Fitch said Indonesia needs to resolve long-standing structural weaknesses such as overburdened infrastructure and corruption that hamper its business climate before expecting a further rating upgrade. Above, workers labor on a fly-over under construction in Jakarta on Dec. 5.
The past year ended on a strong note for Indonesia as Fitch Ratings raised Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating to investment grade for the first time in more than a decade. This move expected to trigger more investment in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal
At the same time, Indonesia faces a challenge in the need to improve the nation’s infrastructure. Transportation within the country is associated with high costs and low reliability. Investment in this key area would go a long way toward improving the economy as well as the quality of life for all Indonesians.
Read the article: Indonesian Economy Booms, Its Infrastructure Groans, with audio, from National Public Radio
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Obama, leaders to report on Pacific trade pact in Hawaii
Original Article: Pacific Business News | Date: Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 7:22am HST.
President Barack Obama and other leaders of Pacific Rim nations in Honolulu this week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Week meetings will report on the effort to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would be the biggest free trade agreement for the United States since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
Bloomberg reports, via the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, that the Pacific agreement would help to double U.S. exports by 2015 from 2009 levels. Bloomberg reports that the Obama administration is seeking to expand the agreement beyond its current eight nations to include China and Japan.
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Beyond the Solyndra Circus: A Golden Age for Solar
Clint Wilder – Senior Editor, Clean Edge | Original Article
Here’s a headline that I bet you didn’t see (at least in the United States) in the past month, but based on the facts, could have been written:
Welcome to the Golden Age of Solar Power
A case can definitely be made. In the past two years, solar PV cell prices have plummeted by more than half, and total installation costs by about 30 percent. Solar deployment in the U.S., from residential rooftops to utility-scale PV power plants, has soared. Grid-connected PV grew 69 percent (over 2010) in the second quarter to 314 megawatts. Six states installed at least 10 MW in the quarter; that’s more than all but three states added in 2007 for the entire year.
The installation business itself, a fragmented mom-and-pop market niche not long ago, has been transformed into a booming industry for the likes of nationwide service/financing companies SolarCity, Sungevity, and SunRun. Walmart says it will install solar on 75 percent of its stores in California. And the world’s 11th largest company, Total, announced that it would pay $1.37 billion for a controlling interest in SunPower back in April.
Continue reading…
By Stephen L. Carter Sep 28, 2011 8:02 PM ET via Bloomberg.com
It isn’t hard to predict how the controversy over defunct solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC will end. Congressional Republicans will in due course issue a final report decrying crony capitalism and demanding an end to the federal program of loan guarantees to alternative energy companies.
Democrats will respond with a dissent, concluding that no rules were broken or even bent, but proposing, just in case, the addition of a new layer of expensive bureaucratic overseers atop the program.
Certainly there will be plenty of grist for both mills. Solyndra’s decision to file for bankruptcy and dismiss more than 1,000 employees after receiving a $535 million loan guarantee from the Energy Department is a black eye for the program, especially now that journalists have uncovered many red flags that bureaucrats missed along the way. And the insistence by the White House that no political favors were involved fails to pass the giggle test.
On the other hand, with commercial lending markets still largely locked up, and the need for the development of alternative fuels as pressing as ever, a better-managed program of loan guarantees has an undeniable appeal.
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Development | Posted on: 09-20-2011
Senipah Project Marks Asian Debut for GE’s LM6000-PG Aeroderivative Gas Turbine
HOUSTON, Sep 20, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Indonesia Pushing Plans for Increased Electrification
–New Power Plant a Catalyst for Growth in the East Kalimantan Region
GE’snewest aeroderivative gas turbine technology has been selected for a new, independent power plant (IPP) that will help meet an urgent need for more electricity in the rapidly growing East Kalimantan region of Indonesia. The project also supports the Indonesian government’s initiative to increase the overall supply of reliable power for the country, where approximately one-third of the population has no access to electricity.
GE will supply two 41-megawatt LM6000-PG aeroderivative units to PT Kartanegara Energi Perkasa (KEP), owner of the Senipah Power Plant, located 70 kilometers from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. This will be the first installation of the technology in Asia and the second in the world, following a project at Turlock, Calif., which recently was commissioned. Building on the success of the LM6000 product line, the LM6000-PG offers increased power output, operating flexibility and efficiency, among other key features.
Today, approximately 70 million Indonesians are without electricity. To close this gap, the Indonesian government plans to connect an additional 1.3 million households per year to the grid, through the year 2025. As a shorter-term goal, the government is working to reach a 65 percent electrification ratio across the country by the end of this year. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by:
admin | Posted in:
Development | Posted on: 09-18-2011
Three more Native Community Development Financial Institutions are certified by the CDFI Fund
Original Article at theNtiveCircle.org
LONGMONT, Colorado (July 15, 2011) – First Nations Oweesta Corporation is proud to announce that three more Native CDFIs, Aloha Federal Credit Union, Cha Piyeh, and Northwest Native Development Fund have been officially announced by the CDFI Fund as newly certified CDFIs.
“We are extremely pleased with the monumental growth of the Native CDFI sector,” said Jon Panamaroff, executive director and senior vice president for Oweesta. Panamaroff also shared, “With the certification of Aloha Federal Credit Union, Cha Piyeh and Northwest Native Development Fund, this brings our total to 66 certified Native CDFIs. Thank you to everyone working at these CDFIs, and their communities and partners, for making this possible.”
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