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"Their main finding was that companies using low-cost financing to buy PV systems, and households taking out solar-specific loans, can achieve savings of up to 30% compared to leasing a PV system through a conventional third-party owner."

"Because of their specific heat and electricity consumption, hospitals are particularly suitable for cogeneration. A characteristic of hospitals is that there is a constant demand for heat all year round, for e.g. hot tap water and sterilisation. This constant heat demand profile has a favourable effect on the number of hours at which the cogeneration unit can operate at full load."

"Airbus selects Nexans as main cable supplier for the next 5 years The new global supply contract, which builds on Nexans' existing 20-year partnership with Airbus, covers the supply of the hook-up, power, data and fire resistant cables that represent some 95 percent of the total cable requirement on an aircraft. The exact amount of cables on each aircraft varies according to its specification, from 200 km to 600 km depending on the aircraft model. Weight saving is a major priority for Airbus and a crucial element in winning this contract was Nexans' innovative approach to lighter weight cable designs with no compromise on safety, performance or reliability." The A380 jet uses aluminum wire and cable.

Kentucky-based wire and cable manufacturer General Cable Corporation announced on 25th February an adjusted operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2012 of US$48.2M, down from US$ 75.4M in the third quarter. In an outlook for 2013 the company said they expect the first quarter of the year to be the weakest due to "specific factors in Europe and Mediterranean and ROW" although the company said it expects "sequentially better results in nearly all North American businesses." In 2013, the company expects a stronger performance from wire and cable used in the construction and utilities sectors in the US and the Rest of the World ex Europe. The company does not expect any improvement in its wirerod business in the US, but anticipates some pickup in wirerod sales in the Rest of the World ex Europe. The company highlighted in its report continuing weakness in Europe, but expects some improvement in 2013 with the outlook in France and the Mediterranean stabilising.

Nexans reported organic revenue growth of 0.6% to €1.75 billion ($2.3 billion) in all activities in the first quarter, down from 13% growth in the previous year. The group reported strong growth for the first quarter 2012 for copper cables in South America and fibre cables and components in Scandinavia and France. The company did not supply a specific figure for the telecom business, which is now grouped in the transmission, distribution and operators division. Nexans said its operating margin at 30th June should be around 3.5% as a result of competition in underground cables and delays in invoicing high voltage products. At the end of March 2012, net debt came to €566 million ($748.1 million) compared with €222 million ($293.4 million) at the end of December 2011. This increase can mainly be attributed to the acquisition of AmerCable, finalised on 29th February for an enterprise value of €211 million ($278.9 million).

It has been announced that Nexans will be the first major tenant in a business park near Goose Creek, outside Charleston, S.C. The new $85 million plant will employ 200 and construction is expected to start this year with hiring beginning in late 2013. Dirk Steinbrink, vice president in charge of Nexans' High Voltage and Submarine Business Group said "establishing our Berkeley plant is a key strategic development that will enable Nexans to capitalize on the ever growing demand for high-quality high-voltage cables designed and manufactured to meet the specific needs of the major power transmission infrastructure projects in North America and worldwide in the coming years."

Aurubis has announced that it will reduce its production capacity of flat rolled copper products by 35,000t in a restructuring process that will take place beginning from H2 2013. The group intends to transfer some of its rolling operations from Finspång, Sweden to Zutphen in the Netherlands and is also considering moving other types of production currently located at the Finspång factory to its facility in Buffalo, USA. Aurubis attributed the consolidation to structural overcapacity in the flat rolled products market and made specific mention to declining demand in the engine cooling segment.

Nexans has announced that construction of its first high voltage power cable manufacturing plant in North America has begun. The plant is sited in Berkeley County, Charleston, S Carolina. Frederic Michelland, Nexans Senior Corporate Executive Vice President said, "The establishment of our first high voltage cable manufacturing plant in North America is a key strategic development for Nexans. It will enable us to capitalize on the ever growing demand for high quality high voltage cables designed and manufactured to meet the specific needs of the major power transmission infrastructure projects planned in North America and worldwide in the coming years." The plant is to begin operations in 2014 and has an initial investment of US$85M. The first phase of the facility will focus on the manufacture of underground power cables up to extra high voltage (EHV) levels of 500 kV and the company hopes it will reinforce Nexans' current product range in North America, adding to the existing medium voltage, low voltage, overhead transmission, industrial, building wire, electrical wire and LAN portfolios.