Science and Technology:
¶ Solar Impulse, the zero-fuel airplane, has flown the first leg across the continental US in its attempt to fly around the world. It left Mountain View, California, at dawn on Monday and landed 16 hours later in Goodyear, Arizona. It was the 10th leg of its round the world quest. [BBC]
A pre-dawn take-off for Solar Impulse from Moffett Airfield.
Solar Impulse photo.
World:
¶ Manitoba Hydro is now helping customers go solar. The crown corporation announced the details of the new Power Smart Solar Energy PV Program. The plan allows goodies for businesses and home owners to go solar, while selling surplus solar energy back to Manitoba Hydro. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S has fully installed 31 turbines at the 310-MW Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya. The Lake Turkana Wind Power project will use total of 365 pieces of V52-850 kW turbines, capable of generating over 1,400 GWh together. [SeeNews Renewables]
Lake Turkana wind system. Vestas photo.
¶ An international consortium recently announced that it started building a 2-GW solar project in Egypt. The project is expected to require a total investment of $3.5 billion. The consortium includes Terra Sola Ventures, Terra Nex, RWE New Energy, and Hareon Solar Technologies. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Mexico and Costa Rica aim to increase their capacities of geothermal power to help meet the challenges they face of curbing planet-warming emissions and making their energy supplies secure. Geothermal makes up only 5% of installed power capacity in Central America. [Reuters UK]
¶ Nestlé Waters, the world’s largest bottled water company, has today announced its UK operations are now powered by 100% renewable electricity. The firm, which produces San Pellegrino and other brands of water, said electricity for its Buxton factory is now entirely from renewable sources. [Business Green]
Nestlé Waters factory Buxton
¶ Two Indian states have commissioned canal-top solar power projects, according to reports. Two projects with a total installed capacity of 5 MW were commissioned by the Punjab government. Andhra Pradesh commissioned a 400-kW project supplying power to five villages. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Perhaps unsurprisingly, Denmark boasts the highest wind-produced electricity consumption in the world. And they announced last month another increase, with 42% of their total electricity use coming from wind turbines in 2015. That’s a highly significant rise of 3% from 2014. [The News Hub]
US:
¶ Oklahoma is the latest state to get into the game on community solar. Tri-County Electric Co-op, headquartered in Hooker, dedicated the first community solar project in the state on April 26. TCEC members pay a one-time subscription fee of $340 per share to buy into the project. [Electric Co-op Today]
Wind turbines in Oklahoma. Photo by the US Geological Survey. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
¶ Leadership from Georgia Power and the Navy, community leaders, and others gathered at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany to mark the start of construction at a 31-MW AC solar facility. It is Georgia Power’s fifth large-scale solar project on military bases. [Today’s Energy Solutions]
¶ Solar power in New Hampshire cleared a major hurdle Monday after Governor Maggie Hassan signed a bill into law that doubles the state cap for net metering from 50 MW to 100 MW. Net metering is an incentive that lets people sell their excess solar energy back into the grid. [Concord Monitor]
¶ Lawmakers in Massachusetts are drafting a bill that would jump-start the offshore wind industry. The energy bill is expected to require utilities to purchase power from offshore wind farms, according to Representative Thomas Golden, a Democrat, whose party controls the legislature. [Bloomberg]
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
¶ Solar energy is still a small part of Wisconsin’s overall energy mix, but it’s the fastest-growing component. The Solar Energy Industries Association reports Wisconsin ranks 30th overall among the 50 states in installed solar capacity, but investment in solar rose about 70% last year. [Kenosha News]
¶ Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Senator Richard Shelby, and others are urging the Tennessee Valley Authority to sell its unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant. More than four decades of work hasn’t produced a watt of electricity. At least one potential buyer has been identified. [FederalNewsRadio.com]
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