Wind

For the third straight year, renewable generation accounted for the majority of new utility-scale capacity additions in the U.S. during 2016, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on January 10. The EIA estimated that the U.S. added 24 GW of new utility-scale generation in 2016, of which 63% was renewables, almost all of it wind […]

China rolled out its latest five-year energy development plan, detailing the country’s aim of investing about 2.5 trillion yuan (more than $363 billion) through 2020 in the development of renewable energy resources. Yang Li Zhe, deputy director of China’s National Energy Board, explained the country’s vision during a press conference held in Beijing on January […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has dropped its support of a 24-MW offshore wind demonstration project proposed by Fishermen’s Energy off the coast of Atlantic City, N.J. “Under the Energy Department’s award, Fishermen’s Energy must have secured a power offtake agreement by December 31st to be eligible for another round of funding,” a DOE spokesperson […]

Although optimistic about the future of the coal industry under the Trump administration, Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp., the largest underground coal mining company in the U.S., does not expect the president-elect to bring back coal mining jobs or spur new coal-fired power plant construction. “I’ve asked President-elect Trump to temper his comments […]

President-elect Donald Trump has picked former Texas governor Rick Perry to be his energy secretary

Block Island Wind Farm has begun commercial operations, making it America’s first offshore wind farm. Deepwater Wind and project partners have commissioned and tested the 30-MW installation off the coast of Block Island, R.I., and it is now delivering power into New England’s grid via National Grid’s 20-mile-long sea2shore submarine transmission cable, the company said […]

In a finding that is likely to boost controversy over the future of U.S. energy policy, a comprehensive study of the full levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from various sources of electricity conducted by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute found that wind turbines and natural gas combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) […]

The entire state of South Australia suffered a blackout on the afternoon of September 28. The cause of the event has been disputed, but it has left Australians in a raging debate about the state of the country’s electricity system and policies that will shape its future power mix. The so-called “Black System” event that […]

Owner/operator: Pattern Energy Just as Seattle’s Amazon.com jumpstarted the online shopping trend, it’s now part of another trend that has major corporations owning or contracting for sizable grid-connected renewable power facilities. A new wind farm in rural Indiana is part of that story. Cloud computing is big business, and it’s growing as fast as cumulous […]

FirstEnergy Corp.—one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric utilities, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York—has made the strategic decision to exit the competitive power business. “We have made our decision that over the next 12 to 18 months we’re going to exit competitive generation and become a fully […]

TransCanada—a leading North American energy company—has struck deals to sell its U.S. Northeast Power business. LS Power will acquire three principally natural gas–fired power plants and a wind farm from TransCanada, while ArcLight Capital Partners will buy 13 hydropower facilities located in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. “The sale of our merchant U.S. Northeast Power […]

The world’s first wind farms are reaching the end of their expected lifetimes. As they become outdated, or just inefficient, many developers are considering repowering. Here’s a look at where repowering activity is happening the most and why. Since the world’s first wind turbine used to convert wind energy into electricity was built by Professor […]

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) voted unanimously to support Xcel Energy’s latest long-range plan, which will transform the company’s energy fleet. Xcel expects to more than double its renewable energy portfolio as a result, delivering greater than 60% carbon-free energy to its Upper Midwest (Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) customers by […]

The push for clean energy notwithstanding, no silver bullet can cure the challenges that our continued use of carbon engenders. Every form of energy production, green or black, clean or dirty, presents downsides. Siting an energy facility—whether clean energy, hydro, natural gas, coal or nuclear—inherently imposes some form of environmental harm. For renewables, one of […]

Global resources of variable renewable energy—primarily wind and solar—despite breakneck growth over the past two decades, are beginning to run up against technological and policy limitations on further deployment, and future growth will depend on significant changes in policy and grid design, according to a new report. Released on September 20, Variable Renewable Energy Sources […]

At least three states called for hefty new measures relating to greenhouse gas (GHG) goals over the past week. Mass. Gov. Directs State Officials to Implement Regulations to Annually Reduce GHG Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed an executive order on September 16 directing state officials to develop rules for specific, yearly reductions in GHG […]

States, regulators, and market participants have in recent years called attention to a trend concerning uneconomic baseload generation in organized wholesale markets, specifically in ISO New England, New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), MISO, PJM, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). Cheap natural gas, low power demand […]

A strategy rolled out by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of the Interior (DOI) to enable 86 GW of offshore wind capacity in the U.S. by 2050 highlights a number of key hurdles, including those related to technology, regulations, the environment, and markets. The DOE’s and DOI’s September 9–released joint document, “National Offshore […]

NRG Energy has taken action to acquire 2.1 GW of utility-scale wind and solar assets owned by bankrupt renewables giant SunEdison with a $144 million auction bid this week. New Jersey–based NRG Energy on Sept. 12 executed a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) to take on 200 MW of SunEdison’s construction-ready, fully contracted solar assets […]

Duke Energy Renewables, part of Duke Energy’s Commercial Portfolio, announced on September 7 that it will add six Georgia solar projects to the 2.8-GW renewable energy portfolio the company owns and operates. The projects are relatively small in terms of capacity—averaging about 1 MW DC each (769 kW AC)—but they are the first Duke Energy […]

If wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) penetrations in the Eastern Interconnection were amped up to 30%, they would decrease coal, combined cycle, and combustion turbine capacity factors by 30% to 50%, a new study from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) suggests. The study, NREL’s Eastern Renewable Generation Integration Study (ERGIS), was released on August […]

MidAmerican Energy’s Wind XI project in Iowa, which will comprise up to 2 GW of total generation, has received approval from state regulators to proceed with construction, the company said. The $3.6 billion project will place 1,000 turbines at several sites still to be finalized. Plans were announced in April 2016, and the Iowa Utilities […]

It’s only 30 MW, but it’s a start. The Block Island Wind Farm, the first offshore wind farm in the U.S., completed installation of its five wind turbines in the waters off Rhode Island on Aug. 18 (Figure), setting the stage for full operations in a few weeks, owner Deepwater Wind said.     The […]

A unanimous vote by New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission (PRC) today determined that Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) will be allowed to provide new renewable capacity to a proposed Facebook facility through a special service agreement.

Reliability and cybersecurity ranked as the two most important issues currently confronting the electric industry, according to surveys completed by 672 qualified utility, municipal, commercial, and community stakeholders for Black & Veatch’s “2016 Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report.” It’s not particularly surprising to see reliability rank at the top of the list. “Reliability has always […]

Massachusetts’ lawmakers approved an omnibus energy bill that sets down an energy storage mandate and requires utilities to solicit contracts for 1.6 GW of offshore wind. The bill also outlines clean energy procurement targets, including for 1.2 GW from hydro, onshore wind, and other renewables from within the state, from neighboring states, or from Canada. […]

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) approved New York’s Clean Energy Standard on August 1, likely saving three upstate nuclear power plants, while requiring 50% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) praised the action in a statement following the announcement. “New York has […]

Dutch power grid operator TenneT on June 10 unveiled plans for a large-scale island transmission hub in the North Sea that could connect numerous offshore wind farms and transmit their generated power to the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, Norway, Germany, and Denmark via direct current (DC) cables. Those cables, or “spokes” could also serve as […]

Poland, a country where hard coal and lignite power plants currently generate about 85% of the power, has passed a law that stymies a wind power expansion and is now mulling draft legislation that will help boost investments in new coal capacity. The eastern European country has bucked the trend toward renewable power that many […]