Offshore wind leads, as UK’s renewable energy is on course to overtake fossil fuels
Business Green 16th Jan 2019, Renewables are on course to overtake fossil fuels for the first time as the UK’s primary electricity source as early as 2020, according to the latest market forecast from EnAppSys. If current trends continue, the market analyst predicts growing renewable power sources such as wind and solar
will generate 121.3TWh of electricity over the calendar year of 2020, pushing ahead of declining coal and gas-fired power sources with a forecasted 105.6TWh of generation.
The forecast assumes current trends of declining fossil fuel generation and rising renewables generation continue at the same annual rate. In 2018, coal and gas fired power stations
produced a combined 130.9TWh, a 6.7 per cent fall from the previous year’s 140.3TWh, the report states.
Meanwhile, renewable sources delivered 95.9TWh last year, rising 15.2 per cent from 2017 – a strong performance bolstered by the UK’s increasing offshore wind capacity.
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3069376/report-renewables-to-overtake-fossil-fuels-in-uk-energy-mix-in-2020
‘A new world order’ – boom in renewables, decline of fossil fuels – brings change in world politics
Rise of renewables creating a ‘new world‘: report, A new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is predicting a new world order as a consequence of the renewables boom. SBS News, 13 Jan 19, The rapid growth of renewable energy sources and the demise of fossil fuels are causing major changes in global politics, a special commission has said in a report.The shift “will alter the global distribution of power, relations between states, the risk of conflict, and the social, economic and environmental drivers of geopolitical instability,” said the commission set up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Solar, wind and other renewables, which currently make up around a fifth of global energy production, are growing faster than any other source, the report said.
Commission chairman and former president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar, said the shift will likely cause China to eclipse the United States, place oil-dependent Gulf states at risk and help impoverished African nations achieve energy independence.
“It is difficult to predict when, but this change is happening comprehensively and fast,” Ragnar told AFP.
The report, entitled “A New World”, was launched at IRENA’s ninth general assembly in Abu Dhabi…….
Renewables will be a powerful vehicle of democratisation because they make it possible to decentralise the energy supply. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/rise-of-renewables-creating-a-new-world-report
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Australia must face up to the problem of hazardous wastes from old discarded solar panels
I have long been worried that environmentalists are seen to be enthusiastic about renewable energy, seeing it as the panacea for the world’s climate woes. Solar power is a great technology for replacing polluting fossil fuel power, but it’s only a part of what needs to be done – in the urgently needed transition from our wasteful CONSUMER SOCIETY to a CONSERVER SOCIETY. It must not become a contributor to the waste disaster. Waste crisis looms as thousands of solar panels reach end of life, https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/waste-crisis-looms-as-thousands-of-solar-panels-reach-end-of-life-20190112-p50qzd.html By Nicole Hasham, 13 Jan 19,Thousands of ageing rooftop solar panels represent a toxic time-bomb and major economic waste unless Australia acts swiftly to keep them out of landfill, conservationists and recyclers say.
Australia’s enthusiastic embrace of rooftop solar has brought clear environmental and economic benefits, but critics say governments have dragged their feet in addressing the looming waste crisis.
As of December more than 2 million Australian households had rooftop solar installed. The uptake continues to grow due to the technology’s falling cost and rising electricity bills.
Photovoltaic panels last about 30 years, and those installed at the turn of the millennium are nearing the end of their lives. Many have already been retired due to faults or damage during transport and installation.
The nation’s environment ministers in April last year agreed to fast-track the development of new product stewardship schemes for photovoltaic solar panels and associated batteries. Such schemes make producers and retailers take responsibility for an item across its life cycle.
However, Total Environment Centre director Jeff Angel, a former federal government adviser on product stewardship, said action was long overdue and the delay reveals a “fundamental weakness” in Australia’s waste policies.
“We’ve had a solar panel industry for years which is an important environmental initiative, and it should have been incumbent on government to act in concert with the growth of the industry so we have an environmentally responsible end-of-life strategy,” he said.
Mr Angel said photovoltaic panels contain hazardous substances and “when we are sending hundreds of thousands of e-waste items to landfill we are also creating a pollution problem”.
“It’s a systemic problem that [applies to] a whole range of products”, he said, saying schemes were badly needed for paint, batteries, floor coverings, commercial furniture and many types of electronic waste.
Photovoltaic panels are predominantly made from glass, polymer and aluminium, but may also contain potentially hazardous materials such as lead, copper and zinc.
Australian Council of Recycling chief executive Peter Schmigel attributed delays in product stewardship schemes to both “bureaucratic malaise” and unfounded concern about cost.
The national television and computer recycling scheme, which since 2011 has required manufacturers and importers to participate in industry-funded collection and recycling, showed that regulatory measures can work, he said.
“Recovery rates have been out of sight since the beginning of the scheme, nobody has said anything at all about there being an inbuilt recycling cost. It generates jobs, it generates environmental outcomes and yet for some reason we have policymakers who are hesitant about [establishing similar schemes] for solar PVs and batteries,” he said.
Victoria will ban electronic waste in landfill from July 2019, including all parts of a photovoltaic system, mirroring schemes imposed in Europe.
Sustainability Victoria is also leading a project examining end-of-life management options for photovoltaic systems, which may progress to a national program. The issue is particularly pertinent in Victoria where a new $1.3 billion program is expected to install solar power on 700,000 homes.
Sustainability Victoria resource recovery director Matt Genever said there was strong support from industry, government and consumers for a national approach to photovoltaic product stewardship. Final options are due to be presented to environment ministers in mid-2019.
He rejected suggestions that plans were progressing too slowly.
“The analysis we’ve done in Victoria … shows that it’s in 2025 that we see a real ramp up in the waste being generated out of photovoltaic panels. I certainly don’t think we’ve missed the boat,” he said.
A report by the International Energy Agency and the International Renewable Energy Agency in 2016 found that recoverable materials from photovoltaic panel waste had a potential value of nearly $US15 billion by 2050.
Reclaim PV director Clive Fleming, whose business is believed to be the only dedicated photovoltaic recycler in Australia, said it recycles 90 per cent of materials in a panel. The company has been lobbying for state bans on solar panels entering landfill.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority said it has commissioned research to better understand how e-waste, including solar panels, was managed. The panels can be dumped in NSW landfill, however given their life span they were “not a common item in the waste stream”, it said.
The Queensland government is developing an end-of-life scheme for batteries used in solar systems and other appliances.
Mr Genever hoped the review would result in a broader range of products being subject to stewardship programs and take steps to ensure voluntary schemes were effective.
Both the Smart Energy Council and the Clean Energy Council, which represent solar industry operators, said a well-designed product stewardship scheme was important and should be developed through cooperation between industry, governments and recyclers.
As coal and nuclear power stations retire, 2019 U.S. renewable generation additions expected to far outpace gas
2019 US renewable generation additions expected to far outpace gas: EIA https://www.utilitydive.com/news/2019-us-renewable-generation-additions-expected-to-far-outpace-gas-eia/545836/ AUTHOR, Iulia Gheorghiu @IMGheorghiu
Dive Brief:
- 23.7 GW of new U.S. electric generating capacity, mostly from wind, natural gas and solar, are expected in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory of electric generators.
- In addition, EIA data shows 8 GW of primarily coal, nuclear and natural gas generation are expected to retire this year, though that number could increase as utilities continue to evaluate their generating portfolios.
- The expected retirements include Arizona’s 2.3 GW Navajo coal-burning power plant, Exelon’s 819 MW Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania and Entergy’s 677 MW Pilgrim nuclear power station in Massachusetts.
Dive Insight:
Cheaper prices of natural gas and renewable energy have impacted the competitiveness of more traditional generation fuels.
Renewable additions are projected to more than double gas in 2019. Last year, natural gas capacity additions outpaced renewable energy additions for the first time since 2013. 2018 was also a landmark year for new capacity additions, as EIA expected nearly 32 GW of new capacity — the most in a decade.
The estimates, based on EIA data, do not include additions in the residential and commercial solar sectors, which are expected to be an additional 3.9 GW by the end of 2019.
In 2019, EIA is tracking about 6.1 GW of combined-cycle gas plants and 1.4 GW of combustion-turbine gas plants, expected to be mostly online by June, in order to meet high energy demand during the summer peak. The rest of the expected additions include wind, solar and about 2% of other renewable and battery storage capacity.
Renewable capacity typically comes online at the end of the year, according to the EIA. This matches the upcoming changes in renewable energy tax credits. The wind production tax credit will phase out completely at the end of the year from its current status at 40% of 2015 levels. On the solar side, this is the last year for a full 30% investment tax credit for developing solar energy systems, which will begin to phase down in 2020.
Utility integrated resource plans (IRPs) are beginning to show that renewables can beat out older coal plants, as the Northern Indiana Public Service Company demonstrated through its 2018 IRP analysis last fall, assessing a scenario to eliminate the resource by 2028.
Half of the 4.5 GW of coal-fired capacity expected to retire in 2019 comes from the Navajo Generation Station (NGS), which has not found enough customers for its power generation despite support from a number of groups and the Trump administration to keep it open. Last September, private equity firm Middle River Power dropped its bid to purchase the plant.
In addition, the Pilgrim nuclear plant, set to retire in May, and Three Mile Island, scheduled to retire in September, follow announcements from the plant operators of “severe economic challenges.” Exelon’s Three Mile Island failed to clear the PJM Interconnection capacity market auction in 2017 and Entergy based the decision for Pilgrim on a range of financial factors, including low current and forecast wholesale energy prices.
While the Trump administration has worked to support existing coal and nuclear power plants and to create economic conditions to add new coal and nuclear capacity, trends are pointing away from nuclear and coal additions.
“I don’t think there are any trends in the current electricity market that favor the idea of building new coal or nuclear power plants,” Tim Fox, vice president of ClearView Energy Partners, told Utility Dive.
The natural gas plants set for retirement largely consist of steam turbine plants, mostly located in California. They are older units that came online more than 50 years ago. Other capacity retirements for the year include a hydroelectric plant in Washington state and smaller renewable and petroleum capacity.
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Renewables beating coal energy in Germany
The shift marks progress as Europe’s biggest economy aims for renewables to provide 65 percent of its energy by 2030 in a costly transition as it abandons nuclear power by 2022 and is devising plans for an orderly long-term exit from coal.
The research from the Fraunhofer organisation of applied science showed that output of solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric generation units rose 4.3 percent last year to produce 219 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. That was out of a total national power production of 542 TWh derived from both green and fossil fuels, of which coal burning accounted for 38 percent.
Green energy’s share of Germany’s power production has risen from 38.2 percent in 2017 and just 19.1 percent in 2010.
Bruno Burger, author of the Fraunhofer study, said it was set to stay above 40 percent this year.
“We will not fall below the 40 percent in 2019 because more renewable installations are being built and weather patterns will not change that dramatically,” he said……….https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/renewables-overtake-coal-as-germanys-main-energy-source?utm_source=Facebook%20Videos&utm_medium=Facebook%20Video
Solar power for 97 Spanish grand hotels
Observer 30th Dec 2018 Spain’s state-owned chain of paradores, the grand hotels often housed in ancient castles and monasteries, has announced that all 97 of its establishments will use only electricity from renewable sources from the start of the new year.
The 90-year-old chain said the decision to switch to green electricity had been made for both environmental and symbolic
reasons. “Paradores is a company that supports sustainable tourism in every sense of the word,” said its chair, Óscar López Águeda. “What’s more, as a public company, we also want to set an example when it comes to investments that encourage energy saving and responsible consumption.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/30/spain-paradores-solar-power-pledge
Renewable energy getting a boost after the failure of VC Summer Nuclear Plant expansion
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Utility customers on the hook for the project had received nine unique electricity bill increases, equal to about $27/month, a factor in South Carolina to having the highest average monthly bills in the United States. As part of the fallout, the parties involved are being pushed hard by politicians and voters to change their ways. On November 30th, general council of the South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCANA), also representing Dominion Energy, notified the Public Service Commission of South Carolina, that it supports a certain set of renewable energy supporting policies as part of the ongoing negotiations. The policies are focused on renewables and energy storage gaining consistent access to the market. The regulations mainly aim to create a consistent set of variables – avoided costs, ten year PPAs, hourly pricing, consistent interconnection standards – that will allow developers of solar power projects to better model probability of successful projects. This is not the first time that failed nuclear power plants have been followed by solar. The above images [on original] are of the 1 MW solar power plant that is running at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant in Ukraine. The large structure in the background is the $1.5 billion 31,000 ton concrete sarcophagus to cover the still burning nuclear melt down. The Phipps Bend Nuclear Power Plant in Surgoinsville, Tennessee sat abandoned since it was cancelled in 1981, 36 years ago. As of July 5, 2017 it began generating solar electricity as United Renewable Energy completed a 1 MW solar power plant (main article image) When Duke Energy Florida cancelled the Levy Nuclear Plant at a cost of $800 million in already collected fees from consumers, the electric utility announced plans to satiate the public with 700 MWac of solar power, plus at least 50 MW of grid-tied batteries, grid modernization projects, and 500 electric vehicle charging areas. |
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Residential batteries ready to compete with fossil fuels and nuclear in Germany
Sonnen: Residential batteries ready to compete with fossil fuels and nuclear in Germany Energy Storage, 14 Dec 18 , Batteries in private households will be now able to perform the “same tasks as a conventional power plant”, across the whole of Germany, the CEO of Sonnen has said, following a ruling that opens up grid services markets to the company’s devices.
Sonnen last week announced that it has obtained pre-qualification to enter Germany’s Primary Control Reserve market by grid operator TenneT for its battery energy storage units installed across the country. Primary Control Reserve is a form of frequency regulation, keeping the grid to within acceptable boundaries of its optimum 50Hz operating frequency……….
If every solar home in Germany – there are around 1.5 million at present – was equipped with a SonnenBatterie, the power capacity would add up to 4.5GW, with an energy capacity of 15GWh. Such systems, connected to the virtual battery, or virtual power plant (VPP), could replace four large thermal power plants, equivalent to the entire capacity currently being used for PCR across the entire European continent.
The possibility for scaling up the model, in other words, “is one large step towards a clean and decentralised energy structure,” Ostermann said………https://www.energy-storage.news/news/sonnen-residential-batteries-ready-to-compete-with-fossil-fuels-and-nuclear
REPLACING NUCLEAR WITH RENEWABLES WOULD SAVE FRANCE $44.5 BILLION
Futurism, 13 Dec 18 The French government just announced a plan to power 95 percent of the country with solar and wind energy by 2060. And by doing so, the government would spend about $44.5 billion (39 billion euros) less than it would if it maintained its current energy infrastructure.
To get there, the government would need to cancel plans to construct 15 new nuclear power plants, and instead replace its aging nuclear reactors with renewable infrastructure over the next several decades, according to a new report published Monday by the French environmental agency.
The report details how France could increase its dependence on solar and wind energy over time, gradually shutting down nuclear power plants to make room for renewables.
But doing so will still be costly: the report suggests that developing these new power plants as well as the necessary infrastructure to support them will cost the government $1.45 trillion (1.28 trillion euros) over the next 42 years. That’s a huge investment, but it’s still much cheaper than maintaining the status quo and replacing the country’s aging nuclear power plants with more modernized reactors…….. https://futurism.com/the-byte/nuclear-plants-renewable-energy-france
Germany a leading solar power producer, despite its low hours of sunshine
https://germanyworks.ft.com/energy/german-solar-power-is-a-sunrise-market/
Scotland’s wind power output over 100%
WIND output in Scotland has broken through the 100% threshold for the first
time with 109% of total electricity demand being met from renewables, according to new data. Figures from Weather Energy, part of a wider European project, show electricity generated by wind in November was enough to power nearly 6 million homes – a new record for Scotland.
In another milestone, wind production outstripped total electricity demand on 20 out of 30 days. Gina Hanrahan, head of policy at environmental group WWF Scotland, welcomed the contribution made by wind: “Wind power breaking through the magic 100% threshold is truly momentous. For months output has flirted around the 97% mark, so it’s fantastic to reach this milestone. “It’s also worth noting that 20 out of 30 days wind production outstripped demand.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/17286749.scottish-wind-power-output-breaks-100-output-milestone/
Hungary plans for 100% renewable energy, phasing out coal
Open Access Government 28th Nov 2018 , Following yet another hike in the European Union’s emissions trading
system (ETS) in its fight against climate change, Hungary has announced
that it aims to phase out its use of coal and be fully reliant on renewable
energy sources by 2030.
https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/hungary-plans-to-ditch-coal-by-2030-and-become-fully-reliant-on-renewable-energy/55057/
Solar and wind fuels emit no carbon, but “low carbon” nuclear fuel- it’s a lie! theme for November 18
Solar and wind energy both flow directly to the generating system.
Not only are these fuels carbon-free, but, unlike nuclear, they leave no wastes
Only one step in that uranium-nuclear chain is low emission – though all nuclear lobbyists claim that this step is “no emission” – the reactor’s operation. BUT – Carbon-14 is produced in coolant at boiling water reactors (BWRs) and pressurized water reactors (PWRs). It is typically released to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide at BWRs, and methane at PWRs.
UK could be running solely on zero carbon renewable in summer months 2050.
Business Green 2nd Nov 2018 The UK power market will be able to withstand huge volumes of new renewablegeneration coming on line according to new research, which suggests the
country could be running solely on zero carbon power during the summer
months by 2050.
explores what happens to the UK power market as it transitions to a high
level of renewable power. Aurora modelled a 2050 scenario where power
demand has risen by two-thirds from today, thanks to the rise of EVs, and
the grid now boasts 130GW of nuclear, wind and solar generation capacity.
effectively lead to zero-carbon summers for the UK electricity grid under
this scenario, according to Aurora. But such large volumes of renewable
power would also “fundamentally alter” the workings of the power market,
with price crashes in the summer months as green power generation soars.
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3065602/aurora-er-uk-could-enjoy-zero-carbon-summer-power-by-2050
€45 billion renewables investment opportunity in France, with its new energy policy
1 This Month
10 March A LIVE WEBINAR THE REAL EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR POWER
What the Industry Isn’t Telling Us
1:00 PM Mountain, 2 pm Central, 3 pm Eastern. Live on the Keepers of the Water Facebook page
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register for the zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o8BIIOUvQ2ONJR1nta65DQ#/registration
of the week – STOP SMALL MODULAR REACTORS IN CANADA
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