Renewables

The toy everyone had on their Christmas wish list has become a technological phenomenon being used across a range of industrial sectors. That toy is the unmanned aerial vehicle—more commonly known as a drone. As the drone’s number of uses grows, so does users’ knowledge thanks to the highly sensitive detection methods they employ. One […]

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on September 22 found that photovoltaic (PV) solar cells being imported into the U.S. are causing “serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the domestic industry.” The decision comes in a highly contested case filed by bankrupt solar panel manufacturer, Suniva, and SolarWorld. The […]

California’s legislature last week wrapped up its 2017 session without authorizing the broad expansion of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) into other Western states or passing a zero-carbon bill, which would have put the state on a path to 100% clean energy by 2045. It did, however, succeed in passing bills to encourage development […]

Three 55-MW oil-fired units at Dynegy’s Oakland plant in renewables-heavy California will be needed through 2018 to ensure reliability in a region served by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the grid entity has deemed. CAISO’s board of governors on September 19 extended a “reliability must-run” (RMR) contract for the three Oakland units. An RMR […]

The UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of E.ON in a long-running dispute over foundation problems identified at the 174-MW Robin Rigg offshore wind farm located between Scotland and England. The judges said Danish contractor MT Højgaard must bear the approximate €26 million cost of remedying failed grouted connections between monopiles and transition pieces […]

In a split decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of the North Carolina Utility Commission that an advocacy group has infringed on Duke Energy’s state-sanctioned monopoly on the sale of electricity. The September 19 decision concerns an agreement between the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN) and a […]

Sleek wind machines both on land and in the ocean intrigue many people. The units provide clean energy and contribute nothing to climate change. However, the early history of wind power in the U.S. included some interesting trials that bear no resemblance to the majority of today’s modern turbines. Many wind enthusiasts are aware of the […]

Dubai’s government on September 16 said its state energy utility has awarded a $3.9 billion contract for construction of a 700-MW solar power plant at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. The government said the project includes an 850-foot-tall tower that will receive focused sunlight, the world’s tallest such structure in a solar […]

U.S. utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems have achieved the targets set by the Department of Energy’s  (DOE’s) SunShot Initiative three years early, the DOE announced on September 12 at the Solar Power International (SPI) conference in Las Vegas. The average cost of utility-scale solar is now 6 cents/kWh. The original 2020 goal of the SunShot Initiative […]

Utility workers from across the country have been in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and crews are now staging in Florida in preparation for Hurricane Irma as the storm crosses the Caribbean, with officials expecting property damage and power outages from the massive tropical system. Crews from several areas are converging on the […]

Scotland, which is authorized to set its own energy policy separate from London’s Westminster government, has set a goal of generating 100% of the nation’s annual electricity needs through only renewable sources by 2020, and 100% of its entire power and transportation needs from non-carbon energy by 2030. This decision has created an all-of-the-above clean […]

The combination of solar power and water is in use around the world, with various solar arrays placed on lakes to provide renewable energy from the sun. However, a project in Portugal has found a new way to

The potential financial benefits from Industry 4.0 are apparent to plant owners in almost all sectors. The wind power industry is no exception, and existing vendors such as GE (Predix/Digital Windfarm)

For more than 20 years, I have been championing the use of fuel cell powered cars to connect the natural gas distribution network of this country with the electric distribution network, making them partners in

Independent System Operator-New England celebrated its 20th anniversary last July with a solid record in its energy and capacity markets, turning around a fragmented regional electric system. Can it repeat

Mexico’s energy reform, which began in 2013, has opened up key parts of the country’s electricity sector to new market participants, foreign investors, and innovative technology. Prior to the reform

Canadian Solar Expands Solar Power in Japan. Canadian Solar in July started commercial operation of its latest group of photovoltaic solar power plants in Japan as it continues to build its solar presence in

A lithium-ion battery under development by Tesla in South Australia (SA) will be the world’s largest of its type when completed by the end of the year. Through a competitive bidding process, Tesla was

The Drax Group operates the UK’s largest power station, and in a country where government leaders have said all coal generation needs to be retired by 2025, Drax is moving forward with plans to convert its

Xcel Energy on August 29 said it wants to retire 660 MW of coal-fired generation capacity as part of a “Colorado Energy Plan” that also includes adding as much as 1,700 MW of renewable energy and 700 MW of natural gas-fired power generation to its portfolio in the state. A key element of the proposal […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) new grid study is based on analyses of federal government data collected between 2002 and 2017, a period it notes fostered critical developments in the nation’s power sector. Here are some of report’s most thought-provoking charts. [gss ids=”109885,109881,109883,109877,109865,109867,109869,109875,109873,109871″] For an in-depth analysis about the DOE’s grid study, see: DOE Grid Study Points Finger […]

In a long-awaited study of electricity markets and grid reliability, the Department of Energy has called out natural gas as the No. 1 reason for retirements of coal and nuclear plants, breaking from the Trump administration’s prior talking point blaming regulations and renewables for the nation’s shrinking coal and nuclear fleets. The report attributes four […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) much-anticipated study on grid resilience and reliability elicited immediate chatter from a variety of industry stakeholders, from power generators and trade groups to environmental and clean energy advocates. The 187-page study essentially notes that unprecedented changes are transforming the electricity industry. Over the past 15 years, market forces—namely, cheap natural […]

Houston-based Calpine Corp., which confirmed in July it was looking for a buyer, announced August 18 it has agreed to be bought by Energy Capital Partners (ECP) in a $5.6 billion deal. ECP is a private equity firm that focuses on investments in North American energy infrastructure. The purchasing group also includes a consortium of […]

Final rules issued by Massachusetts agencies to help the state meet its stringent climate goals will require 21 in-state power plants to tamp down their carbon emissions annually. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) last week published a set of six rules designed to complement an […]

The December 2015 extension of the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind power brought on a massive push for wind energy generation, according to the Department of Energy’s 2016 Wind Technologies Market Report. Nationwide, 8,203 MW of new capacity was added in 2016 and $13 billion was invested. “Supported by favorable tax policy and […]

If you’ve been paying attention to the power markets in recent years, you know that merchant coal and nuclear power plants are struggling to compete against natural gas-fired generation and renewable

In late June, Panda Green Energy Group Limited connected the first-ever panda bear-shaped solar plant to the grid. The plant, which is currently in its testing phase, is only the beginning. “This is the

Rosatom Gets Approval to Proceed with Turkish Reactors. Turkey’s energy watchdog EPDK in mid-June gave Russia’s state-owned nuclear entity Rosatom the green light to proceed with construction of the $20

The microgrid installation at the Ameren Illinois Technology Applications Center (TAC) near the University of Illinois campus in Champaign—designed, engineered, and constructed by S&C Electric Co. of