Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

AEP, Duke Energy Among U.S. Firms Involved in New China Deals

AEP, Duke Energy Among U.S. Firms Involved in New China Deals
General Electric, American Electric Power and other U.S. energy companies have announced partnerships with Chinese counterparts ahead of meetings between President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Wall Street Journal reported. The partnerships will also feature collaboration between Alcoa and China Power Investment that could involve over $7.5 billion of investment in aluminum and energy. Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said the deal "wouldn't have happened in a speedy fashion" without the visit by Hu. He added that Alcoa and CPI "understand that the world's environmental challenges can best be met through cooperation between the US and China."
American Electric Power and China Huaneng will partner on an evaluation of carbon capture systems that could result in the technology being imported from China. GE will partner with Shenhua Group in a clean coal joint venture that could yield over $100 million of U.S. exports. Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang was quoted as saying clean energy "will be one of the bright spots in our future cooperation" with the U.S. However, U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman stressed the importance of intellectual property rights, which he said "generates a lot of concern in both U.S. and Chinese companies."
Another agreement involves Duke Energy working with China's ENN Group in support of clean energy technologies for both U.S. and Chinese cities, Bloomberg reported. ENN Chairman Wang Yusuo said in the statement: "This represents not only a collaboration between two companies, but also two countries. ENN and Duke Energy will complement one another's strengths as we seek to accelerate the commercialization of low-carbon technologies."
A second deal involving Duke Energy will be a research consortium with Babcock & Wilcox, GE and West Virginia University to develop new "clean coal" equipment that would cut down on air pollution from power plants. The initiative, called the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, will be supported by a $12.5 million federal grant that the university received last fall. The Associated Press reported that the consortium will include LP Amina, AEP, the University of Wyoming, University of Kentucky, Indiana University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Energy Technology Laboratory, World Resources Institute and the U.S.-China Clean Energy Forum.
New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Jan. 19; AFP, Associated Press via Business Week, Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires via the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Xinhua, Jan. 18.

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