Green power boost

It's been a good month for alternatives. If you've taken a quick look at the news lately you'll have seen announcements from Masdar, as it continues its buy up of technology around the world. Solar panel technologies from Europe and wind turbines from Finland are among its latest purchases.

While these technologies are not new, they are only just starting to hit commercial scale power generation in some parts of the world. Capital investment required is high and they aren't always seen as reliable or productive enough, but green pressure is now so significant that these options must be pursued.

Another source of power generation that may well be on the Masdar shopping list is wave power. Media attention was drawn to the coast of Portugal in the last month, where Pelamis Wave Power staked its claim as the creators of the world's first commercial wave farm.

The technology has been developed in the UK, but a friendly Portuguese tariff system made starting a full-scale version of the project an attractive commercial prospect.

At the moment there's just three long cylindrical power generating devices bobbing up and down in the Atlantic waters, eventually the number will rise to 25 and the capacity reach a respectable 21MW.

A number of partners have invested in the scheme and Portugal is pitching itself as a leader in the alternative energy field. It has some way to go to compete with other European nations, such as Germany. For instance, the Germans lead the league table of wind power production, with more than double the MW of its nearest rival Spain.

Given that there have also been calls from local private enterprise for greater investment and research into renewable energy, it will be interesting to see if anyone other than Masdar backs up green talk with greenbacks.

Stuart Matthews is the senior group editor of ITP Business' construction and energy magazines.

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