Renewable Energy Focus
Renewable Energy World - Apr 15
The race for renewable energy has passed a turning point. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there's no going back. The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels, according to an analysis presented Tuesday at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance annual summit in New York. The shift will continue to accelerate, and by 2030 more than four times as much renewable capacity will be added.
Atlanta Business Chronicle - Apr 16
Southern Co.’s Southern Power unit grabbed controlling interest in the 32-megawatt Lost Hills-Blackwell Solar Facility in California from First Solar Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The deal marks Atlanta-based Southern Co.’s fourth California solar project acquisition. In its first year, Lost Hills-Blackwell will produce enough energy to power more than 11,000 homes.
Desert Sun - Apr 17
The rapid growth of California’s rooftop solar industry has had little to do with the state’s $2.2 billion solar rebate program, according to a new study. The state’s solar rebate program, the California Solar Initiative, has funded nearly 250,000 solar projects, and it has generally been hailed as extremely effective. However a new study from Vanderbilt University and Sandia National Laboratories, set to be published next month, argues that peer influence has been a much greater factor than financial incentives in fueling California’s solar renaissance.
Las Vegas Review Journal - Apr 15
Wind energy deliveries to California’s top utility fell by half in the first two months of the year because of unusually weak winds in some Western states. The decrease in wind energy production has exacerbated electricity shortfalls caused by a long drought, which has reduced hydroelectric power in the most populous U.S. state. Southern California Edison, which is owned by Edison International, said that any gaps left by the 50 percent drop in wind production during an exceptionally warm January and February will be filled with electricity bought on the open market.
The Hill - Apr 15
Regulations at the center of President Obama’s climate change initiative face a crucial test this week when opponents will attempt to block them before they’re even made final. A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., will hear oral arguments Thursday in a high-stakes legal challenge to the emissions limits for existing power plants proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Murray Energy Corp., a major coal mining company, is asking the court to do something that it admits is extraordinary: block the EPA from completing the work on its regulation and making the rule final, which it plans to do this summer. The company, which is leading the case on behalf of multiple energy companies, expects that the climate rule would harm its business by dramatically reducing the use of coal for power generation.
Notable Renewable Energy Projects and Deals
Bloomberg - Apr 12
Southern California Gas Co. has started two pilot projects that will test the feasibility of using solar energy produced when power demand is low to split hydrogen from water and store the gas in pipelines. The projects, backed by U.S. government funding, will either ship the hydrogen for use as an automotive fuel or combine it with carbon dioxide to form methane that can be used to generate electricity when demand is stronger. The company is pitching the technology, already used in Germany with wind energy, as an alternative to battery storage.
PV Magazine - Apr 16
Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has completed solar and wind projects in California and Canada. The Ontario-based group has connected the 20-megawatt Bakersfield I Solar installation in California’s Kern County as well as the 23-megawatt Morse Wind project in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The projects are operational and selling power.
Reuters - Apr 16
Solar panel maker SunPower said it would partner with Apple Inc. to build two solar power projects in China's Sichuan province with total capacity of 40 megawatts. The projects, when complete, will be co-owned by Apple and Sichuan Shengtian New Energy Development Co., Ltd., SunPower's project development joint venture. Completion of the projects, which are expected to provide up to 80 million kilowatt-hours per year, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2015, SunPower said.
