Focus
Could offshore wind turbines help power Vandenberg? A French company wants to find out
The Tribune – August 12
Prospects for floating wind projects off California have been stalled for several years, largely because the U.S. Navy has yet to find any place off the West Coast that does not pose a conflict with its seagoing operations. At least 11 international companies have lined up ready to bid on a potential lease if offered by the federal government. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced it would like to offer leases in federal waters in potentially three areas, but it is awaiting approval from the U.S. Navy. Now French company Ideol has applied for a permit to do wind-speed testing in state waters off the coast of Vandenberg Air Force Base. That Vandenberg portion of the Santa Barbara coast is not on the current BOEM list. Jurisdiction for state waters falls to the California State Lands Commission, which will hear the new request at its August 23 meeting in Los Angeles. Vandenberg supports the idea as it looks to diversify its power sources, including more marine renewables. The base now gets about 35 percent of its electricity from a new 22-megawatt solar plant that was built by SunPower.
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News
Clean energy powers California climate emissions drop
San Francisco Chronicle - August 14
California is continuing to lower its greenhouse gas emissions, but the transportation sector remains a stubborn obstacle in the state’s aggressive fight against climate change, new statistics show. The California Air Resources Board said Monday that the state’s emissions fell 1 percent in 2017, the most recent year available, to 424 million metric tons. The state is now well past its 2020 goal of reducing greenhouse gas levels to 1990 levels — 431 million metric tons. Vehicle tailpipes were the source of 37 percent of the emissions in 2017. For the first time since the state began tracking greenhouse gas emissions, clean energy sources powered most of the state’s electric grid, according to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office. Now California faces much more ambitious goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions about another 40 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050. The emissions drop in 2017 came even as California’s economy grew at 3.6 percent, which was higher than the national average.
A clean energy breakthrough could be buried deep beneath rural Utah
Los Angeles Times - August 8
Long stretches of still, cloudy days are one of the main obstacles standing in the way of renewable energy fully replacing fossil fuels, as solar and wind farms are not as effective at generating energy during those periods. For Los Angeles, salt may be a solution. One hundred miles south of Salt Lake City, a giant mound of salt reaches thousands of feet down into the Earth. Two companies want to tap the salt dome for compressed air energy storage, an old but rarely used technology that can store large amounts of power. The electricity would be ferried to Southern California through a 488-mile transmission line, built in the 1980s to transmit energy from Intermountain Power Plant, which is now the last coal-fired generating station serving California. The coal plant is scheduled to shut down in 2025. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which hopes to tap the salt dome for energy storage, also plans to build a gas-fired power plant at Intermountain to help replace the coal facility.
2019 on pace for record number of corporate power purchase agreements
Energy Manager Today – August 12
Corporations signed contracts to purchase 8.6 gigawatts of clean energy in 2019 through July. This is up from 7.2 gigawatts at the same time last year. Overall, 2019 is on pace to be bigger than 2018 for corporate PPAs globally, according to a new report from BloombergNEF. The U.S. made up 69 percent of this activity – it is by far the biggest market globally. Companies are once again flocking to Texas – historically the largest corporate procurement market in the country – where 40 percent of the activity in 2019 has occurred.
California’s community choice aggregators begin EV charging push
Greentech Media – August 14
California’s community choice aggregators are increasingly taking utility customers and signing big renewable energy deals, but they have not matched the billions of dollars of EV charging infrastructure investments being made by California's utilities, even though their territories make up some of the highest EV penetration areas in the state. A new program launched Tuesday between CCA Peninsula Clean Energy, state agency California Energy Commission, and energy program administrator Center for Sustainable Energy aims to begin closing that gap, beginning with a $12 million California Energy Commission grant matched by Peninsula Clean Energy for $24 million total, to deploy “thousands” of EV chargers across San Mateo County in the next four years. California’s utilities are already linking EV charging rates and incentives to programs that can manage charging to avoid overloading the grid at times of peak demand, or redirect charging to times when renewable energy is abundant, whether midday solar power or overnight wind power.
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Projects
Ralphs adds 7,000-panel solar array at distribution center
Solar Industry Magazine - August 13
Ralphs Grocery Co., a subsidiary of The Kroger Co., has installed a new solar project at its automated distribution center in Paramount, California. The new project represents Kroger’s largest solar facility to date. Featuring more than 7,000 solar panels, the 2-megawatt installation will generate 4.28 million kilowatt hours of clean power each year, representing approximately 50 percent of the center’s total electricity needs. The 555,000-square-foot building provides products to 190 Ralphs stores and 95 Food 4 Less stores throughout Southern California.
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