Astonfield-Areva to develop 100 MW biomass assets in India

October 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) has tied up with KfW, a German development bank, for promoting biomass power generation in the country. As per the agreement, KfW will provide financial assistance worth 19.971 million euros (Rs.140 crore) to IREDA, the German agency said Monday in a statement.

September 16th, 2009 New program pays biomass plant suppliersTRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Suppliers of wood fuel for a biomass electric plant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula will get a federal subsidy under an agreement signed Wednesday.

August 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Use of farm waste can lead to generation of 18,000 MW of electricity every year, the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science has estimated. The National Biomass Resource Atlas recently prepared by the institute estimates that there are 120-150 million tonnes farm waste that can be used for this purpose every year, Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah informed the Rajya Sabha Monday.

July 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Renewable energy player Astonfield will invest around $2 billion in India over the next five years to generate about 1,000 MW of power, most of it from solar sources, a top official said Friday. "We are going to make an announcement in the next 30-60 days.

July 14th, 2009 PARIS - The decision of the G8 countries to put a ban on helping non-NPT countries to reprocess uranium would have no effect on India, officials accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his four-day trip to France and Egypt said. "We are receiving no help from anybody," official sources said.

June 30th, 2009 Areva to sell transmission division to raise cashNEW YORK — Nuclear power giant Areva said Tuesday it would sell its transmission and development division in a bid to raise cash to shore up its balance sheet and fund future investments. Paris-based Areva, the world's largest nuclear reactor builder, bought the division for about 920 million euros in 2004 from French power provider Alstom.

June 8th, 2009 PARIS - AREVA's Transmission and Distribution (T and D) division has recently won four orders worth approximately 3500 MINR to supply Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL), India's main transmission utility, with four extra high voltage (765 kV) substations.

May 21st, 2009 NOIDA - AREVA T andD India has received a prestigious order for 400 kV Substation at Kharagpur (West Bengal), from West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company (WBSETCL). The order is on a turnkey basis and includes major T andD equipments such as large power transformers, 400/220/132 kV breakers, automation system with control and relay panels and instrument transformers (CT / CVT / wave traps).

April 30th, 2009 Air France exec to chair Areva supervisory boardPARIS — Areva SA has appointed Air France-KLM chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta to chair its supervisory board, the French state-owned nuclear engineering firm said Thursday. Spinetta, 65, replaces former supervisory board chairman Frederic Lemoine, who resigned earlier this month.

February 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's leading power producer NTPC Ltd Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) to jointly produce nuclear power plants. As per the proposal, the power majors will set up a joint venture company in which NPCIL will hold 51 percent stake and NTPC will own the rest, a government statement said.

February 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Following the government's green signal to foreign companies to participate in India's nuclear power programme, AREVA of France Wednesday signed a pact with state-run Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) to set up nuclear power reactors in Maharashtra. As per the agreement, the two companies will start technical and commercial discussions for setting up two to six European pressurised reactor (EPR) units of 1,650 MW each at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.

February 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and France are set to start a new chapter in civilian nuclear cooperation when French nuclear giant Areva signs a pact with India's nuclear monopoly NPCIL Wednesday for the import of new generation EPR-type nuclear reactors. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Areva will be inked here in the presence of French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan.

January 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - France-based Areva will deliver 300 tonnes of uranium to India, the first consignment of foreign nuclear fuel to reach the country in nearly 34 years, a top French government official said here Saturday. 'This is a very important symbolic gesture and we are happy that France will be the first country to give fuel to India in 34 years,' said Jean-David Levitte, diplomatic adviser to the French president.

January 13th, 2009 MUMBAI - Five state-owned companies forged a pact Wednesday to secure coal assets overseas through a joint venture company. National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC), the country's largest power company, said in a statement that it has signed an agreement with other coal, mineral and steel utilities to float a special purpose vehicle to secure and develop coal assets overseas.

January 12th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Astonfield Renewable Resources Ltd (ARRL) will execute a mega 200 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project across Gujarat. The venture is touted as the largest renewable energy project in India.