Fukushima unveils grand plan for alternative energy transmission line networks
A public-private sector consortium tasked with promoting alternative energy in Fukushima Prefecture will start building new power transmission networks next fiscal year.
The consortium, made up of central government agencies, the Fukushima Prefectural Government and electric power companies, met on Sept. 7. It formulated a plan to make the prefecture staggered by 2011 mega-quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster a pioneer in clean energy.
The prefecture has announced plans to create two new wind power generation zones.
The coastal zone, which is close to Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc.’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, encompasses the cities and towns of Minamisoma, Namie, Futaba, Okuma, Tomioka, Naraha and Hirono.
The other is the inland Fukushima Abukuma zone, covering Tamura and the villages of Kawauchi and Katsurao. Together, the zones are expected to be among the biggest bases for wind power in Japan.
But due to the lack of power transmission lines in the mountains of Abukuma, operators have dragged their feet on the project.
According to the plan, private-sector companies, as well as Tepco and Tohoku Electric Power Co., will set up a new company tasked with building, maintaining and running power transmission lines. Construction will be financed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which has requested ¥10 billion for the project in fiscal 2017 budget.
The METI subsidy is expected to make it easier for private-sector firms to join the project, as they will not have to make huge capital investments. It is also hoped the project will generate new industries and jobs.
Fukushima Prefecture will start to study the areas where new power lines can be built, with plans to begin construction in fiscal 2017.
The transmission lines will be used to send both wind and solar power by connecting four power generation facilities in the Hama-dori coastal area and the Abukuma mountains with a transformer substation in the town of Tomioka.
The power generated will be used not only in Fukushima, but also in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The consortium hopes to start transmitting power by 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The total length of the transmission lines is projected to be around 100 km, most of which will be buried under roads. The project will also use existing transmission lines that connect Tepco’s Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant with the transformer substation.
The prefecture, which plans to have renewable energy sources cover all its energy needs by 2040, as opposed to around 20 percent as of 2009, is surveying the best sites for wind power production.
The prefecture plans to pick the operators for the wind project in the Abukuma area at the end of this fiscal year. But it has yet to find firms willing to participate in the coastal project.
Renewable energy – China leads the world
“The level of wind energy being deployed in China shows what can be achieved with a carefully planned energy and industrial policy that elevates cleantech to a national strategic level,”
China secures the lead in renewable energy – UPI.com, BEIJING, Dec. 1 (UPI) –– China is now the leader in the global renewable energy market, a report by Ernst & Young says. Continue reading
Renewable energy projects happening without fanfare
(Canada) B.C. renewable-energy news items add up – City of Industry, Vancouver Sun, By Derrick Penner Biz 23 Nov 2010 They aren’t making big news, but the companies working on renewable energy projects continue to rack up small news items in the continuing development of the sector. Continue reading
Offshore wind farm for Massachusetts
Approval by the Massachusetts DPU comes on the heels of news that Cape Wind project construction will soon bring over 1,000 new manufacturing, staging, assembly, construction, and operations jobs to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts OKs Cape Wind Deal with National Grid Reuters Ecopolitology Nov 23, 2010 by Timothy B. Hurst Cape Wind, the first offshore wind farm ever approved in the U.S., today passed another major milestone with the approval by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities of a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement with the utility, National Grid, to buy Cape Wind’s energy, capacity and renewable energy credits. Continue reading
Renewable energy a cheaper, faster option, than nuclear
Meanwhile, Erin Noble with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment said that wind and solar energy would be better investments than nuclear power.
“Both of which [are] dramatically cheaper than nuclear and don’t have the nuclear waste issue, and can be actually implemented today and put Missourians to work today,” Noble said.
Critics oppose deal to pursue new nuclear reactor in Missouri. KWMU. Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio (2010-11-22) A deal announced last week to pursue a second nuclear power plant in Missouri is beginning to draw criticism. Continue reading
USA urged to stop subsidising fossil fuels, and switch to renewable energy
Bacon also recommended that the federal government end all tax breaks and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and redirect them to renewable energy.
U.S. must switch to renewable energy faster, expert says at WestConn, NewsTimes, Vinti Singh, November 19, 2010 DANBURY — The United States will run out of all its domestic oil reserves in three years if oil use continues at current rates, while the world has about 40 years left until all of the oil is gone, environment expert Drury Bacon said Thursday. It’s time to seriously begin looking at alternate energy sources, Bacon said. Continue reading
Britain to help renewable energy development in Africa and Asia
Britain today pledged to spend several hundred million pounds to finance a series of private sector green energy initiatives intended to bring electricity to some of the poorest African and Asian households….In Asia the project could generate 5GW of new renewable energy and create 60,000 jobs,”
Government to fund private sector renewable energy schemes for Africa Global development | guardian.co.uk, 18 Nov 10, The international development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, pledges to finance green energy projects proposed by industry that could raise £9 for every £1 of government money guardian.co.uk, 18 November 2010 Continue reading
Research needed for smart grid and renewable energy development
Research and development is needed to prepare the electric grid for the coming onslaught of new solar and wind power, in much the way farmers must prepare the ground before sowing a crop, (picture below from Repower America)
Report: Electric Grid R&D Must Parallel Expansion of Renewable Power, NYTimes.com, By JENNY MANDEL November 16, 2010 tThe Energy Department should expand its research on energy storage, long-distance electricity transmission and short-term weather forecasting in order tosupport the growing use of renewable energy, the American Physical Society says in a report released today. Continue reading
City with 100%renewable energy
VIDEO Sky News: Completely green city being built in UAE Completely green city being built in UAE, Sky News, 15 Nov 10, The United Arab Emirates is on track to produce a completely new – and rather unexpected source of future revenue – in the oil-rich country.Masdar City is being built 17 kilometers from Abu Dhabi, and is the world’s first completely green city.As Abu Dhabi’s government-backed renewable energy company established in 2006, Masdar is also known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company.It aims to advance the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy solutions and clean technologies.Masdar City is powered by renewable energy and its buildings are covered in solar panels.It aims to have a zero carbon and zero waste environment.The project will be completed between 2020 and 2025.Sky News: Completely green city being built in UAE
Obama diverted renewable energy funding, while touting renewables
the administration received dozens of applications, but then made little progress in getting them processed. So far, less than 3 percent of the money set aside for [renewable energy] loan guarantees has actually been formally assign…….
Obama Talks Big About Clean Energy While Cash Stripped From Key Program Internal Memo Advises President Obama to Fix Program or Scrap It ABC News By MATTHEW MOSK and TIM FLEMING. Nov. 3, 2010 While President Obama has touted his deep commitment to a clean energy industry, the administration has quietly drained more than half of the $6 billion allocated to a key renewable energy program Continue reading
Protest against Trident nuclear missiles shuts UK dockland
Not only was Trident bad for jobs, but the radioactive substances it requires were highly dangerous for the 250,000 people living in Portsmouth
Dockyard shut by anti-nuke activists , Morning Star, by Lizzie Cocker, 1 Nov 10,
lizziecocker@peoples-press.com Anti-nuclear campaigners successfully blockaded all entrances to a Plymouth dockyard today.They were protesting at the role the site plays in maintaining Trident nuclear submarines. Continue reading
Small scale renewable energy has big future in Africa
South Africa’s Renewable Energy Gold Rush Renewable Energy news, by Energy Matters, 2 Nov 10, Renewable Energy in South AfricaSub-Saharan Africa is likely to become the new boom region for global renewable energy investment, according to a new international study. Continue reading
Renewable energy for India’s remote villages
10,000 villages to get power from renewable energy sources, The Hindu :Sujay Mehdudia, 27 oct 10, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday announced that 10,000 remote villages across the country would be electrified with renewable sources by March 2012 under an innovative initiative that will also generate employment.
“We will provide electricity to 10,000 villages at a cost of Rs. 500 crore by the end of the current plan period,” Dr. Abdullah said, while addressing a press conference to mark the start of the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC) here……… The Hindu : News / National : 10,000 villages to get power from renewable energy sources
Keen interest in renewable energy by South African businesses
Long queue for slice of renewable energy cake Business Report October 26, 2010By INGI SALGADO tSouth Africa’s decision more than a decade ago to introduce private sector investment in electricity generation soon highlighted the uncomfortable truth that the country’s low pricing regime would not encourage this outcome.
By comparison, the response this month to the Department of Energy’s call for expressions of interest by the private sector in renewable energy and cogeneration projects has been extremely keen – even though developers were given only a week to compile their submissions.Interest for projects offering about 20 000 megawatts of generating capacity has been registered, says Ompi Aphane, the deputy director-general for electricity, nuclear and clean energy. A cursory analysis shows the bulk are wind projects, but solar has made a very strong showing….
Business Report – Opinion/ Analysis – Long queue for slice of renewable energy cake
Future for renewable energy looking good in USA and elsewhere
Whatever the outcome of the upcoming mid-term elections in the country, [USA] the present momentum to create renewable energy opportunities looks likely to have broad bipartisan support….Even as the country was combating the downsizing of its economy and the job losses spawned by it, “more renewable energy capacity was installed than conventional fossil or nuclear power stations,” according to a recent report by Bank Sarasin, the Swiss financial institution.
Bright future for renewable energy Not only US and Europe are creating opportunities but also rest of the world gulfnews By Manoj Nair, October 24, 2010 Dubai : Barack Obama might have been less than enthusiastic recently about installing new solar panels at the White House, but this has in no way deterred the US from committing a growing cache in alternate energy resources. Continue reading
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