Renewables

A federation of Germany’s biggest companies last week called for urgent reforms to the country’s renewable energy strategy within the first 100 days of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s newly elected government, including abolishing feed-in-tariffs (FITs) that they say have sent power prices in the country soaring. Key points of the 19-page reform proposal submitted by the […]

Southeast Asia, with an increasingly affluent population of 600 million, must kick investment in the power sector into the next gear to meet expected demand for electricity. Download the report.

California’s drive to add flexibility to its grid in response to expanding renewable generation took another step forward in September as NRG Energy commissioned two new fast-start units at its El Segundo Energy Center near Los Angeles. The two units, with a combined 550 MW capacity, represent the second Siemens Flex-Plant to go into commercial […]

As variable generation from wind and solar power increases and peak loads grow and become more volatile, the U.S. electric grid will rely more and more on gas-fired power to maintain system flexibility. Often at the core of these gas-fired power plants are aeroderivative turbines, whose fast-start and cycling capabilities allow for frequent on-again, off-again […]

A new 2-MW power-to-gas (P2G) plant inaugurated by Germany’s E.ON in late August will convert excess wind energy into synthetic natural gas that can then be fed into the regional gas grid, where it can be

Courtesy: Business Wire The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) reached a notable milestone on Tuesday, Sep. 24, 2013, when its Unit 1 turbine generator was synchronized to the California power grid for the first time. The project has been under construction since Bechtel Corp. began site preparation on Oct. 8, 2010. Jointly owned by […]

Pressures on competitive power markets have fueled substantial declines in plant valuations over the past five years, with coal plants taking the brunt of the damage. That’s the conclusion of a new report from financial services firm Fitch Ratings released on Wednesday. The report, which calculated the net present value of plants across the country […]

A compromise offered by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) on Monday to resolve a worsening trade dispute between U.S. and Chinese solar industries proposes the creation of a Chinese fund to help grow the U.S. market and safeguards to offset surges of Chinese solar modules. The move comes as Chinese provisional anti-subsidy duties on […]

Much attention has been devoted recently to the increased cycling that is necessary in fossil plants as more renewable capacity is added to the grid, but data on the precise impacts has been slight. Now, a new study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) aims to correct that. The key findings: While cycling would increase […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday issued a revised proposal to curb carbon emissions from new power plants that sets separate standards for new gas-fired and coal-fired power plants. The agency also revealed it is developing new carbon standards for existing power plants. Separate Standards for Coal and Gas and Forthcoming Existing Plant Standards […]

Ending a tumultuous battle over the future of electricity in the state, the California Legislature passed a wide-ranging revision of its ratemaking structure last week. Despite the contentious subject, the bill, AB 327, was approved by a broad bipartisan majority and garnered widespread support from the state’s three investor-owned utilities, the residential solar industry, and […]

China’s historical solar photovoltaic (PV) price advantage is driven by economies of scale and supply chain development—not direct government subsidies or low labor costs, as is the prevailing belief—suggests a new study from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The study recently published in the […]

Nearly 100 renewable energy and environmental groups and businesses have asked the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to reevaluate renewable energy forecasts, alleging the agency’s projections don’t reflect “the current status and recent, real-world growth rates of renewables.” In a Sept. 10 letter to EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski, the coalition says the agency’s estimates in past […]

If you’ve been paying attention to energy issues in the media lately, you may have encountered a curious narrative that’s starting to gain traction among supporters of renewable energy. Namely, that the core problem with wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, which is matching moment-to-moment demand with the intermittency wind and sunlight, isn’t really a […]

The $2.9 billion London Array—the world’s biggest offshore wind farm—opened this July in the Outer Thames Estuary about 12 miles off the coasts of Kent and Essex. The 175-turbine installation is arranged

China hit two of its most significant hydroelectric milestones in recent months: Initial operation of the 13.86-GW Xiluodu project—the country’s second-largest hydropower project after the 22.5-GW Three

A new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests wind and solar generation could become cost-effective without federal subsidies if they are sited in the most productive locations. “It is too early to say how strong the post-2025 market for renewables will be or whether it will be primarily market-driven or policy-driven. In […]

New Mexico could host the nation’s first buried long-distance high voltage direct current (HVDC) electric transmission network if an ambitious project proposed by Tres Amigas LLC gains traction. The merchant transmission entity whose mission it is to unite the nation’s three power grids to achieve its renewable energy goals unveiled the 2,000-MW New Mexico Express […]

Two federally sponsored reports submitted to the Eastern Interconnection States’ Planning Council (EISPC) suggest that the rapid expansion of natural gas could force the closure of between 35 GW and 60 GW of U.S. coal power capacity over the next five years and weaken market forces that now bolster existing nuclear plants. An Energy Department–funded […]

The first ever lease application received to test ocean current energy equipment in the U.S. has been greenlighted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The Department of the Interior agency that oversees energy activities on the Outer Continental Shelf on Monday announced availability of a revised environmental assessment (EA) and its finding of […]

Europe’s third-largest power provider on Tuesday announced it would take offline 3.1 GW of natural gas and coal power plants in Germany and the Netherlands, citing a “continuing boom in solar energy.” Echoing several European utilities, Germany-based RWE has underscored the declining profitability of fossil fuel–fired plants that it says is pegged to fundamental changes […]

Wind power installations in 2012 represented a 43% majority of all new power capacity additions in the U.S. and accounted for $25 billion in U.S. investment, two new reports from the Department of Energy show. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) released the “2012 Wind Technologies Market Report,” which details the latest trends in the […]

Energy demand in Mexico, according to the Secretary of Energy (SENER), will increase by approximately 4% each year for the next ten years, and with it the potential for private sector growth in the industry. Download the report.