Opinion:
¶ “Plant Closure Opportunity: Hitting Those Clean Energy Notes” San Diego Gas & Electric is trying to convince Californians that when one power plant closes, another needs to be built. EDF and other environmental groups are not buying it. Neither is the California Public Utilities Commission. Neither should we. [Energy Collective]
World:
Krško Nuclear Power Plant in Slovenia during a flood in 2010. Photo by MORS, Wikimedia Commons.
¶ The Austrian Chancellor met with his Croatian and Slovenian counterparts as well as the European Commission Vice President recently for talks on energy cooperation. The Austrian Chancellor criticized a nuclear power plant in Slovenia, again asserting his country’s opposition to nuclear power as unsustainable. [Xinhua]
¶ German energy utility RWE disclosed it was in talks with an unnamed Gulf investor, raising hopes that it could receive fresh funds and emerge from a crisis that has saddled it with €31 billion ($33.6 billion) of debt. The 117-year-old German group is desperately looking for ways to reinvent its business model. [Gulf Business News]
¶ Nigeria’s integrated information and communication technology company, Omatek Ventures Plc, commissioned a solar solution factory to produce solar off-grid, on-grid inverters, batteries, solar panels as well as LED bulbs. It hopes to reduce electric power consumption in Nigeria by as a much as 85%. [Leadership Newspapers]
¶ Documents reveal that companies have applied to more than treble Ireland’s existing data centre capacity within three years. Apple announced plans for an €850m data centre in Galway, and others such as Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Google are also coming. The wind industry is expanding to meet new needs. [Irish Independent]
¶ The US Trade and Development Agency has awarded a grant to the Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Company to develop a 300-MW wind power project in Vietnam. Cong Ly, a private sector firm that operates the only near-offshore wind project in Vietnam, is expanding the Bac Lieu Wind Farm. [The Maritime Executive]
¶ NB Power and Nova Scotia Power will pilot a model of co-operative dispatch between the two provinces, enabling optimization of their power plants while ensuring both provinces continue to meet their renewable energy and emissions standards. The 12-month pilot will use current tie-line capacity. [Sackville Tribune Post]
US:
Energy Systems Integration Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)
¶ State utility regulators, including those in Colorado, are increasingly changing how business is done. The century-old business plan for utilities, with rates based on investments in big power plants and lines, is not working well now. Demand is slowing with increased energy efficiency and rooftop solar. [The Denver Post]
¶ Even as the US oil industry slashes investment, pipeline operator Enbridge Energy isn’t paring back its record five-year, $44 billion building program. The company’s CEO said in an interview that the 50% drop in crude oil prices since June is dire for the industry, but hasn’t changed the economics of pipelines. [Bakken.com]
¶ The biggest player in the beleaguered nuclear power industry wants to collect extra money for producing carbon-free electricity. Exelon Corp says it could have to close three nuclear plants if Illinois rejects their pitch to receive benefits intended for solar, wind, and hydroelectric as low carbon technologies. [Quincy Journal]
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