Energy Law

A Spanish manufacturer of glass for commercial solar plants announced Wednesday that it will build a $50 million U.S. headquarters in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise.

Rioglass Solar said the 130,000-square-foot facility will employ more than 100 workers. An additional 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space is on the drawing board.

The company makes curved glass sheets used in solar plant parabolic concentrators. It is a subsidiary of Rioglass Solar Holdings.

Today, a Colorado law goes into effect that will increase the state?s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) from 20 percent to 30 percent by 2020. The law means that nearly a third of the power generated from large utility companies must come from renewable sources,like solar and wind, in the next 10 years.

Supporters of the measure say an increased RES will give Colorado the best clean-energy requirement in the Rocky Mountain West, create thousands of new jobs and lead to 100,000 solar rooftops over the next decade.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has upheld its decision that the first US offshore wind project is of no hazard just days after state regulators urged the approval of a power purchase agreement with energy utility National Grid.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said the Massacusetts Department of Public Utilities should approve the transaction as the companies have agreed to an almost ten per cent reduction in the price of the wind power.

A device thought to be the largest tidal energy turbine to be built in the world has been described by its developer as "simple and robust".

Atlantis Resources unveiled its AK-1000 at Invergordon ahead of it being towed on a barge to a European Marine Energy Centre test site off Eday, Orkney.

Chief executive Tim Cornelius said it was designed to survive in a harsh marine environment.

The device has two sets of blades to harness ebb and flood tides.

Meridian Energy and Australian electricity generator AGL have announced plans to build the southern hemisphere?s biggest wind farm.

Meridian will hold a 50% investment share in the A$1 billion 420 MW Macarthur wind farm in southwest Victoria, due for completion in 2013.