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Week of Aug. 31, 2009 |
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The Green Power Network (GPN) provides news and information on green power markets and related activities. The site provides up-to-date information on green power providers, product offerings, consumer protection issues, and policies affecting green power markets. It also includes a reference library of relevant papers, articles and reports. The Green Power Network is operated and maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. Source: US DOE, 8/31/09
Visit U.S. DOE EERE Green Power Network for more information.
Tessera Solar and SRP today unveiled plans to partner on a 1.5-megawatt (MW) solar project, Maricopa Solar LLC, in Peoria, Arizona, located in the West Valley of the greater Phoenix area. Maricopa Solar will be the first commercial-scale solar facility built using the innovative SunCatcher™ concentrating solar-thermal technology, manufactured by Scottsdale, Arizona-based Stirling Energy Systems (SES). The project will consist of 60 SunCatcher dishes and serve as a milestone for the nationwide deployment of the larger commercial projects previously announced in California and Texas totaling more than 1,600 MW. Read more. Source: Salt River Project, 8/19/09
Xcel Energy Inc., in cooperation with Abengoa Solar, has started construction of a $4,500,000 US pilot demonstration plant on Colorado's Western Slope to test the use of concentrating solar power at the Cameo coal-fired plant. The plant, when completed by the end of 2009, will test the use of sun sourced steam alongside coal-produced steam for power production. (Source: Denver Business Journal, August 27, 2009)
Contact: Xcel Energy, 303-294-2300. Source: EP Overviews, 8/31/09
The El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors Monday approved two hydropower projects in the district's 2009-2013 capital improvement program, and authorized funding for the projects’ design phases.
The district expects to net at least $400,000 a year from the two projects, which are expected to be operational in 2011, according to a news release.
The projects were identified during a year-long study in conjunction with the El Dorado County Water Agency to seek hydroelectric power generation opportunities within the county. The projects are designed to take advantage of existing water flows and infrastructure at two local reservoirs.
The projects will be made up of in-conduit generators, concrete vaults and a series of valves that change the direction of water flows. The systems will capture energy and send it to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s grid. PG&E offers “feed-in tariffs” for projects such as the two the district approved.
Once a number of criteria are met, including state certification of clean power, PG&E will guarantee the district a price for energy produced for more than 20 years.
Once it's up and running, district officials said they expect the project to generate revenue immediately.
District staff will work with consulting firm Domenichelli and Associates during the project’s design phase. The district could not be reached for further details. Source: Sacramento Business Journal, 8/24/09
Portland General Electric Company (PGE) announced Friday that Phase II of the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm is complete, adding 150 megawatts (MW) of new wind power available for delivery to the grid. The wind farm is located in Sherman County, Ore.
Phase II includes 65 new wind turbines, manufactured and installed by Siemens Energy, that each have an electric generating capacity of 2.3 MW.
Phase I of Biglow Canyon Wind Farm was completed at the end of 2007 and included 76 turbines, with an installed capacity of 125 MW of electricity. The total capacity of Biglow Canyon Wind Farm is now 275 MW.
There is a third phase planned, which will add 76 more turbines and increase the installed capacity to 450 MW. Phase III is scheduled for commercial operation in 2010.
Biglow Canyon Wind Farm was developed by Orion Energy LLC, and PGE constructed the project. PGE will also own and operate the facilities. Source: LCG Consulting, 8/24/09
San Francisco's East Bay Municipal Utility District has created a program to generate electricity from the methane gas produced by food decomposition, a newspaper report said on Monday.
The project is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, the Los Angeles Times said.
Engineers have been testing and refining the process since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the utility 50,000 dollars in 2006 to study it, and they plan to sell energy to the grid beginning next year, the paper said. Read more. Source: Energy Central Daily 8/24/09
The California Public Utilities Commission has approved two Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. contracts with BrightSource Energy for the purchase of 310 MW of solar power from two projects in the California desert that are expected to be built by 2014. A request by PG&E to purchase an additional 1,000 MW of solar power from BrightSource is still pending Commission approval. Previous details were reported in our May 14, 2009 edition. (Source: San Francisco Chronicle, August 21, 2009)
Contact: Charles Ricker, SVP, Business Development, BrightSource Energy, 510-550-8161 ext 108. Source: EP Overviews, 7/25/09
DuPont is investing $120,000,000 US in a 50-percent production expansion for its tedlar polyvinyl fluoride product line, which is used to provide weather resistance and durability in PV cell installations. Related construction has begun for new monomer and resin facilities at the DuPont Louisville, Ky., and Fayetteville, N.C., sites. The facilities are scheduled to start up in mid-2010. DuPont expects overall sales of its family of PV products will exceed $1,000,000,000 US by 2012. (Source: AZ Materials, August 24, 2009)
Contact: Cathy Andriadis, Dupont, 302-774-4249. Source: EP Overviews, 7/25/09
Vancouver, Canada-based Nevada Geothermal Power said revenue is within reach now that it has begun the commissioning of a 49.5-megawatt geothermal power plant in Humboldt County, Northern Nevada.
NGP plans to complete the startup phase by the end of September, with 28 to 30 MW of output capacity fed to the grid starting in October. NGP said project developer Ormat Technologies is three months ahead of schedule on the first phase of Blue Mountain Faulkner 1. Read more. Source: Clean Tech, 8/24/09
Learn more about renewable resources.
Don't let a tight budget keep your utility from being a part of GRC 2009: Making Renewable Energy Hot, Oct. 4-7, in Reno, Nev. Take advantange of the special registration package for utilities.
This year's event will get power providers up to speed on the latest developments in the geothermal industry. The packed agenda features:
There are lots of ways to get involved in GRC 2009. Join GRC corporate and individual members by becoming a sponsor or exhibit your company's products or services to industry decision makers.
Reserve your room at the Peppermill Resort and Casino today.
Learn more about GRC 2009 and other geothermal energy events from the Geothermal Resource Council. Source: Public Renewables Partnership, 8/31/09
The Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG) will hold the 2009 presentation of Wind Generation in Power Systems: A Short Course on the Integration and Interconnection of Wind Power Plants into Electric Power Systems, Sept. 14-17 in Charleston, S.C.
The group room block expired Aug. 24, but the hotel is honoring the group rate on a space-available basis. Note that discounted registration rates are available for individuals from UWIG member organizations as well as those working in academia or government service. Source: UWIG, 8/31/09
The UWIG Fall Technical Workshop will be held Oct. 8-9 at the Marriott Hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Turbine O&M User Group meeting will take place Oct. 6 with the Operating Impacts and Integration Study, Wind Turbine Modeling and Interconnection Study, and Market Operations and Transmission Policy Users Groups meeting Oct. 7.
A tour of the Clipper Turbine Works manufacturing facility in Cedar Rapids is available to individuals who meet the registration requirements. Space is limited for the tour, which will take place Oct. 9 for workshop participants. O&M User Group meeting participants will be able to tour the Clipper facility on Oct. 7. Source: UWIG, 8/31/09
Financial support is available for cooperative and public power utilities that are members of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association or American Public Power Association to attend the Distributed Wind Applications Users Group meeting or the Fall Technical Workshop, Oct. 7-9.
The Public Renewables Partnership effort led by Western Area Power Administration (Western) is offering thirty $500 travel scholarships to electric cooperatives and public power utilities to attend. To qualify for the scholarship, individuals must meet the membership requirements, have never previously attended a UWIG meeting, and submitted a scholarship request and received a confirmation e-mail from Western.
There is one scholarship per utility. To secure a scholarship, which can also be used to defray registration costs, please contact Randy Manion at 720-962-7423. Source: UWIG, 8/31/09
A poll of 2,177 people found that 78 percent of Americans believe the benefits of hydropower outweigh any of the risks.
According to the July 30 poll by Harris Interactive, at least two-thirds of Americans believe the benefits of hydropower, wind power and natural gas outweigh the risks.
The same poll showed that 42 percent of Americans believe the risks of using coal outweigh the benefits, while 36 percent believe the benefits outweigh the risks and 22 weren’t sure. Forty-four percent of Americans said the benefits of using nuclear power outweigh the risks while 34 percent said the risks outweigh the benefits.
However, very few people (9 percent) considered themselves to be very knowledgeable about the various sources of electricity. What’s more, only 21 percent said they were very interested in staying informed about new developments in sources of electrical power, while 53 percent said they were fairly interested in keeping up to date.
Meanwhile, Congress is debating a comprehensive energy bill that will attempt to balance the need to meet rising demand and a desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the increased use of renewable resources.
“Much work is needed by Congress, energy companies and communities to engage consumers in the dialogue around this new energy economy,” the report stated. Source: Hydropower Review, 8/24/09
Each year, the AWEA Wind Resource and Project Energy Assessment Workshop answers the evolving needs of the wind industry. This year will be no different as the agenda takes a technical look at various topics from comparing modeling techniques and examining sources of uncertainty, to post-construction issues that focus on turbine performance and operational assessments.
Hotel reservation deadline: Friday, Sept. 4
Early registration deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 9
Source: American Wind Energy Association, 8/24/09
The National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) provided a usage report for the first interview with Steve Wegman, South Dakota Wind Energy Association executive director, which NAFB produced for Wind Powering America and aired Aug. 10.
Wegman's' interview describing South Dakota's transmission limitations and the national effort required for future transmission expansion was broadcast by the Radio Oklahoma Network, Linder Farm Network, Western Kansas Radio Network, Northern Ag Network, Brownfield Network, American Ag Network, Hale Broadcasting, Buckeye Ag Radio Network, Red River Farm Network, CBS, and individual radio stations in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Many of these states are Wind Powering America priority states. Source: National Association of Farm Broadcasters, 8/18/09
Learn more about educational resources.
Over the past year, President Barack Obama has suggested that adopting solar power and other green technologies not only could help the United States improve the environment but also revitalize our manufacturing sector, which has been hard hit by competition from abroad.
“We can remain the world's leading importer of foreign oil or we can become the world's leading exporter of renewable energy,” Obama said in the spring. “We can hand over the jobs of the 21st century to our competitors, or we can create those jobs right here in America.” Read more. Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, 8/30/09
Maine's Department of Environmental Protection has approved Record Hill Wind LLCs proposed $120,000,000 US investment that would see 22 turbines installed in western Maine near Rumford and will require an upgrade of Central Maine Power Company's lines between Roxbury and Rumford. Record Hill Wind is a JV formed by Lyme, New Hampshire-based Wagner Forest Management and Independence Wind. (Source: Maine Public Broadcasting, August 27, 2009/Maine Business August 27, 2009). Source: EP Overviews, 8/31/09
North Dakota's potential for generating wind power should help lure businesses that make equipment for the industry, economic development officials believe, but analysts say the state will face stiff competition.
The state Commerce Department has hired a British firm to help drum up business prospects in Europe, where a number of large wind energy companies are based. The contract of Chris Parkhouse, chief executive officer of the Deyton Bell consultancy in Cambridge, England, was recently extended until June 30, with a cost limit of $68,000. Read more. Source: The Grand Forks Herald via Associated Press, 8/31/09
Green power, green jobs, renewable energy collide with the Endangered Species Act in a proposed wind farm in Southwest Washington. The project calling for between 48-60 megawatts of power is proposed for 3,359 acres of Washington Department of Natural Resources land northwest of Naselle, Washington. The site, named Radar Ridge, would help utilities in Pacific, Grays Harbor, Clallam and Mason counties meet the requirements of Initiative 397. I-397 mandates that a designated portion of a utility’s power comes from renewable energy sources. Read more. Source: Oregon Natural Resource Report, 8/10/09
Plans for a wind farm on some state land in Skamania County are on hold because it's spotted owl habitat.
The Department of Natural Resources is no longer considering leasing 2,560 acres to the SDS Lumber Co. for possible future expansion of the proposed Whistling Ridge Energy Project.
The Vancouver Columbian reports the state is required to manage the second-growth forest, with scattered old-growth trees, as a spotted owl emphasis area.
Bingen-based SDS Lumber has applied for a permit to build a 42-turbine wind farm on a logged-over ridge it owns near Underwood. It approached DNR officials about expanding the proposed Whistling Ridge project onto adjacent state land.
The DNR currently has 24 active wind power leases. Source: The Seattle Times, 8/24/09
The hum and whir that rise from the factory floor at HPM America, a machining business in central Ohio, are the sounds of a company in transition.
In one part of the plant, workers bore holes in thick steel for a machine that will make car parts. Not far away, another worker guides a computer-controlled grinder that scours a bright ring on a massive globe of cast steel, which looms above him like the submersible capsule from a Jules Verne novel. It’s a wind turbine hub. Read more. Source: The Christian Science Monitor, 8/24/09
It was a scene familiar to many a Western labor activist: manufacturing workers in a developed country protesting in vain the outsourcing of their jobs overseas. Earlier this month, workers barricaded themselves in Vestas Wind Systems' wind turbine blade factory on Britain's Isle of Wight to try to convince the company not to shut down the plant, dismiss 425 workers and move production to another country. Read more. Source: The New York Times, 8/25/09
The Center for Rural Affairs has released a report that finds wind energy development could have a significant economic impact in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. The report analyzes the economic potential of wind energy development, along with job creation impact and available wind resources. (Source: The Independent, August 24, 2009)
Contact: Chuck Hassebrock, Exec. Dir. Center for Rural Affairs, 402-687-2103 ext. 1018. Source: EP Overviews, 7/25/09
Learn more about marketing and research.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requests proposals for Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study. Through this RFP, EPA is offering Graduate Fellowships for master’s and doctoral level students in environmental fields of study. Topic areas include, but are not limited to: Global Change; Energy; Green Engineering/Building/Chemistry/Materials; and Environmental Behavior and Decision Making. $4.5 million expected to be available, up to 120 awards anticipated. Responses due Oct. 22, 2009. For more info, contact Brandon Jones. Refer to Sol# EPA-F2009-STAR. Source: Grants.gov 8/19/09
The U.S. Department of Energy requests proposals for Resource Assessment and Interconnection-Level Transmission Analysis and Planning. The objective of this initiative is to facilitate the development or strengthening of capabilities in each of the three interconnections serving the lower 48 states, to prepare analyses of transmission requirements under a broad range of alternative futures, and develop long-term interconnection-wide transmission expansion plans. The interconnections are the Western Interconnection, the Eastern Interconnection, and the Texas Interconnection. $60 million expected to be available, up to 6 awards anticipated. Responses due Sept. 14, 2009. For more info, contact Meghaan Hampton. Refer to Sol#: DE-FOA-0000068. Source: Grants.gov 8/7/09
U.S. DOE Secretary Steven Chu has announced that $37,000,000 US in funding from the Recovery Act will be made available to qualified small businesses through the Department's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Applications are currently being accepted for topic areas related to improving energy efficiency and also including: smart controllers for smart grid applications; and advanced solar technologies.
Successful applicants may receive up to $150,000 US for a Phase I grant for a period of six months to demonstrate the feasibility of the ideas that appear to have commercial potential. Approximately $8,500,000 US will be available for new Phase 1 awards. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 4, 2009. (Source: U.S. DOE, August 20, 2009)
Contact: Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Programs, U.S. DOE, 301-903-1414; Phase 1 Funding Opportunity Announcement Details. Source: EP Overviews, 7/25/09
Learn more about funding solicitations.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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