World:
¶ Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd has closed an A$600 million ($462 million US) green bond, the biggest certified so far under the Climate Bonds Standard. About 40% will go to refinance green property, with the rest for wind and solar energy loans in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Asia. [SeeNews Renewables]
Wind farm in Australia. Author: Steven Caddy. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic.
¶ Within a fortnight of publicly declaring that it would not completely divest from fossil fuel investments, Scotland’s University of Edinburgh has announced that it intends to divest from three of the world’s biggest fossil fuel producers. The university will write to these companies informing them of its intentions. [CleanTechnica]
¶ The Jordan News Agency said there will be a 20-year solar power purchase agreement between the Hong Kong-based, Hanergy Thin Film Power Group, and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Jordan. The projects are valued at $1.5 billion. Hanergy recently gave Jordan a grant for transmissions. [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ Citibank lowered its long-run thermal coal forecast by 11%, citing increasing competition from natural gas and renewables and weak Chinese demand They told clients, “Global thermal coal demand is suffering from increasing environmental pressure and competition from natural gas and renewable energy.” [Platts]
¶ Discounting any immediate plans to stop coal imports, India’s Coal and Power Minister, Piyush Goyal, said that the government will open more than 60 coal mines across the country in the coming days. He said the new mines were part of the plan for state miner Coal India to double its production by 2020. [Business Today]
¶ GE’s renewable energy business on May 27th, 2015 announced it will supply Convergent Energy + Power with a 7-MW / 7-MWh battery energy storage system for the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator. The system should help the IESO balance longer duration power irregularities in the area. [solarserver.com]
¶ A nuclear power plant in southern Japan has obtained all necessary permits to restart its two reactors, planned as early as late July. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said today that it had approved operational safety plans for the Sendai nuclear power station’s two reactors, owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co. [Business Standard]
¶ IKEA’s Nordic operations are now completely energy independent after opening its third wind farm in Sweden yesterday. The furniture retail giant now operates 46 turbines in Sweden and one in Denmark, producing around 360 GWh of clean energy per year, enough to power around 72,000 households. [Business Green]
Wind farm and IKEA store in Germany. Photo by Gerd W. Schmölter. Wikimedia Commons.
US:
¶ The University of Hawaii Board of Regents voted this week to divest the University’s $66 million endowment, following a report provided by a University-appointed group tasked with investigating the complete divestment from fossil fuels. It is the largest university so far to divest itself of fossil fuels. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Arkansas electric cooperatives will have over 100 MW of additional wind power to meet the energy needs of their members. It will come from a planned wind farm in Oklahoma, 60 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. Plans call for the turbines and other aspects of the facility to be in service by the end of 2016. [Electric Co-op Today]
¶ Two northwest Ohio lawmakers used a business pitch on Wednesday in hopes of persuading fellow Republicans to weaken past moves they argue stymie development of large-scale wind farms. They pointed to the $1.1 billion expected to be invested in a new energy-intensive data center in central Ohio by Amazon. [Toledo Blade]
¶ Exxon Mobil’s CEO again rebuffed criticism that the company was not doing enough to cut carbon emissions, arguing that current climate models were not yet strong enough to justify a drastic shift away from fossil fuels. He argued we should look for solutions to the effects of climate change as they become clear. [Dallas Morning News]
¶ Legislation to end state support for renewable energy is on the ropes, as state politicians weigh concerns over potential damage to Texas’ booming wind power industry. A bill to freeze the renewable energy credit program and halt a $7-billion transmission line expansion for wind and solar farms has languished. [Dallas Morning News]
¶ US utility Westar Energy says it will buy 200 MW of wind from the Ninnescah wind farm in Kansas, to be built for it by a unit of NextEra Energy Resources LLC. The wind park in Pratt County will enter the construction phase late in 2015 or early 2016. It is planned to start producing power next year. [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ The NRC issued a ruling on a petition by Friends of the Earth that called for a shutdown of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant over safety concerns. The NRC’s ruling didn’t stop operations, but the group’s still claiming a victory. The NRC is having the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board review the case. [New Times SLO]
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