World:
¶ As the only such plant for a large city, Hamburg Wasser is the largest wastewater treatment plant in Germany. It is designed to cover its energy demands with renewable energy from its own site produces more energy than it uses. The sells its excess electricity, bio-methane gas, and heat. [CleanTechnica]
The 3 MW turbine at Hamburg Wasser, with plant in the background – Hamburg Wasser; Looking down at a PV Solar solar installation – Roy L Hales photo
¶ A report released in 2013 said that by 2030, one-third of Australian electricity consumers, weary of rising retail prices and drawn to use cheap solar and storage technology, could choose to go off grid. A new report says things have changed; batteries are 20% less expensive than they were expected to be. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Donald Trump’s legal challenge to a planned offshore wind farm has been rejected by the UK’s Supreme Court. Developers intend to site 11 turbines off Aberdeen, close to Mr Trump’s golfing development on the Aberdeenshire coast. The Trump Organisation said would “continue to fight” the proposal. [BBC]
¶ GeoSea has installed the first monopile at the 332-MW Nordsee 1 offshore wind farm in the German North Sea. Water depths at the project site some 40 km north of Juist Island range between 25 and 29 meters. Nordsee 1 is expected to be operational in 2017 and will generate over 1300 GWh of electricity per year. [reNews]
Innovation on the job (RWE)
¶ The Azraq Syrian refugee camp in Jordan will soon have a new solar farm meeting the needs of the 27,000 Syrian refugees living there. In a joint project between Ikea and the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign aims to provide refugees around the world with solar lanterns. [CleanTechnica]
¶ The prime minister of the UK has been urged to intervene in planned cuts to solar power subsidies after the Paris agreement on climate change. Critics pointed to the contrast between the massive subsidy cut planned and the stance David Cameron and his ministers took at the Paris climate conference. [The Guardian]
US:
¶ Green Mountain Power was joined today with Franklin County leaders and champions of Lake Champlain to announce an innovative new project called Clean Power, Cleaner Lake. Working with area dairy farms, the effort will significantly reduce phosphorus runoff while generating clean, local baseload power. [Vermont Biz]
Green Mountain Power will help reduce pollution in Lake Champlain. St Albans Bay is seen here. GMP photo.
¶ American Electric Power and the Sierra Club have agreed on a proposed plan that would lead to what are believed to be the largest investments in wind and solar power in Ohio history. Under the pact, AEP is agreeing to develop 500 MW of wind energy and 400 MW of solar energy. [Akron Beacon Journal]
¶ The California Public Utilities Commission rejected steeper monthly costs for solar owners and instead proposed new, one-time fees for future solar customers and small increases for existing ones. Solar advocates applauded the proposal, which rejected plans by public utilities to increase monthly bills for solar owners. [Record Bee]
¶ A new report from the environmental group Clean Wisconsin shows the state can comply with the Clean Power Plan while reducing ratepayer energy bills by $55 million statewide. The report, Clean Power Plan in Wisconsin, is the first to take an in-depth look at how Wisconsin could comply with the Clean Power Plan. [Wisconsin Gazette]
A report from Clean Wisconsin shows that complying with the Clean Power Plan can reduce bills by $55 million. Photo: Courtesy
¶ A long-awaited plan to address climate change in San Diego, which has garnered support from both environmental and business groups, was unanimously passed by the City Council on Tuesday. The plan has a goal of reducing emission levels by 20% in 2020 and by half in 2035, from levels recorded in 2010. [CBS 8 San Diego]
¶ Nassau, New York, a town of 5,000 people just outside of Albany, plans to disconnect from the electrical grid. Last week, the town board voted to get 100% of its power from renewables by 2020. The town is making the move as a way to increase its reliance on renewable energy and to gain some energy independence. [EcoWatch]
¶ Just off Florida’s Biscayne Bay, two nuclear reactors churn out enough electricity to power nearly a million homes. The Turkey Point plant’s license goes to 2032. At some point after that, a good part of the low-lying site could be underwater, as sea waters rise. So could at least 13 other U.S. nuclear plants. [National Geographic]
The Turkey Point Generating Station. Photo by Acroterion. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
¶ Shares of clean-energy companies jumped as Congress neared a deal that would extend tax credits for the wind and solar industries. While a deal isn’t certain, Republicans and Democrats are discussing five-year renewals of the two chief clean-energy subsidies in exchange for an end to the 40-year-old ban on US oil exports. [Bloomberg]
¶ The Indian Point 3 plant automatically shut down because of an electrical disturbance, owner Entergy Corp said in a statement late Monday. The last time that happened, spot power more than doubled. This time, however, wind turbines in the state came to the rescue, compensating for the loss of the reactor. [Bloomberg]
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