Nuclear power another growth area in China

Nuclear power represents another growth opportunity for American business in China. With oil at $107/barrel and with coal and natural gas following along, this trend can only accelerate.



From 3/10/1008 WSJ:

China's installed nuclear power-generating capacity is expected to reach 60 gigawatts by 2020, a senior Chinese energy official said -- much higher than an earlier government estimate of 40 gigawatts. A gigawatt is the equivalent of one billion watts. The new estimate is equal to about two-thirds of Britain's total electricity-generating capacity today, although still equivalent to less than a tenth of China's current total.



"Construction of nuclear-power plants has been progressing faster than planned," Zhang Guobao, a vice minister of China's National Development and Reform Commission, was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying Saturday. The commission is China's top economic-policy planner.



China's nuclear-power sector is relatively underdeveloped. It has 11 reactors in operation, providing about nine gigawatts of power -- out of total electricity-generating capacity in China of some 700 gigawatts. The vast majority of China's power comes from coal-fired power plants.

Itron showcased to Chinese

Itron, a Spokane company, was recently showcased as an exemplar of the capabilities the Pacific Northwest can offer China for addressing energy and environmental challenges.



Here's the excerpt about Itron from the Seattle Times:

The company
has begun to sell software to utilities in China, and it manufactures
natural-gas meters at a factory in Chongqing. Its most cutting- edge products
are advanced metering systems that take precise measurements of energy use and
deliver data back to utilities. Two-way systems can send signals to customers or
to smart appliances to cut consumption at times when the energy supply is
constrained. In measuring water use, its technology can detect leaks under the
street using acoustics.



Itron sees opportunities in China's plan to
boost its energy efficiency, said marketing director Tim Wolf. But concerns over
intellectual-property rights have made Itron cautious about the China market.



"Senator Cantwell and everyone made it clear that IP rights are an
important concern as we go forward," Wolf said. "Working directly with a
government-sanctioned group in China mitigates those concerns to some extent."

Clean Tech: The beginning of a beautiful friendship?

Seattle has been selected as the US site for meetings for the newly formed US-China Clean Energy Forum. This should be a big boost for the Puget Sound's ambitions to foster a thriving clean tech industry cluster here.




Here's the lowdown from Kristi Heim at the Seattle Times:

As part of the US-China Strategic Economic Diaglogue, officials from the U.S.
Treasury, Commerce, Energy and State Departments and the Environmental
Protection Agency met privately in Gig Harbor with Chinese representatives from
the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; Ministry of Science and Technology; State Environment Protection
Administration; and the Ministry of Finance to discuss cooperation on energy and
the environment.






They agreed to form the U.S.-China Clean Energy Forum,
committing to meetings two or three times per year in Seattle and Beijing for
the next several years. American members include former U.S. Trade
Representatives Carla Hills and Mickey Kantor.



The group said it will
identify and implement projects in clean energy and alternative fuels and
recommend solutions to the two governments to address trade, legal and financial
barriers.



One of the key legal questions is how to protect the
intellectual property of technology companies like Itron.



The UW signed an agreement with the Energy Research Institute "to begin
to collaborate on areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental
protection by looking at possibilities for joint research and joint training
programs," said Phyllis M. Wise, UW provost and executive vice president.



The effort will start with meetings and workshops between UW faculty and
researchers and their counterparts at the Chinese institute, eventually leading
to joint studies and joint training programs, she said.



At the national
level, the U.S., China energy talks will begin to address intellectual property,
export regulations and financing when they resume in China later this spring, a
U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman said.