1.1 We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors; this policy sets out how we will treat your personal information.
1.2 By using our website and agreeing to this policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.
Collecting personal information
2.1 We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information:
(a) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website (including your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths);
(b) information that you provide to us when registering with our website (including your email address)
(c) information that you provide when completing your profile on our website (including your name, user name, country/region, employment details, password);
(d) information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (including your name and email address);
(e) information that you provide to us when using the services on our website, or that is generated in the course of the use of those services (including the timing, frequency and pattern of service use;
(f) information relating to any purchases you make of our goods / services / goods and/or services or any other transactions that you enter into through our website (including your name, address, telephone number, email address and card details;
(g) information that you post to our website for publication on the internet (including your user name, your profile pictures and the content of your posts);
(h) information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us or send through our website (including the communication content and meta data associated with the communication);
(i) any other personal information that you choose to send to us; and
2.2 Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person's consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.
Using your personal information
3.1 Personal information submitted to us through our website will be used for the purposes specified in this policy or on the relevant pages of the website.
3.2 We may use your personal information to:
(a) administer our website and business;
(b) personalise our website for you;
(c) enable your use of the services available on our website;
(d) send you goods purchased through our website;
(e) supply to you services purchased through our website;
(f) send statements, invoices and payment reminders to you, and collect payments from you;
(g) send you non-marketing commercial communications;
(h) send you email notifications that you have specifically requested;
(i) send you our email newsletter, if you have requested it (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require the newsletter);
(j) send you marketing communications relating to our business or the businesses of carefully-selected third parties which we think may be of interest to you, by post or, where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications);
(k) provide third parties with statistical information about our users (but those third parties will not be able to identify any individual user from that information);
(l) deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to our website;
(m) keep our website secure and prevent fraud;
(n) verify compliance with the terms and conditions governing the use of our website (including monitoring private messages sent through our website private messaging service);
3.3 If you submit personal information for publication on our website, we will publish and otherwise use that information in accordance with the licence you grant to us.
3.4 Your privacy settings can be used to limit the publication of your information on our website, and can be adjusted using privacy controls on the website.
3.5 We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
3.6 All our website financial transactions are handled through our payment services provider, Paypal. You can review the provider's privacy policy at https://www.paypal.com/gr/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full. We will share information with our payment services provider only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments you make via our website, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds.
Disclosing personal information
4.1 We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
4.2 We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries) insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
4.3 We may disclose your personal information:
(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
(b) in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;
(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);
(d) to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset that we are (or are contemplating) selling; and
(e) to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information.
4.4 Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.
International data transfers
5.1 Information that we collect may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this policy.
5.2 Information that we collect may be transferred to the following countries which do not have data protection laws equivalent to those in force in the European Economic Area: the United States of America, Russia, Japan, China and India.
5.3 Personal information that you publish on our website or submit for publication on our website may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.
5.4 You expressly agree to the transfers of personal information described in this Section 5.
Retaining personal information
6.1 This Section 6 sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.
6.2 Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
6.3 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:
(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
(b) if we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and
(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).
Security of your personal information
7.1 We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
7.2 We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers.
7.3 All electronic financial transactions entered into through our website will be protected by encryption technology.
7.4 You acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.
7.5 You are responsible for keeping the password you use for accessing our website confidential; we will not ask you for your password (except when you log in to our website).
Amendments
8.1 We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
8.2 You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.
8.3 We may notify you of changes to this policy [by email or through the private messaging system on our website.
Your rights
9.1 You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you; provision of such information will be subject to:
(a) the payment of a fee (currently fixed at GBP 10); and
(b) the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity (for this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address).
9.2 We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
9.3 You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.
9.4 In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes.
Third party websites
10.1 Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.
10.2 We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
Updating information
11.1 Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.
Part 2: Cookies
About cookies
1.1 A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
1.2 Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
1.3 Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.
1.4 Cookies can be used by web servers to identity and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website.
Our cookies
2.1 We use only both session and persistent cookies on our website.
2.2 The names of the cookies that we use on our website, and the purposes for which they are used, are set out below:
(a) we use session cookie on our website to recognise a computer when a user visits the website and track users as they navigate the website;
(b) we use secure cookie on our website to prevent fraud and improve the security of the website;
(c) Persistent cookies will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date;
Analytics cookies
3.1 We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website.
3.2 Our analytics service provider generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies.
3.3 The analytics cookies used by our website have the following names: _utma, _utmt, _utmb, _utmc, _utmv and _utmz
3.4 The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website.
3.5 Our analytics service provider's privacy policy is available at: http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.
Third party cookies
4.1 Our website also uses third party cookies.
Blocking cookies
5.1 Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies; for example:
(a) in Internet Explorer (version 10) you can block cookies using the cookie handling override settings available by clicking "Tools", "Internet Options", "Privacy" and then "Advanced";
(b) in Firefox (version 24) you can block all cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options", "Privacy", selecting "Use custom settings for history" from the drop-down menu, and unticking "Accept cookies from sites"; and
(c) in Chrome (version 29), you can block all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Content settings", and then selecting "Block sites from setting any data" under the "Cookies" heading.
5.2 Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites.
5.3 If you block cookies, you will not be able to use all the features on our website.
Deleting cookies
6.1 You can delete cookies already stored on your computer; for example:
(a) in Internet Explorer (version 10), you must manually delete cookie files (you can find instructions for doing so at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278835);
(b) in Firefox (version 24), you can delete cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options" and "Privacy", then selecting "Use custom settings for history", clicking "Show Cookies", and then clicking "Remove All Cookies"; and
(c) in Chrome (version 29), you can delete all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Clear browsing data", and then selecting "Delete cookies and other site and plug-in data" before clicking "Clear browsing data".
6.2 Deleting cookies will have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.
Cookie preferences
7.1 You can manage your preferences relating to the use of cookies on our website by visiting: controls below
Part 3: Our details
Data protection registration
1.1 We are registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner's Office.
Our details
2.1 This website is owned and operated by Focus Reports Ltd.
2.2 We are registered in England and Wales under registration number 7676770, and our registered office is at Lynton House, 7-12 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LT, United Kingdom.
2.3 You can contact us by writing to the business address given above, by using our website contact form or by telephone on +441707828754.
AREVA Renewables Managing Director, Andre Luiz Salgado, explains the rationale behind investing in biomass, a clean and powerful source capable of meeting the country’s high demand for energy.
Headquartered in France, AREVA has a long history in nuclear power, and yet decided to diversify bye entering renewable energies to become a truly energy focused company. How did AREVA establish itself as a solid renewable player in Brazil?
In 2001, AREVA took its first steps into renewable energies through energy storage. Three years later, AREVA T&D biomass area was incorporated to AREVA Renewables, and started developing projects in biomass. As AREVA went through a series of adjustments, AREVA Renewables was created to reinforce the group’s footprint in renewable energies. AREVA’s plan was to acquire several companies worldwide to gain strengths in that field. This process started when German wind player Multibrid was acquired in 2007, creating AREVA Wind. Shortly after Koblitz, a local Brazilian biomass player became part of the group joining the Bioenergies Business Unit; finally in 2010, an American solar company named Ausra, now AREVA Wind, completed AREVA’s diversified portfolio of renewable companies. These investments were to strengthen the company in offshore wind, bioenergy, and solar power.
Last year, to reinforce our portfolio, AREVA acquired a bioenergy company specialized in torrefaction. This technology basically enables the production of bio-coal, which produces plant fuel from biomass, a perfect solution to replace fossil coal used for thermal generation. Through this investment we plan to have an industrial scale plant operating in the north of France by the end of the year.
Looking at AREVA’s global renewable business units, biomass only accounts for 20 percent of the total renewable energy revenues whereas wind capitalizes 67 percent. Considering that Brazil has a unique wind potential of 350 GW, why didn’t AREVA invest in wind power locally?
AREVA’s technology and expertise specifically meets the need of offshore wind projects rather than onshore: these represent two different business niches, and since Brazil’s wind market for the moment only allows onshore projects, the conditions do not apply. The biggest opportunities for offshore wind are located in the northeast of the USA and in Europe, mostly in the North Sea and the UK. It is clear that Brazil will not have an offshore wind market in the near future considering Brazil’s onshore wind capacity.
AREVA globally has revenues of USD nine billion, and North and South America account for 20 percent of this figure. What does Brazil alone represent today? How do you plan to reinforce your local operations?
Around 94 percent of the group’s revenues are based on nuclear energy and the rest is allocated to renewable energies. Therefore, Brazil should represent a small percentage of the group’s revenues.
To grow our revenues in Brazil we have dedicated a special support to our client base, assisting them with consultancy, helping them define the best long-term economic feasibility study and resolve issues with environmental licensing and project financing. Our engineering consultancy business generates a very small part of our revenues as our business model and revenue basis lies in our construction capabilities. We define ourselves as a full EPC player, bringing turnkey solutions to our customers across Brazil and Latin America.
Which competitive technologies do you bring for the development of your biomass projects?
Brazil’s main biomass market is based on the sugar and ethanol segment. Therefore, what we use for power generation is the residual part of the sugar cane process called bagasse. Biomass generation has a rather simple transformation process that does not necessitate advanced, state-of-the-art technologies. Brazil is a specialist in sugar cane bagasse and has been developing its own series of technologies that perform extremely well.
Nonetheless, AREVA has a biomass technology center in Bordeaux (France). This center has developed new technologies, especially in the field of torrefaction and energy efficiency. We expect this technology to make a notable difference in Brazil and give us a competitive advantage over the local competition.
Besides biomass, AREVA is also a hydro EPC contractor with four small hydropower plants and a relatively large 374 MW hydro plant—Santo Antonio do Jari. Is this a means to diversify your portfolio?
We hold great expertise in hydro project developments, as already in 2003 during PROINFA (incentive program for the development of renewable energies in Brazil), we were already undertaking 30 small hydropower plant projects. Santo Antonio do Jari is our only ongoing project as the other four have been completed. Hydro is not our core market but our experience in construction would allow us to participate. Currently, hydro is not the best resource to invest in due to the feed-in tariffs currently in place, and we feel that biomass holds much more promising prospects, especially with the free market and also on the auctions, what was proved in the latest A-5 Auction held in August.
Looking ahead with Brazil’s great energy challenges and major international events, it is clear that being an active player and investing in the market is necessary. What defines AREVA’s vision for the future here? Shall we see a shift to nuclear?
With a power demand growing at a much faster rate than the country’s GDP, power generation is under intensive stress and it is a priority to develop alternative sources like biomass to compensate this additional demand. The PDE (Government Decennial Plan for Energy) forecasts for biomass an average increase of 450 MW a year until 2021. Also, as new energy auctions separate wind from biomass and the other sources, the perspectives for new biomass power plants are appealing. There is no doubt that the achievement of 650 MW contracted biomass power plants at the last energy auction is the simple result of adapting energy auctions by source. We expect these projects to be assigned at the beginning of 2014 and our forecasted growth should be in the line of 15 to 20 percent a year.
Besides biomass, hydro and thermal will play a major part, and nuclear should also take a step further in Brazil as Angra 3 nuclear power plant will soon be ready. Many challenges await our country, but at AREVA Renewables in Brazil we hold faith in biomass—a great complementary and clean source for power generation.
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