Battery storage paired with wind farm in ground-breaking Spanish trial, REneweconomy By Sophie Vorrath on 30 May 2017
The first hybrid wind power storage plant in Spain using batteries
A world first hybrid renewables trial, pairing a grid-connected wind farm with lithium-ion battery storage and energy management software, has been switched on in Spain, in a bid to boost the integration of variable-generation renewables into electricity networks around the world.
THE WORLD’S LARGEST FLOATING SOLAR POWER PLANT JUST WENT ONLINE IN CHINA https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/china-floating-solar-power-plant/ByDallon Adams— May 23, 2017China has announced that the largest floating photovoltaic (PV) facility on earth has finally been completed and connected to the local power grid. Long reviled for its carbon emission record, this is the Chinese government’s latest achievement in its ongoing effort to lead the world in renewable energy adoption.
Located in the city of Huainan in the Anhui province, the 40-megawatt facility was created by PV inverter manufacturer Sungrow Power Supply Co. Ironically, the floating grid itself was constructed over a flooded former coal-mining region.
Floating solar farms are becoming increasingly popular around the world because their unique design addresses multiple efficiency and city planning issues. These floating apparatuses free up land in more populated areas and also reduce water evaporation. The cooler air at the surface also helps to minimize the risk of solar cell performance atrophy, which is often related to long-term exposure to warmer temperatures.
This is just the first of many solar energy operations popping up around China. In 2016, the country unveiled a similar 20MW floating facility in the same area. China is also home to the Longyangxia Dam Solar Park, a massive 10-square-mile, land-based facility touted as the largest solar power plant on earth.
This transition to solar is in large part due to the rapidly plummeting cost of the technology itself. By 2020, China could reduce prices offered to PV developers by more than a third with solar power plants projected to rival coal facilities within a decade. The nation has also announced plans to increase its use of non-fissile fuel energy sources by 20 percent.
An annual report released by NASA and NOAA determined that 2016 was the warmest year on record globally, marking the third year in a row in which a new record was set for global average surface temperatures. That said, if we as a species hope to reverse this dire trend, initiatives like this and others will need to be adopted around the globe.
The nation’s solar panels scorched the previous record set last month by generating 8.7GW of power, more than nuclear and coal power combined.
Solar power was the second most used generating technology behind gas-fired power and made up around 25pc of the UK’s electricity, its highest ever share of the market on a working week day.The UK now has just over 12GW of solar power in place, the same production capacity as eight new-generation nuclear reactors.
Paul Barwell, the chief executive of the solar trade association, said: “This is a colossal achievement in just 5 years, and sends a very positive message to the UK that solar has a strong place in the decarbonisation of the UK energy sector.”
The boom in solar panels in recent years, fuelled by subsidies, has far exceeded expectations. The panels feed the power they produce directly into homes or the local electricity grid, cutting demand on the national system to what is expected to be a record low this year.
National Grid said the renewable generation boom posesa challenge to its role balancing supply and demand on the national transmission network second by second.
Duncan Burt, who is responsible for National Grid’s control room said the ability to forecast weather patterns is becoming more significant.“We have an expert team of forecasters who monitor a range of data, to forecast just how much electricity will be needed over a set period,” he said.
“We have planned for these changes to the energy landscape and have the tools available to ensure we can balance supply and demand. It really is the beginning of a new era, which we are prepared for and excited to play our part,” he said.The Government closed off funding for solar projects through its Renewables Obligation scheme in April 2015, allowing a modest grace period for some developers to roll out new sites until April last year. This helped the boom to continue ahead of last summer, but new projects are expected to hit a lull for the next year or two.
Jamie Stewart, a senior power expert at market data provider Icis, said the ebb will give way to a renewed surge in new solar projects because plummeting costs mean it will no longer need Government handouts.
“When this grid parity is reached, the UK can expect to see a lot more solar power put in place up and down the country,” he said.
Abid Kazim, managing director of NextEnergy Capital, said on Thursday at an industry event that he plans to invest in subsidy free solar because the cost of the technology is “collapsing”.
“In energy price terms, solar is low-cost and mostly produces cheap electricity during peak demand hours from 07:00-19:00. This means at peak times it keeps down wholesale power prices, which make up around 45pc of a household bill,” Mr Stewart said.
Utility Week 26th May 2017, Renewable energy could produce three quarters of the UK’s electricity by 2030 without compromising reliability, Friends of the Earth has claimed. In a report published today (26 May), entitled Switching on; how renewables will power the UK, the environmental group predicts that with falling energy costs and advances in storage technology, renewables could provide 75 per cent of the country’s power by that date.
The report predicts 65 per cent of the UK’s power will come from intermittent sources by 2030, and a further 10 per cent will come from less variable sources, like tidal, hydro and geothermal. And as it points out, the UK has gone from 7 per cent renewable electricity to 25 per cent in six years, without causing blackouts. http://utilityweek.co.uk/news/Friends-of-the-Earth-aims-for-75-per-cent-renewables-by-2030/1303782
Solar industry has 3.09 million people vs 1.2 million in wind
China employment at 3.6 million vs 777,000 in U.S.: Irena
The renewable energy industry employed 9.8 million people last year, up 1.1 percent from 2015, led by the solar photovoltaic business, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s annual report on the industry.
Growth has slowed in the past two years, while the solar photovoltaic category, with 3.09 million jobs, and wind business more than doubled their respective employee numbers since 2012, the first year assessed, Irena said in the report.
“The nature of jobs is changing a little bit, with more emphasis on the installation, operational and maintenance side,” Adnan Amin, Irena’s director general, said Wednesday in an interview in Abu Dhabi. “That doesn’t grow as fast as the growth in manufacturing, which was very quick because the technology cost was coming down and you had this huge explosion in equipment.”
Jobs will continue to grow in developing countries, especially in Asia, he said.
Here are some of the highlights from the report:
Global renewables employment has climbed every year since 2012, with solar photovoltaic becoming the largest segment by total jobs in 2016.
Solar photovoltaic employed 3.09 million people, followed by liquid biofuels at 1.7 million. The wind industry had 1.2 million employees, a 7 percent increase from 2015.
Employment in renewables, excluding large hydro power, increased 2.8 percent last year to 8.3 million people, with China, Brazil, the U.S., India, Japan and Germany the leading job markets. Asian countries accounted for 62 percent of total jobs in 2016 compared with 50 percent in 2013.
Renewables jobs could total 24 million in 2030, as more countries take steps to combat climate change, Irena said.
Edie 23rd May 2017Unilever has revealed that all of its UK manufacturing sites are 100% powered by electricity generated from certified renewable sources. The global consumer goods firm became the dedicated beneficiary of energy sourced from a Scottish Highlands-based wind farm in April.
The 23 turbines located in Lochluichart deliver 165GWh – 87% of the farms total output – of renewable electricity to 15 UK Unilever sites. The excess 24GWh of power generated at the farm are also sold-off under a retail tariff to local communities.
The new deal builds on Unilever’s previous agreement with Eneco in the Netherlands, which has seen a North Sea windfarm generate energy for Unilever since the New Year. Both deals mean Unilever’s UK business now sources 100% of its electricity from certified renewable sources. Across its entire global business, Unilever generates 63% of its
grid energy from renewable sources. https://www.edie.net/news/10/Unilever-goes-100–renewable-across-all-UK-sites/
New Arizona contract reveals record low price for large scale solar in US, and stunning reduction in cost of battery storage. The new combined solar and storage deal of below 4.5c/kWh cuts previous prices by more than 60% – far cheaper than a peaking gas plant. http://reneweconomy.com.au/stunning-new-lows-in-solar-and-battery-storage-costs-13929/
How New York Is Building the Renewable Energy Grid of the Future, This is a story of ripping up old incentives that encouraged selling as much electricity as possible, then unleashing the entrepreneurs. BY LESLIE KAUFMAN, INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS MAY 25, 2017 New York State is making a $5 billion bet that by making its power cleaner, it can become a magnet for the clean energy jobs of the future.
Its efforts stand out among the many states racing to integrate more renewables into their power grids—such as Massachusetts, Hawaii and California—not necessarily for the technology but because of what’s happening behind the scenes: New York has launched a Herculean effort to turn around an antiquated system that has deterred innovation for generations by rewarding utilities for selling more electricity.
To get utilities to embrace a changing electricity system, the state is establishing ways for the companies to be reimbursed for some of the savings from energy efficiency programs that are reducing demand for their services. It also is allowing them to reap more return on their investments in equipment needed to bring more renewable energy into the grid. And it is investing in entrepreneurs who are inventing the technology to make it all work.
The state is so gung-ho that its rules require utilities to come up with demonstration projects that test out a new business model, in partnership with at least one private sector company.
The result, say the state’s regulators, is that New York is already attracting hundreds of innovative companies of all stripes. The plum opportunities are not only in installing wind turbines and solar panels, which are generating new employment opportunities across the country, they are also in emerging technologies related to smart grid management and storage. These jobs are largely invisible to the public and, in some cases, didn’t even exist a few years ago……..
Incubating Clean Energy Innovation
Three years ago, New York announced that it would spend $5.3 billion toward meeting its goal of having 50 percent of its electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. (The state only had 24 percent renewable generation in state this year.) Mandates related to these standards have resulted in significant additions of wind and solar to the grid—but that is just the most readily visible part of the changes New York is undergoing.
According to Richard Kauffman, the state’s chairman of energy and finance, it didn’t take long to figure out that “New York cannot cost effectively make this transition just by bolting wind and solar onto the grid of Westinghouse and Tesla,” referring to two of the original creators of the grid, George Westinghouse and Nicola Tesla. Instead, New York wants a new “hybrid grid” that integrates intermittent and distributed resources like wind or solar or microgrids……… https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24052017/new-york-renewable-energy-electrical-grid-solar-wind-energy-coal-natural-gas
Chinese module manufacturer JinkoSolar announced the completion of financial negotiations for the 1.17 GW solar project to be built in Abu Dhabi. The project will be financed with $870 million and is expected to begin commercial operation in April 2019.
MAY 24, 2017 MARK HUTCHINSIn a ceremony held at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, a financing agreement was signed by Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority (ADWEA), Sweihan Solar Holding Company – the joint venture between JinkoSolar and Marubeni which bid for the project, and a syndicate of domestic and international banks.
“Today’s financial closing is the culmination of 18 months of hard work, determination and commitment from many people, said ADWEA Chairman H.E. Abdullah Ali Musleh Al Ahbabi. “From government stakeholders, the international PV investor market, the international and local lending community, Today’s event is just the beginning. Over the course of the next two years the vision of the Sweihan PV project will become a reality.”
“The financial closing of the Sweihan project is an important step forward to energizing one of the largest solar power plants in the world,” stated JinkoSolar Chairman Xiande Li. “We will continue to cultivate to the successful completion, operation and maintenance of the project, along with our partners ADWEA and Marubeni.”
India launches massive push for clean power, lighting, and cars. While President Trump wants to revive America’s coal industry, India is embracing renewables, LED lighting, electric cars, and more. http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-995200128361602757
Small-scale renewables cheapest for rural Africa, says Dutch report. Africa’s quest for full access to electricity needs governments to support small, off-grid projects that are typically disregarded by investors. http://www.dailyclimate.org/t/-995200128361595
Solar cells more efficient thanks to new material standing on edge Researchers from Lund University in Sweden and from Fudan University in China have successfully designed a new structural organization using the promising solar cell material perovskite. The study shows that solar cells increase in efficiency thanks to the material’s ability to self-organise by standing on edge. http://www.enn.com/energy/article/51322
FT 23rd May 2017,Until recently, the answer was overwhelmingly coal, which accounts for about 60 per cent of Indian power generation. Coal capacity has almost tripled in the past decade to 192GW and a further 65GW is under construction.
The fastest growth, however, is coming from renewables. Significant amounts of hydro and wind generation have already pushed the share of green energy to about 30 per cent. This is now being supplemented by rapid expansion in solar power. A landmark was reached this May when an auction to supply 500MW of new solar capacity at a 10,000 hectare facility on the edge of the Thar desert secured a record low price of Rs2.44 ($0.04) per kilowatt-hour — down two-thirds from three years ago and, for the first time, cheaper than coal-fired generation.
Plummeting costs have spurred forecasts that Indian solar capacity could double this year to 18GW, which would be more than six times greater than when Mr Modi’s government took power three years ago…..https://www.ft.com/content/a106c468-3567-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3
Telegraph 21st May 2017, The sound made by 100 tonnes of steel and carbon fibre rotating 400 feet overhead is surprisingly understated. Each whoosh of the 260 foot blades spans an area the size of the London Eye and generates enough electricity to power the average British home for 24 hours.
There are 32 of these 8MW turbines in the second phase of Dong Energy’s Burbo Bank wind farm spinning off the Merseyside coast. They are the most powerful ever, dotting an area the size of almost 6,000 football pitches within the Irish Sea, each one a beacon of Britain’s global dominance in the booming offshore wind industry. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/05/21/britains-wind-turbines-catch-breeze-rising-industry/
Jersey Evening Post 22nd May 2017, A FLOATING offshore wind farm that would cost £108 million to install is currently the frontrunner in work to develop renewable energy in Guernsey. A preliminary feasibility study was released this week and now more equipment will be installed at Mont Cuet, in the north of Guernsey, to help move the project forward.
The study by Xodus Group concluded that a 30MW offshore wind project could be viable. It shortlisted three preferred sites for five turbines. One option is 5km off Guernsey’s north coast and another is 15km away, west of Schole Bank, between Guernsey and Alderney. The third – the only floating option – is 25km north-west of the island. The offshore floating option is the most costly, but is seen as preferable because of the visual impact of the other two which have estimated capital costs of £68.23m and £80.98m respectively. http://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2017/05/22/guernsey-considers-floating-offshore-wind-farm/
FT 23rd May 2017 On May 10, the UK reached a fresh high for the amount of electricity generated by solar. Early on that Wednesday afternoon, solar output hit 8.5 gigawatts, according to Electric Insights, a website that tracks
Britain’s power.
At its peak, the green energy source was supplying more than 22 per cent of the 38GW being handled by the national grid, as solar for some hours exceeded the steady output from the UK’s fleet of nuclear power stations. The growing contribution of green energy to grids — particularly wind and solar — brings with it the problem of managing the
unpredictability and intermittency of these supplies.
Storage is still a very small part of the energy industry but it is developing quickly both at the domestic level — where homeowners can use batteries in tandem with solar panels on their roofs — and on a much larger scale, with the development of battery parks aimed at smoothing supplies to the grid. The popularity of storage systems to capture the electricity generated by domestic solar panels is helped by a generous subsidy in Germany that helps homeowners meet the initial costs of buying a battery, which is also true of other countries.
While costs of batteries are coming down, Mr Wilkinson acknowledges that in most cases “incentives are required” to expand the market for battery storage to help balance the grid. “Costs have come down dramatically but there is still a long way to go before they are going to be truly embedded everywhere in the grid and we’ll see huge volumes of them,” Mr Wilkinson says. Meanwhile, growth in the electric vehicle market has helped lower costs and improve the design of lithium-ion batteries. A battery pack that can be used in an electric vehicle has fallen from $1,000 per kilowatt hour in 2010 to $273 per kWh last year, according to BNEF, which is forecasting a further 73 per cent fall in costs by 2030. https://www.ft.com/content/a6e01984-3567-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3
FT 22nd May 2017, A British start-up has helped a Chinese solar power giant provide cheap, clean power across Africa with a $5 light.The SM100, which claims to be the cheapest solar light in the world, was designed by Manchester-based Inventid, formed by two graduates in 2012.
Some 600m people in African countries without electricity rely on kerosene storm lamps, which are expensive to run and produce smoke that is linked to respiratory diseases, cataracts and house fires. The hand-sized SM100 can run for eight hours when fully charged and is twice as bright as kerosene.
SolarAid, a charity, developed it in collaboration with Yingli, the solar panel manufacturer. SolarAid’s trading subsidiary SunnyMoney has sold 1.9m other solar lights in Africa over the past decade but they retail for up to twice the price of the new light. After trialling 9,000 of the lights in three countries, the new light is now on sale. The SM100 is an exemplar product for the new £83m Design Museum’s Design Ventura education programme. In March, the SM100 light won silver in the 2017 Design for So ciety and Design for Sustainability categories at the European Product Design Awards. https://www.ft.com/content/36226fbe-3c7c-11e7-821a-6027b8a20f23
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