Solar

Legislative efforts to establish a federal renewable electricity standard (RES) kicked up last week with the separate introduction of two bills by Senate Democrats. Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) on Oct. 29 introduced the Renewable Electricity Standard Act of 2013 (S.1595), a bill that would create a national standard of 25% renewable energy […]

ABB and its consortium partner, Bondfield Construction, announced on Nov. 5 that they have won an order from Canadian Solar Solutions to supply a 100 MW turnkey photovoltaic (PV) solar project for the Grand Renewable Energy Park in Haldimand County, Ontario, southeast of Toronto. Ontario is in the final stages of a decade-long plan to […]

The Imperial Solar Energy Center South facility, one of the largest commercially financed solar plants in the U.S., commenced commercial operations on Nov. 1 near El Centro in California, just north of the Mexican border. The 130 MW project, which was developed by Tenaska Solar Ventures, began construction in December 2011 and consists of nearly […]

Abengoa’s Solana solar thermal plant, the world’s largest parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plant and the first in the U.S. with thermal energy storage, began commercial operations on Monday. The 280-MW plant, near Gila Bend in Arizona about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, employs molten salt to store about six hours of thermal energy […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

POWER Associate Editor Sonal Patel reported on Sept. 12 that “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.’” The EIA forecasts are presented in its Annual […]

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 […]

Solar trade remedies set by U.S. Department of Commerce determinations are weakened by Chinese solar producers who fail to show they are “free of Chinese government control,” Oregon-based SolarWorld argues in an appeal filed in an international trade court last week. The move is the latest development in an escalating trade war between the U.S. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Installed prices for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the U.S. in 2012 fell for the third straight year by a range of roughly 6% to 14% compared to the prior year. In its latest edition of “Tracking the Sun,” the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) reports installed prices for PV systems fell […]

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 […]

The European Union (EU) Trade Commission reached a "targeted and innovative" settlement in its high-profile solar spat with Beijing, just as China imposed lofty duties on U.S. and South Korean manufacturers of solar-grade polysilicon.

An updated energy flow chart released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that visually depicts the relative size of primary energy resources and end uses in the U.S., with fuels compared on a common energy unit basis, shows the nation consumed more natural gas and renewables but less coal in 2012.

A public land order approved by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Friday extends the withdrawal of 303,900 acres of federal land within 17 zones designated for solar power from new mining claims.

Three Hawaiian power companies plan to deactivate a total of 226 MW of oil-fired generating units, convert remaining baseload plants to cycling duty, and substantially ramp up use of renewables by 2016.

Energy policy in the European Union (EU) is in upheaval as concerns mount over the impact of energy costs on the competitiveness of the power industry.

Even though it enjoys sizeable coal and natural gas reserves, Indonesia struggles to provide electricity to its growing economy. Geography is its most obvious challenge. Others include evolving international markets and an energy sector that remains highly politicized.

Panelists at the ELECTRIC POWER 2013 Keynote and Roundtable Discussion in Chicago in May were consumed by the need to ensure future reliability by more closely integrating the gas and electricity markets. Acknowledged less directly were distortions created by renewable energy subsidies and mandates, onerous regulations affecting coal, and “irreversible” demand destruction caused by the success of energy efficiency and demand management programs. The elephant in the room was the continued demise of electricity markets.

President Barack Obama’s landmark speech on Tuesday outlining executive actions to combat and prepare for climate change backed the growth of natural gas and renewable power in lieu of carbon-heavy coal power, but he mentioned nuclear power only once—and only in the context of energy security.

Amid the deluge of reactions to President Obama’s June 25 speech announcing wide-ranging executive actions to curb carbon emissions and prepare for climate change effects were some unexpected statements.

Driven by the booming growth of generation from hydro, wind, and solar photovoltaics (PV), generation from renewables on a terawatt-hour basis is set to surpass that from natural gas and double nuclear’s share by 2016, becoming the world’s second-most important global electricity source after coal, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The European Commission (EC) last week imposed a provisional antidumping duty of 11.8% on imports of solar cells, wafers, and panels from China. Manufacturers have welcomed the controversial move, but installers and developers have decried it, saying it escalates a trade war that could drive up the cost of many solar technologies and undermine investment in the sector.

Several power companies, state commissions, and trade groups have filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging parts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Order 1000, a rule they argue will lead to high costs for consumers and diminish the authority of state and regional regulators. Meanwhile last week, the White House issued a memo directing federal agencies to improve siting and permitting process to help modernize the nation’s grid.

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power dedicated the first 150-MW phase of the 4,000-acre Mesquite Solar facility in Maricopa County, Ariz., on Friday. Potential to build out up to 700 MW of nameplate capacity could make the photovoltaic (PV) complex one of the biggest in the U.S.

Domestic content requirements that require some generators to source up to 60% of equipment from the Canadian province of Ontario under its feed-in-tariff (FIT) program are inconsistent with international trade rules, officials from the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) highest court said on Monday.