Renewable Energy Focus
Bloomberg
- Nov 4 In the era of global climate change, the phrase “war between the states” has taken on a new dimension. An 18-state coalition led by New York and California is taking on a block of 26 states, including Texas and Florida, in a court fight over the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The regulatory initiative is meant to steer the U.S. away from coal power and toward renewable energy sources. The states defending the federal plan, joined by the District of Columbia and the cities of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, are seeking permission Wednesday from a Washington federal court to join a battle over the legality of the clean power initiative. They said their request is unopposed.
Greentech Media
- Nov 4 Goldman Sachs has more than tripled its target for clean energy financing and investment, forecasting that the sector will mobilize $150 billion by 2025. The expanded goal comes as the bank closes in on its original target of $40 billion after just four years. Goldman Sachs’ updated Environmental Policy Framework says it will continue to look for opportunities across various mechanisms to invest in clean energy, including securitization, yieldcos, and green bonds. It will also look for novel investment structures to bring energy to the more than 1 billion who lack access to modern energy services.
North American Windpower
- Nov 3 Altamont Winds Inc. has reportedly decided to permanently shut down operations of its lattice-style wind turbines in California's Altamont Pass three years ahead of schedule. According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, the developer operates over 820 wind turbines in the region, and Bill Damon, vice president of Altamont Winds, notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the decision to cease operations in a letter, saying, "The reduction of avian impacts was a primary factor that influenced our decision."
Bloomberg
- Nov 2 For investors in yieldco stocks, it’s been a quick and wild ride. Two years ago, yield companies like TerraForm Power Inc. and NRG Yield Inc. were the newest, hottest thing for energy investors, a way to make steady returns off the booming clean energy sector. Share values soared after they were spun off by parent companies eager to cash in. Today, those same parent entities have put as much as $26 billion worth of sales to their affiliates on hold after the market value cratered.
ReNews
- Nov 4 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a draft environmental assessment for an eagle take permit for NRG Yield’s 150-megawatt Alta East wind farm in California. The agency said the project could kill up to three golden eagles over five years without having a significant impact on eagle populations in the area. The company would also have to take steps to protect eagles from turbines and power lines.
PennEnergy
- Nov 4 California Energy Commission staff filed a November 3 report with the commission identifying potential issues and a preliminary schedule for review of a major amendment to a 2011 approval for the Palmdale Hybrid Power Project (PHPP). The report is a preliminary scoping document that identifies issues that staff believes will require careful attention and consideration or could cause delay in processing the petition to amend. The revamped version of this project is called the Palmdale Energy Project. The PHPP was originally licensed as a nominal 570-megawatt hybrid facility using combined-cycle gas and solar trough technologies located in the city of Palmdale.
KPBS
- Nov 3 A plan to install solar power panels at 25 city-owned properties over the next 20 years was given unanimous initial approval Tuesday by the San Diego City Council. The sites will be used for nine rooftop solar systems and 19 parking lot canopy arrays. Under terms of the proposed deal — a second reading by the City Council is required to finalize it — SunEdison Government Solutions LLC will install, operate, own, and maintain the solar photovoltaic systems over two decades.
Solar Industry Magazine
- Oct 30 First Solar Inc. has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Texas' Austin Energy and California's Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) for two respective solar projects. Austin Energy, the City of Austin's municipally-owned electricity provider, will obtain power generated by First Solar's 119-megawatt East Pecos Solar Project. First Solar and SMUD have executed a PPA for the off-take of the 10.8-megawatt Rancho Seco Solar Project, to be situated on 60 acres of SMUD-owned property, including the decommissioned Rancho Seco Nuclear Generation Station in Herald, California.
PV-Tech
- Nov 4 Leading module manufacturer Canadian Solar’s developer subsidiary Recurrent Energy has secured a $115 million finance deal to fund its 60-megawatt Barren Ridge solar farm in California, its third in the state in as many months. The debt facility agreement has been reached with a club of banks including Rabobank, Santander, NordLB, Key Bank, and CIT, while a tax equity investment commitment has also been negotiated with US Bancorp Community Development Corporation, which is a division of US Bank.
SolarServer
- Nov 3 8minutenergy Renewables LLC has formally signed a power purchase agreement to develop the 191-megawatt Springbok 2 solar photovoltaic farm, located 70 miles north of Los Angeles in Kern County. Springbok 2 is located on about 700 acres of abandoned farmland taken out of production more than 20 years ago. 8minutenergy began developing the project in 2011.
