Renewable Energy News, December 22, 2010

Arizona solar plant is a go as developers obtain loan

The developers of a massive solar-power plant near Gila Bend said Tuesday that they have finally secured financing for the $2 billion project, nearly two years after announcing plans to build it.

Abengoa Solar of Spain has finalized a $1.45 billion loan from the federal government to build the Solana Generating Station, and will invest an additional $550 million of equity into the project, said Kate Maracas, vice president of operations.

Abengoa has a 30-year deal to sell the plant's power to Arizona Public Service Co. starting in 2013.

Atlantic Wind files to build offshore power line

Atlantic Wind Connection filed with federal energy regulators for permission to build a giant power transmission project in the Atlantic Ocean along the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast to enable the region's offshore wind potential, a spokesman for the project said Tuesday.

Announced in October, the project will stretch from New Jersey to Virginia and enable up to 6,000 megawatts of wind power that could be built out of sight from land, enough to serve about 1.9 million homes with carbon-free power.

Independent transmission company Trans-Elect is developing the project, expected to cost about $5 billion.

9 Utah solar energy projects receive Blue Sky money

Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky program is helping fund the construction of nine community-based renewable energy projects in the state.

Overall, more than $938,000 was awarded for 12 projects in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, including 11 solar projects and one wind project. The funding is made possible through participating Blue Sky customers, who number more than 34,000.
From the archive

Under the program, customers can sign up to support as many as 100-kilowatt-hour blocks of renewable energy as they choose, at a cost of $1.95 per block, per month.

US Forest Service seeks input on Vt. wind project

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input as part of its deliberations to decide whether to approve plans for a wind energy project on southern Vermont mountaintops in the towns of Searsburg and Readsboro.

A company called Deerfield Wind has applied for permission to build and operate a 17-turbine, 34 megawatt commercial wind energy facility on up to 80 acres of National Forest land on both sides of Vermont Route 8, just north of the Massachusetts border.

The Forest Service is considering four possible alternatives, including approving the project as presented by Deerfield Wind, rejecting it outright or two variations that would include fewer turbines.

Disclosure: SDRS represents Deerfield Wind in this matter.

N.C. sound seen as site for wind turbine cluster

A wind-power company is looking at land along a North Carolina sound for a cluster of 50 or more wind turbines.

The Daily Advance of Elizabeth City reported today that Pasquotank County commissioners will discuss allowing wind turbines of up to 600 feet on agricultural land.

Local business recruiter Wayne Harris says North Carolina's Albemarle Sound is great for turbines because there's plenty of wind at low elevation. Harris says the turbines could employ about 20 people and create construction work for about 300 to 600 others.

Mass. Utility Launches 3 Solar Power Plants

Massachusetts largest electric utility is unveiling three new solar power installations capable of generating enough electricity to run 470 homes.

National Grid and senior state officials are scheduled to formally celebrate the solar power plants Tuesday in Revere, Everett and Haverhill.

The plants cost a total of just over $15 million. They are a product of the Green Communities Act that encourages the growth of solar energy. Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled the initiative last year, allowing utilities to own and operate solar power installations up to 50 megawatts.

Vt. wind co. hopes new turbine is game changer

A Northern Power wind turbine sits atop a hill overlooking Barre's granite quarries. It's one of four 100 kilowatt turbines running in Vermont that were built down the road at the company's headquarters. The big plant was on the verge on insolvency only two years ago, but after attracting new financing, it now employs upwards of 150 workers and ships the wind turbines throughout the country and overseas.

"Considering the economy we are in-- that we have been in-- I think it's a remarkable story. It's really a remarkable American success story," said Parthiv Amin of Northern Power Systems.

Unlike the majority of turbines on the market that run with a gear transmissions like cars, Northern Power's use something called a permanent magnetic direct-drive.

Renewable Energy News, December 16, 2010

U.S. Senate Vote Preserves Renewable Energy Cash Grants

By a vote of 81-19, the U.S. Senate has approved a comprehensive tax package that includes a one-year extension of the Department of Treasury's Section 1603 program, also known as the cash-grant program.

Various organizations and trade associations have been lobbying for the program's extension, saying it has been instrumental in supporting the growth of the renewable energy industry. The program offers a cash grant to renewable energy developers in lieu of an investment tax credit.

The legislation will now be considered by the House, which is expected to bring the bill to the floor later this week, the New York Times has reported.

'Sunrise on Solar' party celebrates new solar farm in Ferrisburgh

Ernie Pomerleau didn’t want just an ordinary ribbon-cutting to launch the state’s largest solar field — so the developer threw a party.

In the Vergennes Union High School gym late Wednesday afternoon, he amassed a wide variety of people with whom he and his company, Pomerleau Real Estate, worked to get the project going. They included bankers who helped with financing, engineers who installed the solar panels, and students at the high school who are using the neighboring solar field as an extension of their classrooms.

“This has been an amazing experience,” Pomerleau said. “It’s good for the economy, it’s good for jobs, and it’s good for the environment.”

Disclosure: SDRS represents Pomerleau Real Estate in this matter.

Fossil fuel giant is betting on a bright future in solar

National climate change legislation may be dead as global warming skeptics take power in Congress. But if you want to see where some big businesses think the future of energy lies, pay attention to NRG Energy.

The New Jersey-based electricity provider, which operates nuclear, coal, and natural gas-fired power plants, has embarked on a solar shopping spree.

On Tuesday, NRG bought a planned 290-megawatt photovoltaic farm from thin-film solar module maker First Solar, agreeing to pour up to $800 million into the Yuma County, Ariz., project. The Agua Caliente power plant will supply electricity to California utility PG&E under a 25-year contract.

The deal follows NRG's agreement to buy SunPower's 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch photovoltaic project on the state's central coast for $450 million. That solar power plant will also supply electricity to PG&E. In October, NRG said it would invest $300 million investment in BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah solar thermal power plant now under construction in the Southern California desert.

In other words, over the course of two months, NRG has made a nearly $1.6 billion bet on Big Solar.

UVM installs 17 solar trackers

The University of Vermont is poised to add another credential to its sustainability resume, and all the students get credit for this one — regardless of whether they know it.

Seventeen photovoltaic panels have been installed on UVM land outside the U.S. Forest Service’s lab on Spear Street. They’re called “solar trackers,” which means they’ll tilt toward the sun as it moves across the sky, drawing optimal amounts of power-generating sunlight. The trackers won’t be operational for another couple of weeks, though, and their most significant contribution to UVM’s environmental profile is about a year away.

That’s when the fully renovated Aiken Center — home to the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources — will be ready for occupancy. The trackers are expected to supply about 20 percent of the rehabbed building’s electric power needs, enhancing its anticipated ranking as one of the greenest buildings around.

Feed-in-Tariff Presents New Possibilities for Maui Residents

It appears that the State of Hawai‘i may be inching closer to what once seemed to be a rather lofty goal: achieving 70 percent clean energy by the year 2030.

Earlier this month, the now former Gov. Linda Lingle announced the state’s Department of Accounting and General Services plans to install more than 1,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the Kalanimoku Building in the Honolulu Capital District. The installation, which is slated to begin in February 2011, is expected to generate nearly 300,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy annually—while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This announcement comes on the heels of yet another transformative initiative: Hawai‘i’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) authorized Hawai‘i Electric Company (HECO)—parent company of Hawai‘i Electric Light Company (HELCO) and Maui Electric Company (MECO)—to begin accepting applications for a new feed-in-tariff (FIT) program.

In a statement released last month, HECO said the program will offer “pre-established rates and standardized contract terms” to qualifying applicants and qualifying renewable technologies, which includes PV, concentrated solar power, on-shore wind and in-line hydropower. The program, said HECO, “will provide an easy way for individuals, businesses, governmental entities and other developers to sell renewable energy to HECO.” The goal is to bring 60 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy projects online within the next two years—five times the current installation of solar power.

California Set to Adopt Sweeping Cap-and-Trade Rules

California air quality regulators are poised to adopt the nation's most sweeping regulations to give power plants, refineries and other major polluters a financial incentive to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Air Resources Board was expected to pass this key piece of the California's 2006 climate law, called AB32, at its meetings Thursday or Friday, with the hope that other states and nations will follow the lead of the world's eighth largest economy.

"AB32 was passed primarily to fill the vacuum created by the failure of Congress to pass any kind of climate or energy legislation for many years now," said Mary Nichols, the air board's chairwoman. "The goal was to lead by example, and being a leader you have to bring others along with you."

California's cap-and-trade rules would set up the largest U.S. carbon trading market as the way to enforce the state's gradually tightening cap on emissions.

A New Way to Buy Wind Power

Millions of people think about buying solar cells for their roofs, but far fewer would consider owning a wind turbine.

An Oregon manufacturer of small wind systems is trying to change that by borrowing a financial strategy from the solar industry: the customer provides a space for the equipment and buy the energy it produces, but the company owns the device, at least for the first few years.

This month the manufacturer, Xzeres, began offering its 10-kilowatt model, which sits on a tower 60 to 100 feet high, with a rotor diameter of under 24 feet. By comparison, a utility-scale wind machine has a capacity that is 100 to 200 times larger, towers as high as 300 feet, and rotor diameters of 250 feet.

Virginia wind farm proceeding

Dominion Resources announced Wednesday that it is acquiring 100-percent ownership of a 2,600 acre tract of land on East River Mountain for the purpose of developing the proposed Bluestone River Wind Farm.

A deed transferring the full ownership of the property to Dominion will be recorded today at the Tazewell County Courthouse. Emil Avram, director of business development for Dominion, said BP, or British Petroleum, an original co-developer of the project, will no longer be involved with the East River Mountain development.

Avram said Dominion still believes the wind turbine project will create jobs, income and economic opportunities for Tazewell County.

Two New Mexico solar projects break ground

Two solar facilities will begin construction before the end of the year in New Mexico as utilities work to meet the state's renewable energy mandate.

Xcel Energy's (XEL.N) utility serving New Mexico and Texas broke ground on Wednesday on a 54-megawatt photovoltaic solar project to be built and operated by SunEdison, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (WFR.N).

The solar project, which will be the state's largest, will allow the utility to fulfill a New Mexico mandate that utilities use renewable sources to supply 15 percent of their electricity needs by 2015, the company said.

The renewable mandate increases to 20 percent by 2020.

Renewable Energy News, December 15, 2010

Renewable-energy grant program has chance of extension

A federal stimulus program that has helped keep renewable-energy projects afloat during the recession could get a second wind despite industry fears that it might become a casualty of partisan bickering in Congress.

In a last-minute push, a Senate committee cleared the way for congressional approval as early as Wednesday to extend the Treasury Department's 1603 cash grant program, which has funneled roughly $18 billion into nearly 1,500 wind and solar projects.

The program, which covers up to 30% of the cost of renewable-energy projects such as solar-panel installations, is set to expire by the end of the year.

The subsidy is lumped into a larger tax package that is expected to go up for a vote in the House on Wednesday. If it passes, installers of thousands of renewable-power projects in the pipeline — including small rooftop solar-panel installations on suburban homes and sprawling and remote wind-turbine farms — could tap the funds in 2011.

Report: Renewable Energy Investments in India Likely to Rise 370% by 2020

According to a report published by the Pew Charitable Trust, investments in the Indian renewable energy sector are likely to increase by a staggering 369 percent over the next decade.

The report analyses the potential growth in the G20 nations on the basis of three sets of scenario — present policies, Copenhagen policies and enhanced renewable energy policies.

The report states that even if India maintains the current set of policies, it is likely to attract highly significant amount of investment over the next decade. The report states that under the current policy scenario, investment in India's clean energy sector is likely to increase to $18 billion in 2020 compared to $2 billion in 2009. The cumulative investment over ten years from 2010-2020 are likely to reach $118 billion, that is, an increase of 369 percent.

China Wins in Wind Power, by Its Own Rules

Judging by the din at its factory here one recent day, the Spanish company Gamesa may seem to be a thriving player in the Chinese wind energy industry it helped create.

But Gamesa has learned the hard way, as other foreign manufacturers have, that competing for China’s lucrative business means playing by strict house rules that are often stacked in Beijing’s favor.

Nearly all the components that Gamesa assembles into million-dollar turbines here, for example, are made by local suppliers — companies Gamesa trained to meet onerous local content requirements. And these same suppliers undermine Gamesa by selling parts to its Chinese competitors — wind turbine makers that barely existed in 2005, when Gamesa controlled more than a third of the Chinese market.

A Plan for a Renewable Utah

To cut human-generated carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent, an oft-quoted goal, the electricity sector might have to reduce its own emissions even more because other sectors like agriculture or aviation could find 80 percent impossible. Many states have quotas for reliance on renewable electricity, but the highest is California’s at just 33 percent.

Yet how much renewable energy can an electric grid tolerate?

A lot more than is generally assumed, according to a new report commissioned by an environmental group, HEAL Utah.Yet the group takes a different tack from that of most other organizations that envision a low-carbon future; it wants to forswear both nuclear power and coal-fired power with carbon dioxide capture.

Utah has no renewable energy quota. But the report, released on Tuesday, proposes a system that would be nearly entirely based on solar, wind and geothermal power and the mass deployment of two technologies that are still in their infancy: compressed air energy storage, and a smart grid that takes control of customers’ appliances.

DOE Closes $400 Million Loan Guarantee for Thin-Film Solar Manufacturing

DOE announced on December 14 that a $400 million loan guarantee has been finalized for Abound Solar Manufacturing, LLC to manufacture state-of-the-art thin-film solar panels. The Abound Solar project represents the fifth America Recovery and Reinvestment Act project to close to date. The project, which includes facilities in Longmont, Colorado, and Tipton, Indiana, will use new manufacturing technology for cadmium-telluride panels that has never been deployed commercially. At full capacity, the project will be capable of producing solar panels with 840 megawatts of capacity each year. The company estimates the project will create 1,200 new jobs for ongoing manufacturing and operations—including 200 in Colorado and 1,000 in Indiana.

The facility will produce photovoltaic panels using an innovative process in which thin films of cadmium-telluride are deposited onto glass panels. The company said it believes the technology offers numerous improvements over existing manufacturing methods and reduces overall production costs. Production and installation of these panels produces significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than crystalline silicon panels.

UW: Admiral Inlet an ideal spot for tidal power

University of Washington researchers say nearly two years of monitoring show the Admiralty Inlet is an ideal place to harness tidal energy.

UW oceanographer Jim Thomson says they have measured currents of up to 8 knots, or 9 miles per hour, faster than initially expected. He says data collected so far also show the site isn't used much by marine species.

The Snohomish County Public Utility District wants to put two large turbines about 200 feet below the surface of Puget Sound.

Renewable Energy News, December 1, 2010

Cap-and-Trade Market Spanning North America Weighed by States

California, New Mexico and 10 U.S. Northeastern states may try to create a North American carbon market on their own now that President Barack Obama has given up on cap-and-trade legislation that stalled in Congress.

The emissions-trading system would be based on a planned carbon market in California, the most populous state, and an existing regional cap-and-trade program for power plants in the Northeast, according to state environmental officials. Three Canadian provinces have also shown interest in a cross-border carbon-trading system, the officials said.

“The key is to have as large and as liquid a market as possible,” John Yap, British Columbia’s climate-change minister, said in a telephone interview. Under cap-and-trade, the government creates a market for pollution rights by issuing a limited number of carbon-dioxide permits, which companies can buy and sell.

Presidential Report Provides Roadmap for Transforming U.S. Energy System

The United States should prepare a federal energy policy and update it regularly, according to a report released on November 29 by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Accelerating the Pace of Change in Energy Technologies Through an Integrated Federal Energy Policy provides a roadmap for the federal role in transforming the U.S. energy system within one to two decades. In the report, PCAST calls for regular strategic Quadrennial Reviews of energy policy similar to the quadrennial reviews produced regularly by the U.S. Department of Defense. The first one is targeted for early 2015. The group—which includes presidentially appointed experts from academia, non-governmental organizations, and industry—recommends a DOE-level version of the review by June 1, 2011, focused on DOE's activities. The federal plan is needed because of economic competitiveness, environmental stewardship, and national security, the authors said.

EPA Finalizes 2011 Renewable Fuel Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 29 finalized the 2011 percentage standards for the four categories of fuel under the agency's renewable fuel standard program, known as RFS2. The four fuel categories are cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and renewable fuel. Based on an analysis of expected market availability, EPA set a 2011 cellulosic volume that is lower than the statutory target. Overall, EPA said it remains optimistic that the commercial availability of cellulosic biofuel will continue to grow.

Google Energy Guru Will Head Policy Center at Stanford

Dan W. Reicher, a former assistant secretary of energy, has left Google, where he spent the last four years as director of climate change and energy initiatives. In that post he helped develop Google’s goal of seeking to make renewable energy less expensive than coal, abbreviated as RE<C.

Among his other accomplishments there were fielding the proposal that led Google to invest in a proposed underwater transmission grid off the Atlantic coast, running from Virginia to New Jersey. He also supervised the development of a fleet of Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrids. These were modified so their batteries could be plugged into the grid rather than charged by gasoline engines. The cars were parked under carports with solar cells on the roofs, and charging could be started or stopped with remote signals.

Now Mr. Reicher is moving on to Stanford, where he will be the executive director of a new interdisciplinary center for energy policy and finance that will straddle the law school (where Mr. Reicher earned a degree) and the business school.

Tokyo Electric's Eurus Unit Plans 50% Expansion in Wind, Solar Capacity

Eurus Energy Holdings Corp., a unit of Tokyo Electric Power Co., may invest as much as 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) to expand wind and solar energy generation by more than half and meet rising demand for cleaner power.

Japan’s biggest wind farm operator plans to increase output from renewable energy projects by 1,000 megawatts from 1,950 megawatts in the U.S., Asia and Europe in five years, Tetsuro Nagata, president and chief executive officer, said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday.

“In the coming few years, the U.S. will be the most attractive market” after President Barack Obama called for more investments in renewable energy, Nagata said. The company may invest in wind farms in states including Texas, Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma and Colorado that often experience strong winds, he said.

Mass. Gov. Patrick’s secretary of energy and environmental affairs to step down

Governor Deval L. Patrick’s environmental secretary, Ian Bowles, said he is stepping down from his Cabinet post, ending a four-year tenure during which he led the administration’s efforts on groundbreaking energy initiatives, including Cape Wind and other renewable energy projects.

Bowles, who is seen by administration insiders as one of Patrick’s most effective Cabinet officers, becomes the first high-ranking member of the Patrick administration to leave as the governor begins his second term.

Senior administration officials said that Bowles’s decision to step down is his own and that the governor would have welcomed his remaining in his position. Patrick issued a statement praising his secretary of energy and environmental affairs, saying Bowles has been a “star in this administration.’’

SC's Santee Cooper dedicating first wind turbine

South Carolina's state-owned electric utility is dedicating its first wind turbine.

Santee Cooper's 2.4-kilowatt turbine is located at North Myrtle Beach's Oceanfront Park and is being dedicated on Tuesday.

The turbine is part of the utility's Wind Education Project which is designed to show the viability of wind power and promote awareness of the power source.

Harnessing wind to help South Dakota's economy

South Dakota's wind energy industry is confident that if given the right incentives, short-term production gains would be a boon for the state's economy, and in 15 years, the state could be producing 10 times as much energy from wind as it is today.

If the state's annual wind-power production were to increase by 1,000 megawatts - less capacity than most neighboring states, but significantly more than its current output of 313 megawatts - this would create more than $2 billion in economic activity and create thousands of jobs in the state, according to an economic report prepared for the South Dakota Wind Energy Association's annual meeting in Mitchell.

Ship covered in solar panels is making waves

What's 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, cost $17.5 million to build and runs on 38,000 photovoltaic cells? It's the Turanor PlanetSolar, a massive catamaran powered solely by the sun.

The what? Turanor is a word taken from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" saga and translates into "the power of the sun". PlanetSolar is the team of 100 engineers and others working to be the first to circumnavigate the globe with a solar-powered boat.

"This is a milestone in the progress of solar mobility," Immo Stroher, a German investor who partnered with Swiss adventurer Raphael Domjan to bankroll the showcase for solar power, said in a statement. "It is my vision to see solar power take its rightful place — not only on rooftops, but also on the roads, seas and in the skies of the future."