Renewables

The world’s ocean energy sector, which has over the past few years seen its share of developmental ebbs and flows, suffered a major storm this November after Siemens Energy said it would sell its tidal power arm and Pelamis Wave Power separately failed to raise needed funds to continue development. Siemens in February 2012, with […]

The world will fall short of the goal of providing universal sustainable electricity access by 2030 set by the United Nations and World Bank without “immediate concerted action” by governments, industry, and the international community, according to a survey of utilities around the world conducted by the Global Electricity Initiative (GEI). The GEI is a […]

Despite its efficiency and environmental benefits, combined heat and power (CHP) generation has languished at around 10% of worldwide capacity for more than a decade. But a global review shows growth in some sectors and promising new technology on the way. The statistics are both eye-opening and somewhat depressing. Globally, according to the International Energy […]

In a dramatic move that passed the state Legislature with little debate and almost no opposition, West Virginia lawmakers on Jan. 22 voted to repeal the state’s 2009 alternative energy standard, which requires utilities to get 25% of their power from alternative sources by 2025. The repeal bill passed the state Senate unanimously and the […]

The 550-MW Desert Sunlight solar photovoltaic (PV) plant near Riverside, Calif., which matches MidAmerican’s Topaz Solar project for the largest solar plant in the world, began commercial operations in December, according to the California Independent System Operator. Developed and built by First Solar, and owned by NextEra, GE Energy Financial Services, and Sumitomo, Desert Sunlight […]

The U.S. could get nearly 50% of its generation from renewable sources by 2030 with existing technologies and the right policies and investments, according to a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Jan. 12. The report is one of the first in IRENA’s Remap 2030 series, which explores how to double […]

With California already on track to meet its goal of getting 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, Gov. Jerry Brown announced on Jan. 5 that he would seek to raise the renewables portfolio standard (RPS) target to 50% by 2030. In his inaugural speech opening his fourth term (he previously served from […]

As the global electric power industry continues to develop clean, high-quality energy capacity for sustainable development, the position of small hydropower has changed. In the past few decades, small hydropower development in China has experienced positive momentum, but there are still problems to be solved. To solve these problems, various relationships within the small hydropower […]

“When pigs fly” is a figure of speech used to express disbelief that a particular situation will ever come to pass. For the power industry, several recent and emerging developments are the equivalent of

In China, small hydropower (SHP) development not only provides power, especially to rural areas, but it also plays an important role in developing local economies and human capacity building. Regions, rather

Water and energy are intimately linked. Water is necessary for the production, distribution, and use of energy. Energy is needed for the withdrawal and delivery of water. The two are inseparable. Several

In mid-November, members of the POWER Generating Company Advisory Team responded via email to the following set of questions. Their comments have been edited for style. POWER: What changes in your fleet’s

The Black Oak Wind Farm project is an 11.9-MW wind facility under development in Tompkins County, N.Y., a few miles west of Ithaca. For the most part, Black Oak is unremarkable—the community-owned facility

A pilot plant in Andalucía, Spain, built by a consortium of multinational European partners, is converting toxic waste from olive oil production into electricity using an innovative three-part process

Candu Wins China’s Backing to Develop AFCR Projects. Candu Energy and the China National Nuclear Corp. on Nov. 10 signed a framework joint venture agreement to build Advanced Fuel CANDU Reactor (AFCR)

Through 2014, 47 GW of new wind power capacity will be installed in China, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, and other emerging markets, marking a sharp recovery for the global wind industry after four years of

Renewables’ share of the global power mix is slated to overtake coal to become the largest source of electricity by 2040, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects in its 2014 edition of the World

From its modest origins as a way to shed load when the grid is stressed, demand response (DR) has grown to be a significant player in electricity markets. In the PJM region, demand response has accounted for as much as 14,833 MW of capacity, almost 10% of the total. Customer Gains and Generator Losses Demand […]

The effects of the January 2014 polar vortex have led to big changes in the PJM capacity market, as the board has approved changes to tighten up operations and improve reliability. The polar vortex storm of Jan. 6–8, 2014, saw temperatures plunge across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, causing a spike in demand for electricity and […]

In one of its last actions for the year, Congress passed a bill extending a variety of tax breaks, including the Production Tax Credit (PTC) through the end of 2014. The PTC, along with many other tax breaks in the bill, had expired at the end of 2013. The extension will allow them to be […]

With the landslide re-election of Governor Jerry Brown, California looks certain to continue its suite of low-carbon policies, including the AB32 cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases, energy efficiency programs funded to the tune of a billion dollars a year, and its renewables portfolio standard (RPS) of 33% by 2020. In fact, Gov. Brown has suggested […]

Spurred by large utility-scale projects and healthy growth in residential installations, the U.S. added 1.3 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the third quarter of 2014, according to the latest US Solar Market Insight Report published by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research. The 1,354 MW of utility, commercial, and residential PV […]

NextEra Energy Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HEI)—two companies with substantial renewable energy resources—agreed on Dec. 3 to combine in a transaction valued at roughly $4.3 billion. Currently, NextEra Energy’s principal subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light Co. (the third-largest electric utility in the U.S.), and NextEra Energy Resources (North America’s largest producer of […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants amassed more than 1.6 million remarks before the public comment period ended on Monday. Here’s a snapshot of what states, regulators, industry groups, and environmental alliances told the agency about its Clean Power Plan.  States Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, […]

E.ON—a major investor-owned energy supplier that manages facilities across Europe, Russia, North America, Brazil, and Turkey—announced this week that it will embark on a new corporate strategy focused on renewables, distribution networks, and customer solutions, while combining its power generation, global energy trading, and exploration and production businesses into a new, independent company. “We are […]

The western Arizona desert has become a popular location for constructing large solar projects. The sunshine is plentiful and there are large tracts of non-prime farmland available that make building

Like many small countries, Albania is dependent on a specific generation type for the majority of its electricity. In the case of this mountainous nation of 3 million people, it’s hydropower. Roughly 98% of

We’ve all heard the phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Hometown BioEnergy (HTBE) offers a case in point. The plant uses vegetable-processing waste and livestock manure in an

In 2001, the year that the world’s largest offshore wind farm was conceived, the outlook for offshore wind was foggy. A paltry 95 MW of capacity had been installed worldwide—mostly in Denmark—and a