beyond doubt yet.

The technology — called supercritical, an advance over the previous generation subcritical — is among the best available for coal-fired power generation and is widely used in the US, Germany, Japan and China. But detailed daily CO2 emissions data are available only for the US and they show that many of them emit more greenhouse gases than its earlier variants, even those going back to the 1970s.

"Empirical evidence of cleaner technology credentials is hard to come by for the supercritical power plants touted by the WBG (World Bank Group)," said a US-based environmental research group CO2Scorecard in a recent report.

"(Forty)-year-old plants frequently outperform their new, highly-promoted counterparts," the report added.

The report has been actively shared since publication.

World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC) is part funding this project which is wholly owned by Tata Power.

The company will be using coal imported from Indonesia in the initial phases.

India generates 94,653 mw power from coal, and 174,361 mw total.

Tata Power did not respond to an email. The IFC did.

"The greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt hour of energy generated by the plant were estimated at 0.75 tonnes of carbon dioxide per mw hour (750 grams per KWh), which is significantly less than India's national average of 1.25 tonnes carbon dioxide per MWh for coal-based power plants," said an IFC spokesperson.

In short, it's much better than what India has. And it should feel blessed.

"But India's average for CO2 intensity is abysmal and that's not an acceptable standard for justifying IFC's world class power plant investment," said Kendyl Salcito of the CO2 Scorecard initiative.

Even in the US, power plants using supercritical technology were found by CO2Scorecard generating between 0.87 tonnes of CO2 and 1.12 tonne per MWh.

The newest of them, IATAN U-2, averaged 0.91 tonnes for every MW hour of electricity, more than 20% higher than what IFC has promised for Tata Mundra.

But the research group is not demanding that the plant be junked. "If Tata Mundra and IFC can show that the project generates 0.75 tonnes of CO2 for every MWh of electricity, it will be cleaner than the cleanest coal power plant in the US," said Shakeb Afsah, co-author of the CO2Scorecard report.

If the plant fails to meet IFC's CO2 intensity target of 0.75 tonne per MWh by even 5-10%, it would add an estimated $20-35 million worth of CO2 to the atmosphere annually. The entire project is worth around $4.2 billion.

Moser Baer gets a technology breakthrough certificate

Moser Baer India Ltd. said the PV modules manufactured by its subsidiary Moser Baer Solar Ltd. were now certified as being resistant to 'Salt Mist' corrosion by TUV InterCert.

This special TUV InterCert test certified that these modules are more appropriate for installations in high salt laden conditions/regions like Kutch in Gujarat and other coastal areas which have high level of rain, fog and acidity for most part of the year.

This certification not only enhanced overall reliability of Moser Baer's PV modules, but also their suitability for a 25 year deployment in the coastal regions. Salt Mist corrosion resistant certification complements the 25 years' warranty offered by the company and its PV modules which are already bankable with more than 20 banks in Europe.

In-house technology customization that led to certification enhances the overall reliability of these modules, leading to better bankability of solar project commissioned using the same, the company said.

At the BSE, Moser Baer India shares are being traded at Rs.40.95, up by 0.24 per cent from the previous close.

China tops renewable energy charts

•China remained number one globally in the latest quarterly Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices of consultancy company Ernst & Young, preceding the United States.

The country scored 72 points out of a maximum of 100, up by a point from the previous quarter, thanks to its new five-year plan which includes increased focus on renewables.

China moved to the top of the chart in the summer of 2010, after the United States lagged behind due to the effects of the global downturn, falling gas prices and an uncertain medium-to-long term policy environment. The United States has a score of 67 now, while India surpassed Germany and took the third place.

In March, China released its new five-year plan aiming at an 11.4 percent share of non-fossils in primary energy consumption. In addition, energy used per dollar of economic output is planned to go down by 16 percent, while carbon emitted per dollar of economic output will be cut by 17 percent.

According to Ernst & Young, the March earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis in Japan have also helped boost the popularity of the renewable energy sector, especially solar power. The disaster made China and Japan commit to an increased use of solar installations.

“The events in Japan will help move solar out of a niche technology corner and into the mainstream of power generation technologies,” Ben Warren, Ernst & Young’s environment and energy infrastructure advisory leader, said.

•Chinese Huadian Power International Corp said on May 26 that it has received approval to build two wind power projects with a combined capacity of 147 megawatts.

The company will invest up to RMB460 million (US$71 million) in a 48-MW installation in Laizhou, eastern China.

The other approved project is a 99-MW wind farm that is being developed by Huadian’s affiliate Huadian Ningxia Ningdong Wind Power Co Ltd. Total investment in the project is seen at as much as RMB960 million. The company did not provide further details.

•Chinese wind turbine major Sinovel Wind Group has developed a 6-MW wind turbine prototype, news agency Xinhua reported last week, citing vice-president Tao Gang.

The turbine is suitable for both onshore and offshore applications, as well as for use at inter-tidal wind farms. Before Sinovel’s announcement, Germany was the only country to develop a wind turbine of such a high capacity, Xinhua writes.

The need for wind turbines with bigger capacity is growing as many countries around the world, including France, the UK, the US and China, are looking for ways to utilize their offshore resources. Other sector firms from China have also been taken by the high-capacity fever, including Xiangtan Electrical Machinery Co Ltd, which in October 2010 came out with a 5-MW prototype.

The capacity of Sinovel’s 6-MW unit is bigger than that of any existing wind turbine. According to Tao, the production of such high-capacity units will significantly speed up the growth of China’s offshore wind power sector. Sinovel’s ambition is to push up the limit and develop a 10-MW wind turbine, Tao said.

•Chinese wind turbine producer Sany Electric will commission a 10 MW demonstration wind farm in Texas on June 15, green energy news portal Recharge reported at the weekend, citing the project’s development manager, Stacy Rowles.

Rowles told the news outfit that the project, which includes five SE8720IIIE 2 MW Sany turbines, was in a pre-commissioning stage. The project will demonstrate the performance of this wind turbine model for potential US buyers.

Rowles did not disclose the cost of the project, which was financed by Sany. Sany will sell the wind farm’s electricity output to the market on a spot or short-term contract basis.

The Texas wind project will be the first U.S. farm for Sany, which already owns a US$60-million production plant in the U.S. state of Georgia.

•Chinese firm Xuzhou Combustion Control Technology Co Ltd will acquire a 45 percent interest in four waste-to-energy facilities in eastern China for RMB148.5 million (US$22.9 million), news site Modern Express said.

The deal, struck with waste service provider Fujian Yinsen Group, involves four installations located in the provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Heilongjiang. According to the report, the annual investment return from the facilities working at full capacity is estimated at CNY 29 million.

•U.S. fiber optical services provider Sino Fiber Communications Inc said on May 31 it had finalized the acquisition of a 60 percent stake in Chinese Dalian Xinbao Biomass Co Ltd for US$50.75 million in stock.

The company will issue to Dalian Xinbao Biomass nearly 230.7 million of its shares at a price of US$0.22 apiece.

Dalian Xinbao Biomass is a high-tech company active in the biomass energy sector. It has three patents covering an anaerobic combustion technology and six more related to designs for combustion equipment and biomass energy equipment. Among the company’s assets is a production plant in Jiangsu worth some US$90 million.

The deal comes after Sino Fiber acquired in April all of the stock of Chinese waste conversion specialist Torino Resources Ltd for US$69.35 million. Torino Resources uses microbial degradation to treat municipal waste. Via the process it makes organic fertilizer, biofuel blocks, plastic wood products and building materials.

•Australia-based energy company Altona Energy Plc has struck a memorandum of understanding with Tongjiang International Energy Co Ltd to partner in the exploration of coal and biomass gasification projects in China. As part of the deal, the two companies will seek to produce clean energy and transportation fuels in the Asian country, Altona said in a statement.

Tongjiang, a Hong Kong private investment group, is Altona’s largest shareholder with a 20.9 percent stake. The investment group will identify suitable projects in China and later evaluate them together with Altona.

•Solar module maker Canadian Solar Inc said on May 31 it would build a 600-MW wafer factory in the city of Suzhou, eastern China, together with local silicon wafer maker GCL-Poly Energy Holdings.

Canadian Solar and GCL-Poly’s unit Suzhou GCL Photovoltaic Technology Co Ltd will set up a 10/90 joint venture to develop the project. The wafer production facility will be designed in a way that allows its capacity to double to 1.2 GW in the future.

Total investment in the first phase of the joint project is estimated at US$77 million. Some 33.3 percent of the funding will come from registered capital, while the remaining 66.7 percent will be debt.

The Suzhou wafer factory will support Canadian Solar’s plan to significantly expand its capacity. By the middle of this year, the company seeks to bolster its solar cell capacity to 1.3 GW-1.4 GW and reach a 2-GW module lamination capacity. It is planning to establish another partnership to build a 600-MW solar cell production plant, in a bid to back its target of 2-GW internal solar cell capacity in the first quarter of 2012. Canadian Solar announced that it is well on the way to reach a 2-GW virtual vertical integration from wafer through cell and module in early 2012.

•Chinese solar products maker Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd said on June 1 it would roll out on the market a solar photovoltaic module with a conversion efficiency of as much as 15.2 percent. For comparison, the efficiency of conventional polycrystalline solar modules is 13 percent to 14 percent.

The company’s BlackPearl 250-W module includes 60 black square cells with minimal oxygen content, meaning that it has increased resistance to light-induced degradation. At cell level, the module’s conversion efficiency reaches 18 percent. In addition, the product is designed to endure all weather conditions including some 270 km/h (168 miles per hour) wind load and a snow load of around 55 kg (121 pounds) per sq m.

Suntech plans to start shipping the BlackPearl module to Europe this month. It will first present it at the Intersolar Exhibition running from June 8 to June 11 in Munich.

•Wind power components supplier China Wind Systems Inc said last week it had secured a sample order from an international customer for equipment used for monocrystalline silicon wafers production.

Delivery is scheduled for August 2011 for inspection and approval by the customer, further details of which were not disclosed.

China Wind Systems expects that the market for subassemblies for monocrystalline wafer equipment can exceed that of multicrystalline units. It said that the price of monocrystalline equipment is nearly twice the selling price of multicrystalline equipment.

“With our strong clean energy sector focus combined with the stated policies of the PRC Government to encourage the use of clean energy, we expect increased contribution from our solar segment in the coming years,” Jianhua Wu, chairman and CEO of China Wind Systems, said.

•Taiwan-based Teco Electric & Machinery Co Ltd has secured a US$105 million wind turbine order in Vietnam, Chinese newspaper the Commercial Times reported.

The heavy electrical equipment and electrical control products maker will supply 30 turbines, each of a 2-MW capacity, to Vietnamese company Binh Thuan. Delivery of the first 10 units is to be completed by the end of 2011.

•China-based cast resin transformer maker Jinpan International Ltd said on June 1 it has secured some US$21.2 million in orders from companies in the renewable energy sector.

In May alone, the company got orders worth US$5.7 million for 119 units of wind energy transformers for a wind power project in the United States. All the units will be delivered in the third quarter of 2011.

In addition, between February and May, Jinpan got contracts of US$15.5 million for the supply of customized transformers for polysilicon production plants. The orders came from five Chinese customers and include a total of 92 units. Delivery is scheduled for the second half of this year.

“Our order flow in May reflects the rising demand for our wind products, particularly in the US. We also believe that June will represent another solid month of sales in this segment of our business,” said CEO Zhiyuan Li.

•Spanish renewable energy company Gamesa inaugurated its fifth factory in China on June 1, the firm said in a press release. The facility, located in the city of Da’an in the northeastern Jilin Province, will initially have an annual capacity of 500 MW and will assemble 2 MW nacelles.

Gamesa has another four factories in China, all of them in the northern metropolis of Tianjin. Currently, the company is building two more factories, in Tianjin and in Inner Mongolia.

Gamesa entered the Chinese market over a decade ago. It has installed some 3,000 turbines at more than 60 sites there. China accounted for 28 percent of Gamesa’s revenue in 2010, according to the company.

•U.S. photovoltaic equipment maker GT Solar International Inc has won a US$460.4 million order for its advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces from a Chinese customer new to the light-emitting diode sector.

The contract, the biggest single order in GT’s history, will be included in the order backlog for the first quarter ending July 2. The company said that the customer is a diversified manufacturing company, but did not provide further details.

By 2015, revenue for high brightness LED applications is seen to reach US$19 billion, according to a report by sector analyst Strategies Unlimited. General lighting applications are expected to bring some 25 percent of the total amount.

•Chinese energy utility GD Power Development Co Ltd has reportedly agreed with Jilin Nuclear Power, a unit of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp, to jointly develop nuclear power installations.

The two companies will focus on Shanghai’s Songjiang district and the cities of Changchun and Liangjiashan in the province of Jilin, Shanghai Securities News reports. In addition, GD Power has set up a new department to cater for its wind and solar power and other clean energy operations.

At the end of 2010 the company had installed wind and hydropower capacity of 7.74 GW. Total capacity stood at 28.79 GW, with thermal power accounting for the better part of the figure.

•U.S. oil and gas producer EGPI Firecreek Inc said that its unit Arctic Solar Engineering Inc was in talks to install two of its solar thermal systems in China as part of a clean energy initiative.

The solar thermal facilities will be installed under a test program, which is included in the Chinese government’s plan to replace its existing coal burning boiler system with more efficient and clean energy sources. The initiative is to involve 550,000 boilers.

In addition, Arctic Solar has initiated negotiations with a U.S. nano-coating technology company, seeking to bolster the efficiency of its solar thermal technology.

•The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of Taiwan said last week that Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute had invented a new solar cell technology to bolster conversion efficiency from 16 percent to 17.2 percent.

The metal wrap-through technology is a specialized structure for a multicrystalline solar cell that transfers the bus bars that are usually on the front side of the cell to its back. Thus, shading on the front is reduced, while the cell’s efficiency can go up by 1 percent-2 percent.

This new technology is expected to help domestic solar cell makers trim production expenses and boost their global sales. In 2010, solar cells manufactured in Taiwan reached a global market share of 14.1 percent, ranking second after China’s 46.4 percent, according to MOEA statistics.