Staff Reporter

Japanese small solar panel owners  sold 50 percent more power to utilities last year than in 2010. Owners sold a total 2,150 gigawatt hours to power utilities last year, helped by the government scheme. The data showed Japan's 10 regional power companies spent a total 96 billion yen or $1.2 billion for surplus solar power from house owners and small businesses last year via a feed-in tariff scheme, which requires them to buy such power, reports Reuters. Last year's purchase volume is equivalent to 0.24 percent of sales from the power companies of some 884,000 gigawatt hours a year on average in the three years to March 2011. In 2010, power companies bought 1,400 gigawatt hours of such surplus solar power via the same scheme. When a full-fledged scheme applying any electricity from solar, wind, small hydro, biomass and geothermal power plants is launched in July, the existing one will remain but cover surplus power from solar panel owners of up to 10 kilowatts only. Currently, regional power firms pay 48 yen per kilowatt hour for surplus electricity from solar panel owners of less than 10 kilowatts and 24 yen for surplus power from owners of 10 to 500 kilowatts, and allowed to add on the extra costs to all users in the same region evenly.

Tepco will agree to be taken over by the government in a near-$13 billion bailout.

China covered 48% of 2011 demand solar PBV installation in Asia-Pacific.

Thailand has made tepid progress in weaning itself from its inordinate reliance on fossil fuels.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) Limited has declared that the 125 MW first unit of its Barsingsar thermal power station has started commercial operations from January 20, 2012. Torrent Power Limited (TPL) has posted a net profit of Rs 211.28 crore for the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal, registering 6.1% rise over the Rs 199.12 crore earned during the quarter ended December 31, 2011. Total income increased to Rs 1,902.86 crore during the said third quarter from Rs 1,579.23 crore during the corresponding period in the previous financial period. SJVN Limited has registered a net profit after tax of Rs 189.63 crore for the third quarter of FY12, a decline from the Rs 191.50 crore posted during the corresponding quarter of FY11. In addition, the company's net income from operations fell to Rs 368.25 crore during the said quarter, in comparison to Rs 396.41 crore earned during the quarter ended December 31, 2011.

Indowind Energy Limited successfully registered its 18 MW wind farm project in Elkurnahali village of Karnataka with the UNFCCC for CER certificates.

Bangladesh will import 240,000 tonnes of fuel oil in 2012 for power generation at sharply stronger premiums.

The financial profile of Indian state power utilities is weak due, according to Fitch. This is due to the lack of cost-reflective retail tariffs, delays in receipt of subsidy payments and high transmission and distribution losses.

But will Vietnam's first nuclear power plant really be that safe?

China’s potential for offshore wind power is placed at 750 GW, or three times that of onshore wind resources.

The first unit of Neyveli Lignite 's Barsingsar thermal power station with a capacity of 125 MW  has started commercial operations.

An engineer questioned the choice of the Bhasha dam site for hydropower development at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Unusually harsh Arctic conditions where most of the rivers for Himachal Pradesh's hydropower generation originate have made further pulled down production.

The Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission wants wind energy procured through competitive bidding from power plants commissioned in FY 2012-13 onwards.

Goldwind bought two 10-megawatt wind farms in Montana to showcase its equipment and has taken orders in seven other U.S. states.

Power utilities across India have imported a total 33.475 MT of coal during the first three quarters of the ongoing fiscal period.