Wind Energy Facts 2009 – the stats are in

The market for new wind turbines was worth $ 63 billion in 2009.

the GWEC, quoted by AP, quoted in Business Week.

The top spenders in 2009 were:
#3: The USA – 9,922MW wind energy new capacity installed in 2009, up 39% from the end of 2008 to a total of over 35,000MW. Wind generated 2% of the electricity generated in the USA in 2009. (AWEA)
#2: The European Union, together – 10,163MW (€13bn), out of which Spain has the largest share last year (2,459MW), followed by Germany; it was the best-ever year for the European wind industry in terms of new capacity added. The EU is still the world leader in the total installed wind energy capacity, amounting 74,767MW; most of it (25,777MW) is operational in Germany, our regional champion. Wind generated 9% of the electricity generated in the EU.

And the Oscar goes to…

#1: China – 12GW installed in 2009, up to 25GW total installed capacity of wind energy plants. Wind generated only 1% of the electricity consumed in China.

158GW of wind energy were operational at the end of 2009, 31% percent up from the end of 2008.

While we’re still waiting for the Romanian authorities to come up with the official data for 2009, the European Wind Energy Association announced that Romania’s contribution to the European record was only 3MW, i.e. less than 0.03% of the total, placing Romania on the 20th position among the 27 states. To conclude about our Romanian 2009 in wind energy: ”we had such potential, such promise…” – much ado about nothing.

The status in the Romanian wind energy industry

Reported by Ana Maria Nitoi, from the Diplomat, organizer of an industry-event: http://www.thediplomat.ro/articol.php?id=553

— I will take the liberty of copy-pasting the text here, giving the publication and author full credit, only because articles from the 2008 Green Energy Romania conference have disappeared from the website and it’s a pity —

Wind future held back by legal blockage

A delay for over a year in fixing legislation for renewable energy is holding up hundreds of million of Euros ready to fund wind energy in Romania, so investors are heading south in search of a breath of fresh air

Government failure to pass a law which would regulate and bring cash into the renewable energy sector is holding back investment in the new industry, all major players agreed at a recent ‘Green Energy for Romania’ conference.
Investments of 100 millions of Euro are being postponed until the Government clarifies a stable regulatory framework for renewable energy sources. Unclear legislation prevents financial institutions from funding green energy projects and this blocks the sector from developing. Many potential investors wanting to raise turbines in Romania’s wind-rich eastern counties are now decamping to Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Poland.
The obstacle is Law 220 on renewable energy. The Parliament passed this law in October 2008, but this cannot be applied until secondary legislation is approved by the Government.
The new law clarifies a mandatory quota of so-called ‘green certificates’, that each electricity distributor must purchase from a green energy producer every year. One green certificate represents one MW per hour of electricity generated and delivered to the national grid. The purpose of the scheme is to bring an extra funding mechanism to green energy.
On the surface, the delay is due to a bureaucratic hiccup. One year after the law had been passed, the authorities realised that it cannot be applied until the European Commission certifies that the green certificates support scheme is not state aid. Now authorities are preparing documents to send to the EC on the new law, but it is unlikely that the EC will actively discourage the development of green energy in Romania.
Due to the delay, energy regulator ANRE, the Ministry of Economy and Competition Council are shifting the responsibility between one another’s shoulders for their collective failure to spin the new law into action.
The ‘Green Energy in Romania’ event was organised by ‘The Diplomat – Bucharest’ magazine together with wind and solar projects developer Monsson Group, with partners in law firm Wolf Theiss and wind park developers Continental Wind Partners. Below is a summary of key discussion points.

Dana Duica, executive director, Romanian Association of Wind Energy
“We need to take bigger steps in wind energy development because Romania now has only 12 MW installed power capacity in wind, even though we have a significant potential.”

Radu Popoiu, managing director, PS Wind Management, Continental Wind Partners
“The big picture regarding the development of wind power projects in Romania is hampered by legislative uncertainty, difficulties in finding financing and the technical issues related to access to the power grid.”

Bryan Jardine, managing partner, law firm Wolf Theiss
“The adoption of the renewable energy sources law at the end of last year was an ambitious step forward as part of the harmonisation with the European Commission’s directive on renewable energy sources. The law aims at improving the green certificates system that Romania has chosen, as opposed to a feed-in regime [where electricity utilities must buy renewable electricity at above market prices to off-set high costs of renewable power generation], and to set a target for renewable energy sources to generate a 33 per cent electricity supply by 2010, 35 per cent by 2015 and 38 per cent by 2020. We have to take into account that Romania has a tradition in renewables like hydro power. The law itself was quite progressive. But the law required a secondary legislation to be adopted within 90 days from the moment when it was approved and that did not happen.”

Nadina Stanciu, expert at the office for promoting renewable energy and co-generation, Romania’s Energy Regulator (ANRE)
“There is no good news about the legislation yet. The Competition Council wrote to us and also sent a letter to the Ministry of Economy stating that Law 220 has provisions which could be perceived as state aid. This is why the European Commission should be notified before the law can be applied and, thus, before the secondary legislation can pass. We are working on this notification documentation.”

Dana Duica, the Romanian Association of Wind Energy
“Italy, Poland and the UK have in place a similar green certificates system which operate well. They notified the EC first and the Commission stated that green certificates do not represent state aid.”

Bryan Jardine, Wolf Theiss
“Most investors want to invest in Romania, but they question whether the green certificates system will be maintained. Developers face the risk of building wind farms and not being able to exit their investments, as financing is not available due to uncertainties created by the law. Many investors are tired of waiting and have crossed the Danube to Bulgaria. Romania is losing opportunities for foreign direct investment.”

Anca-Maria Teodorescu, economist, financing department, developer Monsson Alma
“Last year, Law 220 really gave hope regarding good cash flows in investments in wind farms, but since there is no secondary legislation the company is not able to make a clear affirmation about the outcome of such an investment. Now we are selling green certificates on the [Romanian] market. This is only one green certificate per MWh now, but two [as the new law stipulates] would have been great.”

Ciprian Diaconu, advisor to the general director of the transmission grid company Transelectrica
“The secondary legislation should clarify the uncertainties in Law 220. For example, it is not clear who is paying for the connection to the grid: Transelectrica or the developer. These clarifications should be settled fast. Now the electricity demand in Romania has decreased by ten per cent [compared to last year]. The situation in neighbouring countries is even worse. Romania’s electricity export has decreased by 30 to 40 per cent. There is also a lack of clarity on who is in charge in Romania with renewable energy. ANRE is the energy regulator, the Government is responsible for strategy, Transelectrica is responsible for the security of the grid, the distributors are participating with producers to the supply of the customers. But who is responsible in the end?”

Dana Duica, the Romanian Association of Wind Energy
“There are 1,493 MW installed power capacity approved with grid connection contract and 2,401 MW with a grid connection permit. Will there be any room left for others?”

Ciprian Diaconu, Transelectrica
“The grid can absorb another 4,000 MW, but I do not know when this will be possible. Transelectrica has a plan to reinforce and extend the grid. The European average shows that between five and ten per cent of the total cost of the project is related to the connection.”

Bryan Jardine, Wolf Theiss
“The costs with the grid connection can be split. The developer can invest in electricity transmission substations, with the cost being shared with Transelectrica through reduced connection tariffs.”

Alexandru-Valeriu Binig, director financial advisory, consultants Deloitte
“The second dimension of Transelectrica is to be the entity that follows the balancing capabilities in this country [A country needs to balance between different types of energy to guarantee security of supply, such as ensuring a constant flow of energy from coal power is available if the wind is not strong enough to turn the turbines]. Unfortunately the interconnection grid of Romania with its neighbours is not strong enough to bring from abroad the necessary balancing point. Transelectrica cannot influence the balancing capacities in the Romanian power generation sector, which are meant to provide safety to the operation of the entire system. So they look with hope to Petrom’s new investment in a 860 MW gas-fired power plant in Brazi. Transelectrica is thinking how it can delay the penetration of wind power until Romania has technical capabilities to balance it. But the law obliges Transelectrica to give free access to the grid under certain technical conditions. Now that there is not such a strong penetration of wind power generation, this creates a situation of calm until secondary capacities are developed.”

Ciprian Diaconu, Transelectrica
“In the balancing market, except for Petrom’s project which is under construction, all the rest [such as the Tarnita-Lapustesti hydro power plant project] are historical projects that we keep talking about.”

Adrian Muriel Carrasco, international business development manager, Gamesa
“In Spain we have a feed-in tariff which is much more simple [than the green certificates system]. We are looking to invest in Bulgaria which has a feed-in tariff system.”

Alexandru-Valeriu Binig, Deloitte
“The feed-in tariff system in countries such as Germany works in states which have financial resources to promote renewables. Romania has to allocate a relatively limited amount for supporting the renewables, which is why the mandatory quotas and the green certificates help the administration to keep the penetration of the renewables up to a certain level. Otherwise if we open the tap and say we will adopt feed-in tariffs we will really see 20,000 MW of renewables in Romania and the question would be who will pay for the electricity bill?”

Roy A. Maybud, president, Energy Holding
“We are talking about green certificates as if they are dropping from heaven. Green certificates are going to be paid by end consumers. Renewable systems will have to be developed further until they will not be so expensive that they are a burden to the end consumer. Governments should also support this by allocating funds for research.”

Financing held back

Claudia Pendred, director for Romania, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
“We are discussing with developers and utility companies about renewable energy, in biomass and wind, and we would be interested in financing these projects. But until we have a clear, stable and transparent regulatory framework, it is difficult for the EBRD and project developers to know what the cash flow of the projects is going to be and, in this case, it is difficult to finance them.”

Cosmin Cadere, business development manager, Mitsubishi Corporation
“We are looking to invest not just in wind power, but in any kind of renewable energy projects, as well as in conventional energy. The economic crisis means our company will focus on investing in innovation and renewable energy sources are a major part of our strategy. In Bulgaria the company has already decided to invest in a 200 MW wind park precisely because they have a more stable legislation [than Romania] and because there is a feed-in tariff system. If Romania had a similar feed-in tariff system we would be glad to jump in. Until then we are rather looking to the Czech Republic and Poland.”

Valentin Cudric, investment director, NBGI Private Equity, the investment management arm of the National Bank of Greece
“We have an investment fund dedicated to the energy sector. We have identified some good wind energy projects in Romania, but we face the same problem. There is so much uncertainty about the law that my colleagues from London, where our head office is, have shifted to Bulgaria where there is a feed-in tariff system in place.”

Projects stumped

Ciprian Glodeanu, senior associate, Wolf Theiss
“We are working with developers for which we have secured several sites with the intention to develop 17 wind farms. One of the projects is in an advanced stage. And the most challenging was the environmental permit. It was very difficult to explain to environmental NGOs and authorities the benefits of the project. I don’t think there will be a flux of investors quite shortly.”

Pal Peter, vice president, EnergoBit
“Our [wind energy] project is in a developed stage and we are going to stop it for now because of the many uncertainties. We are not going to invest as long as the legislation is not finished. EnergoBit also provides electrical components and has a contract with CEZ for its onshore wind farm in Constanta county.”

Dana Duica, the Romanian Association of Wind Energy
“We calculated a developer needs 101 permits to build a wind farm. Romania needs to simplify the administrative procedures. I salute the initiative taken last week in regard to the construction permit which will no longer be issued by local councils but by city halls. This is an example that Romania is at the beginning and is learning from its mistakes.”

Anca-Maria Teodorescu, Monsson Alma
“About two years are needed until all the documents are put together, including the wind studies for the area. Buying or renting the land also requires hard work. I know about a company that wants to build a wind farm and which needed more than 1.5 years to obtain the land-planning permit. It doesn’t depend on the developer, but on the authorities.”

Florin Frunza, head of business development and administration, Power Division, Petrom
“Petrom is interested to diversify into renewable energy, but so far we have not decided yet to invest in any project. We will probably partner with a developer. It would probably be cheaper to buy now a project but we will wait until the situation clarifies.”

Radu Gavrila, director of the wind energy division, Energia Verde
“We are developing about 15 wind projects in Dobrogea and Moldavia. Some local administrations are so small, that they do not even have a land-planning department. Therefore, for them it is difficult to offer that service, especially now when the Government decided to cut costs in the public system by 20 per cent, which in most cases means laying off people. How do we help local authorities to develop their services? We have a park in Tulcea for which we have land-planning permit and we are discussing with engineering companies for the design. In Braila county we have a 100 MW project.”

Event report by
Ana Maria Nitoi

Mihai Bravu

The following project has been sold, after more than one year of presentations, negociations, due-dilligence, questions etc:

Windstudy and offer  (click right – save target as)

Environmental Assessment (click right – save target as)

Google Earth files (property, environment, micrositing, connection)

It’s a beautiful project, that I care a lot about. Good luck to the developers!

EUROPE: Easterly Wind Picks Up (Inter Press Service)

IPS International, Bucharest - 2009, Aug 24th

EUROPE: Easterly Wind Picks Up
By Claudia Ciobanu

BUCHAREST, Aug 24 (IPS) – The natural conditions in Romania and Bulgaria make these countries some of the best placed in Europe for producing wind energy. Interest in investing in wind power is high in both countries, but legislative ambiguity and the limited capacity of national electricity grids are delaying the building of new wind parks.

Romania has the largest wind potential in south-east Europe, according to a study by Erste Bank last year. Its geographical and climatic conditions could eventually sustain an installed production capacity of 14,000 MW from wind. Even according to more modest estimates, wind power could potentially account for 10 percent of the energy produced in the country.

Bulgaria could have a wind power production capacity of 3,400 MW in a few years, according to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Unlike Romania, Bulgaria is at the moment highly dependent on energy imports, taking most of the fossil fuels it uses from Russia.

Apart from fossils and hydropower, Bulgaria is currently making use of a partially obsolete nuclear plant (Kozlodui), and planning to build another such plant in the north (Belene). Wind power could produce as much energy as these nuclear plants.

Southern Romania and northern Bulgaria, as well as areas along the Black Sea coast in both countries have the most favourable conditions for wind energy production. Among the companies interested in investing in wind power in these countries are Italian ENEL, Spanish Ibedrola and the U.S.-based AES Corporation.

Both countries have taken on the European Union (EU) objective of getting 20 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020. But given that both Romania and Bulgaria have high hydroelectric capacities, the EU target could be achieved on the basis of hydropower, without replacing fossil fuels with renewables.

Even so, EU environmental legislation and the strong interest among foreign investors in exploiting wind power have been putting pressure on national authorities to act on promoting wind energy.

Bulgarian authorities seem to be moving faster, though Romania has more wind power potential.

Around 200 MW of wind farms are already installed in Bulgaria, and another 200 MW is in the pipeline, says Yordan Mihaylov, managing partner at MASS Energy Systems LLC, a company investing in renewable energy parks in Bulgaria and other countries. EBRD noted in a 2008 analysis that “Bulgaria’s advantage, apart from the existing wind potential, is the supportive government with a pro-active regulatory approach.”

“I would say that the Bulgarian legal framework is in a much better position than the Romanian one at the moment,” Mihaylov told IPS. “Currently, the Bulgarian government issues 15 years contracts for 100 percent purchase of the electricity (produced by wind parks) at subsidised rates.”

Most producers are likely to get a high percentage of their production subsidised at high rates, says Mihaylov. “There are still many gaps in the contracts that are issued, but I am happy to say that the government is working on fixing them.”

On the other side of the border in Romania, less than 100 MW production capacity has been installed so far. Applications for projects adding up to 17,000 MW capacity have been filed by investors with the national electricity authority, but barely a fraction of this will materialise.

Some of the proposals are not serious, and so authorities are right to turn them down, says Radu Voinescu, managing partner at Boeru Voinescu Group, a leading wind energy consultancy in Romania.

Another reason for low acceptance of wind park proposals is that the national electricity grid can sustain at most 2000 MW wind power, says Voinescu. Wind power needs special adaptations of the grid to store energy for the times when the wind is not strong enough.

Expanding and adapting the electricity grid will need billions of euros, and political will to support renewables.

Unlike in Bulgaria, in Romania the purchase price for renewable energy has been left mainly to the market, making it tougher for producers to estimate profits and plan for the long term.

“Since 2008, we do have a law promoting renewables, through the use of green certificates and feed-in-tariffs (an incentive structure for renewables which means the state pledges to buy energy from renewables at above- market prices),” Voinescu told IPS. “But the methodological norms for implementing the law do not exist yet, and investors are left with many unanswered questions. Feed-in tariffs are not clarified in the law, so they remain just an option for the future.”

“The Romanian government has chosen to attract mainly big investors,” says Anka Zaion-Cicovski, international development representative of the French renewables company Valorem Energie. “Here, the purchasing tariffs are guaranteed for only one year, thus limiting the possibility for independent green electricity producers to access the market.

“The risk perceived by our financial partners is higher, and this makes project financing more complicated in Romania as compared to other countries such as France or Germany, where the feed-in tariffs are guaranteed for at least 12 years.”

“Our politicians do not seem to be very interested in investing in the expansion of the national electricity grid (to take on more energy from renewables),” adds Radu Voinescu.

“But such an investment in infrastructure is exactly the type of investment that a country must take on in times of economic crisis. Romanian authorities have an obligation to invest in energy infrastructure and in education, without which the country has no future.” (END/2009)

Teaser

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The lowest wind residential wind turbine

…has arrived, thanks to Honeywell. 2kW turbine costs 4,500USD.

Cut-in speed at 2mph (0.8941  m/s). Anyone, better?

A Series of Articles on the Romanian Wind Energy sector

Business Review began some two months ago a series of articles and interviews on the Wind Energy sector in Romania.

Below is the lead article of this series, written by Dana Ciuraru:

Wind energy: many call but few are chosen

About 17,500 MW worth of wind farm projects are sitting in the Romanians authorities’ in-tray, while the national grid for wind energy is connected to just 1,500 MW. The projects could whistle up over EUR 1 billions of investments and jobs for local communities, especially in the Dobrogea region, an epicenter for the wind energy business. But the authorities declare themselves incapable of dealing with the schemes. Year after year only a few projects are authorized to connect to the national energy transportation system. Who are the lucky ones?
In a crisis, the billion euro plus of announced wind power plant projects are likely to hike FDI in Romania in a time of need. “There is a real interest from local and foreign companies in investing in renewable energy, especially wind energy production. Big investors like the Spanish group Iberdrola and Italian company Enel have expressed their intention to develop wind farms in Romania worth EUR 1.5 billion,” said Gabriel Baleanu, an Economy Ministry expert. Among interested companies BR can also name Electrica, Eviva (subsidiary of the Portuguese group Martifer), Czech company CEZ, German energy firm E.ON and Verbund of Austria.
But it isn’t enough to find a good piece of land and have the money to invest. The national energy transportation system is underdeveloped and cannot sustain such demand. “The Economy Ministry has received a significant amount of wind energy production projects. Their total capacity is of 17,680 MW of installed power, much more than the capacity of the national energy transportation system, which is approximately 4,000-5,000 MW. We are dealing with an over-subscription for wind energy production,” said economy minister Adriean Videanu.
Moreover, Transelectrica, the national energy transporter, announced at the end of February that it had had requests to connect some 4,000 MW in wind energy to the national grid, 25 percent of the total value of the projects. Transelectrica gave the green light for just 1,500 MW to be connected to the grid.
Portuguese firm Martifer is discussing with a local developer the possibility of acquiring a 35 MW wind farm project in the Babadag Dobrogea region. According to market sources, the price could reach EUR 7 million. Eviva Energy, a subsidiary of the Portuguese group, bought a 10 percent stake at the end of last year in local firm Ground Investment Corp, which is developing the EUR 675,000 project. Market specialists say that Martifer has another on-going project in Babadag with a capacity of 35 MW. Its goal is to have wind farms with a total installed capacity of 400 MW in Romania by 2012, which could cost EUR 600 million.
Meanwhile, Danish company Vestas announced that it had received an order from another Portuguese firm, EDP, for 228 MW of capacity locally. “By the end of 2008, Romania had a total of 76 MW installed capacity in wind power,” said Hans Jorn Rieks, president of Vestas Central Europe.
Three investment funds from Spain which usually invest in renewable energy are also exploring the possibility of investing in local wind farms. According to Mihai Mares, coordinating lawyer on the local market for international law house Garrigues, the three have at their disposal about EUR 200 million for this kind of project.
“There are investors specialized in the energy sector, venture capital funds focused on renewable energy projects, interested in developing wind farm projects with local partners, and in two or three years, making their exit,” said Mares. According to him, these funds plan to sign several agreements for projects of between 30 and 100 MW.
Also interested in investing in wind farm projects is the Italian firm Energia&Servizi. Its officials have contacted the local authorities from Botosani to discuss investments in the region. “Company representatives are keen to start the project this year. They said that the results of the tests carried out in this area have increased their expectations,” said David Salgau, a Botosani local authority official. According to him, the Italian firm has already decided to install the first generators in the Stefanesti area, as they could connect to the grid at the unit in Stanca-Costesti.
Such wind farm projects mean incomes of 1 percent from the energy value delivered into the grid and, perhaps more importantly, jobs for local people. The Dobrogea region still attracts most of the investors. Tomis Team announced a EUR 900 million, 600 MW wind farm project which is to be completed this summer. And in Tariverde, Costanta County, Iberdrola and Eolica Dobrogea will develop a wind power plant of 1,500 MW, which will be operational next year. Similarly, Eco Power Energy Production is developing a 80 MW wind farm near Ramnicu Sarat, a EUR 130 million investment.
Energy companies have announced hundreds of millions of euros worth of investments in wind energy projects and continue to express their interest in this direction. But the undeveloped national grid and the legislative instability are proving even more of a scarecrow than the current economic crisis.

Radu Voinescu

Energie eoliana

CEZ supposed to start first turbines at Fantanele these days

News Alert about the Wind Energy sector in Romania, so to say:

In an interview he gave for Business Review, a CEZ representative announced that the first wind turbines from the landmark project they are currently developing at Fantanele will start working this month, June 2009.

Windman Interviewed ;)

Below is a short interview I gave for Business Review:

 

3Q – Radu Voinescu, partner at Boeru Voinescu Grup

In what wind energy projects are you involved?
Currently, we are providing management consultancy for a Spanish joint-venture company, based in Madrid, which wants to invest in wind energy projects in Romania. The company started wind measurements in 2007 in five locations in Romania and some others in Bulgaria, from which it finally chose three such locations in our country to develop these projects. All these locations are in Constanta county and each project will probably have some 30 MW. Besides this, we are currently in discussions with investors who could be interested in investing in wind energy projects in Timis county and Suceava. In Timis, we are in the phase of analyzing the wind, technical and land maps in order to establish which area will be better to invest in and who owns the land.How do you see this market in the future?
The wind farm market is one that was hiking when all the others started falling and massive lay-offs were announced. There is still room on this market. In the past three months, we have been contacted by five companies interested in entering this market.

In which other energy projects are you involved?
We are assisting an American investor who put his money into a bio ethanol factory. The total investment is about EUR 30 million and the factory will be operational by 2010. The investor already has contracts to sell the production. According to investor data in Romania there is a potential for ten such factories. Besides this project, we are involved in the process of authorization for a co-generation unit which uses biomass with a capacity of 700 kW.

Radu Voinescu

Energie eoliana

 

Jobs in Renewable Energy

The European Commission’s study on the impact of renewable energy policy on economic growth and employment in the European Union (Employ-RES) indicate that EU 20% renewable energy target can deliver 2.8 million jobs and that biomass, wind and hydro technologies are currently the most important for job opportunities.

According to the study, in 2005, the renewable energy sector employed 1.4 million people among the member states with a gross value of 58 billion EUR (approximately $80 billion) with higher employment expected particularly in the member states that joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007. Implementation of the renewable energy policy will generate about 410,000 additional jobs and 0.24 percent additional GDP in the EU-27 in 2020.

However, the study indicates that current RES support policies will result in final energy consumption of 14 percent by 2020 and 17 percent by 2030, which indicates a need for improved policies to reap maximum economic benefits from renewable energy. The study also finds that more innovative technologies such as photovoltaic, offshore wind, solar thermal electricity and second-generation biofuels require more financial support in the short term, and will be key to achieving the EU’s 2020 target.

In terms of greenhouse emissions, European finance ministers may draw on shipping and airlines for money to help pay poor nations deal with climate change, according to draft proposals, report Reuters. EU finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg on June 9 are expected to identify possible finance sources for poor countries that could help develop drought-resistant crops or new water sources, according to Reuters.

Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping and airline sectors, which have been growing steadily over the past 15 years, will be evaluated at a United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in December to find a new global deal on fighting climate change, according to Reuters. The key issue will be finding the finance needed to persuade developing nations to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. However, poor nations would be expected to deliver concrete proof of emissions cuts in return for the cash, reports Reuters.