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jpak
jpak's Journal
jpak's Journal
April 26, 2012
PORTLAND, Maine -- Maine regulators have put three utilities on the path to distribute electricity harnessed from tides at the nation's eastern tip, a key milestone in a bid to turn the natural rise and fall of ocean levels into power.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission set terms for a contract that would be in place for 20 years. The regulators also directed the three utilities to negotiate with Ocean Renewable Power Co. to put electricity onto the grid this summer, the first long-term power purchase agreements for tidal energy in the United States.
"It's a landmark in the commercialization of tidal energy in the U.S.," said Chris Sauer, president and CEO of the Portland-based company.
Ocean Renewable intends to install its first underwater turbine unit this summer on Cobscook Bay under a demonstration project.
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Maine may harness power of tides
http://www.delawareonline.com/viewart/20120426/BUSINESS/204260308/Maine-may-harness-power-of-tides?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CBUSINESSPORTLAND, Maine -- Maine regulators have put three utilities on the path to distribute electricity harnessed from tides at the nation's eastern tip, a key milestone in a bid to turn the natural rise and fall of ocean levels into power.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission set terms for a contract that would be in place for 20 years. The regulators also directed the three utilities to negotiate with Ocean Renewable Power Co. to put electricity onto the grid this summer, the first long-term power purchase agreements for tidal energy in the United States.
"It's a landmark in the commercialization of tidal energy in the U.S.," said Chris Sauer, president and CEO of the Portland-based company.
Ocean Renewable intends to install its first underwater turbine unit this summer on Cobscook Bay under a demonstration project.
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April 26, 2012
In a northwestern corner of India, rows of steel and glass are rising from the ground to form what will be one of the largest solar power plants in Asia. The 250-megawatt project is the first in India for Silicon Valley-based Areva Solar, which is benefiting from an aggressive plan by the Indian government to boost solar energy generation to help reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Areva engineers solar power plants that use flat mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto water-filled tubes to produce steam, which is then piped to run a turbine to generate electricity. This process is called concentrating solar thermal technology, and it’s being used in different configurations to build solar farms in the United States, particularly in states such as California and Arizona.
The company will complete the project in two phases, with the first 125 megawatts to come online in May 2013, said Jayesh Goyal, the company’s global vice president of sales. The second phase will start delivering power in late 2014 or early 2015.
“India is a market with a high electricity demand and a favorable regime for renewable energy,” Goyal said.
<more>
Areva Solar Builds Giant Solar Farm In India
http://www.forbes.com/sites/uciliawang/2012/04/25/areva-solar-builds-giant-solar-farm-in-india/In a northwestern corner of India, rows of steel and glass are rising from the ground to form what will be one of the largest solar power plants in Asia. The 250-megawatt project is the first in India for Silicon Valley-based Areva Solar, which is benefiting from an aggressive plan by the Indian government to boost solar energy generation to help reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Areva engineers solar power plants that use flat mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto water-filled tubes to produce steam, which is then piped to run a turbine to generate electricity. This process is called concentrating solar thermal technology, and it’s being used in different configurations to build solar farms in the United States, particularly in states such as California and Arizona.
The company will complete the project in two phases, with the first 125 megawatts to come online in May 2013, said Jayesh Goyal, the company’s global vice president of sales. The second phase will start delivering power in late 2014 or early 2015.
“India is a market with a high electricity demand and a favorable regime for renewable energy,” Goyal said.
<more>
April 26, 2012
YUMA, Ariz., April 26 (UPI) -- Set to become the world's largest photovoltaic power plant, the Aqua Caliente project in Arizona reached the 100-megawatt milestone, companies said.
Executives from NRG Energy Inc., MidAmerican Solar and First Solar Inc., met with Arizona representatives to commemorate delivering the first 100 megawatts to the grid from the 290 MW Aqua Caliente solar project.
"Agua Caliente will provide a positive impact on the environment and create jobs," said Paul Caudill, president of MidAmerican Solar. "Projects such as Agua Caliente will play a central role in our nation's long-term electric energy supply and in our national transition to cleaner energy sources."
Utility company Pacific Gas and Electric has a 25-year purchase agreement for the project's entire capacity. When completed in 2014, it will be the largest PV power plant in the world, offsetting roughly 5.5 million tons of carbon dioxide during the next 25 years.
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Arizona solar project reaches 100MW mark
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/04/26/Arizona-solar-project-reaches-100MW-mark/UPI-77551335440824/YUMA, Ariz., April 26 (UPI) -- Set to become the world's largest photovoltaic power plant, the Aqua Caliente project in Arizona reached the 100-megawatt milestone, companies said.
Executives from NRG Energy Inc., MidAmerican Solar and First Solar Inc., met with Arizona representatives to commemorate delivering the first 100 megawatts to the grid from the 290 MW Aqua Caliente solar project.
"Agua Caliente will provide a positive impact on the environment and create jobs," said Paul Caudill, president of MidAmerican Solar. "Projects such as Agua Caliente will play a central role in our nation's long-term electric energy supply and in our national transition to cleaner energy sources."
Utility company Pacific Gas and Electric has a 25-year purchase agreement for the project's entire capacity. When completed in 2014, it will be the largest PV power plant in the world, offsetting roughly 5.5 million tons of carbon dioxide during the next 25 years.
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April 26, 2012
Washington, D.C. - infoZine - India’s ambitious national solar program has catalyzed rapid growth in the solar market, driving prices for solar energy to impressive lows and demonstrating how government policy can stimulate clean energy markets, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
In only two years, competitive bidding under India’s National Solar Mission drove prices for grid-connected solar energy to nearly the price of electricity from fossil fuels, at Rs. 7.49/kWh ($0.15/kWh). During that same period, cumulative installed solar capacity in India surged from 17.8 MW to over 500 MW, as discussed in “Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future: Assessing Progress Under Phase 1 of India’s National Solar Mission.”
“As the world’s second-fastest growing economy, India has sparked a powerful solar market in only two years,” said Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s India Initiative. “While the National Solar Mission still faces significant hurdles, India has already made important strides to attract new domestic and international players into the market, and lower the price of solar energy faster than most anticipated.”
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Solar Program in India Drives Prices to Impressive Lows
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/51606/Washington, D.C. - infoZine - India’s ambitious national solar program has catalyzed rapid growth in the solar market, driving prices for solar energy to impressive lows and demonstrating how government policy can stimulate clean energy markets, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
In only two years, competitive bidding under India’s National Solar Mission drove prices for grid-connected solar energy to nearly the price of electricity from fossil fuels, at Rs. 7.49/kWh ($0.15/kWh). During that same period, cumulative installed solar capacity in India surged from 17.8 MW to over 500 MW, as discussed in “Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future: Assessing Progress Under Phase 1 of India’s National Solar Mission.”
“As the world’s second-fastest growing economy, India has sparked a powerful solar market in only two years,” said Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s India Initiative. “While the National Solar Mission still faces significant hurdles, India has already made important strides to attract new domestic and international players into the market, and lower the price of solar energy faster than most anticipated.”
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April 21, 2012
Michigan electricity providers are making good progress toward meeting the state’s 2015 renewable-energy mandate, mainly because of a sharp drop in wind-power generation costs, a recent state Public Service Commission report found.
The commission also says the cost of renewables is lower than the projected cost of producing electricity from a new coal-fired plant.
Spokesmen for DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, the state’s two largest electric utilities, wouldn’t comment on whether the utilities agreed with the commission’s cost comparisons.
“Wind is the cheapest resource to bring large amounts of renewable energy online,” said Julie Baldwin, manager of the commission’s renewable energy section. “It’s hard for other sources to be competitive.”
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Wind power stays aloft in renewable energy race (cheaper than new coal plants)
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/04/wind_power_stays_aloft_in_rene.htmlMichigan electricity providers are making good progress toward meeting the state’s 2015 renewable-energy mandate, mainly because of a sharp drop in wind-power generation costs, a recent state Public Service Commission report found.
The commission also says the cost of renewables is lower than the projected cost of producing electricity from a new coal-fired plant.
Spokesmen for DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, the state’s two largest electric utilities, wouldn’t comment on whether the utilities agreed with the commission’s cost comparisons.
“Wind is the cheapest resource to bring large amounts of renewable energy online,” said Julie Baldwin, manager of the commission’s renewable energy section. “It’s hard for other sources to be competitive.”
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April 19, 2012
<snip>
And, ultimately, it’s the answer. Eventually the capacity of solar cells will increase, the cost to manufacture them will go down, and battery storage will improve such that sunlight collected on a sunny day can be used during a cloudy week.
But when?
Perhaps sooner than one might think. According to the giant consulting firm McKinsey & Company, solar capacity globally will soar as costs fall by an average of 10 percent a year through 2020. It should become cost competitive with fossil fuels in a decade, the report says.
“The pace of cost reductions has been staggering. When companies are building new energy infrastructure, solar will be a competitive option within this decade,” report author Krister Aanesen said in a news release. “It will be cost comparable to peaking plant within two to three years in some countries and comparable with base load plants by the end of the decade.”
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Here comes the sun: Solar cost competitve with fossil fuels in a decade?
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/04/here-comes-the-sun-solar-cost-competitve-with-fossil-fuels-in-a-decade/<snip>
And, ultimately, it’s the answer. Eventually the capacity of solar cells will increase, the cost to manufacture them will go down, and battery storage will improve such that sunlight collected on a sunny day can be used during a cloudy week.
But when?
Perhaps sooner than one might think. According to the giant consulting firm McKinsey & Company, solar capacity globally will soar as costs fall by an average of 10 percent a year through 2020. It should become cost competitive with fossil fuels in a decade, the report says.
“The pace of cost reductions has been staggering. When companies are building new energy infrastructure, solar will be a competitive option within this decade,” report author Krister Aanesen said in a news release. “It will be cost comparable to peaking plant within two to three years in some countries and comparable with base load plants by the end of the decade.”
<more>
April 19, 2012
German solar installations may have more than tripled in the first quarter from a year ago, the country’s deputy environment minister said.
“The first quarter had big installations,” Katherina Reiche said today in an interview during an informal meeting of ministers in Denmark. “It is assumed that nearly 1,800 megawatts were installed.”
Germany added 513 megawatts in the same period last year, according to the Bundesnetzagentur grid regulator.
Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to cut by half the pace of annual solar installations after incentives for the industry pushed new projects to a record 7.5 gigawatts last year, more than double a target. Subsidy cuts, still going through parliament, would take effect April 1, about a year after Merkel decided to exit nuclear generation and replace reactors with a mix of renewable and more efficient fossil-fuel plants.
<more>
Germany Solar Installations May Have Tripled in First Quarter (1800 MW)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-19/germany-solar-installations-may-have-tripled-in-first-quarterGerman solar installations may have more than tripled in the first quarter from a year ago, the country’s deputy environment minister said.
“The first quarter had big installations,” Katherina Reiche said today in an interview during an informal meeting of ministers in Denmark. “It is assumed that nearly 1,800 megawatts were installed.”
Germany added 513 megawatts in the same period last year, according to the Bundesnetzagentur grid regulator.
Chancellor Angela Merkel seeks to cut by half the pace of annual solar installations after incentives for the industry pushed new projects to a record 7.5 gigawatts last year, more than double a target. Subsidy cuts, still going through parliament, would take effect April 1, about a year after Merkel decided to exit nuclear generation and replace reactors with a mix of renewable and more efficient fossil-fuel plants.
<more>
April 19, 2012
NEW DELHI—The west Indian state of Gujarat is flipping the switch on Asia's largest solar power field, as just part of its 600 megawatt solar energy addition to India's power grid.
The Gujarat Solar Park, spread across a desolate swath of desert, accounts for 214 MW of photovoltaic solar capacity, making it larger than China's 200 MW Golmud Solar Park.
The project gives a serious boost to India's renewable energy ambitions.
India aims for solar power to account for 3 percent of national capacity -- or 1,000 MW -- by 2013. Overall, it wants renewables to make up 15 percent of capacity by 2020, from 6 percent today.
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World's largest solar field switched on in India
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/04/19/worlds_largest_solar_field_switched_on_in_india/NEW DELHI—The west Indian state of Gujarat is flipping the switch on Asia's largest solar power field, as just part of its 600 megawatt solar energy addition to India's power grid.
The Gujarat Solar Park, spread across a desolate swath of desert, accounts for 214 MW of photovoltaic solar capacity, making it larger than China's 200 MW Golmud Solar Park.
The project gives a serious boost to India's renewable energy ambitions.
India aims for solar power to account for 3 percent of national capacity -- or 1,000 MW -- by 2013. Overall, it wants renewables to make up 15 percent of capacity by 2020, from 6 percent today.
<more>
April 19, 2012
German energy giant Siemens has a solution in the works to tap the unused wind-powered electricity that goes to waste at night because no one is up and about. The planet’s daily temperature swings stir up night-time winds, just when no one needs electricity.
Solving the storage issue is especially crucial for Germany, which, by cutting its nuclear power, is correspondingly scaling up its offshore wind power 20-fold by 2020 — when it will have 10 GW of wind power on the grid.
Using part of their annual 1 billion euro R&D budget ($1.3 billion), Siemens is working on devising large scale electrolysis that would convert wind energy into gas that can be stored — as electricity cannot be — and can then be shipped out, when it is needed, by pipeline.
Their electrolyser, a soccer-field-sized plant that converts power into storable hydrogen, is in the testing phase, Michael Weinhold, chief technology officer of Siemens’ energy businesses told Bloomberg.
<more>
Siemens Figures Out What to Do With Night Wind (electrolysis, hydrogen storage)
http://cleantechnica.com/2012/04/19/siemens-figures-out-what-to-do-with-night-wind/German energy giant Siemens has a solution in the works to tap the unused wind-powered electricity that goes to waste at night because no one is up and about. The planet’s daily temperature swings stir up night-time winds, just when no one needs electricity.
Solving the storage issue is especially crucial for Germany, which, by cutting its nuclear power, is correspondingly scaling up its offshore wind power 20-fold by 2020 — when it will have 10 GW of wind power on the grid.
Using part of their annual 1 billion euro R&D budget ($1.3 billion), Siemens is working on devising large scale electrolysis that would convert wind energy into gas that can be stored — as electricity cannot be — and can then be shipped out, when it is needed, by pipeline.
Their electrolyser, a soccer-field-sized plant that converts power into storable hydrogen, is in the testing phase, Michael Weinhold, chief technology officer of Siemens’ energy businesses told Bloomberg.
<more>
April 19, 2012
MADRID, April 18 (Reuters) - Spanish spot power prices sank to their lowest levels in two years on Wednesday as cheap supplies of wind power climbed high above previous records.
The Iberian Electricity Market's (Mibel) spot exchange, OMIE, set the day-ahead "pool" price at 22.69 euros ($29.82) per megawatt-hour, down 11.75 euros on the day and the lowest for a full working day since it fixed a price of 21.41 euros for April 8, 2010.
By 1520 GMT, Spanish wind parks - the world's fourth-most productive - were producing 16,513 megawatts, or enough to meet 43.3 percent of demand, according to data from national grid operator REE.
<snip>.
Wind power weighs on the "pool" price because it displaces costlier coal- and gas-burning plants from the generation mix.
<more>
UPDATE 1-Spain spot power at 2-year low, wind smashes record
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/18/markets-iberia-power-idUSL6E8FIEM520120418MADRID, April 18 (Reuters) - Spanish spot power prices sank to their lowest levels in two years on Wednesday as cheap supplies of wind power climbed high above previous records.
The Iberian Electricity Market's (Mibel) spot exchange, OMIE, set the day-ahead "pool" price at 22.69 euros ($29.82) per megawatt-hour, down 11.75 euros on the day and the lowest for a full working day since it fixed a price of 21.41 euros for April 8, 2010.
By 1520 GMT, Spanish wind parks - the world's fourth-most productive - were producing 16,513 megawatts, or enough to meet 43.3 percent of demand, according to data from national grid operator REE.
<snip>.
Wind power weighs on the "pool" price because it displaces costlier coal- and gas-burning plants from the generation mix.
<more>
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