World:
¶ Danish industry site Energy Watch has reported on an application submitted by Denmark’s Bregentved Estates to local municipal authorities for a 100-MW capacity solar park to be located in Faxe municipality, Sjælland, eastern Denmark. It’s a bold ambition; Denmark’s current largest solar installation is just 2.1 MW. [CleanTechnica]
Rooftop PV provides power to UN City in Copenhagen, but utility-scale solar power is lacking. Photo Credit: Adam Mørk / 3XN.
¶ Developed countries are lining up to pledge support to India’s ambitious renewable energy targets. The UK would support India’s ambitious renewable energy targets through cooperation on developing and implementing new technologies. New Zealand has also expressed interest in sharing technology and expertise. [CleanTechnica]
¶ More than a quarter of the UK’s electricity came from renewables this spring, official figures show. Renewables accounted for 25.3% of electricity generation in the second quarter of 2015, up from 16.7% for the period in 2014, and overtaking coal for the first time. Coal generating fell to 20.5% in the same period. [Business Reporter]
¶ In Q2 2015, Scotland generated 4,832 GWh of renewable electricity, an increase of 37.3% on Q2 of 2014, while wind and hydro power increased by 52.5% and 27% respectively. The Scottish Government had a target to reduce energy consumption by 12% by 2020; this was already met in 2013, seven years early. [Aberdeen Business News]
Renewables electricity generation up 13.5% in one year
¶ Drax Group Plc pulled out of a plan to build the UK’s first commercial-scale power plant equipped with a carbon capture and storage system, a blow to the government’s ambition to spur the technology crucial to protecting the climate. Drax cited the “drastically different financial and regulatory environment” from two years ago.[Bloomberg]
¶ The president of Hokkaido Electric Power Co signaled the company’s plan to give up the restart of the three reactors at its Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido by the end of March. At a news conference, he said that realistically, it would be difficult to bring any of the reactors back into operation by the end of fiscal 2015. [The Japan Times]
US:
¶ The University of Texas at Austin has let out word that a research team guided by professor John Goodenough, the man who invented lithium-ion batteries, has come up with a new cathode material leading to the development of a marketable sodium-ion battery. The new energy storage involves eldfellite, a yellow-green mineral. [CleanTechnica]
Crystal structure of the eldfellite cathode for a sodium-ion battery. Image by Cockrell School of Engineering.
¶ Leonardo DiCaprio has joined a growing consortium of investors that is breaking ranks with fossil fuels. The movie star joined the ranks of Divest Invest, which has grown to 2,040 individuals and 436 institutions from 43 countries representing $2.6 trillion in assets. One year ago, DI members represented $50 billion. [CNN]
¶ In what’s being referred to as the “first utility-adopted” solar sharing program, Yeloha and Green Mountain Power have partnered to offer GMP’s customers the opportunity to go solar, even if it’s with someone else’s roof. Yeloha acts as a middleman between people who want solar and people with places for panels. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Energy Resources USA Inc has applied for a preliminary permit to build a hydropower plant at Lock and Dam No 11 on the Mississippi River, which has long been in place but has no generating facility. The proposed plant would produce 119,655 MWh per year, enough to power 10,000 to 11,000 homes. [Construction Equipment Guide]
Hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy in the United States, providing about 7 percent of the nation’s power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
¶ Ormat Technologies Inc says the second phase of its Don A Campbell geothermal power plant in Nevada is operating commercially. The plant is expected to generate 19 MW. The power will go to the Southern California Public Power Authority, which intends to resell it to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ The Arkansas Public Service Commission ruled that Entergy Arkansas can buy 20 years of solar power from a solar park to be built near Stuttgart, Arkansas. NextEra Energy Resources of Juno Beach, Florida, plans to build an 81-MW solar energy farm on a 475-acre site about seven miles southeast of Stuttgart. [Arkansas Online]
geoharvey 