SA wind power nearly nine times national rate

www.abc.net.au
19 Mar 2012

A report says more than one quarter of South Australia's electricity generation is now wind-powered. The EnergyQuest report says wind power generated 26% of SA electricity last year, compared with 3% nationally. EnergyQuest chief executive Graeme Bethune said SA had become one of the highest users of wind power in the world. He said more wind farms were in the planning. "There's been an extraordinary growth in wind power in South Australia over the last five years. Five years ago it was less than 1%, in 2011 it hit 26% of power generation", he said. Mr Bethune said Victoria and Tasmania had the next highest levels of wind power generation.

A silver tree for solar PV photosynthesis

www.earthtechling.com
17 Mar 2012

For years the energy industry was all about overpowering nature, outsmarting nature, beating nature. But the last decade or so of realizations about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions has led the energy industry right back to the laws and wisdom of nature. Now some engineers are looking at trees-which naturally absorb sunlight to create energy-for wisdom on how to build the most efficient solar panel. They are most interested in how to reduce the amount of silver in solar cells, a commodity whose price is increasingly volatile and expensive.

All silicon-based solar photovolatic (PV) panels use a silver-based paste for the panel's contact grid, using around 0.10 grams of silver for each watt of generating capacity, or about 20 grams of silver in a 200-watt panel, according to New Energy Finance. According to Bloomberg online, the solar PV industry consumes around 11% of the world's silver supply, with the cost of silver quickly rising from $20.24/ounce in 2010 to $35.30 in mid-2011.

Read more…

Fuel Cell Energy

news.cnet.com
15 Mar 2012

Hydrogen fueling stations--they're coming: Two key players in the hydrogen manufacturing arena will be working together to make hydrogen fueling stations a reality for the fuel-cell vehicles that should be coming to market in the second half of this decade.

Air Products and FuelCell Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to market stationary Direct Fuel Cell (DFC) power plants. These systems, manufactured by FuelCell Energy, are designed to take natural gas or renewable biogas and produce hydrogen, electricity, and heat.

Read more…

EON to cut costs of building offshore wind farms 40% by 2015

www.businessweek.com
14 Mar 2012

E.ON AG (EOAN), Germany's biggest utility, expects to cut costs for building offshore wind farms about 40% by 2015 as it embarks on a 7 billion-euro ($9 billion) renewable energy expansion plan. E.ON, which today said that 2011 profit slumped 50% in part on the German nuclear exit and lower earnings from its power generation and wholesale gas business, will commission as much as 800 MWs of renewable capacity this year, Chief Executive Officer Johannes Teyssen said in Dusseldorf. "Renewables are a mainstay of our corporate strategy, and wind power in particular is one of our growth businesses", Teyssen said at company headquarters.

The utility plans to invest 7 billion euros to expand its clean-energy generation capacity in the next five years as German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to shut the country's nuclear power reactors by 2022 after Japan's disaster. E.ON seeks to build wind farms off the UK, Scandinavia and German coastlines, including the 1-billion euro Amrumbank West project in the North Sea that Siemens AG (SIE), Europe's largest engineering company, will supply with 80 of its wind turbines. "We intend to commission a new offshore wind farm every 18 months", Teyssen said.

E.ON at the end of last year owned about 9 GWs of renewable generation capacity, 4.8 GWs of which were hydroelectric stations. The utility's renewable energy unit saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rise 21% to 1.5 billion euros as more wind turbines were installed.

Finance heavyweights throw support behind Clean Energy Finance Corporation

www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au
15 Mar 2012

A Deloitte study of over 40 senior executives from Australian banks, super funds, venture capital firms and major investors has found overwhelming support for future investment through a well designed Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), according to the Clean Energy Council. The $10 billion CEFC was announced as part of the Federal Government's carbon price package in 2011 and is a way of providing funding for new clean energy technologies such as large scale solar, wave energy and geothermal energy.

Those interviewed indicated that the CEFC should ideally "act as a co-investor to help unlock capital from large institutional investors, major banks and international markets". Clean Energy Council acting Chief Executive Kane Thornton said the $10 billion CEFC would help to overcome the "fear of the unknown" faced by new technologies when they were seeking investors.

Read more…

Hydrogen power in real life: Clean and energy efficient

www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012)--Since 2009, a hydrogen powered street cleaning vehicle has been undergoing testing on the streets of Basel. The project is intended to take hydrogen drives out of the laboratory and onto the streets in order to gain experience on using them under practical conditions. The result of the pilot trial: hydrogen as a fuel for municipal utility vehicles saves energy, is environmentally friendly and is technically feasible. In order to make it cost-effective, however, the prices of fuel-cells, pressurized storage tanks and electric drives must all drop significantly.

To develop a prototype and then test it right away under everyday conditions of use is not an easy undertaking, and setbacks are practically preprogrammed. The hydrogen powered street cleaning vehicle, which took about 18 months to develop and began trials in Basel in 2009, is no exception. "It became clear relatively quickly that the fuel-cell system, which had been developed as a one-of specially for the project, was not yet ready for use in a real-life setting", explains project leader Christian Bach, head of Empa's Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory. "On top of that, the various safety systems kept interfering with each other and bringing everything to a halt".

Read more…

Texas sets wind power records with new grid analysis

www.reuters.com
9 Mar 2012

• Texas leads nation in wind generating capacity
• Wind accounted for 8.5 pct of 2011 power output
• Coastal wind farms grow to 21 pct of total capacity

(US) HOUSTON, March 9 (Reuters)-Texas set new records for wind-power output this week using a new transmission analysis tool that allows more wind to flow on power lines from west Texas to power-consuming cities hundreds of miles away, the state grid operator said. The amount of electricity produced from wind on Wednesday evening set a record at 7,599 MWs, up 196 MW from the previous day, which eked past a 7,400- MW record set last October, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said in a statement.

On Wednesday night, electricity was being produced by more than 77% of the 9,838 MW of ERCOT's installed wind capacity, well above the average 30 to 40% of nameplate electric capacity that wind farms typically produce. "March is typically a high-wind month for ERCOT, but these new records are also due in part to a new transmission analysis tool we started using this week that allows us to move more wind power from the west zone", said Kent Saathoff, ERCOT's director of grid operations and system planning.

ERCOT began using a new tool this week to calculate day-ahead and real-time limits on power lines from west Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. "The new tool runs an analysis on real-time conditions every 30 minutes so it gives us a more fine-tuned analysis", Saathoff said. With more than 9,800 MW, Texas leads the nation in carbon-free electric capacity from wind turbines. More than 7,500 MW are located in west Texas, where the wind generally blows the strongest during the evening hours and in the spring and fall months when power demand is low.

Recent wind farm additions, now totaling nearly 2,100 MW, or 21%, have been built closer to the Texas coast, south of Corpus Christi where wind patterns differ from west Texas. About 13% of the record 7,599 MW produced March 7 came from the coastal wind farms, ERCOT said. At the time of the latest record, wind generation accounted for 22% of the power demand of 34,318 MW, the grid agency said. ERCOT added 9 MW of coastal wind generation in February with the addition of the Harbor Wind facility in Nueces County.

Duke Energy's renewable unit expects to add 402 MW at its coastal wind project in Willacy County by late 2012. wind farms expanded rapidly in Texas until 2009 when production began to overwhelm the existing transmission capacity available to move the power from remote areas of west Texas to large cities-such as Dallas and San Antonio-that consume the power. Texas is building more than 2,300 miles (3,700 km) of high-voltage transmission in a $6.5 billion plan to expand the grid by late 2013 to accommodate wind farm growth of up to 18,500 MW. Current wind farm construction has slowed and a number of projects were canceled. Developers are studying the addition of 18,000 MW of wind in Texas, down from 34,000 MW of wind last fall.

Algonquin to buy Spanish co's U.S. wind farms for $888 million

www.reuters.com
9 Mar 2012

(Reuters)-Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp (AQN.TO) will buy a 480 MW portfolio of U.S, wind power projects from Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa (GAM.MC) for $888 million to gain a significant foothold in the country's wind power market. The United States, once the world's top wind power market, ceded the mantle to China in 2010 as a weak economy halted growth, but business has picked up since the middle of last year.

The global wind power capacity will more than double to 450 GWs in 2015 from 194.4 GWs at the end of 2010, according to a Global Wind Energy Council forecast. The Canadian company, which operates a portfolio of more than $1.2 billion of renewable energy assets in North America, had tripped on some of its earlier buyout attempts. It had to bow out of the deal to buy a stake in US-based wind farm operator First Wind Holdings earlier this year, while late last year Western Wind Energy (WND.V) asked shareholders to snub Algonquin's "low-ball" offer.

The company said the portfolio it was buying from Gamesa consisted of four facilities--Minonk, Senate, Pocahontas Prairie and Sandy Ridge, in the states of Illinois, Texas, Iowa and Pennsylvania, respectively. "If you look at the footprint of these generating stations, they are located sort of outside our existing footprint and so, we will get the benefit of further diversification", Chief Executive Ian Robertson said on a conference call.

The company expects the total annual production from the four facilities to be 1,644 GW-hours per year. "I think this (deal) moves them pretty far down the field in terms of expanding on power development projects", analyst Ian Tharp of CIBC World Markets told Reuters. "On the face of it, 480 MWs at $888 million comes out to $1.85 million a MW", Tharp said. "It looks quite good". The acquisition doubles Algonquin's independent power generation portfolio, the CEO said.

In a similar US-focused deal last month, independent power producer Atlantic Power Corp (ATP.TO) acquired a majority stake in Canadian Hills LLC, which owns a 300 MWs wind power project in Oklahoma.

Gamesa Contract
Algonquin said the four projects have a 20-year contract with Gamesa to provide operations, warranty and maintenance services for the wind turbines. "Only about 73% of the revenue from these projects is under long-term contract, so there is still some merchant risk--which means you are selling power in the real time or day-ahead power markets--in these contracts that Algonquin will need to manage over time", CIBC's Tharp said. The company, which last month entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement with Saskatchewan Power Corp for its upcoming 177 MW Chaplin Wind project, plans to finance its investment with about 45% debt and 55% equity.

The projects will be acquired through American Wind Portfolio Holdings LLC, a newly formed partnership in which Algonquin holds 51% interest and Gamesa 49%. Gamesa said the sale would add $35 million to earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), excluding operation and maintenance. TD Securities was adviser to Algonquin, which reported a 63% drop in fourth-quarter adjusted profit late on Thursday.

Germany researching lithium battery technology

resourceinvestingnews.com
8 Mar 2012

This month, the German Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum is launching a research project to develop an aqueous lithium battery. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research will be supporting the study with approximately $1.9 million in funding over a five-year period. The team's goals are to produce a lithium storage format that will deliver high-energy density at an economically viable cost, and to develop batteries suitable for electric power grid applications.

Typically, lithium batteries are based on organic solvents and are used in laptop computers and other portable devices. Overall the demand for batteries currently represents almost 30% of total global demand for lithium. Lithium has not yet been used as a storage format in power supply systems because at present lithium batteries are considered relatively expensive and potentially unsafe, with risks including short circuits due to rapid overheating.

Read more…

Something in the air: time for independent testing in coal areas

theconversation.edu.au
9 Mar 2012

Tens of thousands of Australians live and work close to coal-fired power plants. The cocktail of gaseous and particulate pollutants arising from coal power generation is injurious to human health. All are associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke in the days after exposure and subsequently with the development of chronic cardiopulmonary diseases.

A recent article in the Medical Journal of Australia details the mechanisms of these health impacts, reviews their inadequate documentation in Australia and the lack of political will to address them. Here we summarise some of these findings and document inadequate action in communities from three states.

What is in the air?
We know from the Australian National Pollutant Inventory that there is considerable pollution from coal-related sources, for example in New South Wales coal mines and coal fired power stations are among the state's biggest polluters.

However, there are insufficient data from areas where people live to know the extent of the impact of this pollution on people on a daily basis. This is an obvious deficiency. In the Hunter Valley, some of the affected areas have higher rates of hospital admissions and emergency department presentations for respiratory diseases than the state average, but only for some age groups and some conditions. As noted in a report from NSW Health, just relying on hospital data is insufficient to really ascertain the health impacts of coal mining and burning in the region.

The two main gaseous pollutants of concern are sulphur and nitrogen dioxides. Most coal-fired power stations have been modified to reduce their level but some-such as Bayswater in NSW and Hazelwood in Victoria-are significant emitters of both gases. The level of sulphur dioxide (a strong respiratory irritant) in coal-fired power station emissions also depends on the amount of sulphur in the coal source, which varies considerably.

Of great concern among harmful pollutants are the particulates that are too small to see. Particles from the smoke stacks are inhaled into the lungs during breathing. The smaller the particles the deeper they penetrate. Some lodge in the lining of the lungs and cause inflammation.

The smaller particles pass through the lining to enter the blood stream and cause disease, predominantly inflammation of blood vessels leading to obstruction in other parts of the body such as, for example, the brain, causing stroke. The particles are made up of carbon and a range of toxic substances, including sulphur and nitrogen oxides. Some of these may be carcinogens.

There is no safe level for particulate pollution. The burden of disease is proportional to the level of exposure. These findings are the same in all communities throughout the world.

Read more…

Voters call for action on climate change

www.smh.com.au
9 Mar 2012

AS THE Baillieu government prepares to reveal the future of Victoria's climate change laws, a poll has found two-thirds of Coalition voters think the state has a responsibility to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Essential Media poll of 1009 Victorians, commissioned by conservation group Environment Victoria, found 76% believed the state government should cut emissions and not leave it to the federal government to take action through a carbon tax or other steps.

Among Coalition voters, 66% said the state had a responsibility to cut emissions. Victorians want the state government to act despite belief in climate change being split between those who think that it is caused by human activity (47%) and those who think it is either due to natural variation or not happening at all (44%).

The poll comes as the state government is due to this month release a review of the Climate Change Act introduced by the previous Labor government, which includes a target of cutting Victoria's emissions by 20% this decade. The Baillieu government has wound back some clean energy programs and fuelled expectations the target could be reduced or scrapped.

Other findings from the poll conducted in December and January were:

• Just 22% of voters consider wind farm laws that give households right of veto over turbines within 2km of their house fair.
• 50% said the laws were not fair.
• A majority said they wanted fewer coal-fired power plants (63%) and more renewable energy (78%) and energy efficiency (82%).

Survey: Americans Not Warming Up to Nuclear Power One Year After Fukushima

www.marketwatch.com
7 Mar 2012

(US) WASHINGTON, -- Contrary to Industry Predictions, Reactor Disaster Seen As Having a "Lasting Chill" on Perceptions; It's Not All Fukushima: 3 in 5 Americans Less Supportive Due to Woes of US Nuclear Industry in Last Year. One year after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, Americans continue to want to keep the brakes on more nuclear power in the United States, according to a major new ORC International survey conducted for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (CSI).

To gauge any shift in public attitudes, the new survey was benchmarked to an earlier poll carried out by ORC International in March 2011 for CSI. Conducted February 23-26 2012, the new survey of 1,032 Americans shows that: Nearly six in 10 Americans (57%) are less supportive of expanding nuclear power in the United States than they were before the Japanese reactor crisis, a nearly identical finding to the 58% who responded the same way when asked the same question one year ago. This contrasts sharply with pre-Fukushima surveys by Gallup and other organizations showing a 60% support level for nuclear power.

Read more…

Acciona to build Moree Solar Farm

theland.farmonline.com.au
8 Mar 2012

THE owner of the Gunning Wind Farm, ACCIONA Energy, will take on the construction of the Moree Solar Farm following a competitive bidding process for the contract. The renewable energy developer owns wind farms in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, and has previously built solar farms overseas. Spokesman for the Moree Solar Farm consortium, Lane Crockett, said he was confident in ACCIONA Energy's ability to deliver the project to schedule and within budget. "They were preferred contractor for a while and became selected contractor just before the bid was submitted", Mr Crockett told the Moree Champion. Last week the consortium also confirmed in a press release that BP Solar had withdrawn from the project and the remaining partners Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) and Pacific Hydro would take up the minority equity stake previously held by BP.

California nuclear backlash hits relicensing after Japan meltdown: Energy

www.bloomberg.com
8 Mar 2012

Two nuclear power plants perched near earthquake faults in California could struggle to get relicensed after a cascade of natural and nuclear disasters across the Pacific Ocean in Japan galvanized opposition groups.

Fukushima-inspired concerns have rippled through Orange County, where the cities of Laguna Beach and San Clemente asked regulators to decide whether Edison International (EIX)'s San Onofre atomic plant 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Los Angeles could withstand an earthquake and tsunami before extending its permit to 2042 from 2022. Further north, PGE Corp. (PCG) asked for a delay in relicensing Diablo Canyon pending seismic studies.

"An accident would be devastating" at San Onofre, Laguna Beach Mayor Jane Egly said in an interview in her home overlooking the seaside enclave. "If they don't do anything to address our safety concerns, I would support shutting it down". Nuclear anxiety in the most populous state, a bellwether for political and environmental issues nationwide, is echoing in New York, Ohio, Virginia and Vermont, where local groups oppose operators' efforts to extend the lives of their plants. Eleven U.S, power companies including Edison, PGE, Entergy Corp. (ETR) and Progress Energy Inc. (PGN) seek 20-year license extensions to keep 15 atomic generators running through age 60.

At stake is whether reactors designed in the 1960s and 1970s, the same vintage as those overwhelmed by a 9.0-magnitude quake and 46-foot (14-meter) tsunami in Fukushima, Japan, should remain the foundation of a 104-reactor U.S, fleet through mid-century. The debate over atomic energy, which provides about 20% of the nation's power, extends even into new projects.

Read more…

Outlook inspires whispers

www.heraldsun.com.au
7 Mar 2012

THE 23m-high wind turbine that stands in front of Geelong firm Austeng's factory isn't the only thing that sets the company apart. As impressive, though less readily visible from the highway, are the engineering company's forward-looking attitude and willingness to innovate and change. "If we serviced only our old customers and produced the same products we'd always produced, we'd be out the back door so fast", says managing director and founder Ross George. "The future for manufacturers like us is about trying to be innovative and producing products that are new and different".

The world's quietest wind turbine, Eco Whisper, and a second product, pre-cast geopolymer graves, fit that bill. "Many of the new products we see being worked on here in Australia are tied up with environmental and energy efficiency and are about being green", Mr George said. "Because so many of our old customers are now sourcing from overseas, we've had to reinvent our customer base to survive and grow". Michael Le Messurier of Renewable Energy Solutions Australia, which owns the Eco Whisper technology, became an Austeng client last year. "Austeng came to us highly regarded and they've been passionate champions of our technology ever since", he said. "They really want to see it work".

As part of its role in the project, Austeng offered to buy and install an Eco Whisper on site. That was not only to test the product, but also to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Eco Whisper is designed to offset energy requirements at commercial, manufacturing and industrial sites, as well as at shopping centres and schools. Mr George said the wind turbine would supply about one third of the energy Austeng consumes. "Having a carbon management policy and being perceived as carbon neutral is good for our business image--and it's helped our customer out", he said. Austeng will be producing four to six more wind turbines for RESA's Victorian customers over the next six months, as Queensland-based RESA focuses on the Victorian market.

Study plays down turbine noise fear

www.adelaidenow.com.au
7 Mar 2012

SUBSONIC noise from wind farms is reportedly no worse than that of the ocean, the hum of Adelaide's CBD Energy or other energy plants. wind farm opponents have seized on earlier reports indicating turbines produce low-frequency noise undetectable by the human ear to argue against development. Analysis by Adelaide-based acoustic consultancy firm Sonus, provided to The Advertiser, shows the controversial technology does create sub-sonic noise, but at levels that meet international standards.

The findings come amid changes proposed by the State Government that would allow wind farms to be constructed within 1km of homes. The Opposition will attempt to block it on grounds including health concerns. The study measured noise levels near two operating wind farms, including the Clement's Gap station in South Australia's Mid North. It was commissioned by renewable energy proponent Pacific Hydro.

"The measurement results indicate that the levels of infrasound in the vicinity of the two Australian wind farms are,.. of the same order as that measured from a range of sources, including the beach, the Adelaide central business district and a (gas-fired) power station", the study states. Medical director of the anti-wind farm group Waubra Foundation, Dr Sarah Laurie, said there was not enough independent evidence on the effect of infrasound once it infiltrated homes. Typical symptoms of turbine sickness include chronic stress and disrupted sleep.

Pacific Hydro executive manager Andrew Richards said the study disproved concerns that wind turbines produced infrasound damaging to human health. A spokesman for Planning Minister John Rau said wind farms must comply with noise standards and the Government was considering submissions on health impacts and turbines in a development review.

OK for Woorndoo wind farm

www.standard.net.au
5 Mar 2012

WORK on Woorndoo's Salt Creek wind farm will begin today after Moyne Shire Council's unanimous decision to endorse NewEn Australia's plans last week. NewEn Australia director Ernst Wey-hausen welcomed the council decision to support the 15-turbine wind farm. "At NewEn Australia we believe passionately in working with the community and we endeavour to create positive outcomes whenever possible", he said. "While there is a great deal of local support for the wind farm, there is one family living nearby with concerns. We are willing to remove some of our turbines near their houses to create a better outcome for all involved, provided that council will accept such an amendment to the planning permit".

Mr Weyhausen said NewEn Australia has committed to working with the council and the nearby family so the final number of turbines could be reduce to as few as 10. "With new technology available we can source more efficient turbines, which would enable the wind farm to produce its projected output of 29.9 MW from as few as 10 turbines instead of 15. It's a win-win for all parties concerned", he said. Mr Weyhausen said works on the project would begin this morning in order to satisfy the requirements of the planning permit.

"We have invested considerable time and finances in this project and are very excited that works will finally begin", he said. "There were 47 conditions and more than 150 sub-conditions in the planning permit which we've been working with the Moyne Shire Council and associated referral agencies to satisfy. We are very much looking forward to commencing early works on Monday". The director said the Salt Creek wind farm was unique, as it had an onsite quarry. "It is because of this we anticipate the project will have a reduced impact on the local road network, as much of the material is likely to be sourced from the quarry", he said.

Wind farm group defends south-west road damage

www.standard.net.au
6 Mar 2012

AN umbrella group representing wind farms has defended the industry's tarnished reputation as the cause of major damage to rural roads. The Clean Energy Council has told The Standard wind farm companies generally restore local roads "to a higher standard" after construction was complete. "We need to be careful about unfairly making wind farms the scapegoat in areas used by vehicles such as petrol tankers, livestock trucks and haulage trucks for other industries", the council's policy director Russell Marsh said.

His comments come after months of criticism from south-west residents and Moyne Shire Council about severe damage to roads leading to the huge $1 billion Macarthur wind farm, construction of which started last year. Hundreds of trucks have been plying district roads for months, bringing in thousands of tonnes of material from quarries across the region.

Mr Marsh said his council encouraged the wind industry to "construct their projects in a way that is respectful of the local community". "Any major construction project--wind farm or otherwise--can cause inconvenience for those nearby", he said. Mr Marsh said recent changes to Victorian government planning policy raised concerns that wind companies were turning their attention to developing projects in other states. "Ultimately this is about regional jobs and investment and we are potentially missing an opportunity to generate thousands of jobs and bring an income to struggling farmers", he said. "We are not aware of any new wind farms applications since the government implemented its new policy at the end of August last year".

Mr Marsh also defended the industry's ability to gain government financial support. "wind farms are supported by the 20% national Renewable Energy Target", he said. "This is a market-based scheme that provides renewable energy at the least cost to consumers. It is funded by the national electricity market, meaning the cost is shared across all electricity users. "wind farm providers earn large-scale Renewable Energy Certificates, which go up and down in price as a result of supply and demand".

Maine-based company ready to install new tidal power unit

www.onlinesentinel.com
5 Mar 2012

(US) PORTLAND--With its federal license in hand, a Maine-based tidal energy company is ready to install its underwater power system for the first time on the floor of the ocean. Ocean Renewable Power Co, aims to begin installation of its first grid-connected power unit in mid-March at a 60-acre site in Cobscook Bay at the nation's easternmost tip. The first unit capable of powering 20 to 25 homes will be hooked up to the grid this summer, and four more units will be installed next year at a total cost of $21 million for the project, said Chris Sauer, president and chief executive officer of the Portland-based company.

Eventually, Ocean Renewable hopes to install more units to bring its electrical output to 4 MWs at sites off both Lubec and Eastport. Ocean Renewable holds permits for three sites in the area, one of the world's best tidal sites, where twice a day the tide rises and falls 20 feet. All told, the company sees up to 50 MWs of tidal power potential in the Eastport and Lubec areas, enough to power thousands of homes, Sauer said. "It's never going to be the dominant power-generating resource in the state of the Maine, but it's going to be a significant contributor", he said.

The Ocean Renewable turbine generator unit self-starts when the tidal current reaches about 2 knots, and is designed to produce up to 180 kWs under ideal circumstances. On average, however, it'll produce 60 kWs at the installation site in Cobscook Bay near Seward Neck in Lubec, Sauer said. Once it's completed, the full array of five of those turbine generator units will produce about 300 kWs under the pilot project license issued last week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The completed pilot project will produce enough electricity for about 100 homes.

A month earlier, FERC issued the first such license to Verdant Power, which hopes to produce tidal energy from New York City's East River. Verdant's tidal power design looks a lot like a wind turbine, only it's underwater. Ocean Renewable uses rotating foils that lend the appearance of a manual reel mower for cutting grass. Ocean Renewable starts work later this month with underwater installation of a heavy steel base, which will be about 100 feet down on the ocean floor. A turbine generator unit will be attached to the base, with at least 60 feet of clearance between the device and the ocean surface at the low tide.

Previously, the company's prototype was tested in the waters off Lubec and Eastport, but it was mounted on a barge and lowered underwater for testing. The Coast Guard will set rules to ensure fishing and recreational boat can safely operate despite the presence a barge, platforms with cranes and boats with divers. The general contractor is Perry Marine & Construction. Officials in Canada are watching the Maine project with interest. By 2014, Ocean Renewable and Nova Scotia-based Fundy Tidal Inc, hope to install the same units in waters off Nova Scotia, where the Bay of Fundy offers even greater tidal power potential, officials have said.

Construction on Mongolia’s first wind farm due to Start in April

ubpost.mongolnews.mn
8 Mar 2012

The website upi.com reports that the Newcom Group, the Mongolian investment firm responsible for the construction of the wind farm, will begin construction next month. General Electric International Inc. (GE) supplied over 30 wind turbines The wind farms will produce up to 5% of Mongolia's total electricity. The wind farm, which will produce 168.5 million kWs of electricity per hour, is located near Ulaanbaatar in Salkhit, and will be completed by the end of 2012. The National Renewable Energy Center of Mongolia reports that Mongolia has the potential of producing 2,550 terawatts hours per year. As a country with rapidly developing mining sector, Mongolian energy consumption is estimated to double in the next two years.

B. Byambasaikhan, CEO of Newcom Group, said in an interview with The New York Times, "People say 80% of the Mongolian underground is full of coal. But the whole Mongolian territory is full of wind power. We will stop the Government monopoly on the energy supply". He added that he is confident the facility will run smoothly and he aims to boost wind capacity in the country 20 times by 2025. GE has said that its participation in Salkhit underscores the company's "commitment to grow in one of the most challenging yet fastest-growing emerging regions. Last May, GE opened a representative office in Ulaanbaatar In 2010 GE and Newcom Group signed an agreement to explore alliances in key areas such as energy, water, mining, aviation, railway, lighting, and healthcare.

Winds of fortune sweep West Texas

www.chron.com
4 Mar 2012

(US) PECOS COUNTY-Every workday before sunrise, 10 BP workers gather on a West Texas sheep farm for morning calisthenics. They need loose limbs to manage BP's 22,000 acres in the oil-rich Permian Basin, where temperatures can soar beyond 110°F. The oil giant leases the land from struggling farmers to expand its reach in the energy world. But you won't find any oil wells or drilling rigs here.

BP and other energy companies are funneling millions into building and operating wind farms in West Texas, helping to transform oil country into one of the nation's leading hubs for green energy production. Skylines dominated by nodding pump jacks are increasingly spotted with spinning turbines. Economies tied to the ebb and flow of commodity prices are finding stability in supplying the power grid.

"We've been through lots of booms and busts with the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas areas deplete over time", said Doug May, economic development director for Pecos County in West Texas. "The wind resource here is sustainable. We look at these wind farms as a long-term investment in the future of Pecos County".

Recent energy analyses have forecast that renewable fuels-including wind, solar and biofuels-will be the world's fastest growing energy source in coming decades. BP's own outlook predicts that the country's renewable energy production will surge 252% over the next 20 years. Wind will lead the pack, forecasts indicate. wind farms have proliferated across the U.S, over the last decade. Now they generate about 3% of the nation's electricity and about 7% of the state's, according to the US Energy Information Association.

Read more…

German wind energy plans in the doldrums

www.thenational.ae
5 Mar 2012

Germany's green energy revolution is at risk of stalling, with energy firms warning they may shelve plans for a huge expansion of offshore wind power because of delays in connecting the turbines to the grid. Mike Winkel, the head of green energy at the German utility E.ON, said last month that work on the power line needed to feed electricity from its North Sea wind farm Amrumbank West to the mainland was 15 months behind schedule and that the turbines would not go into operation until March 2015.

Mr Winkel described the situation as "disastrous" and said E.ON would put its planning for further wind farms on hold. He said the network operators in charge of laying the cables and building switching stations had overestimated their technical capabilities and were themselves facing delays in obtaining supplies of equipment. Another major German utility, RWE, issued a similar warning and complained its Nordsee Ost wind farm would go online at least one year later than planned because the power connection would not be ready in time.

RWE had intended to start producing electricity from the 48-turbine wind farm next year. But TenneT, the Dutch-owned grid operator in charge of building all the power lines off the German North Sea coast, said it would not be able even to start construction of the power line until the end of this year. Nordsee Ost is due to be completed next year. Paradoxically, RWE will initially have to resort to diesel-powered engines to keep the sensitive rotor blades and gear mechanisms turning until the power line has been completed and the turbines can become operational. Germany may respond by trying to woo new investors.

The problems are bad news for Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who stepped up her plans for a huge expansion of green-power generation last year after ditching nuclear power in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Offshore wind farms are the backbone of her strategy. At sea, the wind blows more strongly and constantly, making the farms a potentially more reliable and productive source of renewable energy than wind turbines on land and solar power.

The aim is for 10,000 wind turbines along the German coasts of the North Sea and Baltic to be in operation by 2030, producing 25,000 MWs of electricity or 15% of Germany's total energy needs. But the actual number of turbines working now is just 27, generating only 135 MWs. RWE said there was no chance Germany would achieve its offshore wind power goal, and that the delays so far would deter investors from backing future projects in the North Sea and Baltic. The company said it was considering suing TenneT, which is owned by the Dutch government, for €100 million (Dh484.9m) in compensation for losses caused by the line delays.

RWE had planned to spend €1 billion per year on renewables in the coming years, with 40 to 50% of that earmarked for offshore wind power. If the offshore expansion is off track, so too will be Mrs Merkel's plan to boost renewable energy from 17% of electricity consumption now to at least 35% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. Building wind farms at sea, in some cases up to 100km off the coast, has proved a greater technical challenge than expected. Erecting the turbines is a considerable feat in itself-ships were purpose-built for the task of transporting the rotor blades and masts and anchoring them on the seabed.

But laying the cable has proved even more arduous because it involves working at depths of up to 30 metres and building special power converter platforms. The technology and the methods are new and untried, and much of the work can be done only between May and September when the weather permits. Lengthy planning approval procedures have added to the delays. TenneT, which is building a total of eight undersea cables, warned the German government in November that it would not be able to meet its production deadlines and was having difficulty obtaining fresh capital from investors. It demanded assistance with the planning and financing of the offshore grid.

The government has not yet decided whether to boost subsidies for offshore wind power, but it may have to. Future funding could come from Abu Dhabi's Masdar green-energy initiative. Frank Wouters, the director of Masdar's energy division, told the Financial Times Deutschland, a German business newspaper, last month that Masdar would be very interested in investing in German offshore wind power if the yields improved. He said Masdar had not yet found a project that generated enough yield.

The German offshore wind farms are located in deep water far off the coast, which made them a riskier investment than wind farms closer to shore, he said. But unless the German government removes the bottleneck threatening its wind-power plans, Europe's largest economy will not only fall far short of its green-power plans, but may also face power shortages in the years to come. Embarrassingly for Mrs Merkel, there is a very real prospect that the shortfalls will be made up by importing nuclear-generated power.

AGL quells wind farm noise

www.abc.net.au
6 Mar 2012

Energy company AGL Energy says a noise defect at its Hallett 2 wind farm in South Australia's mid-north has been fixed. After a complaint by a local resident, AGL Energy began testing its 34 turbines at the site near Mount Bryan. In December 2010, it identified some noise from the turbines could be heard at the nearest residence, under certain wind conditions. A permanent acoustic treatment system was put in place late last year and recent noise testing has confirmed the issue has been resolved. Operational constraints have been temporarily put on turbines at other AGL Energy wind farms where audible tones have been detected.

Fukushima nuclear plant beset by problems

www.upi.com
March. 3, 2012

TOKYO, (UPI)--Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant is beset by technical problems nearly a year after its core meltdown, officials say. The problems include a broken temperature sensor that detects heat in a reactor and leaky piping, The Maimchi Daily News reported Saturday. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, has begun decommissioning and dismantling the plant--a process expected to take three decades--and in January inserted an endoscope, an instrument allowing the first direct internal observations since the earthquake and tsunami March 11, 20011, shut down the plant's cooling systems.

But after a sensor began showing temperatures at the bottom of the No. 2 reactor's pressure vessel reached alarmingly high levels, TEPCO determined the sensor was faulty. The loss of the sensor--after it showed temperatures climbed from about 40° in late January to over 80°, the maximum "safe" temperature for maintaining a cold shutdown, to more than 40°--showed how little TEPCO understood about conditions inside the reactors and how fragile the cold shutdown is.

The Daily News also reported that after the government said the plant had been brought to cold shutdown, water leaked from 44 locations, including seven sections of water-injection equipment--a critical part of the water recycling and re-injection system--and from spent fuel pools at two reactors. Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told CNN the country has learned much from the meltdown. "Sharing the lessons and remorse of this nuclear accident with the international community will contribute to the overall safety of nuclear power as well as international cooperation", he said.

In the wake of the disaster, only two of Japan's 53 nuclear reactors are operating and by the end of April, those two are to go offline, leaving the country facing the prospect of no nuclear power into the summer. "Our basic stance is to move away from our dependence on nuclear power. This means that we have to try and increase the use of renewable energy, in a thorough effort to save energy", Noda said. He said the government has included $7.5 billion in its fiscal year 2012 budget for renewable energy and conservation. Noda also said nearly a year after the earthquake and tsunami killed thousands of people and crippled the Fukushima power plant, the country is making "steady progress" in reconstruction and aid to the northeast region.

Push for reform of electricity

www.smh.com.au
3 Mar 2012

AUSTRALIA is lagging behind other developed countries in energy efficiency, despite some examples being set by individual businesses, an international conference in Sydney has been told. The $45 billion earmarked for new ''poles and wires'' infrastructure around Australia was the main driver of an expected 90% rise in household electricity prices between 2008 and 2014, rather than the carbon price, delegates heard yesterday.

The Australian Alliance to Save Energy, a non-profit group that hosted the conference along with the University of Technology's institute for sustainable futures, said the key priority should be reforming electricity industry regulation to focus on minimising peak demand. ''Like all reforms, there will always be entrenched business models to overcome and vested interests at play,'' the energy alliance chairman, Jon Jutsen, said. Some large organisations stood out for strong performances in efficiency and carbon offsets, however.

Among the best was Sydney Water, which was on track to become completely ''carbon neutral'' within eight years. It will cancel out about a million tonnes of CO₂ emissions a year by planting trees and building wind turbines, cutting its energy use by up to 40% and buying renewable energy. Many of the groups at the conference are part of Earth Hour, the annual event that encourages efficient use of resources. It takes place at 8.30pm on March 31 and is supported by Fairfax Media, publisher of the Herald.

Giving waste water the power to clean itself

www.nature.com
1 Mar 2012

A technique that combines two novel forms of renewable energy — one relying on bacteria and the other on salt water — generates more electricity than either one alone and cleans waste water at the same time. The work is published today in Science1.

Waste water contains a great deal of energy in the form of organic matter, says lead author Bruce Logan, director of the Hydrogen Energy Center and the Engineering Energy and Environment Institute at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. Domestic waste water contains nine times more chemical energy than the energy required to treat it — that amount, added to the energy in waste water from livestock and food production, would be nearly enough energy to maintain the entire US water infrastructure, he says.

Read more…

Solar program cut pours cold water on clean energy job prospects

www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au
29 Feb 2012

The clean energy industry says the unexpected cut of a key government solar hot water program late yesterday will put jobs under threat and make it harder for people to save on their electricity bills. Clean Energy Council Acting Chief Executive Kane Thornton said solar hot water systems and heat pumps were the cheapest way to heat water in people's homes over the life of the system.

"This decision will immediately affect sales and will put more than 1200 manufacturing jobs and 6000 installation, sales and back office jobs in jeopardy. This industry has been struggling with the effects of a high Australian dollar just like the car industry, just like the steel industry and just like other home grown manufacturing industries", Mr Thornton said. "Cutting this program without warning in the middle of a financial year is yet another example of stop-start policy making that continues to plague the entire clean energy sector. It has given the industry no time to prepare and makes business planning almost impossible".

Mr Thornton said water heating was one of the most energy intensive activities in the average Australian household, accounting for about a quarter of all energy use. "Solar hot water systems are one of the best ways for households to reduce steadily rising power bills over the long term, but have a higher up-front cost than other types of technology. "Without the assistance under the Renewable Energy Bonus Schemes, families and home owners who are hurting from cost-of-living expenses will buy cheaper hot water systems that cost them more in the long run and may emit higher rates of carbon pollution.

"The Commonwealth has committed itself to supporting a ban on inefficient electric hot water systems, which is an important climate change policy, but it can't be implemented in isolation. "Other programs needs to be introduced to help struggling families to purchase solar hot water systems or heat pumps, and to support the industry as it adjusts to a lower level of assistance.

"This is a decision that pours cold water on the prospects for local clean energy jobs in an industry that is navigating a difficult global financial climate just like everybody else", Mr Thornton said. The amount of energy saved by solar hot water systems and heat pumps installed in Australia would power the equivalent of almost 300,000 average homes.

Pacific Hydro in bid to save solar project

www.smh.com.au
27 Feb 2012

FRUSTRATED by the market dominance of the three major energy companies, Australian renewable generator Pacific Hydro is seeking its own retail energy licence as it tries to save a large-scale solar project. The proposed 150- MW photovoltaic Moree Solar Farm-initially backed by Pacific Hydro, BP Solar and Spanish firm Fotowatio Renewable Ventures-suffered a major setback in December when it lost the rights to a $306 million grant from the federal government's troubled Solar Flagships Program.

The northern New South Wales farm had not met its funding agreement obligations, prompting Energy Minister Martin Ferguson to re-open the grant to four shortlisted photovoltaic farm candidates. All four-AGL Energy, TRUEnergy, Infigen Energy Suntech Power and the Moree consortium-are understood to have resubmitted their bids before the deadline on Friday.

Pacific Hydro Australia general manager Lane Crockett said a key reason the Moree bid was unable to achieve financial close on time was its failure to reach a power price agreement with a major retailer. Two of the three big retailers were rivals for the grant. It is understood the third, Origin Energy, rejected a deal with the Moree consortium. Mr Crockett said Pacific Hydro-owned by the $31 billion super giant Industry Funds Management-faced a retail market dominated by a few large companies that were both rivals for government grants and potential customers for projects such as the Moree plant.

''It is not unreasonable to expect that this conflict will continue to occur in the future,.. [it] requires independent power producers like ourselves to continually evolve and adapt,'' he said. He said the Moree consortium would enter a power price agreement with Pacific Hydro, which expects to have a retail energy licence within three months. ''Pacific Hydro has been working on our retail market strategy for some time and we are very confident that it will be a success, with projects like the Moree Solar Farm part of a future diversified renewable energy portfolio that will include wind and possibly into the future geothermal,'' he said.

The revised Moree bid no longer includes BP Solar, with the remaining two partners taking up its stake. They have signed an engineering, construction and procurement agreement with Spanish infrastructure company ACCIONA Energy. Announced in May 2009, the Solar Flagships Program has been criticised by the Greens and Coalition as it became clear two projects awarded $750 million were struggling to prove their viability. The second Solar Flagships Program winner, the $1.2 billion Solar Dawn Project in Queensland using solar thermal technology, has been given a six-month extension until June 30 to secure financing.

BP Plans to withdraw from solar-energy venture in Australia

www.bloomberg.com
24 Feb 2012

BP, Europe's second-largest oil company, plans to withdraw from a venture seeking Australian government funds to build a solar power project in the state of New South Wales. "We've indicated that we wish to leave the consortium and that we won't be part of the new bid process", Jamie Jardine, a Melbourne-based spokesman for BP, said by mobile phone today. BP, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures and Pacific Hydro Pty, which won A$306.5 million ($329 million) in Australian funds last year to build the Moree solar farm, missed a December financing deadline. That prompted the government to reopen the competition to other bidders, including AGL Energy Ltd.

The company decided to exit the global solar business after 40 years because it has become unprofitable, Mike Petrucci, the chief executive officer of BP's solar unit, told staff in an internal letter in December. The industry faces oversupply and price pressures after Chinese competitors increased production. BP and its partners in the proposed A$923 million solar photovoltaic plant had failed to sign power-supply agreements needed to advance with the project, it said in December. The company said Dec. 23 it was sticking with the Australian project, even after deciding to exit the business globally.

"In the past two weeks, we've worked with the consortium to refine and develop the proposal, and we believe the new consortium will be an effective one", Jardine said today. The Moree venture will be eligible to bid for the funds and have a chance to show it is "still the most meritorious project", Australia's Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said earlier this month. The government also invited TRUEnergy Holdings Pty Ltd, and Suntech Power Co, to update their applications seeking solar grants.

PacHydro to take on energy retailers at their own game

reneweconomy.com.au
24 Feb 2012

Pacific Hydro, the largest independent renewable energy developer in Australia, is to establish its own energy retailing group in a bid to break the dominance of the the big-three energy utilities, which it says have been an impediment to the development of renewables in the country.

The decision was announced as the Moree Solar Farm resubmitted its tender for the Solar Flagships program. The tender was reopened after Moree Solar, which included Pacific Hydro, Spanish group FRV and BP Solar, failed to gain a power purchase agreement with any of the big three utilities, and therefore could not meet a financing deadline.

The Moree Solar consortium has now been recast, with BP officially leaving after announcing its withdrawal from the global solar business. BP will be replaced by Spanish renewables giant ACCIONA Energy, which will operate EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract, but no equity stake. The critical component, however, is Pacific Hydro's decision to establish its own retail energy licence, and to sign a PPA for the $930 million, 150MW project, in effect bypassing the three utilities that dominate the market – Origin Energy, AGL Energy, and TRUEnergy.

Both AGL Energy and TRUEnergy are involved in rival consortium to the Moree Solar project, and Origin Energy is said to have rejected a PPA with Moree Solar in the final stages of negotiation. Pacific Hydro general manager Lane Crockett said the Australian energy market was dominated by a few very large vertically integrated entities, "who are not only our potential customers but also competing for funding under the solar flagships program." "It is not unreasonable to expect that this conflict will continue to occur in the future, which requires independent power producers like ourselves to continually evolve and adapt."

Crockett said the retail arm – which is yet to be named – could play a critical role in the development of the company's wind projects, and even geothermal. He says it is a logical step, because the company already has around half of its wind farm portfolio operating in the "merchant" market, and yields from commercial customers could be higher.

Hardly any PPAs have been written in the last few years in Australia, effectively bringing the large scale renewables industry to a halt. The utilities have blamed the surplus in Renewable Energy Certificates, but renewable energy developers blame them for effectively blocking developments.

Crocket says there has never been a better time to write PPAs, because wind turbine prices are low, the Australian dollar is high and some developers are desperate to conclude agreements to get meet planning approvals. Pacific Hydro, which has 340MW of wind and hydroelectric plant in operation in Australia, and about 160MW of "advanced" wind projects, along with the Moree Solar proposals and some early stage geothermal projects.

The issue about the dominance of the energy retailers was raised in Canberra recently during a Senate estimates hearing. Drew Clarke, the secretary of the Department of Resources and Energy, said the government was monitoring the issue. All four consortium competing for the retendered solar PV portion of the flagships program said they would resubmit their bids by the close of business on Friday, although they face a lengthy wait for the outcome. Moree and the other contenders are all expected to resubmit offers with much reduced costs (thanks to the slump in panel prices in the last 18 months).

AGL Energy and TRUEnergy have both linked up in separate proposals with US thin film solar giant FirstSolar, and a fourth tender comes from wind farm developer Infigen Energy and Chinese PV module supplier Suntech Power. Although the tenderers have had little time to resubmit their offers, it is believed that all had kept their bid teams running in the past couple of months in anticipation that a PPA would have been difficult to achieve in the current energy market. The big question remains how DRET intends to handle the tender from here on in. The two questions relate to cost, and the ability to finance it. AGL Energy and TRUEnergy would have an advantage because they can write their own PPAs, but Moree may have found a solution to its problem.

Questions have also been asked about the length of time DRET will take in analysising the new bids, suggesting that the new winner may not be announced until the end of june. Given that the technical requirements of the bids have already been reviewed, most consortium think this time is excessive to assess the new costs. Some believe that DRET may use that time to quietly advise a winner, and ensure that a PPA and financing is in place at the time of a public announcement, to avoid further embarrassment and delays.

Minister approves Hawkesdale, Yambuk wind farms

www.standard.net.au
25 Feb 2012

TWO controversial wind farm developments at Hawkesdale and Yambuk have been approved by Planning Minister Matthew Guy after months of negotiation. Spanish proponents Union Fenosa announced yesterday that work on the two sites would start as early as next month, ahead of state government reforms of the renewable energy sector. More than $500 million will be pumped into the two projects, one which is located in farmland south-east of Hawkesdale and the other between Yambuk and Orford.

Union Fenosa managing director Domingo Asuero said the company would provide site possession to Portland-based GR Carr Construction. He said early works on the sites would start within weeks. The two projects will generate a combined 196 MWs of renewable electricity, enough to power the needs of about 80,000 houses. Planning works stalled last year after Moyne councillors voted to reject a permit extension in August due to an apparent lack of consultation between Union Fenosa and the shire.

Moyne Shire mayor Jim Doukas said he hoped Union Fenosa had responded to concerns raised by the municipality and had acted accordingly. He said he would need further details before commenting further. "If the planning minister and Union Fenosa have acknowledged and acted on the concerns raised by council then that's fine but they haven't informed us as yet", Cr Doukas said. Yambuk farmer Kieron Moore supported the move and said the new project would generate jobs in the region.

Many of the turbines will be erected on Mr Moore's property, situated north-east of Yambuk. "The minister has taken a common sense approach", Mr Moore said. "wind farms have been operating in Yambuk for more than 10 years and they are accepted by the community". Regional Cities Minister Denis Napthine said the state government's decision to approve proposals drafted prior to the 2010 state election was a fair way of treating both developers and landholders.

However, he said the 2km wind turbine buffer zone policy was popular in regional Victoria. "It's interesting to note that the South Australian Labor government and the Coalition government in NSW have both adopted turbine setback in one form or another", Dr Napthine said. "The state government has worked to ensure we struck the right balance between the interests of farmers and landholders as well as the interest of expanding renewable energy in the region".