World:
¶ The new hydropower systems recently installed on the River Thames are now generating enough power for Windsor Castle, and more according to the director. They are producing 200 kW, and sometimes running some electricity onto the grid. [Royal Central]
¶ Ontario will achieve its goal to eliminate coal-fired generation before the end of 2014. Over the next year, the Thunder Bay Generating Station will stop burning coal and be converted to use advanced biomass as fuel for electricity generation. [4-traders]
¶ Power station Drax said full year earnings will be “materially ahead” of market forecasts following a better than expected performance from its first biomass unit in Yorkshire. [Yorkshire Post]
¶ Tokyo Electric Power Co. is looking to shed 1,000 jobs through a voluntary redundancy program to boost efficiency and improve earnings, sources revealed Saturday. [The Japan Times]
¶ A 20-year program to convert highly enriched uranium from dismantled Russian nuclear weapons into fuel for U.S. power plants has ended, with the final shipment loaded onto a vessel in St. Petersburg’s port. [Las Vegas Sun]
US:
¶ Lawmakers on Maine’s Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee are working on bills to be held over from 2013. They include bills on renewable energy, wind power, and the state’s renewable energy standard. [Lewiston Sun Journal]
¶ Maine’s Meadowmere Resort is adding solar PV to generate electricity. The solar field will feature over 70 panels and generate 18 kW for roughly 20,000-25,000 kWh annually. This will supply power to 36 of its 144 total rooms, with a 3-4-year payback. [Foster’s Daily Democrat]
¶ The Arizona Corporation Commission is meeting to decide whether to allow the state’s largest utility to charge more to customers with rooftop solar panels. The solar industry believes the proposal would decimate the industry. [Las Vegas Sun]
¶ A total of 42 landfill renewable energy projects have received approval through a Massachusetts program that started two years ago, according to Ed Coletta, spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. [Boston Globe]
¶ Golden West Power Partners LLC of Moline, Illinois, is planing for a $400 million wind farm having 147 turbines with 425-foot towers on nearly 25,000 acres about 34 miles northeast of Colorado Springs, Colorado. [Pueblo Chieftain]
¶ All the stuff folks in Gresham, Fairview, and Wood Village, Oregon put down their toilets and other drains is being harnessed to slash energy costs for sewer system customers. Eight years ago it cost $40,000 per month; soon it will be $0. [Portland Tribune]
¶ The nation’s largest facility for turning food scraps into biogas is about to go online in north San Jose, California. Food waste from restaurants and commercial businesses, will be processed in 16 massive digestion chambers, each holding 350 tons of waste. [Contra Costa Times]
¶ Exelon CEO Christopher Crane has acknowledged that the Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear plants are in financial trouble. He says both plants could stay open if they can get long-term contracts at prices above current market rates. [Crain’s Chicago Business]
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