World:
¶ Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal last week dismissed appeals of two wind projects developed by Capstone Infrastructure Corp with a combined capacity of 28 MW. Canada-based Capstone says the decision upholds the renewable energy approvals granted previously to the 18-MW Ganaraska and 10-MW Grey Highlands ZEP projects in Ontario. [SeeNews Renewables]
Wind farm in Ontario. Author: John Vetterli. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
¶ PT Energi Angin Indonesia and the government of South Sulawesi today signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 62.5-MW wind farm. It will be tied to the South Sulawesi electricity grid and should produce over 200 GWh per year. This is enough to supply to more than 450,000 local people and help avoid 120,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. [The FINANCIAL]
¶ Conergy, based in Hamburg, Germany, and ATC Enviro Co Ltd, a member of the Symbior Solar group, a solar PV developer based in Bangkok, announced plans to build three solar PV plants in Thailand having a total capacity of 19 MWp. Symbior Solar currently is developing an additional 100 MW in solar projects across Asia for implementation in 2015/16. [The Tide]
¶ Renewable power is becoming a political force in Australia. Australian Solar Council launched its latest campaign, on the weekend, urging people to “vote solar” in an upcoming by-election in Western Australia, as the Coalition government has repeatedly broken promises on renewable energy. A recent poll found that the Coalition would lose on the back of a 7.5% swing. [RenewEconomy]
¶ In New Zealand, the Greens want the Government to set a target for 10% renewable energy generation, following Contact Energy’s decision to close its Otahuhu B gas-fired power station at the end of next month. The Government’s renewable energy target is 90% 2025. Green Party energy spokesman Gareth Hughes says the time has come to set a goal of 100% renewable energy. [3News NZ]
¶ Scotland’s ambitions to become a zero waste nation were today bolstered with the start of construction of Viridor’s new £177 million energy recovery facility in East Lothian. The site will process 300,000 tonnes of post-recycling ‘residual’ waste per annum to generate 30 MW directly to the grid, enough to power 39,000 homes, and will also offer up to 10 MW of heat. [Process & Control Today]
¶ German firms may sign contracts with the Iranian Energy Ministry to build power plants in Iran. Lifting sanctions will pave the way for resuming energy projects. Transferring technology by German companies to Iranian companies, improving efficiency of existing thermal power plants, and building new wind and solar power plants in Iran are all under discussion. [Tehran Times]
¶ Four and a half years after the Fukushima Disaster began, and as Japan tentatively restarts nuclear power elsewhere, legal challenges are mounting for the crippled plant’s operator. They include a judge’s forced disclosure of a 2008 internal document prepared for managers at TEPCO warning of a need for precautions against an unprecedented nuclear catastrophe. [The Japan Times]
US:
¶ Wind energy prices have hit an all-time low and the cost of installing turbines has fallen 20% to 40% in the last five years, according to the DOE. Its new report says last year’s wind-power price contracts with utilities averaged under 2.5¢/kWh, down from 7¢/kWh in 2009. In the Northwest, that could mean a resurgence of interest and investment in wind farms. [Public News Service]
Oregon ranks sixth among states for installed wind capacity. A new national report citing lowest-ever prices for wind power could spark more investment in the industry. Photo credit: Umptanum/Wikimedia Commons.
¶ A bill to augment New Jersey’s clean energy market by encouraging residents to generate their own electricity using renewable energy sources is now law. It increases the electric power net metering cap established in the “Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act” to 2.9% of the total annual energy sold in New Jersey, effectively quadrupling the state limit on net metering. [TAPinto.net]
¶ The wind and solar energy industries in Michigan are expected to continue steady growth and add hundreds of jobs over the next decade, regardless of what the legislators and Governor Rick Snyder come up with in a final energy bill package this year. Part of the optimism comes from a regulatory announcement earlier this month by the EPA, the Clean Power Plan. [Crain’s Detroit Business]
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