Renewables

In order to achieve its goals for the future, the power sector in Turkey will need to leave the past behind. Download a pdf of this sponsored report by Global Business Reports. Power in Turkey (Global Business Reports, 2015)

On April 27, the U.S. saw yet another significant milestone for its so-far nonexistent offshore wind sector as Deepwater Wind broke ground on the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island. The company says that the five-turbine 30-MW wind farm will produce enough electricity to power all of the island’s homes and businesses when it […]

The installation of more than one million solar photovoltaic (PV) modules at Sempra U.S. Gas and Power’s and Consolidated Edison Development’s 250-MW AC Copper Mountain Solar 3 project in Boulder City, Nev., was completed in early April. Cupertino Electric and Amec Foster Wheeler said on April 6 that the last module was put in place […]

Despite plunging oil prices, 2014 was a formidable year for renewables, according to two reports released in early 2015. According to the “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2015”—the annual report prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance—energy investments […]

“You can’t take a clean source of energy off the table.” That was the conclusion that a panel of four experts came to as they discussed the role that nuclear power should play in the battle to fight climate change. The panelists met on May 14 as part of the 62nd Annual Industry Conference and […]

Biomass combustion should not be an approved compliance method under the Clean Power Plant because burning trees is not carbon neutral, both senators from Massachusetts told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday. In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) said that treating bioenergy as having […]

An interdisciplinary study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Energy Initiative concludes, among other things, that “state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements should be replaced by a uniform nationwide program.” The report—released on May 5—focuses on the future of solar energy, suggesting that a massive expansion in solar capacity to “multi-terawatt scale” is […]

The Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) in Sharm El-Sheikh resulted in some big agreements for the Egyptian government, including a reported $10.5 billion deal with Siemens and a $1.7 billion order with GE. The conference was held March 13–15, 2015, and was touted as a key milestone of the government’s medium-term economic development plan, which […]

In the UK, which has the world’s largest offshore wind capacity, in large part due to government backing, formal negotiations have begun on public funding of a £1 billion ($1.48 billion) tidal lagoon project to produce electricity from turbines in Swansea Bay, South Wales. The 320-MW project (Figure 3)—which could be the first of its […]

The life of a wind turbine can be pretty precarious. The blades—made of laminated materials, such as composites, balsa wood, carbon fiber, and fiberglass—can reach speeds up to 180 miles per hour at the tip, which means even small particles in the air can cause damage to the surfaces. It’s probably no surprise that lightning […]

The digital economy has changed the way we shop for clothing, travel, communicate with friends and family, consume news, and watch television—among so many other things. But the innovative potential of the digital economy has not yet found a place within the electric system. With that important goal in mind, New York has embarked on […]

How to give electricity customers who can’t take advantage of rooftop solar access to the sun? Community solar—a shared resource—is a fast-growing segment of the renewable energy market, making solar photovoltaic power more accessible while offering another approach to distributed generation. Mention “solar energy” and the image that probably comes to mind is an array […]

After adding a 280-MW geothermal power complex to its grid last year, Kenya is producing most of its power from geothermal sources, says the state-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Co. (KenGen). This February, the East African country formally inaugurated the last phase of the Olkaria geothermal power complex, which comprised the 140-MW Olkaria IV plant and […]

Europe—and especially Germany—has been struggling with how best to integrate large amounts of renewable generation while maintaining grid stability. While considerable attention has been devoted to expanding national transmission systems, new links between those national grids are growing in importance. The biggest project so far took a step forward when, on March 19, the consortium […]

When it was erected in 1889 (seven years after POWER magazine was founded), the iconic iron-lattice Eiffel Tower was meant to serve as the entrance arch of the World’s Fair—and designed to stand only 20 years, about the lifetime of a wind tower. Some 126 years and several renovations later, the Paris landmark has evolved […]

Implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) could change the use of the U.S. coal-fired generating fleet from baseload to seasonal peaking—and pose grave implications for plant economics and operating feasibility, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) suggests in new special assessment.   The new report is the second […]

California’s burgeoning renewable generation sector, given renewed vigor with a proposed increase in its renewables mandate, means it will need robust energy storage capacity going forward, said speakers at a session at the Electric Power Conference and Exhibition April 22 in Rosemont, Ill. Much of that storage capacity may be provided by a mammoth combined […]

Investor-owned electric utilities in the U.S. spent $16.9 billion in 2013 to build transmission infrastructure, a report recently released by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) shows. The ninth annual publication of the EEI’s Transmission Projects: At a Glance  highlights a cross-section of more than 170 major transmission projects completed in 2014 or planned over the […]

The U.S. energy infrastructure needs not just substantial investment for the future but also considerable rethinking about its role and functions in order to be positioned to deal with a rapidly changing energy landscape and evolving threats from cyber attack and climate change. That was the message from William F. Hederman, Jr., Department of Energy […]

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and Portland, Ore.­–based utility PacifiCorp announced on April 14 that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of PacifiCorp joining the ISO as a participating transmission owner. The move would be a big one for both entities. PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE), […]

Electricity generation from existing coal-fired power plants will increase from 2012 levels through 2025, according to the Reference case presented in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2015, released on April 14. In addition to the Reference case, five alternative cases—Low and High Economic Growth cases, Low and High Oil Price cases, and […]

Southern California Gas Co., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC) have teamed up to launch the first power-to-gas demonstration projects in the U.S. The two facilities will be located at the NFCRC at the University of California, Irvine and at NREL headquarters in Golden, Colo. Power-to-gas technology […]

 While fuel switching may be the easiest option for hitting the 2020 and 2030 goals set by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan, it may impede reaching longer-term climate targets said experts at an April 8 symposium hosted by the Central Texas Association for Energy Economics and the Energy Institute at the […]

Wind turbine blades, gearboxes, and generators get most of the attention both within and beyond the power industry. The focus is often on increased capacity and blade lengths, as well as drive train premature failures. That’s natural, because those rotating blades are the most visible part of a wind project. However, successful operation of a […]

Everyone loves efficiencies. Combining generation technologies can create a plant that’s more than the sum of its parts, but engineering challenges mean these projects are not for the faint of heart. When you think of “hybrids” these days, your first thought is probably of automobiles. But hybrids—hybrid power plants, that is—are starting to emerge in […]

Stacking perovskites, a crystalline material, onto a conventional silicon solar cell may dramatically improve the overall efficiency of the cell, scientists from Stanford University concluded in a new study. “Right now, silicon solar cells dominate the world market, but the power conversion efficiency of silicon photovoltaics has been stuck at 25% for 15 years,” explained […]

Though offshore wind is becoming increasingly important in Europe, with many hundreds-of-megawatts projects in service, the sector has stagnated in the U.S., with no operational facilities—and some

While developers in the U.S. celebrated financial closing for the 15-MW Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island—the would-be first offshore wind farm in the U.S.—Germany said this month that it expects to commission about 2 GW of new capacity in 2015, adding to its total of 1,048 MW at the end of 2014. Though […]

Rooftop solar company SolarCity on Mar. 2 filed suit in federal court in Arizona seeking to overturn a new rate structure approved by the Salt River Project (SRP) that levies additional charges on customers with rooftop solar panels. On Feb. 26, the SRP board voted to approve a change in how it bills customers who […]

After decades of potential but limited deployment, fuel cells are beginning to carve out a role in grid-scale generation (see “59-MW Fuel Cell Park Opening Heralds Robust Global Technology Future” in the