News for February 2012

News Archive

Innovative Composites signs agreement with RedLeaf Homes

Innovative Composites International Inc (ICI), a producer of composite products for housing and transportation, has signed an agreement with RedLeaf Homes Ltd granting RedLeaf the right to distribute ICI prefabricated homes and shelters in northern and rural Canada.

e2e Materials wins sustainability award at Composites 2012

e2e Materials won an American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) Award for Composites Excellence (ACE) in the Composites Sustainability category for its Transform™ Worksurface product at the Composites 2012 trade show in Las Vegas last week.

A350 Trent XWB engine makes first flight on test aircraft

The Airbus A350 XWB aircraft's new engine – the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB – has successfully made its maiden flight aboard Airbus’ dedicated A380 'Flying-Test-Bed' aircraft.

Nordex sees tumbling Chinese sales in 2011

Nordex saw an operating loss (EBIT) of €29.7 million in 2011, compared to an EBIT of €40.1m in 2010 due to decreased sales and one-off costs.

AOC announces resin price increase for North America

AOC LLC has announced a price increase in the US and Canada for all products.

Suzlon's S95 wind turbine delivers 102%

Suzlon has completed testing and certification of its S95 Standard Temperature Version (STV) 2.1 MW wind turbine in its 50 Hz and 60 Hz variants, achieving 102% of its estimated power curve.

GE and JP Morgan invest US$225m in Texas wind farm

GE Energy Financial Services and JP Morgan will invest US$225 million in NextEra Energy Resources' 662.5 MW Capricorn Ridge wind farm in West Texas, USA.

CCS Composites receives Boeing supplier award

CCS Composites, a subsidiary of TenCate Advanced Composites, has received a 2011 Boeing Performance Excellence Award.

Borealis and Borouge showcase automotive materials at VDI Borealis and Borouge showcase automotive materials at VDI

Plastics suppliers Borealis and Borouge will exhibit their latest glass reinforced polypropylene materials at the VDI Plastics in Automotive Engineering conference in Germany next month.

Enguard bonding pastes receive GL approval

Ashland Performance Materials has announced that its Enguard BP 6200 ARF vinyl ester bonding pastes have received Germanischer Lloyd (GL) approval.

Last week's top 3 stories

The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.

Chile launches 450 MW onshore wind farm tender

The Chilean Government has launched an international tender call for three land-use concessions for up to 150 MW each of onshore wind.

AOC announces resin price increase for Europe

AOC LLC has announced a price increase for all products sold in Europe.

Gamesa supplies 10 MW of turbines for Ontario wind farm

Gamesa will supply five of its G97 2 MW wind turbines for the 10 MW wind farm planned in Highgate, Ontario, Canada, marking the first Canadian project for the Spanish company.

Consent for Scottish offshore wind turbine test facility

SSE Renewables has received consent for an offshore wind turbine test facility at Hunterston from North Ayrshire Council in Scotland.

Gazechim opens refrigeration facility for SP-High Modulus prepregs

SP-High Modulus, the marine business of Gurit, has announced that its French distributor Gazechim Composites has opened a refrigeration facility in Brittany for the storage of its low temperature prepregs.

AOC announces resin price increase for Mexico

AOC LLC has announced a price increase for polyester resins, vinyl ester resins, gel-coats and pigments for shipments within Mexico.

Siemens buys tidal company Marine Current Turbines

Siemens has acquired a majority stake in the UK tidal power company Marine Current Turbines Ltd.

Last week's top 3 stories

The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.

Reichhold announces resin price increase for North America

Reichhold Inc has announced a price increase on all unsaturated polyester resins, vinyl ester resins and flame retardant resins sold in North America for the composites industry.

Owens Corning sells Twintex business to FGI

Glass fibre producer Owens Corning has announced the sale of its global Twintex® glass thermplastic reinforcements rovings intellectual property rights and business portfolio to Fiber Glass Industries (FGI).

Scotland welcomes offshore wind, wave and tidal blueprint

Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond has welcomed a blueprint to streamline the scoping, planning and consenting of offshore wind, wave and tidal developments.

Could biofuels power the shipping industry?

Biofuels could replace conventional fossil fuels in marine transport, helping the industry to become carbon neutral as well as reducing harmful emissions, according to Ecofys.

TenCate Advanced Composites moves into new facility

TenCate Advanced Composites North America has completed the relocation of its former Benicia, California, prepreg facility to a new factory in Fairfield, California.

Hexagon Composites reports fourth quarter results

Norwegian company Hexagon Composites ASA's results for the fourth quarter of 2011 were down from the same period last year, but up on the previous quarter.

JM expands glass fibre production at Slovakia plant JM expands glass fibre production at Slovakia plant

Johns Manville (JM) has announced an investment of more than €50 million to expand glass fibre production at its facility in Slovakia.

Biofuels could be competitive as aviation fuel by 2020

Some aviation biofuels could be competitive by 2020, but the take-up of biofuels by airlines is likely to be modest in the near term unless governments introduce mandates requiring their use, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Gurit to exhibit at Composites 2012

Gurit will be exhibiting at the Composites 2012 trade show in Las Vegas next week.

EU nearing 2020 targets for renewable energy share

The EU is already ahead of the energy trajectory mapped out in the NREAPs with 145 Mtoe compared to the 136.8 MW estimated for 2010, and only needs another 100 Mtoe to meet 2020 targets for 20% renewable energy, according to EurObserv'ER.

UPDATED: Renewable Energy Focus plans UK Offshore Wind supplement UPDATED: Renewable Energy Focus plans UK Offshore Wind supplement

Renewable Energy Focus is planning a UK Offshore Wind supplement to go alongside the May/June issue.

PRF Composites appointed supplier of Safran Structil Aerospace Adhesives

PRF Composite Materials has announced that it is now the approved supplier of Safran Structil Aerospace Adhesives for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Viking Yachts relies on Delcam’s PowerMILL milling software Viking Yachts relies on Delcam’s PowerMILL milling software

Viking Yachts uses Delcam's PowerMILL CAM milling software in the machining of its composite yacht parts.

Scott Bader promotes gel-coat technology at Composites 2012 Scott Bader promotes gel-coat technology at Composites 2012

Scott Bader Inc will showcase its weather resistant Crystic® Permabright gel-coat at the Composites 2012 trade show in Las Vegas next week.

Last week's top 3 stories

The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.

Slowdown in Spanish wind

The Spanish wind power sector experienced the slowest growth ever recorded in percentage terms with a 5.1% increase in accumulated power to just under 21.7 GW in 2011.

ACG showcases prepregs at SAMPE Asia 2012

Advanced Composites Group (ACG) Ltd will present its out-of-autoclave prepreg technologies at SAMPE Asia 2012 in Malaysia this month.

DONG opens 367.2 MW Walney offshore wind farm

DONG Energy has opened the 367.2 MW Walney offshore wind farm in the UK.

Toray and Gordon Murray Design partner on automotive technologies Toray and Gordon Murray Design partner on automotive technologies

Japanese carbon fibre manufacturer Toray Industries Inc and UK automotive design company Gordon Murray Design Ltd have signed a technical partnership partnership agreement.

Hexagon Composites streamlines business

Hexagon Composites ASA, a Norwegian group specialising in the manufacture of composite containers for the storage of high pressure gases, is concentrating its liquid petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder business with Ragasco AS and its compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinder business with Raufoss Fuel Systems AS.

Suzlon to manufacture wind turbines in South Africa?

Suzlon Energy Ltd has revealed plans for a potential 400 MW wind turbine manufacturing facility in South Africa.

PCCR USA anticipates resin price increases

PCCR USA, a manufacturer of unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins, is considering price increases on all its products.

Vestas sees disastrous 2011 – CFO and Chairman resign

Vestas fell into a net loss of €166 million in 2011, compared to a profit of €156m in 2010, during what the company terms “a very challenging year”.

Worldwide wind installations up 21% in 2011 Worldwide wind installations up 21% in 2011

Over 41 GW of new wind power was installed in 2011, up 21% from 2010, bringing the total to over 238 GW, says the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Goal of 50% UK content in UK wind farms

At a meeting of the Offshore Developers Forum, co-chaired by Department of Energy and Climate Change Minister Charles Hendry, it has been put forward that UK firms should provide more than 50% of the content of future wind farms.

An introduction to RTM for aerospace composites

The National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) in the Netherlands is organising a training course covering the use of the resin transfer moulding (RTM) process in manufacturing composite aerospace components.

Gurit sees net sales increase for 2011

Gurit reports net sales of CHF344.7 million for the full year 2011, an increase of 10.6% on 2010.

India saw US$10.3bn of clean energy investment in 2011

India saw clean energy investments reach US$10.3 billion in 2011, 52% higher than 2010, and accounting for 4% of global clean energy investment, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Wind speeds 5-10% above normal in northern Europe in 2011 Wind speeds 5-10% above normal in northern Europe in 2011

3TIER's wind performance map of Europe for 2011 shows that wind speeds were 5-10% above normal in northern Europe, and up to 10% below normal in southern Europe.

MAG GEMINI system combines fibre placement and tape laying in one machine MAG GEMINI system combines fibre placement and tape laying in one machine

Equipment supplier MAG IAS says its GEMINI Composite Processing System is capable of switching from automated fibre placement to automated tape laying in a matter of minutes.

Vaccum infusion brings benefits for Mattia 60 catamaran Vaccum infusion brings benefits for Mattia 60 catamaran

Italian boat builder Mattia's Mattia 60 catamaran was constructed using a vacuum infusion process to produce a vessel with reduced weight and greater speed and manoeuvrability.

MVP appoints Ducept Pty Ltd distributor for Australia

US manufacturer of closed mould processing equipment Magnum Venus Plastech has added Ducept Pty Ltd of Australia to its distributor network.

Samsung plans offshore wind base in Scotland

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) plans to place its first European offshore wind project in Methil, Fife, in Scotland, creating over 500 jobs.

Last week's top 3 stories Last week's top 3 stories

The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website last week.

Interplastic announces SMC price increase

Interplastic Corporation has announced a price for its sheet moulding compound (SMC) composite products.

Coalition of Automotive Lightweighting Materials formed

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) has launched the Coalition of Automotive Lightweighting Materials (CALM) which will aim to accelerate the development of mixed-material solutions that will reduce vehicle weight.

Zoltek reports revenue growth

Carbon fibre manufacturer Zoltek Companies Inc reports net revenues of US$47.0 million for the quarter ended 31 December 2011 (the first quarter of its 2012 fiscal year), an increase of 43.2% on the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

Nammo to support Raytheon composite missile tube manufacturing Nammo to support Raytheon composite missile tube manufacturing

Nammo Composite Solutions has signed an agreement with Raytheon Missile Systems of Tucson, Arizona, USA, to support the development and manufacturing of a redesigned composite TOW missile case.

Michelman carbon fibre sizing offers high thermal stability Michelman carbon fibre sizing offers high thermal stability

Michelman says its Hydrosize PA845 polyamide (PA) based fibre sizing is formulated for high temperature resin applications and is particularly suitable for use with carbon fibre.

Hexcel reports strong 2011 fourth quarter

Hexcel Corporation reports net sales for the fourth quarter of 2011 of US$355.3 million, 14.2% higher than for the fourth quarter of 2010.

Renewable energy to help the US Department of Defense

The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) are partnering to explore how renewable energy can help the US Department of Defense (DoD).

India's Braj Binani Group acquires Belgian glass fibre company 3B

Binani Industries Ltd, the holding company of Braj Binani Group, has announced the acquisition of 3B, a manufacturer of glass fibre reinforements located in Belgium, for €275 million.

Designer chair based on Ticona's glass reinforced polypropylene Designer chair based on Ticona's glass reinforced polypropylene

Ticona's glass fibre reinforced polypropylene (PP) composite, Celstran® PP LFT, has been used to manufacture a chair which has won several design awards.

Resintex exhibits at Seatec 2012 Resintex exhibits at Seatec 2012

Resintex Technology Srl is exhibiting new composite product ranges at the Seatec 2012 marine show in Italy this month.

Nordex installs 30 MW of wind in Spain

Nordex will assemble and install the 30 MW Barbers wind farm consisting of 12 of its N90/2500 wind turbines for Eolia Renovables, in Spain.

Last month's top stories Last month's top stories

The following stories were the most popular with visitors to the Reinforced Plastics website during the month of January 2012.

Gamesa and NREL collaborate on next-gen wind turbines

Gamesa and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are collaborating on next generation wind turbines for the US market.