Solar

  • Geronimo Energy and Basin Electric Power Cooperative Announce Power Purchase Agreement for 128 MW South Dakota Solar Project

    PIERRE, S.D., Feb. 18, 2020 — Geronimo Energy (Geronimo), a National Grid company, and Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Basin Electric) announced today the execution of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Wild Springs Solar Project (Wild Springs). Wild Springs is a 128 megawatt (MW) clean solar energy project located in Pennington County, South Dakota, […]

  • Signal Energy Australia to Provide Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Services for the 706-Acre, 149 MW(P) Glenrowan West Solar Farm

    SYDNEY, Feb. 18, 2020 — Signal Energy Australia Pty Ltd has partnered with WIRTGEN INVEST, a German investment company, to lead the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) effort on the Glenrowan West Solar Farm. Signal Energy Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Signal Energy, a leading design/build contractor providing EPC services to the renewable energy industry. […]

  • WFW advises Noy Fund on acquisition of 421 MW Spanish PV portfolio

    February 13, 2020 — Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Noy Infrastructure & Energy Investment Fund (“Noy Fund”) on the acquisition of a majority stake in a photovoltaic (“PV”) portfolio of two plants with a total installed capacity of 421 MW from Hive Energy and White Light Energy. It represents Noy Fund’s first investment in […]

  • Nuclear a Major Focus in Trump’s Latest Budget Request—and 8 Other Takeaways

    Yucca Mountain, the 1987 Congressionally appointed deep geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), may be officially dead; transmission assets held by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and three Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) will be put up for sale; and hundreds of millions of dollars in unobligated balances for flagship programs like the Advanced Research […]

  • Energy Northwest Study Makes a Case for SMRs in Future Power Mix

    Deep decarbonization of the U.S. Northwest can be achieved at “manageable” costs by 2045, but only if utility agency Energy Northwest secures zero-emitting firm capacity, such as by relicensing Columbia Generating Station—the sole nuclear plant in the region—and building small modular reactors (SMRs), a new study suggests. The study by San Francisco-based consulting group Energy […]

  • California Official: Solar’s Future Bright, but Clouds Persist

    The technology behind solar power is changing rapidly. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have said so-called “anti-solar” panels could even generate power at night. But even as solar deployments grow worldwide, more innovative solar products are launched, and more governments enact clean energy mandates, political headwinds threaten to slow the progress of the […]

  • Public Safety Power Shutoffs: How Utilities Could Partner

    Catastrophic wildfires have devastated California in recent years. This article seeks to outline a plan wherein neighboring utilities can send energy to support a utility that has shut down critical paths during wildfire mitigation efforts. On the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp Fire erupted 90 miles north of Sacramento, California (Figure 1). This fire […]

  • Community Solar: Ready for the New Decade

    Community solar refers to local solar facilities shared by multiple subscribers who receive credit on their electricity bills for their share of the power produced. Community solar allows homeowners, renters

  • POWER Digest [February 2020]

    Indonesia Readying to Build 145-MW Floating Solar Plant. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of Indonesian state electricity company PT PLN, is planning to begin construction of the $129 million Cirata

  • Endesa to Close Two Giant Spanish Coal Plants

    Endesa on Dec. 27 formally moved to shutter two massive coal-fired power plants—the 1.4-GW As Pontes plant in A Coruña, Galicia, which is the biggest coal-fired power plant in Spain, and the 1.16-GW

  • Raiders Will Roll With Renewables at New Vegas Stadium

    The Raiders, a franchise that has called both Oakland and Los Angeles, California, home since the team began play in 1960, is moving to Las Vegas for the 2020 National Football League season. And this “new” team will take advantage of renewable resources to power both its new stadium, as well as its administrative offices […]

  • Future of Solar Energy Brighter Than Sun: Rapid Innovations Pave the Way

    We live in the age of automation and artificial intelligence. We need smartphones with long-lasting battery backup. We demand computers with higher computing power. In short, we require more and more energy. And when it comes to energy, we often turn to the most sustainable power alternative: solar energy. Its abundance is not the only […]

  • Coal Is Out as APS Sets Carbon-Free Goal

    Arizona Public Service (APS) announced Jan. 22 that it plans for all its power generation to be carbon-free by 2050, and also said it plans to produce nearly half its power from renewable sources by 2030. APS joins other U.S. utilities who have put forth similar goals in recent years. APS, which has been criticized […]

  • Qatar Will Boost Middle East Solar with 800-MW Project

    Qatar’s energy minister on Jan. 19 said the country will build an 800-MW solar power project that will push the country far beyond its announced goal for solar energy. That goal of 100 MW of solar generation was established when Qatar in December 2010 was awarded rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament. […]

  • Small business, big impact: E.ON extends 100% renewables-backed electricity offer to small business customers

    January 20, 2020 — E.ON today announced it would be extending its 100% renewables-backed electricity supply to eligible small business customers across Britain – committing to source electricity matched with wind, solar and other sources for 100,000 or more small businesses over the next 12 months. E.ON already provides its residential customers electricity supply backed […]

  • Wisconsin PSC Backs Construction of Gas-Fired Plant

    Construction of a $700 million natural gas-fired power plant near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border was authorized by Wisconsin regulators on Jan. 16, over the objections of environmental groups who have said the plant is not needed. Dairyland Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power would jointly own the 625-MW Nemadji Trail Energy Center, which on its current timeline […]

  • Sunflower Finally Scraps Plans for 895-MW Kansas Coal Plant

    Sunflower Electric Power Corp. has abandoned plans to build the $2.8 billion Holcomb Expansion after its partner on the 895-MW coal-fired power plant project in Kansas, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, announced it would no longer pursue the project. Sunflower said on Jan. 15 it will allow the project’s air permit, for which it once […]

  • Report: Investment in Renewables Hit Record High in 2019

    Financial support for installations of offshore wind projects helped investment in renewable energy capacity hit a record high in 2019, according to data from research company BloombergNEF (BNEF) released Jan. 16. The group said worldwide investment in renewables was $282.2 billion last year, up 1% from $280.2 billion in 2018. Financing of offshore wind projects, […]

  • EIA: Renewables Will Surge Past Coal, Nuclear to 22% of U.S. Power Mix in 2021

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its first forecast for 2021 suggests the share of renewables in the utility-scale U.S. power generation mix will surge to 22%, up from 17% last year, while coal and nuclear’s shares will be further diminished. According to the agency’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), released Jan. 14, coal’s […]

  • Ceremonial Groundbreaking Kicks Off Construction Of Sunpin Solar’s 98 MW Titan Solar 1 Project

    IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 14, 2020 —  Sunpin Solar, a California-based solar developer, held a groundbreaking ceremony on January 10th, 2020, celebrating the start of construction on its 98 MW Titan Solar 1 Project in Ocotillo Wells, California. This is Sunpin Solar’s second large utility-scale solar project in California, following the successful completion of the 96.75 […]

  • New York Is Fertile Ground for Clean Energy

    When many people are asked which state is leading the U.S. toward a renewable energy future, California is the first that comes to mind. And while California is worthy of such distinction, it’s not the only state with a progressive clean-energy agenda. New York should also be part of the conversation. On Jan. 8, New […]

  • PJM Stakeholders at Odds on Timing for Next Capacity Auction

    PJM Interconnection will not run a base residual auction (BRA) until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approves recalculated Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) floor prices for new and existing resources as directed by the federal entity’s ground-shaking Dec. 19 capacity market order. But when that will occur is still highly uncertain. In a presentation […]

  • 2020 – A New Energy Era Begins, and Storage is Key

    This last year of the decade proved to be a pivotal year for energy storage technology, as major developments underscored why it is so vital for energy markets. Events such as widespread power outages and transmission issues on a global scale have led to the precipitous rise in energy storage deployments. The energy industry has […]

  • Solar Installations to Grow by Additional 142 GW in 2020 – Seven Times the World’s Total Solar Installations a Decade Ago

    LONDON (January 7, 2020) – Global solar installations will continue double-digit growth rates into the new decade, according to the new 2020 Global Photovoltaic (PV) Demand Forecast by IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions. New annual installations in 2020 will reach 142 gigawatts (GW), a 14 % rise […]

  • Feds Back Construction of Largest U.S. Solar Farm

    The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Dec. 30 released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Gemini solar project, a planned 7,100-acre installation outside Las Vegas, Nevada, with a proposed generation capacity of 690 MW. The $1 billion project would be the largest U.S. solar farm in terms of generation, and includes […]

  • THE BIG PICTURE [Infographic]: Solar’s Explosive Growth

    According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) World Energy Outlook 2019, solar photovoltaic (PV) is set to become the largest source of installed electrical capacity in about 2035, if countries pursue policies as planned. By 2040, solar could make up 24% of global installed capacity—up from 7% in 2018—but its share of generation could hover […]

  • Is Hydrogen the Power Industry’s Holy Grail?

    Some power industry insiders believe hydrogen offers a solution to large-scale energy storage problems. The concept generally revolves around utilizing electricity generated by renewables when supply is high

  • 10 Power Sector Insights from the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2019

    The International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) November 2019–released World Energy Outlook 2019 (WEO2019) is studded with interesting findings about emerging trends in the power sector. Here are 10 from the

  • POWER Digest [January 2020]

    Engie Will Close 1 GW of Coal Generation; Adding Solar, Wind. French energy group Engie in mid-December said it will close 1 GW of coal-fired power generation assets in Peru and Chile over the next five years

  • Power Industry Disrupters: Gas, Renewables, and Storage

    The power industry is experiencing significant changes. Natural gas, wind, solar, and battery storage seem to be the wave of the future. What’s compelling the transformation? Some people point to