A massive setback for Siemens Energy: Technical faults at Siemens Energy’s wind turbine unit will cost it EUR 2.2 bn (c. USD 2.4 bn), its 3Q results (pdf) showed on Monday. The setback has hit the energy giant’s subsidiary Siemens Gamesa, bringing its net losses this year to EUR 4.5 bn. It also slashed its sales outlook and issued a new lower profit outlook due to technical issues in onshore wind turbine components and ramp-up issues for offshore production.

It’s not as bad as predicted: Yesterday’s cost tally remains below worst-case estimates of over EUR 5 bn issued by UBS, according to Reuters. “While the results are negative, they are not as bad as feared by some investors,” Reuters quoted JP Morgan analysts as saying. They said an additional EUR 700 million euro writedown on deferred tax assets could help the group “clear the decks.”

REMEMBER- Gamesa is a major player in Egypt’s wind energy sector and is involved in the 500 MW Gulf of Suez wind farm — formerly known as the Ras Gharib wind plant — the 250 MW West Bakr wind farm, and the 220 MW Gabal El Zeit 2 wind project in the Gulf of Suez.

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A helping hand for Nigeria’s mini solar grids: The World Bank plans to help finance the construction of 1k mini solar power grids in Nigeria under a partnership with the government and private sector, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing statements by the Washington-based lender’s President Ajay Banga. Nigeria — which is Africa’s biggest economy — has an installed power generation capacity of 12.5 GW, but produces only a fraction of that, leaving mns of homes and businesses dependent on petrol and diesel generators. Banga said that nearly 150 mini grids partly funded by the lender had been built to provide power to communities without electricity. “We are putting another 300 in, but our ambition with the government is to go all the way to 1k. We’re talking about hundreds of mns of USD that are being invested,” he said, without providing a specific timeline for the construction of the new grids.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Energy giants eye Indonesia: Singapore’s Vena Energy, China’s Suntech and REPT Battero, and US-based Powin will jointly explore investment opportunities to manufacture solar panel components and energy storage systems in Indonesia. (Reuters)
• Japan will begin disposing of Fukushima’s radioactive water: Japan will begin releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean as early as late August. About 1.3m tons of water has been filtered to remove most radioactive elements except for tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that is difficult to separate from water. (The Guardian)