Smart wind turbines with batteries will be deployed courtesy of GE and Invenergy in Texas this year, feeding energy into the state's grid from a source that has at times accounted for over a quarter of its total electricity.

GE said Invenergy ordered three 2.5-megawatt turbines that come with sodium-nickel battery storage and power-regulations software for an 86-turbine wind farm going up this year. That announcement comes just two months after GE revealed its “brilliant” turbine and Duke Energy tested a 36-megawatt battery system at a wind farm in West Texas.

The energy captured will be used during times of peak demand, when air conditioners and factories need it the most.

Texas leads the country in installed wind capacity—a figure that continues to grow. As a result, grid operators are turning more to energy storage to gain more certainty from their power sources. Fortunately, GE says its system will allow for predictable energy flow over 15 to 60 minute periods.

“This new marriage of battery storage and advanced software within a wind turbine allows forward-thinking wind energy producers like Invenergy to shift the winds in its favor – increasing wind power’s efficiency and short-term predictability,” Keith Longtin, who manages the wind product line for GE’s renewable energy business, said in a statement.

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There are now more solar energy workers in the state of Texas than there are ranchers, according to solar research group The Solar Foundation.

The group's data mapping out solar jobs across the nation also showed that there are more solar jobs in California than actors, and more solar workers than coal miners nationwide. Sunny states like California and Arizona topped the list. Wyoming came in last, with just 50 workers, while Utah showed a mere 290 solar workers despite being one of the country's sunniest states.

Even the states with less sunshine like New Jersey and Michigan showed a high number of solar jobs—thanks to favorable tax and regulatory policies that help attract developers to cope with high electricity prices.

Related story: Massive Military Solar Project Commences in Hawaii

The study also showed that almost half of solar jobs involve installing solar panels, paying around $18 and hour ($38,000 a year), which is higher than the median national wage of $34,750, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Related story: Solar Roadways Light the Way for the Future of Infrastructure

About another quarter of those jobs involve the manufacturing of solar panels, lending the other quarter to development, sales and marketing.

Nationwide, some 119,000 people are employed by the solar industry, marking one of the fastest growth rates for any industry in the country.

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Reconfirming its commitment to a more sustainable future, Australia proudly announced the opening of the 420 MW Macarthur Wind Farm on April 11—the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere. But the magnitude of the project was not the only impressive feature of the $1 billion venture: it was also the first to purchase the Vestas V112-3.0 MW wind turbine, capable of picking up low to medium wind speed to fully take advantage Australia's vast wind resources. As a bonus, the project spurred job growth and was delivered three months ahead of schedule almost exactly on budget.

Under a joint venture between Australian-based AGL Energy and New Zealand-based Meridian Energy, Vestas, a leading international wind turbine manufacturer, commenced site work in late 2010 with the project partner Leighton Contractors. Vestas' new V112-3.0 MW turbines had never before been deployed, but held tremendous promise to set new industry benchmarks for the cost of energy per Gwh, boasting a larger rotor diameter and efficient power train design.

“Vestas won a project of international significance based on a product that was still just at a blue print stage,” says Giles Rinckes, Project Director. “But because of Vestas' reputation and the faith the customer had in the company, the investment was made swiftly and successfully.”

COME RAIN OR SHINE

That's not to say the project was shy of its own set of challenges. For the past decade, Australia had experienced a period of intense drought—a condition expected to continue throughout the construction phase in Macarthur. When the drought unexpectedly broke, however, heavy rainfall on site posed a number of significant challenges including the redesign of some of its civil works.

“Vestas and Leighton Contractors didn't leave or stop the progress,” says Rinckes. “We worked through the rain.”

It was a massive, technically complex job that required meeting high standards of grid compliance, pulling equipment from all over the world and intensive operations, coordination and planning on the ground.

“Despite all of the challenges, we finished in January of this year—three months ahead of schedule,” says Rinckes. “That's just a bonus to the quality of the job successfully delivered to the client.”

ECONOMIC BOOST

With a total of 140 of Vestas' V112-3.0 MW turbines, the Macarthur Wind Farm has a contracted power output of up to 420 MW, or enough to power 220,000 homes in Victoria. In a country where coal reigns, that equates to the diversion of some 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases each year, according to Vestas.

In light of uncertain economic conditions, careful consideration was taken into account to ensure the farm would exceed its return on investment.

“We wanted to make sure that our business will survive in tough market conditions,” says Rinckes. “These turbines were selected specifically to match Macarthur's wind conditions and provide optimum generation for the customer over the next 20 years.”

During the construction stage, direct, indirect and induced employment resulted in 2,100 jobs and 115 long-term jobs over the life span of the farm, 30 per cent of which were filled by local workers. A number of local businesses, including manufacturers of turbine towers and leading travel tower fleet like Summit Tower Hire also contributed a fair share of contracted work.

“It's great to work with local companies close to the wind farm that we can invest in,” says Rinckes. “There's a whole host of Australian companies that are extremely competent in the wind energy space.”

With the Macarthur installation, Vestas has contributed to more than half of the cumulative wind energy capacity in Australia. Thanks to the country's efforts to reach its Renewable Energy Target of generating 20 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2020, Australia is now enjoying the benefits of large-scale clean energy investment. But the project's successful commissioning down under could have an even larger impact abroad.

GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS

With the majority of sites bearing high wind speed conditions already developed, Vestas' flagship turbine responds to one of the greatest limitations facing the industry: the ability to tap the huge potential available in low to medium wind sites in markets around the world.

“Based on the 3 MW turbine platform, we also just released a series of new turbines based on that same technology,” says Naveen Raghavan Balachandran, Senior Director, Business Development and Public Affairs at Vestas. “The new designs will be able to cater to the entire wind spectrum.”

The new variants include the V112-3.3 MW, the V117-3.3 MW and the V126-3.3 MW, all based on the same proven technology of machines deployed in Macarthur, enabling customers to benefit from energy production across low, medium and high wind sites.

“That's going to open up the possibilities for wind power in a lot more markets in environments no other wind energy company could successfully operate before,” says Balachandran, a revolutionary addition to the overall renewable energy market.  

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Construction has started on the first phase of a massive solar project by Forest City Military Communities and SolarCity® to provide solar electricity to 6,500 military family residences at Ohana Military Communities (OMC), which serves Navy Region Hawaii and Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The latest SolarStrong™ project is scoped for a planned 24 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity, which would make it the largest SolarCity has undertaken to date. SolarCity and Forest City have finished installing the first 700 kilowatts of solar capacity at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, and will soon initiate the first installations on Navy Region Hawaii. Representatives from Forest City and SolarCity will join in a traditional Hawaiian blessing today to celebrate the initiation of the project. SolarStrong, SolarCity’s five-year plan to build more than $1 billion in solar energy projects for U.S. military housing communities, is expected to create up to 300 MW of solar generation capacity that could provide energy to as many as 120,000 military housing units.

Related Story: Army Scientists Scout Energy Solutions for the Battlefield

Primarily financed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the new project at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and Navy Region Hawaii is expected to reduce Hawaii’s dependence on the imported oil it uses to produce the majority of its electricity. The projects will help the state make a significant advance toward its ambitious Clean Energy Initiative goal to use 70% clean energy, including 40% renewable energy, by 2030. The project will also help the Department of Defense, currently the largest energy consumer in the United States, make additional progress toward its goal to have 25% of its energy requirements met by renewable energy by 2025.

Forest City is a leading developer and manager of distinctive and diversified real estate projects, with properties in 26 states and the District of Columbia. The company currently manages military family housing units in eight states from Hawaii to South Carolina for the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force under the Armed Forces’ Public-Private Venture (PPV) Privatized Family Housing program.

“Our partnership with SolarCity on this renewable energy initiative is a strong positive for the military and for the environment. Sustainability is a corporate core value at Forest City,” said Thomas Henneberry, president of Forest City Military Communities. “This is our first involvement with the SolarStrong project and we’re hopeful to find opportunities to expand it to other portions of our portfolio.”

"Top Navy leaders support these initiatives because we are stronger, safer and less vulnerable when we embrace renewable energy and support sustainability -- in all of our communities,” said Rear Admiral Frank Ponds, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii. “We need to diversify our energy resources, and we need to build strong partnerships. For example, through the joint energy security initiative here in Hawaii we have a strong commitment to solar energy as well as other promising alternative and renewable energy sources and solutions. We are moving forward together at every opportunity to promote sustainability and security. This is the right thing to do for the Navy, for Hawaii and for the nation -- not only now, but also for generations to come."

Related story: The US Army's Great Drive for Renewable Power

"This project not only benefits our military ohana, it reduces our energy costs which directly affect how our tax payer's dollar is spent. Additionally, it reduces our reliance on foreign oil, and helps contribute to Hawaii's goal to generate 40% clean energy from locally generated renewables by 2030," said Col. Brian Annichiarico, commanding officer, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

“Project by project, our SolarStrong initiative is assisting the Department of Defense’s impressive effort to change the way our nation’s military consumes energy,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. “The road to the Department’s goal of 25% renewable energy by 2025 is being paved, in part, with solar panels by sustainable developers such as Forest City.”

“We are pleased to be able to help finance the most recent and largest planned SolarStrong project so far,” said Jonathan Plowe, head of New Energy & Infrastructure Solutions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Bank of America Merrill Lynch remains a leader in financing solar power, and is proud to work with SolarCity, Forest City and the U.S. military to promote the use of clean, renewable energy and create jobs for Americans, including veterans and military family members.”

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In addition to SolarStrong, SolarCity is pursuing a veteran hiring initiative as part of its Workforce Development program. The company has hired more than 100 veterans this year in various positions within the company including IT, sales, managerial, administration, design and installation. The company has collaborated on hiring processes by partnering with several veteran programs across the country, including Veteran Affairs national offices, JPMorgan Chase & Co’s ‘100,000 Jobs Mission,’ Swords to Plowshares, The California National Guard, The California Conservation Corps and Veterans Green Jobs.

In addition to the Navy Region Hawaii and Marine Corps Base Hawaii projects announced today, there are additional SolarStrong projects underway at Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range in Texas, Hickam Community Housing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Peterson and Schriever Air Force Bases in Colorado. Each project was financed in part by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

SOURCE: SolarCity

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Global wind and solar company, Mainstream Renewable Power today announced its sponsorship of a rowing expedition attempting a world first through the infamous Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic this summer. Three experienced Irish adventurers and one Canadian are attempting to become the first ever people to cross the 3,000 km passage by human power alone in a single season - a feat which is only possible due to the melting ice which normally renders it impassable.

Irishmen Paul Gleeson, Denis Barnett and Kevin Vallely along with Canadian Frank Wolf will set off from Inuvik in the North West Territories on the first of July in their 25ft long customized rowing boat "The Arctic Joule". The four men will row in continuous shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week as the route will be in constant daylight for the majority of the journey, which is expected to take two to three months, ending at Pond Inlet in Nunavut.

Eddie O'Connor, Chief Executive of Mainstream Renewable Power said: "Mainstream is proud to sponsor this expedition because it draws attention to the disasters of global warming. The expedition can only happen because the polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate. The melting of the permafrost and the release of methane hydrate is perhaps the biggest single calamity that mankind faces and it's all down to human-induced global warming. This expedition allows us to demonstrate to the world that there is an answer to global warming. We don't have to do without electricity. We can have our electricity supplied by renewable sources."

He continued: "Just last month, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said that if we have any hope of keeping climate change below two degrees Celsius, the peak year of carbon emission has to be 2016. I hope this expedition will show world leaders that we need to act now."

This announcement comes as EU Environment Ministers met at Dublin Castle last week to discuss a range of important environmental and climate issues as part of the Irish Presidency agenda.

Speaking about the expedition Paul Gleeson said: "We are very pleased that such a successful, Irish renewable energy company with a global presence feels as passionately about this as we do. It wasn't long ago that the Northwest Passage was the sole domain of steel-hulled ice-breakers. We hope by making this traverse completely under human power in a row boat, without sail or motor, in a single season we will be able to demonstrate first-hand the profound effects climate change is having on our world."

The Northwest Passage is a route through the various islands of the Canadian archipelago which over the years has witnessed some incredible tales of courage, disaster and hardship. In 1845, fellow-Irishman, Francis Crozier from County Down joined Sir John Franklin on the same expedition in the HMS Terror, an expedition which ended in disaster and to this day remains unsolved.

SOURCE Mainstream Renewable Power

Photo sourced via PR Newswire

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A bipartisan bill introduced to the Senate last week could serve renewable energy developers with some of the same tax benefits the oil and gas industry currently enjoys.

The Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act would change the tax code and allow renewable and clean-energy companies to structure businesses as master limited partnerships, averting double taxation while trading ownership interests on the market. Oil and gas and other fossil fuel-related industries already enjoy such freedoms, allowing them access to private capital at significantly lower costs than investors in other energy projects, according to Senator Chris Coons.

“That starves a growing and vital part of our domestic energy sector of the capital that it needs to grow,” Coons told Bloomberg. “That just doesn’t make any sense.”

Republican representative Ted Poe and other Republicans also support the effort, despite their strong ties to the oil and gas industry.

“The tax code currently hinders the US' ability to develop all energy and be more energy-independent,” Poe said at a press conference.

The bill would also encourage smaller investors to get involved in the market, bringing more resources into the renewable energy sector.

“There’s also evidence that MLPs could drive down the cost of renewables themselves by driving down the cost of capital for those projects, which is an exciting thing for the industry,” Andrew Savage, a spokesman for Vermont-based solar technology manufacturer AllEarth Renewables, told BNA April 24

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If the U.S. ceases to burn coal, shuts down a quarter of existing nuclear reactors, and trims its use of natural gas by 2050, the resulting increased reliance on wind, solar and other renewables will not result in a less reliable electricity grid, according to a major new report prepared by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc., for the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI).

The new study finds that, in the envisioned 2050 with a heavy reliance on renewables, regional electricity generation supply could meet or exceed demand in 99.4 percent of hours, with load being met without imports from other regions and without turning to reserve storage.  In addition, surplus power would be available to export in 8.6 percent of all hours, providing an ample safety net where needed from one region of the U.S. to the next.

Grant Smith, senior energy analyst, Civil Society Institute said: “This study shows that the U.S. electricity grid could integrate and balance many times the current level of renewables with no additional reliability issues. Recent improvements in both renewable technologies themselves and in the technologies that are used to control and balance the grid have been proceeding at a rapid pace, and the incentives and rewards for success in this area continue to drive substantial progress. In contrast, the alternative—continuing to rely on increasing combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, and producing ever-increasing levels of greenhouse gases—is far less feasible, and presents much more daunting technical, economic, and social challenges to human and environmental welfare. In comparison, the challenge of integrating increasing levels of solar and wind power on the U.S. power grids requires only incremental improvements in technology and operational practices.”

Report co-author Dr. Thomas Vitolo, analyst, Synapse Energy Economics, Inc.: “Put simply, the message today is this:  It is a myth to say that the United States cannot rely on renewables for the bulk of its electricity generation.  This study finds that the projected mixes, based entirely on existing technology and operational practices, are capable of balancing projected load in 2030 and 2050 for each region—in nearly every hour of every season of the year.”

In 2011, Synapse prepared a study for the Civil Society Institute that introduced a “Transition Scenario” in which the United States retires all of its coal plants and a quarter of its nuclear plants by 2050, moving instead toward a power system based on energy efficiency and renewable energy.  The Synapse study for CSI showed that this Transition Scenario, in addition to achieving significant reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other pollutants, ultimately costs society less than a “business as usual” status quo strategy -- even without considering the cost of carbon. The 2011 study also projected that, over 40 years, the Transition Scenario would result in savings of $83 billion (present value) compared to the status quo strategy.

To achieve these lower-cost and low-emissions results, the Transition Scenario included large amounts of renewable energy resources with “variable output,” such as wind and solar. While the need for variable-output resources is well defined, questions have been raised about the impact of large-scale wind and solar integration on electric system reliability.  To address this, Synapse paid careful attention to the amount of wind and solar in each region when designing the Transition Scenario for the 2011 report, taking steps to ensure that the projected regional resource mixes could respond to all load conditions.

The new 2013 study for the Civil Society Institute takes the analysis one big step farther, in order to explore the extent to which the Transition Scenario’s resource mixes for 2030 and 2050 are capable of meeting projected load for each of the 10 studied regions — not just during peak demand conditions, but in every hour of every season of the year as consumers require.

METHODOLOGY

Synapse developed a spreadsheet-based hourly dispatch model to test the capability of the Transition Scenario resource mix in each study region to meet hourly demand in that region. Hourly load data for each region was based on 2010 actual demand, and was adjusted — considering changes in demographics, wealth, and energy efficiency—so that the peak load and annual energy requirements closely matched those in the 2011 Transition Scenario. Data for these tasks were obtained from FERC 2011, NERC 2012, and U.S. EPA 2011. The generators used in the model came from the BBAU 2011 Transition Scenario.

To model the hourly generation of variable resources, a number of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) studies and data sets were used. To model hourly wind generation, data sets from NREL’s Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EnerNex Corporation 2011) and Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (GE Energy 2010) were applied to the power curve of a Vestas V 112 3.0 MW turbine. To model solar output, site specific data from NRELs PVWatts calculator was used. Annual hydroelectric capacity factors from the 2011 report were used for the Northeast, Southeast, Eastern Midwest, and Texas regions; monthly hydroelectric capacity factors from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation were used for the Northwest, California, Arizona/New Mexico, Rocky Mountains, Western Midwest, and South Central regions.

SOURCE: Civil Society Institute

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The Geothermal Energy Association's annual U.S. and International Geothermal Energy Finance Forum (#GEAFinance2013) brought together leaders from the geothermal, finance and investment communities for a day of seminars and discussions. The forum, hosted April 11 at the Marriott Marquis New York, focused on finance's role in the growth of the U.S. geothermal industry, as well as geothermal projects, policies and development worldwide.

"For the industry to reach the next level, we need to expand support from the finance community," said GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell. “Governments are providing greater support, but it won’t be enough to fund the expected thousands of megawatts of new projects in the pipeline. We must engage new private investors to grow the geothermal industry."

Related story: Are Volcanos the New Source of Geothermal Energy?

Panels at the forum included a worldwide geothermal development update delivered by Benjamin Matek, GEA geothermal industry analyst, and Mark Taylor, head of geothermal and CCS research for Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

"Only 6 percent of the estimated global geothermal resource is currently online," Taylor said. "By 2030, we expect 28 to 29 GW to come online. There are a lot of places in the world geothermal has not been tapped."

In addition to the United States, a number of leading geothermal markets were represented at the Finance Forum, including Angola, Australia, Canada, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Rwanda and Uganda. Many of the program speakers remarked that developers can increase success by distinguishing the most fruitful possible projects from the abundance of the global geothermal resources through proper resource studies upfront, thus avoiding major risks further along a project’s timeline.

Top Ten: Geothermal Energy Locations

A discussion centered on private geothermal project finance highlighted the benefits of investing in this clean energy. "It's baseload, it's 24/7, it's a really good investment," said Sid Sinha, senior vice president of Marathon Capital. "It's a proven technology and it's been around for decades."

The keynotes were delivered by Rohit Khanna, program manager of the World Bank Group's Energy Sector Management Assistance Program, and Ambassador of Kenya Elkanah Odembo, who stressed that Africa is rapidly changing, growing and evolving.

"There is business to be done on the continent, there is money to be made. If you make an investment in geothermal, you will get significant returns," Odembo remarked.

Khanna echoed Odembo's sentiment and passion for geothermal. World Bank has invested $1.8 billion in developing countries, Khanna said.

"Geothermal is a triple-win: clean, reliable and home-grown," he stated.

Related story: Google Funded Geothermal Map Reveals Great Potential

Discussions at the Finance Forum focused on issues such as geothermal project finance in the United States and abroad, geothermal project risk, and a worldwide geothermal development update. The global geothermal market is on the upswing in 2013, and recent reports show an estimated 18.6 GW of geothermal power currently in development across 70 countries, accounting for $100 billion in investment. Much of this development is being spearheaded by American companies, a number of whom were represented at the event.

The GEA Finance Forum was made possible by event sponsors Power Engineers, Galena Advisors, Chevron, Hydro Resources and Whitehall.

As the U.S. and nations around the world look to replace fossil fuels to minimize the threat of global warming, geothermal power will grow in its value and importance in the years ahead. Geothermal can provide both firm and flexible power. It can bring the reliability of 24/7 baseload power or complement other energy technologies by firming up more intermittent power generation. It can also provide power for small co-production projects to large utility scale power plants. 

The industry will continue the conversation when GEA hosts the National Geothermal Summit in Reno from June 26-27.

 SOURCE: Geothermal Energy Association

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In Australia, the world's biggest exporter of coal, energy from wind is now cheaper than fossil fuels, including coal and gas, according to recent findings from Bloomberg.

Electricity generated from a new wind farm can be supplied for A$80 per megawatt hour, whereas energy from a new coal-fired plant will run at about A$143 or A$116 from a new station powered by natural gas. However, coal-fired power stations built in the 1970s and 1980s can still produce cheaper power. Not to mention, Australia's price on carbon emissions has played an integral role in the shift.

The price on carbon (A$23 a metric ton of CO2 emitted as of last year) continues to rise, making it harder for fossil fuel-powered plants to compete. Meanwhile, the cost of wind generation has fallen by 10 percent since 2011 with the help of lower equipment expenses, and the cost of solar has dropped by 29 percent.

“The fact that wind power is now cheaper than coal and gas in a country with some of the world’s best fossil fuel resources shows that clean energy is a game changer which promises to turn the economics of power systems on its head,” Michael Liebreich, chief executive officer of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in a statement.

By 2020, the country plans to get at least 20 percent of its power from renewable energy. As of 2011, renewables accounted for nearly ten percent of Australia's electricity production.

Wind power is well on its way to comprising the majority of Australia's renewable energy portfolio in the decades to come, especially after just completing construction of the Western Hemisphere's largest wind farm, the Macarthur Project, with the help of Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world's largest turbine maker.

With a weak demand for energy in the country, such investments will play a critical role in reaching renewable energy targets.

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A higher carbon price could make providing all of Australia's energy needs cost-effective by 2030, suggests a new study published in Energy Policy.

Under the current carbon tax that went into effect last July, any firm emitting over 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually must acquire a permit for the cost of $23 per metric ton of CO2 emitted—a price expected to rise over the next four decades. The study tested a number of simulations to figure out when national electrical supply provided entirely by renewables would become cheaper than a fossil fuel-powered scheme. According to researchers' findings, a renewable energy-powered Australia would become cost-effective between 2030 and 2034, with a CO2 price of $50 to $60.

With mature projects in place, wind power alone is expected to provide about half of the country's electricity generation, with solar, hydroelectricity and biofuels providing the rest. Such moves are particularly critical in a land where climate change has led to unbearably hot summers, among other climatic extremes.

Related Story: The Tides Turn in Renewable Energy

In face, it's already paying off. Thanks to a recent reduction in power demand and a burgeoning renewables market, Australia's carbon emissions are at a ten year-low, according to research firm RepuTex. Coal-fired power has also slumped to its lowest level of output, and now comprises of 74.8 per cent of the country's energy mix compared to 85 per cent in 2009.

"Renewables are basically cancelling out coal," RepuTex executive director Hugh Grossman told AAP.

Of course, the innovative carbon pricing mechanisms introduced last July have played an integral role.

"This is a very positive step for the global effort on climate change. It shows that the world's most emissions-intensive advanced economy is prepared to use a market mechanism to cut carbon emissions in a low-cost way," said Deutsche Bank carbon analyst Tim Jordan to MSNBC.

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New York has the potential to get all of its power needs from renewable energy by 2030, according to a new study led by researchers at the universities of Stanford and Cornell.

The theoretical roadmap laid out would require massive investments in wind turbines, solar panels and offshore wind resources off the Long Island coast, the Associated Press reports.

Nonetheless, “It's doable,” says co-author Robert Howarth, a Cornell professor of ecology and environmental biology. "It's way outside of the realm of what most people are talking about ... But I think people have been too pessimistic about what can be done."

Currently, New York's renewable energy portfolio is funded by a surcharge of less than a dollar on monthly electricity bills under the 2004 program enacted under then-Governor George Pataki. The city's current goal is to obtain about 10.4 million megawatt hours of energy, nearly 30 percent of total energy, from renewables each year by 2015—a goal that is now nearly halfway completed.

Although it is still iffy as to whether or not New York will hit the 2015 target, the larger point is that the city is making significant progress.

"To me, the long-term commitment to continue to invest in resources is more important than the particular target you set," Valerie Strauss, interim executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, told the AP.

Since 2004, New York has jumped from 48 megawatts of wind capacity to over 1,600 megawatts today. University researchers believe that wind will play a large role in the state's overall power portfolio by 2030, with a huge chunk of power coming from offshore turbines.

This year, authorities will review the state's renewable energy program and the possibility of extending it beyond 2015.

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Initiatives aimed at cutting carbon emissions and establishing long term energy security will see renewable energy claim a 36% share of global cumulative installed capacity by the end of the decade, states the latest report from business intelligence firm GBI Research.

The new report explains that solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy will be the primary technologies forecast to drive global renewable energy installed capacity from 1,695 GW in 2012 to 2,762 GW in 2020 – boosting the industry’s share of the world total installed capacity from 30% to 36%.

The solar PV sector has expanded massively in recent years, and with countries including India and China announcing ambitious future solar PV targets, there are no signs of this growth abating in the near future. Correspondingly, GBI Research predicts global solar PV installed capacity to reach 331 GW by 2020 from 97 GW in 2012, climbing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.6%.

Spurred on by favourable government policies in countries such as Germany, China and the US, the global installed capacity for wind is also expected to prove a key contributor to renewable energy, more than doubling from 284 GW in 2012 to 685 GW by 2020, according to GBI Research forecasts.

The capital costs of renewable energy generation are currently higher than those of conventional methods, but government initiatives and technological advances have steadily decreased renewable generation expenditure over the last four to five years, lowering the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and further driving the industry.

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Key Points: 

• Fuel poverty for third of households by 2030 unless nuclear power plants built

• David King: If we want to keep the lights on, then nuclear is a good idea

• Oliver Tickell: We would need 10,000 nuclear plants to provide the majority of global energy need.

• The cost to the tax payer for one single reactor would be $100 billion so building 10,000 would cost $1 quadrillion.

• Andrew Pendleton: nuclear is ‘increasingly expensive, risky power’ 

AFTER much deliberation, planning permission has been granted for a brand new nuclear plant in Hinkley, the first in the UK in a generation.

Not a day goes by without scare stories of energy black outs, energy price rises and global climate change. Meanwhile, it is estimated that a new Germany is added to the world’s grid every year in terms of energy use. And as long as developing countries continue to gobble up huge amounts of energy to access healthcare, education and growing economies, the trend will continue.

But is nuclear energy really the solution to this crisis?

Professor Sir David King, former governmental chief scientific advisor, seems to think so. Speaking at a sustainable building conference in London last week he said that the government could solve our energy and economy by investing directly in nuclear.

“If we want to keep the lights on, then nuclear is a good idea,” he said. “If we want to stimulate economy, it might be a better idea to create direct stimulation by investing in the energy sector… and while nuclear is expensive to build, we know the government can borrow very cheaply at 0.5%.”

He warned if the UK continued to import its fuel, the economy would never recover, attributing Italy’s collapsed economy to expensive oil imports. Energy analysts from the UK Centre for Policy Studies, however, claim one in three households will be in fuel poverty by 2030 unless nuclear power plants are built.

Currently nuclear power generates around one sixth of the United Kingdom's electricity, and planning permission has been granted for two new reactors in Hinkley in the south of England. Sizewell B, on the UK’s East coast, was the last nuclear plant to be built almost 18 years ago. 

However author, journalist and campaigner Oliver Tickell was less optimistic presenting the huge cost of construction, insurance, research grants and decommissioning.

“We would need 10,000 nuclear plants to provide the majority of global energy need,” Tickell said. “The cost to the tax payer for one single reactor would be $100 billion, so building 10,000 would cost $1 quadrillion. Nuclear industry is in state of desperation.”

He instead suggested that the government give greater support to the renewables (solar, wind and tidal) industry which he said was booming. And he’s not alone. In a letter to the Guardian, the head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Andrew Pendleton described nuclear as ‘increasingly expensive, risky power’.

“Even if the nuclear industry delivers on time, new reactors won't be ready until the 2020's, and could end up costing consumers tens of billions of pounds,” Pendleton said.

Although the UK government has decided to invest in research with 12 other EU member states, the greatest worry to both sides is not whether more nuclear plants will be created in the UK or not, but the lack of clear and decisive leadership from the government on the issue.

“I don’t think there is a coherent policy,” Professor King added. “...we need clear transparent policy from the government, from the Prime Minister. We need to know what the cabinet is going to do to deliver energy and meet demands.”

Lima Curtis writes about energy and the environment for many different sites including The Independent, The Energy Saving Trust and The EcoExperts

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The South Pacific region, thrashed by the heavy military action of its past, has longed for modern infrastructural upgrades for decades. Steady improvements in education and economic growth over the years have encouraged a communal demand for a better quality of life—an effort the local governments are working hard to accommodate.

As the Asia-Pacific enjoys a healthy gross domestic product growth rate of over eight percent, those efforts are being steamrolled by China and the US, pouring in a total aid of approximately $500 million annually. That's good news for construction and power infrastructure companies, reaping the rewards of a drive towards modernization in new investment areas of the world.

“Funding from various Western governments and development agencies, combined with ongoing economic development in these countries, is driving the infrastructure modernization effort,” says Gregg Pollack, CFO of Pernix Group, Inc., a US-based company that has overseen an extensive and growing portfolio of projects in the region. “This includes not only electrification, but also water/sewage, roads, bridges and other infrastructure.”

As one of its own customers, the US State Department has provided references and helped Pernix develop relationships with the right people in these new markets.

“The US State Department is a repeat and satisfied customer of Pernix, which has enhanced our ability to collaborate with the Department and US embassies around the globe,” says Pollack. “The Department can also introduce us to other US companies doing business or considering doing business in the area.”

Although Pernix enjoys a mix of both domestic and international business in two operating segments (construction and power), the company's proven reputation overseas has set a high standard.

Word to the wise: knowing and understanding the local political landscape is a critical component of the process. There are several challenges for outside companies to overcome that are key to securing competitive contracts, including: implementing the latest technological advances, being mindful of worker safety, being sensitive to environmental issues and maintaining positive relations with the local community, including hiring and training as many local workers and subcontractors as possible.

“Having a professional team and strategic partners that know how to work in these remote areas is one of our advantages – experience and agility enable us to succeed where others wouldn’t even venture to go,” says Pollack.

The company's power infrastructure projects include the complete operation of an electrical utility on the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, an asset potentially worth up to $3 million per year for the next 20 years. That operation includes the generation, transmission, distribution, billing, collections, customer services, construction of extensions and new capacity, and the maintenance and repair of generation assets such as diesel and hydro power.

In Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands, Pernix has built a $32 million, 20-megawatt power plant for the local utility on a Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) arrangement. In Fiji, the company operates the two largest diesel-fired power plants with total capacity of 72-megawatts on a long-term basis, having supplied and installed 32-megawatts of the total capacity.

Forging ahead, Pernix is also enhancing renewable energy opportunities in the market, with the operation of a hydro facility in Vanuatu and evaluations of solar projects soon to come to several markets. Whether it’s through electrification or construction, all the work Pernix has achieved in the South Pacific region has tremendously benefited the local population. This new trend in the globalization of power is helping to advance communities in the developing world, creating jobs and sweeping infrastructure upgrades in the process.

“Companies like Pernix are critical to achieving the infrastructure development goals of the advancing communities,” concludes Pollack. “We provide the knowledge, experience, capital, training and organizational skills to help them modernize their economies and then maintain their upgraded power, sewage and transportation infrastructure. We believe we have been one of the pioneers in this market, and we hope to continue to play a major role in this modernization effort.”

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As China's economy rapidly grows, the energy sector faces two major challenges: an imbalance of supply and demand and a lack of distribution and transmission infrastructure.

As by far the largest wind power market in the world (with 63 GW installed capacity), China gets more than 30% of its wind market's revenue from federal subsidies—an exceptional amount of support from the government that has adversely caused a massive oversupply issue. In 2011, abandoned wind power amounted to over 10 billion KWh, exceeding 50 percent of the industry's profit. Much of that energy was wasted, mostly positioned near farms lacking sufficient distribution/transmission infrastructure capable of moving excess energy to areas of higher demand.

Heavy Industry for Heavy Power Offtake

Due to the large demand for electricity to power large manufacturing facilities, many companies opt out of expensive utility power to produce electricity using on-demand generation techniques.

Unfortunately, wind power is not currently an option for most energy-intensive industries, because wind farms are mostly located in remote areas, lacking labor and other resources to transport the power. Building the necessary transmission cables to do so could cost an upwards of billions of dollars.

Hydrogen generated power, however, offers a prime opportunity for the country's large facilities.

Clean Hydrogen: A New Fuel Infrastructure

Hydrogen manufacturing, using electrolysis, has been implemented at many large power generating stations throughout the world. First researched and implemented by Norsk Hydro of Norway in 1923 at a large hydroelectric facility, hydrogen generation using a power generating facility’s extra power became a highly profitable means of utilizing what would otherwise be a wasted resource.

In China, hydrogen creates an opportunity to monetize an asset that currently is nothing but a financial burden. Rather than curtailing wind capacity (shutting down turbines when over-producing), onsite hydrogen generating plants could be implemented to utilize the energy created by free wind power. Wind farms’ extra electrical capacity can be stored as hydrogen gas for later use as demanded and converted from H2 into electricity by a fuel cell. This system can range in size from a few kilowatts in capacity (for a residence) up to several megawatts (for a town or grid substation).

As fuel cell technology continues to advance, the Chinese could very easily create the fuel supply for a completely clean and cutting edge energy infrastructure.

Hydrogen Economy in China

One of the biggest barriers to a hydrogen economy is that it necessitates a large amount of energy to create the fuel. Hydrogen is 100 percent clean when burned and extremely energy intensive (about 3x more powerful than natural gas by mass). Unlike natural gas, however, hydrogen is not readily found in nature and must therefore be processed using energy-intensive mechanical or chemical processes, driving up costs. (An average hydrogen producing electrolyser needs about 4.5kWh of electricity to produce 1 m3 of hydrogen gas).

Therefore, producing hydrogen may require the use of electricity generated from unclean sources like natural gas, coal, nuclear, etc. The environmental opportunity that presents itself to China's wind energy market for creating a new revenue stream via hydrogen is exceptional. The glut of renewable energy capacity could potentially create a significant amount of high value, clean hydrogen gas at minimal expense. Operating costs would be limited to the inexpensive maintenance of facilities, while the cost of excess wind to power the generation of hydrogen would amount to zero.

A Long-Term Investment

A separate concern with hydrogen networks is the initial capital requirement for a roundtrip hydrogen system to create, store, and convert hydrogen back to electricity. Per unit of energy, a hydrogen system is more expensive than electricity generating equipment for natural gas plants or other fossil fuel plants. That’s why it is especially beneficial to look into pathways leading to the direct use of hydrogen gas in the chemical, fertilizer and mechanical industry.

Beyond the environmental benefits and the economic incentive of a zero operating cost fueling infrastructure, hydrogen systems have an extensive lifetime that could last past 50 years (over 20 years for fuel cells). That long-term payoff makes a hydrogen generating system a much more attractive option for solving a supply/demand imbalance for large scale energy systems compared to the alternatives.

Considering these new opportunities, China could change the face of its remote and rural communities. With a large supply of hydrogen fuel, the applications in energy, transportation, and chemical/industrial/manufacturing will undoubtedly raise standards of living and generate growth, minus the environmental destruction that usually coincides with economic expansion.

VERDE LLC is a technology manufacturer based in Braintree, MA, specialized in designing and deploying residential, commercial, and industrial scale electrolyzers used for: renewable energy storage, industrial processing, transportation fuel, natural gas plant peaking, and distributed generation. 

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As of next year, all newly constructed single-family homes in the city of Lancaster, Calif., will be required to include a minimum of a 1.0 kW solar system—a bold and historic move on behalf of mayor R. Rex Parris.

The Los Angeles County city already leads the state in solar generating capacity. But grasping the title as the solar capital of California is not good enough for Parris, who is seemingly dead set on becoming the “solar energy capital of the world.”

In 2010, Lancaster partnered with SolarCity to launch “Solar Lancaster,” a solar financing program for homeowners, nonprofits and businesses. The 1.45 MW program is expected to generate $1.5 million each year through 2017, followed by $800,000 each year for the next 20 years.

The new requirement will be written into the city's “Residential Zones Update,” which reads:

"The purpose of the solar energy system standards is to encourage investment in solar energy on all parcels in the city, while providing guidelines for the installation of those systems that are consistent with the architectural and building standards of the City."

Although Parris has acknowledged that the new requirements will challenge the building industry, he continues to forge ahead.

“I understand the building industry is not happy with this,” he said at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi in January. “We will just have to take the heat. I could not do that without a city council — made up of people who want a political career — with the courage to take that heat.”

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Libya could generate approximately five times the amount of energy from solar power than it currently produces in crude oil, research by Nottingham Trent University shows.

A study led by the university’s School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment found that the oil-rich nation could generate enough renewable power to meet its own demand and a “significant part of the world energy demand by exporting electricity”.

Libya is located on the cancer orbit line and is exposed to the sun’s rays throughout the year with long hours during the day. It has an average daily solar radiation rate of about 7.1 kilowatt hours per square metre per day (kWh/m²/day) on a flat plane on the coast and 8.1kWh/m²/day in the south region. By comparison, the UK’s average solar radiation rate is less than half that amount at about 2.95kWh/m²/day.

If the North African country - which is estimated to be 88 per cent desert - used 0.1% of its landmass to harness solar power, it could produce the equivalent to almost seven million barrels of crude oil per day in energy, the study found. Currently, Libya produces about 1.41 million barrels of crude oil per day.

 Researcher Dr Amin Al-Habaibeh, who is leading the Innovative and Sustainable Built Environment Technologies research group at the university, said: “Although Libya is rich in renewable energy resources, it is in urgent need of a more comprehensive energy strategy. It is difficult to break the dependency on oil and natural gas, not just in terms of the country’s demand for it, but also in terms of the revenues that it generates. 

“Renewable energy technology is still in its early days in Libya and a clear strategy and timetable is needed to take it forward. In particular, work needs to be done to develop the skills and knowledge needed to install and maintain renewable energy systems.”

The study also found that Libya has the potential to generate significant amounts of wind power, as the country is exposed to dry, hot and prolonged gusts.

“Wind energy could play an important role in the future in meeting the total electric energy demand,” added Ahmed Mohamed, a Nottingham Trent University PhD student, from Libya, who worked on the project.

“Several locations, including a number along the coast, experience high wind speeds which last for long periods of time.

“If Libya could harness only a tiny fraction of the renewable energy resources it has available in the form of solar and wind power, not only could it meet its own demands for energy, but also a significant part of the world’s demands by exporting electricity. 

“The availability of renewable energy could provide a good complement to meet peak loads and current energy demand, and this in turn can be a good reason for encouraging wind and solar energy projects in Libya.”

Dr Hafez Abdo, a senior lecturer in accounting at Nottingham Business School, who also supervised the study, added: “This study tackles a significant emerging issue that is related to the feasibility of implementing renewable energy options in an oil and gas rich country such as Libya. The study explores whether the benefits outstrip the costs of implementing these options, and if not then when this would be likely to happen.

“This study can be applied to other countries such as the UK as an oil producing country and Japan, for example, as a net oil and gas importer country. The significance of this study arises from the fact that the final results should be a stepping stone for other studies to find a sufficient solution to energy security and climate change in the world.”

SOURCE: Nottingham Trent University

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Walmart today announced that it has worked with SolarCity to install solar panels on 12 Walmart Stores and Sam’s Clubs throughout Ohio. The solar panel installations will add approximately 6,000,000 kWh of generation production – enough energy to power more than 820 homes – and are expected to supply approximately 5-20 percent of each store’s overall electricity use. 

“Solar power makes sense for Walmart, and it makes sense for Ohio,” said David Ozment, Walmart Senior Director of Energy. “We are committed to increasing the use of renewable energy resources, including solar panels, at our stores in Ohio and throughout the country.” 

“Walmart's installation of solar on 12 store rooftops is the largest solar commitment ever made by a retail business in Ohio,” said Bill Spratley, Executive Director of Green Energy Ohio. “At more than four and a half megawatts, it represents almost a tenth of all the solar installed in Ohio currently.  It is exciting to see that Walmart's solar arrays will also eliminate 5,500 tons of CO2 or the equivalent of taking the emissions of 1,152 cars off the road each year.”*

The Walmart and Sam’s Clubs receiving solar power systems are located in Mason, Xenia, Greenville, Austintown, Middletown, Franklin, Youngstown, Toledo, Milford, Loveland, and two systems in Cincinnati. 

Walmart has an aspirational goal to be powered 100 percent by renewable energy. The United States' EPA Green Power Partnership program ranks Walmart as the largest onsite green power generator in the U.S. 

“Walmart continues to forge new ground as the #1 corporate solar user in America,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. “This project brings SolarCity to the state of Ohio for the first time, and is expected to increase the state’s overall solar generation capacity by more than ten percent.” 

*According to the EPA calculator

SOURCE: SolarCity

Image sourced via SolarCity

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Under the program, the Kingdom aims to install 54 GW of renewable energy by 2032, with 41 GW coming from solar power and the rest supplied by wind, geothermal and waste-to-energy power plants. The first round of tendering for the CPP is scheduled for the first half of 2013.

“Proponents that integrate local content into their projects will benefit from strong incentives through the rated criteria evaluation for utilizing labor and equipment that provide a positive net benefit to the local economy,” the authors stated. “While K.A.Care is aggressively pursuing the development of the local value chain, projects will be expected to escalate their local content inclusion accordingly.”

Related story: Saudi Arabia Completes Massive Solar Farm

After the procurement round, the target for solar is around 1.1 GW of installment, with 1.3 GW to follow under the second round. By 2032, the goal is to reach 16 GW of photovoltaic installments in addition to 25 GW of solar thermal plants.

Renewable power developers involved in the projects will have 20-year contracts to sell power. The first round of tendering will help determine the cost of installing large-scale renewable plants in Saudi Arabia in order to set up a pricing structure for the future bidding rounds.

Related story: Saudi Arabia to Become 100% Renewable Energy Nation

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Despite the ongoing growth expected in global wind power installed capacity, wind turbine manufacturers have several major hurdles to overcome if they are to thrive in a challenging and highly competitive market, states an alternative energy expert for research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The wind turbine market suffers from manufacturing overcapacity, falling subsidies, and uncertainty in some wind power sectors. Vestas’ announcement of its 2012 results brought mixed news, with the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer anticipating weaker sales and revising shipment forecasts downwards as a result.

Jennifer Santos, GlobalData’s Senior Energy Consultant, believes the key to success is frugality:

“Costs must be kept as low as possible. Cost-saving programmes initiated by Vestas last year, including rationalising its manufacturing base and reducing headcount, seem to have paid off and saw the company earning a positive cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2012.

“Similarly, revenues and operating profits before special items reached their highest level in the same quarter of last year. Gamesa expects to continue with its cost-cutting programme this year by closing more than a third of its offices and further reducing its debt.”

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The US and China – the dominant forces in the wind turbine production business – currently account for 60% of the global wind power market, but their potential for significant turbine manufacturer revenue generation seems slim.

“Although the Production Tax Credit (PTC) was extended for another year in the US, the lack of a long-term, subsidy-free approach will prevent the US wind power sector from fully taking off in 2013. China, on the other hand, is dominated by numerous local manufacturers who all want to take a piece of the pie,” explains Santos.

Even the booming offshore wind sector has a number of obstacles for market players to overcome including supply chain constraints, grid connection issues and technology problems.

“On a more positive note,” says the consultant, “it looks as though turbine prices have bottomed out – at least for the leading manufacturers. A number of wind turbine manufacturers are developing new products which are arguably higher priced per MW than conventional wind turbines.”

She adds: “If turbine manufacturers can drive down costs further in 2013, then a return to profitability is possible and prices at €1m per MW looks sustainable.”

Source: GlobalData

Photo sourced via Public Domain Photos

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