World:
¶ Australian firm Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd announced it has officially put on stream its Perth wave power station at Garden Island. The plant has three 240-kW CETO 5 wave energy devices. It is the world’s first multiple wave unit power station. Its output is going to the Western Australia grid. [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ US carmaker General Motors said on Tuesday it has signed a deal with Enel Green Power to purchase 34 MW of wind power for its production facilities in Mexico. The power purchase agreement is tied to 17 wind turbines the Italian company will be erecting in Palo Alto, starting in the second quarter of 2015. [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ The first renewable energy tender issued by Jordan had encouraging results, with a total of 200 MW awarded to project developers, including a 52.5-MW solar PV project. The tender is the first among several that the government plans to conduct to set up 1.8 GW renewable energy capacity by 2020. [CleanTechnica]
¶ EDF Energies Nouvelles has confirmed that it will use 68 Vestas 3.3-MW turbines at its 224.4-MW Nicolas-Riou wind farm in Quebec. The company got a 25-year power purchase agreement with Hydro-Quebec last year following a competition tender. The plant is expected to be commissioned by mid-2017. [reNews]
¶ The three-day ‘First Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet and Expo (Re-Invest)’ concluded in India on Tuesday with commitments of 266,000 MW of renewable power, including 10,000 MW from state-run NTPC. This makes it the “take off” conference towards revolutionising India’s energy sector. [Web India]
¶ As an island nation, Japan controls large swaths of ocean territory, about the sixth-greatest expanse of any country in the world. So it makes sense for Japan to look to the seas for renewable energy. The government is teaming up with two major industrial companies to start field testing marine power generation. [Wall Street Journal]
¶ Canadian Solar has secured six solar power projects worth 46 MW in the United Kingdom. They will together generate around 50,183 kWh of electricity annually. Four projects, totaling 40.5 MW, are under construction and should be connected to the grid in March, with the others following in the second quarter. [Greentech Lead]
¶ Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, Union Minister Piyush Goyal today said efforts will work to create a federation of 50 solar power-rich nations and also make India the world’s renewable energy capital. They plan to work with the World Economic Forum in the near future. [Economic Times]
¶ Mainstream Renewable Power announced the launch of a pan-African renewable energy generation platform, Lekela Power, which it has formed along with Actis, a global pan-emerging market private equity firm. Lekela Power will provide between 700 and 900 MW of wind and solar power in Africa by 2018. [Your Industry News]
¶ Siemens announced it has secured a contract in South Africa with an order for 157 wind turbines for three projects in the South Africa province of Northern Cape. The 2.3-MW machines of the Siemens G2 platform will be installed at the wind power plants Khobab, Loeriesfontein 2 and Noupoort. [Windtech International]
US:
¶ Fires continued to burn for hours Tuesday after a train carrying 109 tankers of crude oil derailed in a snowstorm alongside a West Virginia creek, threatening the nearby water supply. Cars carrying volatile Bakken crude from North Dakota’s shale fields had left the tracks Monday afternoon, and 19 caught fire. [AOL]
¶ Duke Energy, which already owns or purchases 600 MW of solar capacity in North Carolina, announced that it is seeking to acquire up to an additional 50 MW. Duke has solar and wind facilities in 12 states, and expects to increase its solar generating capacity to 110 MW over the next six years in South Carolina. [Politic365]
¶ Donald Moul, vice president of commodity operations for FirstEnergy Solutions, says distortions in the energy market are hurting FirstEnergy’s fleet of nuclear reactors, making it hard to compete. He places the blame on policies that have eaten away at the value of its coal and nuclear fleet. [Pittsburgh Post Gazette]
¶ In Vermont, after three weeks of deliberation, the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee voted 10-1 to pass H.40, a bill requiring utilities to sell renewable power. According to the bill, 55% of a utility’s electricity must come from renewables such as wind, solar or hydro power by 2017, and 75% by 2032. [vtdigger.org]
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