wiredinUSA January 2013

INDEX

Solar Project of the Year

Joint venture secures supplies

Toshiba unit in cable deal

Shanghai Fastener Industry Association

Shams 1, the 100MW concentrated solar power plant in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region, has won the Project of the Year award from the Emirates Solar Industry Association (ESIA). The Masdar project, developed in collaboration by Abengoa and Total, is the largest solar power plant in the MENA region. Locatied in Madinat Zayed, 120km south- west of Abu Dhabi, the plant extends over anareaof 2.5km²,withasolar fieldconsisting of 258,048 parabolic mirrors. “We are delighted that Shams 1 has received such a prestigious award,” said Yousif Al Ali, general manager of Shams Power Company. “This demonstrates the leading role that Masdar plays in the region’s renewable energy sector and a realization of the vision that our wise leadership has for renewable energy in the UAE.” When it begins feeding power to the Abu Dhabi grid in early 2013 the plant will generate enough electricity to power 20,000 homes, andwill offset 175,000 tonnes of C0 2 .

The Italian unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corporation has won a $243 million engineering, procurement and construction contract for part of an undersea power link between Italy and Montenegro. The deal includes the supply to Italy’s transmission operator, Terna, of high- voltage and direct current (HVDC) power conversion for 415km of 1,000MW underseacablebetweenthetwocountries. The new link to connect the Italian peninsula with the Balkans is set to cost $909 million and is expected to take four years to complete. Montenegro is a mountainous country with hydroelectric potential which Italian investors are keen to exploit. “Parts of Europe suffer energy shortages and long-distance transmission systems allow them to import electricity from neighboring countries,” Toshiba said in a statement, adding the project will contribute to the integration of southeastern Europe and European Union power grids. Equipment construction will begin in September 2013 for delivery in April 2015; the conversion stations along the route are expected to be on stream in September 2017.

On 29 th November 2012, the Shanghai Fastener Industry Association (SFIA) was founded at a conference held in Huating Hotel & Towers, Shanghai, China. Twenty- six companies were elected executive members of SFIA and Mr Xue Kangsheng, general manager of Shanghai Nanshi Screw Co Ltd, was elected to be president. Mr Feng Jinyao, president of China Fastener Industry Association, was invited to be the honorary president. Over 100 representatives of Shanghai fastener companies and about 200 guests from other regions’ fastener industry associations participated in the conference.

General Steel Holdings Inc, one of China's leading non-state-owned producers of steel products and aggregators of domestic steel companies, has announced that its Longmen Joint Venture has signed a one-year supply agreement with Tianjin Product and Energy Resources Development Co Ltd (Tianwu), through which Tianwu will provide Longmen JV with a minimum of 3 million tonnes of iron ore. "This agreement with Tianwu is another example of our successful efforts to enhance our raw materials procurement capabilities by establishing relationships with key suppliers," saidHenry Yu, chairman and CEO of General Steel. "The current pricing pressure facing the construction steel market reinforces the importance of access to high quality raw materials and maximizing production efficiency. The minimum quantities guaran- teed under this agreement coupled with the favorable purchasing terms will give us the resources needed to utilize more of our available production capacity. This increased access to iron ore and the recent efficiency improvements we have made at Longmen JVwill allow us to better meet thegrowingdemandforourproducts in Western China."

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

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wiredInUSA - January 2013

wiredInUSA - January 2013

39