Investors attracted to renewable energy projects
Renewable energy projects gaining investor appeal Arab News REUTERS 26 April 2013 FRANKFURT: Renewable energy production and infrastructure are gaining investor appeal as they become less dependent on government support in more European markets, the asset management arm of insurer Allianz said.
Allianz, Europe’s biggest insurer, has been investing billions of euros of policy holder funds in renewable energy.
“These investments either offer attractive feed-in tariffs, are already at grid parity (competitive with conventional energy) or are going in that direction,” Armin Sandhoevel, chief investment officer for renewables at Allianz Global Investors, told a press briefing in Frankfurt.
“That is also the future of the market, it will make it bigger and more comfortable for institutional investors.”
Spanish and Italian wind or solar installations were the most advanced in terms of profitability while those in the Nordic countries, Britain, Germany, France and the Benelux would be catching up, he said….
Further advantages of a move to green systems were the decoupling from rising global fuel costs and proven viability of the new technologies, which ensured long-term cash flows.
Institutional investors such as pension funds were looking for a diversification away from government bonds at a time of unattractive yields, Allianz executives said.
“Renewables and infrastructure represent a good match with insurers’ and pension funds’ long-term obligations to policy holders,” said managing director Tobias Pross…… http://www.arabnews.com/news/449434
Plan for storage of offshore wind energy
Wind Power Storage, Environmental Network News, 26 April 13 One of the problems with wind power is that when there is no wind then there is no power. Offshore wind could provide abundant electricity — but as with solar energy, this power supply can be intermittent and unpredictable. A new approach from researchers at MIT could mitigate that problem, allowing the electricity generated by floating wind farms to be stored and then used, on demand, whenever it’s needed….. http://www.enn.com/energy/article/45904
Large photovoltaic solar farm now operating in Thailand
Thailand’s Largest Solar Farm Powered By REC Panels by Energy Matters, 25 April 13 Renewable Energy Corporation has arrived in Thailand in a big way – supplying panels for the country’s largest solar power station.
The 9.5 MW Chiang Rai installation commenced operations last month. 41,000 REC Peak Energy Series solar panels are now generating enough electricity to provide the power needs of 7,200 Thai households and will avoid the production of 9,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually…. http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3710
The Google Renewable Energy Solution
Google pushes new plan for utility-supplied renewable energy, REneweconomy By Tina Casey on 21 April 2013 Cleantechnica
In a new post on Google’s blog, Google Director of Global Infrastructure Gary Demasi has just put forth a plan that could really blow up the domestic renewable energy market. Continue reading
Renewable energy provides 70% of Portugal’s electricity
Portugal Provides 70% of Electricity Using Renewable Energy , Design Build, 19 April 13, By Marc Howe Figures from Portugal’s electricity network operator indicate that 70 per cent of all electricity consumed in the country during the first quarter of this year was derived from renewable energy sources, leading to a marked decline in the usage of conventional fossil fuels for power generation purposes.
The record-breaking levels of renewable energy usage were heavily abetted by favourable weather conditions, expediting generation by hydro power facilities and wind turbines and bringing about declines in electricity consumption by Portuguese citizens. Continue reading
India’s Green Power Market Development Group is expanding
Green Power Market Development Group Announced at Clean Energy Ministerial World Resources Institute April 19, 2013 Business group will help increase the uptake of renewable energy sources in India
A group of leading businesses and organizations announced the expansion of India’s Green Power Market Development Group(GPMDG) at the Clean Energy Ministerial in New Delhi. The objective of the GPMDG is to transform energy markets and enable corporate buyers to access reliable and clean energy, diversify their energy portfolios with green power, and reduce their impact on climate change.
According to the latest reports, clean energy investment dipped in 2012, but it still was nearly $270 billion, which is a five-fold increase over the past decade…… Continue reading
Solar power developments in Japan: battery storage
Japan To Implement 60,000 kWh Capacity Battery http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3697 19 April 13 The Japanese government plans to install a massive battery at an electrical substation on the island of Hokkaido.
According to the Japan Times, the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) says the battery will be put in place by the end of the first quarter in 2015 to help develop a stable electricity supply generated by solar and wind power sources. The battery system will have a storage capacity of around 60,000 kWh and will use up a large portion of ¥29.6 billion earmarked for battery projects.
Hokkaido is Japan’s second largest island and the largest and northernmost of Japan’s 47 prefectures. It has become a hive of renewable energy activity due to the availability and low prices of suitable land. According to Bloomberg, the island’s power infrastructure is approaching its limit for handling the amount of clean electricity being generated.
Japan has seen solar uptake skyrocket since the introduction of a feed in tariff scheme, currently paying 38 yen per kilowatt hour (around AUD 38 cents) for rooftop solar power systems under 10kW and slightly more for larger systems.
In other renewables news out of Japan, METI states based on data compiled by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE), the total combined new renewable energy capacity added between April 1, 2012, and January 31, 2013,reached 1,394,000 kW .
Photovoltaic power facilities accounted for 1,329,000 kW, with household solar panel systems making up 1,023,000kW of that amount. METI notes that 37,000kW capacity was added by January 31 – with all of that being added after June 2012.
METI also announced Japan and India have decided to hold the “India-Japan Energy Forum 2013” in September in New Delhi and Greater Noida, which aims to reinforce the two nation’s cooperation in the field of energy.
Saudi Arabia to spend $109 billion on renewable energy projects
Saudi Arabia To Add 50GW Of Renewables By 2030 http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3693 17 April 13 Saudi Arabia plans to spend $109 billion on renewable energy projects over the next 20 years, installing more solar and wind power capacity than the rest of the world to date. Continue reading
Germany moving ahead on renewable energy storage
Germany’s Energy Storage Incentives Start May 1 http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3694 17 April 13, New renewable energy subsidies in Germany may do for battery storage globally what the nation did for solar power.
In February we reported Germany would apparently soon formally confirm a start date for an initiative to support the purchase of battery based energy storage systems integrated with solar panel arrays. It took a little longer than rumoured, but that moment seems to have arrived. Continue reading
Go for renewable energy, scrap subsidies for fossil fuels – Obama
Obama Budget – Spend Big On Renewables, Slash Fossil Fuel Support http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3682 11 April 13, US President Barack Obama has proposed billions more be ploughed into renewable energy and to eliminate $4 billion in fossil fuels subsidies in his 2014 budget proposal.
Among the highlights:
– $615 million to increase the use and reduce the costs of solar power, wind, geothermal, and hydro energy.
– $4 billion in loans to rural electric cooperatives and utilities to support a transition to clean-energy generation.
– $238 million in loan guarantees and grants to assist farmers and rural small businesses in developing renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements.
– $100 million to maintain capacity to review and permit new renewable energy projects on Federal lands and waters.
– $23 billion of incentives for renewable energy production and energy efficiency over the next 10 years.
– $153 million in smart grid research and development and other activities plus $80 million to advance clean energy integration into the grid.
– $2.5 billion in tax credits for investments in advanced energy manufacturing projects.
The fossil fuel subsidy gravy train will lose more than just a few carriages.
“As we continue to pursue clean energy technologies that will support future economic growth, we should not devote scarce resources to subsidizing the use of fossil fuels produced by some of the largest, most profitable companies in the world.”
“The Budget proposes to eliminate inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that impede investment in clean energy sources and undermine efforts to address the threat of climate change. The Budget would repeal over $4 billion per year in tax subsidies to oil, gas, and other fossil fuel producers.”
The United States has nearly doubled its energy generation from renewable energy sources since 2008 and President Obama has set a goal of doubling it again by 2020.
Further details of the 2014 budget proposal section, “Clean Energy Economy, Improving Energy Security, and Addressing Climate Change” can be viewed here.
GDF’s wind energy provides over 50% of the company’s electricity: France
Renewable energy accounts for 50% of GDF Suez production capacity in 2012 http://www.utilityproducts.com/news/2013/04/10/renewable-energy-accounts-for-50-of-gdf-suez-production-capacity-in-2012.html
Apr 10, 2013 – French utility GDF Suez’s (EPA:GSZ) production capacity from renewable energies stood at 5.1 GW at the end of 2012, or over 50% of the total production capacity of the group in France, the company said.
GDF Suez is the first producer of wind energy in the country and the second major producer of electricity from hydraulic energy, accounting for 25% of France’s capacity.
The group invests in all types of renewable sources, including solar and tidal power, offshore wind energy, biomass and biofuels, such as biomethane.
New York’s progress towards 100% renewable energy
“Exclusive of hydropower, the state has developed more renewable energy than any other state in the Northeast,” “Including hydropower, New York’s renewable energy capacity is comparable to the entire renewable energy capacity of the other eight states in the Northeast.”
NY Renewable Energy Study Finds New York Could Soon Be Powered By Wind, Water And Sunlight HUFFINGTON POST, AP By MICHAEL HILL, 5 April 13— A new study says New York could get the power it needs from wind, water and sunlight by 2030 with a concerted push, though the state’s decade-long effort to significantly boost green energy shows how challenging that could be.
The study, led by researchers from Stanford and Cornell universities, provides a theoretical road map to how New Yorkers could rely on renewable energy within 17 years. It would require massive investments in wind turbines, solar panels and more from the windy shores off Long Island to sun-exposed rooftops upstate.
“It’s doable,” said co-author Robert Howarth, a Cornell professor of ecology and environmental biology. “It’s way outside of the realm of what most people are talking about … But I think people have been too pessimistic about what can be done.”
In fact, New York has been committed to significantly increasing green energy production for the past nine years under its renewable portfolio standard, which is funded by a surcharge of less than a dollar on monthly electricity bills. Then-Gov. George Pataki began the program in 2004 with the goal of New York relying on renewable resources for a quarter of its electricity by 2013. Continue reading
Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant solves problem of “intermittent power”
Crescent Dunes Molten Salt Solar Receiver Completed http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3673 5 April 13, SolarReserve has announced one of its flagship projects is reaching final stages of completion in the Nevada desert, with the installation of molten salt receiver panels on the peak of the 540-foot tall tower of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant. By utilising molten salt storage technology, the Crescent Dunes solar plant, located near Tonopah, Nevada, can operate like a conventional power plant, providing “on demand” and emissions-free electricity for up to 10 hours in adverse conditions.
“The energy storage capability of this technology solves the problem of intermittency typical of other renewable energy sources,” said Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve. Continue reading
Post Fukushima – some worrying questions about nuclear power
Uncomfortable Questions in the Wake of 
Nuclear Accidents at Fukushima and Chernobyl, TruthOut , 03 April 2013 By Anders Pape Møller and Timothy A. Mousseau, The Asia-Pacific Journal | Twenty nuclear accidents at the official International Nuclear Event Scale of 4 to 7 have occurred between 1952 and 2011 (Lelieveld et al. 2012). The risk of another major accident during the next 50 years is high and it has been estimated that some 30 million people could be directly affected by such an accident (Lelieveld et al. 2012).
The highest risks occur around major metropolises such as New York, Washington, Atlanta, Toronto, Western Europe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo and Osaka. The lessons that have emerged from Chernobyl and Fukushima reveal a range of serious questions that must be answered appropriately, above all for the sake of citizens, but also for the credibility of the nuclear industry, and for framing the ongoing debate over energy alternatives.
Because recent models suggest that more than half of released radioactive material from a nuclear disaster would be transported more than 1000 km from the site of release (Lelieveld et al. 2012), these questions are important even for citizens in distant countries.
It is in this spirit that we have produced a list of unpleasant questions that have been a cause of concern since we first started conducting research at Chernobyl in 1992, and have grown in urgency since conducting research at Fukushima beginning in 2011. Continue reading
Bill Gates now promoting renewables (? not nuclear)
Bill Gates Provides Boost To Renewable Energy Storage Company Aquion Energy April 3, 2013 Clean Technica Nicholas Brown
Bill Gates, the well known co-founder of Microsoft, has decided to provide a financial boost to renewable energy storage research and development (R&D). He is one member of a group of high-profile investors who are investing $35 million into Aquion energy.
The company is creating a water-based battery system intended to be cheap and environmentally friendly. Aquion’s energy storage technology is reportedly being developed for large- and small-scale energy storage projects, and the company is delivering pre-production energy storage units throughout this year, with the intention to ramp up production at a high-volume manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania by the end of 2013. http://cleantechnica.com/2013/04/03/bill-gates-provides-boost-to-renewable-energy-storage/#XErorPJRkTq1fT8b.99
1 This Month
23 April – WEBINAR – Why new nuclear reactors are the wrong tools for decarbonization Thursday, April 23 • 1 AM – 2 AM AEST
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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