Renewables

2021 Predictions for Energy, Utilities, and Resources Even if the climate crisis is currently having to share headline space with the global pandemic, it has by no means lost its traction. Nor have the perils of climate change lost any of their urgency. Taking a global stance, I would say that the charge to lower […]

Innovation in the design of onshore wind turbines continues, with GE Renewable Energy announcing Dec. 28 that it will supply eight of the company’s 3 MW-137 turbines as part of the Phuoc Minh Wind Farm in Vietnam. Monday’s announcement comes just days after Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) announced the largest deal ever for its […]

São Vitor Wind Farm is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2022 and will consist of 75 SG 5.8-170 turbines, boasting one of the largest rotors on the onshore market Deal is largest ever for the Siemens Gamesa 5.X platform and for the company in Brazil, and includes a service and maintenance agreement […]

Congress agreed on legislation that would extend the investment tax credit (ITC) for solar projects for two years and the production tax credit (PTC) for wind projects for one year. The full legislative package combines a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package and an omnibus spending bill for 2021 with tax extenders and energy policy changes. […]

The past week has marked several significant developments in the offshore wind segment. GE Renewable Energy snagged a key agreement for the third 1.2-GW phase of the 3.6-GW Dogger Bank wind farm in the UK, saying the project will use an “upscaled” 14-MW version of its Haliade-X wind turbine. In a potential win for Siemens […]

The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has responded to a public consultation by the European Commission on new rules to define sustainable finance. While the association welcomes and supports the need for an EU Taxonomy on sustainable activities in order to drive investment in renewable energy, IHA believes the proposal as drafted “raises serious concerns” for […]

China is the largest manufacturer and installer of solar photovoltaic power systems in the world, and the country appears ready to increase its solar installations based on information contained in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan (FYP). The plan, covering the period 2021-2025, is being developed and expected to be implemented beginning in March 2021. The […]

Dec. 21, 2020 — Some of the largest wind turbine owners in the world announced today the launch of a new breakthrough data sharing program. For the first time in the wind industry, turbine owners around the world will securely and openly exchange operational performance data, enabling them to reduce their data dependency to OEMs, […]

HOUSTON, Texas (Dec. 17, 2020) — Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (“Quinbrook”), a specialist investor in lower carbon and renewable energy infrastructure, today announced the establishment of a joint venture with Birch Infrastructure PBLLC (“Birch”) to develop and construct renewables-powered hyperscale data center campuses in the US. The joint venture has identified and is actively developing multiple, strategically-located […]

The project will support Indonesia’s target to achieve renewable energy share of 23 percent in 2025 This order strengthens the position of Voith Hydro in Indonesia as one of the leading hydropower equipment suppliers JAKARTA, INDONESIA. Voith Hydro has been awarded by Mitsubishi Corporation the electro-mechanical equipment contract for the Asahan 3 hydropower project in […]

WILMONT, Minnesota (Dec. 16, 2020) – The Nobles 2 wind farm, a 250-megawatt (MW) facility in southwest Minnesota, is now fully operational. The wind farm achieved commercial operation on Dec. 12. “From Day One, local leaders, landowners and the community have been open and receptive to wind development. We are excited to have worked with […]

A European company considered a leader in the offshore wind sector has signed on to help develop a major project off the Massachusetts coast. Ventolines, a Dutch company that worked on the first commercial U.S. offshore wind project, on Dec. 16 announced it has opened a U.S. office and will support construction of the Mayflower […]

Ventolines, known for clean energy projects in Europe and for supervising installation of the first U.S. offshore wind turbines at Block Island off the Rhode Island coast, on Dec. 16 announced it will take a leading role on Mayflower Wind, an 804-MW project in the waters off Massachusetts. Ventolines, headquartered in the Netherlands, also announced […]

General Electric (GE) has taken a marked step to position itself in the global fight against climate change, advocating for immediate and effective power sector decarbonization through a replacement of coal-fired power generation with a combination of renewables and natural gas-fired power.  The company laid out its position on Dec. 15 in a wide-ranging white […]

California is set to host one of the world’s largest standalone renewable hybrid projects. Slated to come online in the fourth quarter of 2022, the Edwards & Sanborn project in Kern County will feature 1,118 MW of solar and 2,165 MWh of energy storage.  Renewable developer Terra-Gen on Dec. 10 announced an agreement with engineering […]

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL (Dec. 14, 2020) — Tradener has just commissioned the small hydropower plant Tamboril, located on the São Bartolomeu River in the Brazilian municipality of Cristalina (state of Goiás). The power plant represents a milestone as the company’s first hydropower generation project. Tamboril is fitted with two power generating units supplied by Voith […]

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. (December 10, 2020) – When Marc Maguire, assistant professor of construction programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, started testing the strength of piles made by Nucor and used in the support assemblies of solar panels, he didn’t expect such surprising results. These tests ― conducted by the Durham School of Architectural Engineering […]

NEWTON, Massachusetts — Burns & McDonnell has been awarded the onshore Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for an offshore wind project with Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, a joint venture of Shell and Ocean Winds. Burns & McDonnell will also provide market engagement support for Mayflower’s project. Mayflower Wind won the rights to develop a lease […]

ALAMEDA, CA (Dec. 10, 2020) — N​atel Energy,​ a supplier of sustainable hydropower solutions, today announced the successful completion of the Monroe Hydro Project with the installation of its 1 MW class D190 Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT), and 100% safe fish passage test results from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The Monroe Hydro Project […]

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have found that a combination of lower capital, operating, and finance costs, in addition to better equipment performance, and longer useful lives, have driven power purchase agreement (PPA) prices and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for utility-scale wind and solar projects to all-time lows. The findings were […]

General Electric (GE) has agreed to pay a $200 million penalty to settle claims by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company misled investors when it failed to disclose material information related to its power and insurance businesses. In an order on Dec. 9 capping an investigation that the SEC opened in […]

By 2025, the economics of low-carbon generation technologies are poised to disrupt conventional fossil fuel generation so dramatically, onshore wind could have the lowest levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) on average, and nuclear power could emerge as the dispatchable low-carbon technology with the lowest expected costs.  Those are key findings in the Dec. 9-issued 2020 […]

Burleson, TX, December 9, 2020 – United Cooperative Services (United), Navisun, and TurningPoint Energy (TPE) announced today the commencement of construction of the Erath Solar project in Erath, County, TX. The 10 megawatt AC community solar plant is scheduled for completion in early February of next year. This is the second community solar project partnership […]

ATLANTA (Dec. 8, 2020) – McCarthy Building Companies Inc. today announced that it has begun construction on two solar projects in south Georgia for Silicon Ranch Corporation. The utility-scale solar facilities include the 107-megawatt (MWAC) Snipesville II in Jeff Davis County in southeast Georgia and the 80 MWAC Lancaster Solar in Calhoun County in the […]

ISSAQUAH, Wash., Dec. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — NAES Corporation (“NAES”) announced that it acquired Bay4 Energy Services, LLC (“Bay4”), a leading independent renewable energy service provider, effective 12/02/20. “We are excited that Bay4 will be joining the NAES family, bringing with it more than 30 years of asset performance and portfolio management experience,” said Norm Escover, […]

Wuppertal, in the German state of Nordrhein Westfahlen, is the home to the Schwebebahn. This suspended railway (Figure 1) is unique in Germany and passengers use the transportation system for 25 million journeys per year. Today, 120 years after Wuppertal’s Schwebebahn opened, the city is still innovating. Green hydrogen produced from power generated by incineration […]

Officials with Vineyard Wind said they are temporarily withdrawing the group’s application for federal approval to build the first large U.S. offshore wind farm, saying more time is needed to conduct a final technical review after announcing a change in the turbines expected to be used in the project. Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between […]

Westminster, CO (Dec. 1, 2020) — Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association would more than double its currently contracted solar and wind resources by 2030, add energy storage, and reduce emissions to help meet the needs of its member electric cooperatives and public power districts, in the “preferred scenario” of its Electric Resource Plan (ERP) filed […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has recognized nine women for their achievements and leadership in clean energy, as part of the agency’s U.S Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Initiative. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette recognized the winners of the 2020 U.S. C3E Awards on Dec. 1. The nine women will be honored at […]