WCA March 2011

From the americas

examine the results of permitting big energy developers to break up their wind projects of 100 megaWatts or more into separate but closely connected 10mWsites, to qualify for attractive rates offered to smaller “qualifying facilities”. A 32-year-old federal law aimed at promoting alternative energy requires utilities to buy power generated by small- power producers at a rate set by state regulators. But the three utilities contend that a proliferation of such projects by sophisticated companies – some larger than the utilities themselves – is straining their transmission systems. A hearing in the matter was set for 27 th January to consider the 7 th December request by the utilities for a temporary drop in the cap to 100 kiloWatts, down from 10mW, for eligibility for special rates. That would likely retard development of wind projects while the regulators review the existing rules. Opponents have expressed concern that such a slowdown would discourage investment in renewable energy projects in Idaho. The Apple iPhone makes substantial inroads into the South Korean smartphone market “Samsung and LG, the world’s largest handset makers after Nokia Oyj, can no longer count on home-field advantage as they play catch-up in the fastest growing segment of the $163 billion global industry.” The reference, by Bloomberg News reporters Jun Yang and Seonjin Cha, was to the penetration of the iPhone from Apple Inc, of the US, into the smartphone market in South Korea in the year since its introduction there. LG was found to be “reeling” from record phone losses; while Samsung, to win back customers, has launched the Nexus S phone equipped with the latest Android operating system from Google Inc, another California-based company. (“Apple Displaces Samsung on Home Turf,” 9 th December). Tracking what one Seoul-based consultant termed a “very concerning” trend, especially in the case of LG, Bloomberg noted that Samsung and LG shares both underperformed the benchmark Kospi Index last year. As compared with an 18% gain for the index, Samsung gained 15% and LG declined 5.8% in 2010. Over the same period, Apple shares surged 52%, helping the firm to overtake Microsoft Corp, also of the US, as the world’s most valuable technology company. Samsung and LG phones are sold by all three of South Korea’s wireless carriers. KT Corp, the nation’s sole distributor of the iPhone, said that about 1.6 million units were sold since it became available in Korea in November 2009. According to Nomura Holdings Inc analyst Stanley Yang, as of September, the device commanded 25% of the South Korean smartphone market. A November report from Digieco, a research division of KT, observed that the iPhone created a “mobile big bang” by changing the way that Koreans live and work. “The iPhone and smartphones in general are mostly about software content — it’s more of a cultural product,” Bloomberg was told by Peter Yu, a Seoul- based analyst at BNP Paribas SA. “When the iPhone was introduced, the Korean companies were in a state of denial. They underestimated the potential.” Telecom

Energy

Dependence on sole-supplier China for rare earths is seen as threatening to America’s nascent ‘green energy’ industry “The United States is too reliant on China for minerals crucial to new clean energy technologies, making the American economy vulnerable to shortages of materials needed for a range of green products – from compact fluorescent light bulbs to electric cars to giant wind turbines.” Writing from Hong Kong in the International Herald Tribune , Keith Bradsher summarised the warnings contained in the US Department of Energy Critical Materials Strategy, a detailed report issued in mid-December. Estimating that it could take 15 years to break American dependence on Chinese supplies, the report reflects an emerging view within the American government that domestic sources of rare earths – as well as a variety of suppliers – are needed to ensure the viability of clean energy manufacturing in the United States. (“US Called Vulnerable to Rare Earth Shortages,” 15 th December). That said, the report presents what Mr Bradsher termed “a fairly gloomy assessment” of the ability of the US to wean itself from Chinese imports of rare earths. And, over the 15-year emancipation period, supplies of at least five vital minerals that come almost exclusively from China will remain vulnerable to interruption. The fiveminerals aremediumandheavy rare-earth elements of which China mines an estimated 96% to 99.8% of the world’s supply: dysprosium, terbium, neodymium, europiumand yttrium. Beijing has exercised various export controls to limit and disrupt the minerals’ supply to other countries while favouring its own manufacturers. Mr Bradsher noted that China increasingly dominates the manufacture of clean energy technologies that require such minerals, including the production of million-dollar wind turbines. David Sandalow, the assistant secretary of energy for policy and international affairs who oversaw the Energy Department report, said in a telephone interview with the Herald Tribune that wind turbine manufacturers are capable of building very large turbines without rare earths. But, he said, using rare earths could reduce the per-megaWatt cost of wind energy and improve its competitiveness through savings on other materials, such as steel and copper. Mr Sandalow observed that the United States has been ❖ ❖ putting far fewer resources than China into exploring ways to use the powerful magnetic and other properties of rare earths. “There are thousands of rare earth researchers in China and dozens in the United States,” he told Mr Bradsher of the Herald Tribune . “And that underscores both the challenge and the opportunity. Their expertise in this area is significant.” Elsewhere in energy . . . Three big utility companies have petitioned the state of ❖ ❖ Idaho, in the Pacific Northwest, to tighten regulations they claim allow alternative energy producers – especially wind farms – to circumvent the rules in order to command higher electricity prices. Idaho Power Co, Avista and PacifiCorp want the Idaho Public Utilities Commission to

Dorothy Fabian – Features Editor

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2011