Last week Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — and three other Senator — urged the Obama administration to cut stimulus funding for renewable energy projects that offshore their manufacturing. Read More »
A-Power Energy Generation Systems has received Chinese regulatory approval to proceed with a 600 megawatt, $1.5 billion wind farm in Texas and established a company with its partners to develop the project, according to the company.
A-Power, through its subsidiary Shenyang Power Group, also contributed $36.6 million to the the company, which is a joint venture with U.S. Renewable Energy Group Wind Partners I and Cielo Wind Power. The company has not received financing commitments for the project. Read More »
Barely a week after it was announced, a $1.5 billion, Chinese-backed 600-megawatt Texas wind farm is in hot water.
In a letter released today, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) urged Energy Secretary Steven Chu and the Obama administration to deny the wind project’s Chinese backers stimulus funds — they were seeking $450 million in government money – to finance a portion of the project.
Is Senator Schumer’s letter a first salvo on the way to hearings? A spokesman with the senator’s Washington office tells us that’s not likely. “We’re sending the letter for now in the hopes that the secretary would deny the funding,” he explains.
In his letter to Secretary Chu, Schumer writes (scroll below for a full copy of the letter):
The idea that stimulus funds would be used to create jobs overseas is quite troubling and, therefore, I urge you to reject any request for stimulus money unless the high-value components, including the wind turbines, are manufactured in the United States.
Last week we reported on an expected $1.05 billion investment by a consortium of Chinese and U.S. companies seeking to develop a 600 megawatts wind farm in West Texas.
The deal is unique because it’s led by a two Chinese companies: The Shenyang Power Group and turbine maker A-Power Energy Generation Systems. Joining the mix is U.S. private equity firm U.S. Renewables Energy United States Renewable Energy Group. The trio plans to use A-Power’s Chinese-made turbines and tap Chinese commercial banks and U.S. taxpayer money to fund the project.
The use of U.S. tax payer money is what might have been, for some, the proverbial straw that broke the camel back and fueled the modest backlash against this project. The New York Times‘ Green Inc. points out that the wind project is set to create 300 temporary jobs in Texas. However, it’s also going to create 2,000, more permanent jobs in China, all partly subsidized by Washington. Read More »
The Shenyang Power Group (SPG), a Chinese company, announced a joint venture with a group of U.S. companies to develop a $1.5 billion, 600 megawatts wind farm in West Texas that will use Chinese-made wind turbines.
The project will largely be financed by tapping credit facilities from Chinese banks as well as cash grants administered by the U.S. Treasury Department. The news is yet another indication of the growing clout of the Chinese cleantech sector, which, backed by a robust domestic market, is now looking to expand abroad and in particular in the U.S.
Supplying the wind turbines is an outfit called A-Power Energy Generation Systems, a Chinese supplier of distributed power generation systems that only recently entered the wind turbine business.
A look at A-Power’s Website shows that it’s building its wind turbines with technology licensed from European and U.S. companies. Read More »
