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Science and Technology:

¶ The World Meteorological Organization is expected to declare 2016 the hottest year in recorded history next month, just as the United States prepares to inaugurate a president who questions if climate change is even real. While the election of Donald Trump has stunned the world, record warmth no longer feels surprising. [The Recorder]

Traffic on the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles
(Photo: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / TNS)

¶ Siberian permafrost is one of the things being hardest hit by climate change. Now, in addition to the melting permafrost causing mass die-offs of reindeer and resurrecting long-dead strains of “zombie anthrax”, it appears the very cities built on it are also in imminent danger, according to new Russian-US research. [IFLScience]

World:

¶ Vestas secured two orders for turbines totaling 74.15 MW for wind farms in China. The state-owned power company China Huadian Corp ordered seven V117 3.45-MW machines for a project in Fujian province. Vestas also won a turbine supply contract for a total of 50 MW of V110 2.2-MW models with an unnamed company. [reNews]

Vestas V117 3.3-MW wind turbines (credit: Vestas)

¶ Knapton Green Energy submitted plans for a renewable energy center to North Yorkshire County Council. The company wants to build the it on 10-acres of a landfill, saying it would generate enough electricity to power 16,000 homes by using advanced technology to create energy from waste biomass that cannot be recycled. [Darlington and Stockton Times]

¶ The Energy Agency of Italy, Gestore dei Servizi Energetici released a list of projects that won offtake contracts in an auction for up to 870 MW of power renewable generation capacity. The auction was launched in June 2016. Enel Green Power won the geothermal bid for a 20-MW geothermal project in Tuscany. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Bagnore 3 plant, Tuscany, Italy (source: Enel Green Power)

¶ North Queensland is becoming a leader in renewable energy development with construction of three of its biggest solar farms due to start next year. They include the $155 million Sun Metals solar farm, ESCO Pacific’s 135-MW solar farm in the Upper Ross, and the Clare Solar Farm, which will supply enough power for 42,000 homes. [Townsville Bulletin]

¶ China plans to spend 3.5 trillion yuan ($503 billion) by 2020, expanding its high-speed railway system. The expansion will see the network grow to 30,000 km (18,650 miles), according to recent reports that followed a State Council Information Office briefing in Beijing. The network would connect 80% of major Chinese cities. [CleanTechnica]

High-speed rail map of China

¶ In a statement at a gathering of scientists, the Pope said, “there has never been such a clear need for science” to inform political decisions. The Pontiff’s message seemed directed at president-elect Donald Trump, who has signaled that the United States will no longer play a leadership role on the issue of climate change. [The Alternative Daily]

US:

¶ A way to incentivize the use of clean energy like solar after dark, instead of gas peakers, to cover peak loads was proposed in a white paper commissioned by Arizona’s Residential Utility Consumer Office. It suggests revision of state Renewable Energy Standards aimed at using energy storage to match grid demand better after dark. [CleanTechnica]

Crescent Dunes via Wikimedia

¶ Electricity prices from Boston to Dallas plunged this year as cheap natural gas cut fuel costs, and wind and solar alternatives came online. Consumers also used less electricity for the second straight year, despite a summer heat wave, amid an industrial slowdown and growing awareness of ways to boost energy efficiency. [Bloomberg]

¶ Enel Green Power has been working to make its geothermal resources in Fallon, Nevada, and Cove Fort, Utah, more efficient by combining them with other renewable power sources. In its most recent endeavor in Cove Fort, Enel cleverly combines hydroelectric power with geothermal power for the first time in North America. [Ars Technica]

Enel Green Power’s Cove Fort plant (Image: Enel Green Power)

¶ Southern Co, a unit of Southern Power, announced entering an agreement with Renewable Energy Systems Americas to develop jointly about 3,000 MW across 10 projects. The projects will have commercial operation dates in 2018 through 2020. Southern Co also agreed to purchase wind turbines from Siemens and Vestas. [PennEnergy]

¶ Despite the Obama administration’s commitment to curb CO2 emissions, nuclear plants have been retiring. Now the Nuclear Energy Institute, is asking the incoming Trump administration to take steps both to improve the economic prospects of existing plants and to improve the chances for new nuclear reactors. [Electric Light & Power]

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Opinion:

¶ “Transforming the Future of Energy” • These are extraordinary times for renewable energy. Records are broken, commitments are made, and setbacks occur almost on a weekly basis. The ‘big picture’ trend is for sharp falls in the unit cost of solar. Solar energy is becoming more attractive, and this is driving adoption rates. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

Tourists visiting the Tauern wind park in Austria
(Photo by  Kwerdenker, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ “Solar Power Is Not Merely Least Expensive” • We’ve seen a lot of commentary on the fact that utility-scale solar power has become the least expensive source of electricity in many places. There is more than that to be found in LCOE analysis, however, and it implies that solar and wind power have greater value than cost data shows. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ The government of Argentina’s Mendoza province will invest over $230 million (€221 million) in 11 renewable energy projects with contracts secured in the RenovAr auctions, national news agency Telam said. About 160 MW of capacity will be built by local companies partnering with the province’s energy company Emesa. [SeeNews Renewables]

Power lines in Argentina

¶ Albuquerque-based Rio Grande Renewables has completed what is being called the largest microgrid in Central America, a project with a capacity of 276 kW/500 kW PV+storage in Costa Rica. The system provides peak demand reduction by smoothing out variability and offers critical system back-up power in the event of an outage. [pv magazine USA]

¶ Conservationists teamed up with the green energy industry to demand that the Scottish Government sets a new target to ensure half the country’s power comes from renewables by 2030. Trade body Scottish Renewables and WWF Scotland have made the call following what they call a “landmark” year for renewable energy in Scotland. [Energy Voice]

Tidal turbine (Copyright Nova Innovation Ltd)

¶ Christmas Day of 2016 was the greenest on record for energy generation, according to the power group Drax. The company said more than 40% of the electricity generated on the day came from renewable sources, the highest ever; 75% of that was wind power. It compared with 25% on Christmas Day in 2015, and 12% in 2012. [The Guardian]

¶ About 300,000 Scottish homes are powered with 595 MW of clean energy thanks to the government’s support of community and locally-owned renewable projects, a government report says. That is a 17% increase from the last report, in September 2015, when the renewable operating capacity was estimated to be 508 MW. [EcoWatch]

PVs on a church (Photo credit: Eco-Congregation Scotland)

¶ Toshiba shares has fallen over three straight days of heavy losses. The company has now had more than 40% of its value wiped off since 26 December. It comes after the firm’s chairman apologized and warned that its US nuclear business, which brings in about a third of its revenue, may be worth less than previously thought. [BBC]

US:

¶ Two weeks after officials in two dozen states asked Donald Trump to kill the Clean Power Plan, another group of state officials is urging him to save it. Democratic attorneys general in 14 states sent a letter to Trump asking him to preserve Obama’s Clean Power Plan, New York’s Attorney General announced. [NWAOnline]

Air pollution

¶ The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources removed language from its public website that acknowledged the scientific consensus that human activity is the main cause of climate change. Republicans, who control the state government, had previously limited their attacks on renewable power to what they claim is high cost. [Reedsburg Times Press]

¶ A group that studied Maine’s biomass industry recommended that lawmakers extend the state renewable energy purchasing requirements and that policymakers take a broad view of the state’s forest economy. They recommend permitting electric lines “for persons other than transmission and distribution utilities.” [Bangor Daily News]

Unloading wood chips from a truck (Gabor Degre / BDN)

¶ The New York Power Authority, the nation’s largest state public power organization, says it has completed work at the Franklin County substation that connects 77.7 MW from the Jericho Rise Wind farm to the New York power grid. The wind farm, located in the towns of Chateaugay and Belmont, has 37 wind turbines. [North American Windpower]

¶ US energy-related CO2 emissions totaled 2,530 million metric tons in the first six months of 2016. This is the lowest emissions level for the first six months of any year since 1991, as mild weather and changes in the fuels used to generate electricity contributed to the overall decline in energy-related emissions. [PennEnergy]

Please click on the image to enlarge it.

¶ The Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Ottawa County, Ohio could soon be closed. Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp, which owns the plant, is planning to sell or close it and several others in 2017 or early 2018 unless state officials change energy regulations that would make it financially feasible to keep the plants running. [WKYC-TV]

¶ The company that is looking to buy the closed Vermont Yankee nuclear plant says it hopes to demolish it and clean up the site more than 30 years sooner than its current owner had planned. NorthStar Group Services Inc told state regulators it hopes to finish the job by 2026, more than 30 years sooner than Entergy Corp planned. [Electric Light & Power]

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Opinion:

¶ “Solar is Clean, Popular and Under Attack” • Let’s start with the good news. Solar energy is growing and more popular than ever. … Now here’s the bad news. As solar power has grown, it has increasingly been attacked by entrenched energy interests who see rooftop solar as an existential threat to their bottom line. [Gotham Gazette]

Solar panel installation (SolarCity)

¶ “The French nuclear outages of 2016: the backstory” • While nuclear power is often presented as the only reliable and stable low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels, the technology can also be subject to long periods of uncertainty. This year, 22 French nuclear reactors were taken offline unexpectedly due to a single common safety issue. [ICIS]

Science and Technology:

¶ Momentum for the climate is building in more ways than one. Earth’s climate flashed red alert several times this year with symptoms of dis-ease. But at the same time it can be argued an inflection point has been breached in both human resolve and the energy economy needed to slow and eventually reverse Climate Change. [WPEC]

800 thousand years of CO2

World:

¶ The global market for boilers, turbines, and generators may decrease from a cumulative $318 billion during the 2010-2015 period to $241 billion between now and 2020, according to a report from GlobalData. The report says an increased focus on renewable energy sources and environmental issues will drive the decrease. [PennEnergy]

¶ Mexico’s installed clean power capacity reached 20,160 MW at the end of June 2016, and the country is preparing for solid growth in solar and onshore wind power over the coming years. Clean power plants produced 30.6 TWh in the 12 months under review, accounting for 19.68% of the country’s total generation. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar park in Mexico (Author:
Presidencia de la República Mexicana, CC BY-SA)

¶ The number of renewable energy projects in Morocco grew by 40% over the first ten months of 2016, data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance shows. Partly due to this growth, electric generation in the country rose 2.3% year-on-year from January till October, with independent power generation rising by 3.6% on the year. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ By all yardsticks, 2016 was a watershed year for India, when solar tariff slumped to ₹4 per unit (6¢/kWh) and wind projects received a major push. The government is set to switch gears in 2017 to make India a hub for one of the largest installations of clean energy sources, as prepares to achieve 175 GW of clean energy by 2022. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Wind turbines at sunset

¶ The head of research, technology and innovation for Engie
SA thinks the cost of solar power will drop below $10/MWh (1¢/kWh) before 2025 in the world’s sunniest places. An Engie study of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur region showed it could run entirely on renewable energy for about 20% less than the price of electricity today. [Gas 2.0]

US:

¶ The Amazon Wind Farm US East, located on 22,000 acres of farmland near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, is the first utility-scale wind farm in the state and maybe the Southeast US. By the start of the New Year, it will be churning out electricity. The wind farm’s 104 turbines sit on land leased from 60 local landowners. [Digital Journal]

Wind power may be the future for Southeastern US.

¶ Tesla and Panasonic have revealed their plans to start making PV cells and modules in Buffalo, New York. The new factory is already under development by none other but SolarCity Corporation, which was recently acquired by Tesla. Tesla and Panasonic are also working together in the battery megafactory. [The Green Optimistic]

¶ Eversource Energy invested $940 million in 2016 to improve and maintain the Massachusetts power grid, the company announced this week. The stated goal of the grid modernization effort is to increase the “efficiency, reliability and resiliency” of the electric system and make it less vulnerable to weather-related outages. [MassLive.com]

Power grid maintenance and upgrades (Republican File)

¶ Connecticut regulators gave the final permit it needs to a proposed 63.3-MW energy generation complex powered by fuel-cells, the project’s manager said. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued an air permit for the construction and operation of the Beacon Falls Energy Park. [Torrington Register Citizen]

¶ DTE Energy, a Detroit-based diversified energy company, says that its Pinnebog Wind Park in Huron County, Michigan, has now begun commercial operation. The wind project features 30 turbines and has the ability to produce 50 MW of renewable energy – enough to power more than 22,000 homes. [North American Windpower]

Wind turbines (Photo by NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Acciona Energy announced that its 93-MW San Roman Wind Farm had begun commercial operation. The facility is able to power more than 30,000 Texas homes. The project is expected also to generate $30 million in tax revenues during its 25-year lifespan in addition to $25 million-plus in lease payments to landowners. [Brownsville Herald]

¶ As he prepares to leave office, Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont says he is confident that the regional and state economy is headed in the right direction even without Vermont Yankee’s 600-plus jobs in the mix. He says the state is better off without 605 MW of nuclear power production, because of renewables and efficiency. [Commons]

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Opinion:

¶ “The Arctic Year in Review” • Rising temperatures, dropping oil prices, and tightening ties between the United States and Canada all helped create some of the Arctic’s most noteworthy happenings in 2016. At the start of the year, the world had just gone through a record-breaking year for heat. But things just go hotter. Here’s a recap. [News Deeply]

Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories (Photo by Elaine Anselmi)

World:

¶ Sweden has generated more energy from wind power than
it ever has before. Nearly 5.7 million kWh of wind power was generated as the country harvested the effects of “Storm Urd” and intense weather across the southern parts of the country. It smashed through the previous record, beating it by more than half a million kWh. [The Independent]

¶ Work on 22 wind power projects is underway at Gharo-Keti Bandar and Hyderabad in Sindh, in Pakistan. The projects are in a wind corridor and have a production capacity of 1,530 MW of electricity. According to media reports, nine wind projects are in the final stages of development and another nine are currently under construction. [Daily Times]

Wind power in Pakistan

¶ In France, Bureau Veritas has published a set of guidelines, NI 631 Certification Scheme for Marine Renewable Energy Technologies. It covers floating offshore wind turbines; current and tidal turbines, including sea and river turbines; wave energy converters; and ocean thermal energy converters. [Cruise Industry News]

¶ Indian firm Suzlon Energy Ltd agreed to sell AMP Solar a 49% stake in a company that would execute a 15-MW solar PV project in Telangana state. Under a 25-year power purchase agreement, the solar park will sell its power output to the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd for ₹5.599/kWh (8.2¢/kWh). [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar PV park (Author: mdreyno, CC BY-SA)

¶ Pure & Better Energy, a Danish renewable energy project developer, recently secured 20 MW of solar PV capacity at the inaugural Denmark-Germany cross-border auction. The cost, considered a record low for Europe, is set at a premium of DKK 12.89/MWh ($1.81/MWh) over the Danish market spot power price. [pv magazine]

¶ Wind power generation in Estonia reached a peak of 255.84 MW on December 26, enough to meet 27.9% of current demand. Total wind output for the day stood at 5,046.66 MWh, surpassing the national transmission operator’s forecast for 4,478.9 MWh. Estonia has long surpassed its 2020 target for renewable energy. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind turbines in Estonia (Author: Alejandro Erickson, CC BY-SA)

¶ Toshiba Corp may have to write off “several billion” dollars because of Westinghouse Electric Company’s purchase a year ago of CB&I Stone & Webster, a US construction firm that specializes in nuclear power projects. Westinghouse had assumed full responsibility for all AP1000 projects under the purchase agreement. [World Nuclear News]

¶ Italy’s energy agency Gestore dei Servizi Energetici released the list of projects, 869.8 MW of capacity, that won the right to sign offtake contracts in a renewable energy auction. The auction, launched in June, includes a 30-MW offshore wind farm, Italy’s first, planned for an area off the coast of Taranto. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind turbines (Author: Staffan Enbom, CC BY-SA)

US:

¶ Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil has won the offshore wind lease to 79,350 acres off the coast of New York. The winning bid was $42.5 million. The lease gives Statoil the potential to develop up to 1 GW of offshore wind, though 400 to 600 MW is a more likely goal, 14 to 30 miles off the coast of western Long Island. [CleanTechnica]

¶ A report by the Edison Electric Institute found transmission investment by EEI members reached a spending record of $20.1 billion. Investor-owned electric companies are investing to meet the challenges of changing energy needs brought about by such factors as increasing integration of renewable power sources. [Daily Energy Insider]

Transmission lines

¶ US independent power producer EDF Renewable Energy said the 184-MW Kelly Creek wind farm in Illinois has commenced commercial operation. The wind park is about 60 miles (96.6 km) southwest of Chicago. It consists of 92 units of Vestas’ V100 wind turbines, all components for which were made in Colorado. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, a public vocational-technical high school in Bourne, Massachusetts, partnered with two Massachusetts companies, Solect Energy of Hopkinton and Green Seal Environmental of Sagamore Beach, to install a 663 kW solar canopy in the school’s existing parking lot. [Solar Novus Today]

Solar canopy at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School

¶ Hawaii’s electric vehicle fleet was up 27.8% in November from a year earlier, with 5,009 total registered EVs, according to a report from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. EV proponents are working to ramp up the growth by adding charging stations and investing in increased public education. [Government Technology]

¶ Ohio Gov John Kasich vetoed a bill that would have made compliance with the state’s renewable energy mandates optional for the next three years. Barring a potential legislative override, the Republican governor’s action will resume benchmarks for increasing electric utilities’ use of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power. [WFMJ]

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Opinion:

¶ “Changing landscape for renewable energy” • Energy experts say that, although a Trump administration could slow progress, states have actually been at the forefront in pushing for cleaner, renewable power generation, with private sector funding far outstripping federal investments over the past five years. [Nantucket Island Inquirer]

Offshore wind farm (Photo: DONG Energy A/S)

¶ “It’s time for states to lead on climate change – and on justice, too” • With the new administration in Washington, climate activists will have a lot to defend in the next four years, but defense is not enough. We don’t have time to waste in fighting climate change. We must make up the ground we are likely to lose at the federal level. [Grist]

Science and Technology:

¶ Canadian archeologists are in a race against time. They have been collecting, studying and preserving ancient artifacts – darts, bows and arrows – lost or misplaced by prehistoric hunters and protected by a covering of snow over millennia. Climate change is melting the snow now, exposing the artifacts to decay. [Radio Canada International]

NWT ice patch landscape (Photo Credit: T. Andrews / GNWT)

World:

¶ Vestas won an order from Korea Electric Power Corp to build an 89-MW wind farm in Jordan. Vestas said it will install 27 V126-3.3MW turbines at the new Fujeij wind farm in Al Shobak in the Ma’an area. Wind turbine delivery will start in the fourth quarter of next year and commissioning is expected for the third quarter of 2018. [reNews]

¶ The cost of electricity from solar and wind power has fallen
to be the same as or cheaper than fossil fuels in over 30 nations, according to a World Economic Forum report. Green energy advocates hope business and investors across the globe could shift their attention and dollars away from fossil fuel production. [Christian Science Monitor]

Wind turbines in Washington (Photo by Rick Bowmer, AP / File)

¶ China will reduce the guaranteed prices paid for electricity supplied to its national grid by newly built large-scale solar power plants and onshore wind turbines starting January 1, the National Development and Reform Commission said. The cut was due to the decreasing cost of production in the renewable energy industry. [ETEnergyworld.com]

¶ Cornwall’s Wave Hub has been called “world class” by wave energy experts. The Wave Hub, which lies on the sea bed 16 km off the coast near Hayle, and which was built with support from the European Regional Development Fund, has placed Cornwall at the cutting edge of testing renewable wave energy technology. [Falmouth Packet]

Wave Hub projects (Please click on the image to enlarge it.)

¶ French company Bardot Group has won an order to supply buoyancy modules for the power cables of Statoil’s 30-MW Hywind Scotland floating wind demonstration project, off the northeast coast of Scotland. Buoyancy modules assist flotation in the dynamic sections of power cables. The project will have five 6-MW Siemens turbines. [reNews]

¶ Renewable energy is an area that is expected to take off in India, thanks to the ambitious mission stated by the Ministry
of New and Renewable energy. It has a goal of “24×7 affordable environment friendly power for all by 2019.” The government also plans to generate around 40% of its power from non-fossil fuels by 2030. [Firstpost]

Renewable energy in India

¶ Three geothermal generating units of Pertamina Geothermal Energy are being commissioned on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Each of the three units has a capacity of 20 MW. The state-owned energy company Pertamina, the parent company of PGE, said the project is valued at approximately $282 million (Rp3.3 trillion). [ANTARA]

US:

¶ To remain competitive in a changing power market, North Dakota’s largest power plant is making operational changes so production can ramp up and down quicker. Now, all generation resources need to be supplemental to wind. Great River Energy is adapting operations at Coal Creek Station to run at either 1146 MW or 300 MW. [Bismarck Tribune]

Coal Creek Station (Submitted photo)

¶ As of last month, there were 1.1 million residential rooftop solar power systems in the US, keeping the televisions, refrigerators, computers, stoves, and lights on throughout the country. Two US senators introduced a resolution in the Senate earlier this month, calling for the entire country to be 100% powered by renewables by 2050. [Daily Kos]

¶ Since 2012, five nuclear power plants around the country have shut down prematurely as they became uneconomical to run. Now, to prevent the two operating reactors at Millstone from the same fate, Dominion, the plant’s owner, is urging Connecticut’s state lawmakers to approve legislation to secure the plant’s survival. [theday.com]

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Opinion and Reviews:

¶ “Mothers unleash their organizing power on climate” • Taking their place in a tradition as political and social activists, groups
of activist mothers attract constituencies that are politically and racially diverse. They are hellbent on doing everything they can to un-screw-up the world, and the recent US election has only strengthened that resolve. [Grist]

Moms clean air force

¶ Review: “A chilling tale of lies, tragedy” • Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich is a powerful read. The author speaks with those impacted directly by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown in the Soviet Union. She gets testimony first hand from many people impacted by the event and presents it
in startling detail. [Glens Falls Post-Star]

¶ “Low Costs of Solar Power & Wind Power Crush Coal, Crush Nuclear, & Beat Natural Gas” • Here are 5 messages for all those who want a better economy, want local energy independence, want to advance the most cost-effective choices for electricity generation, or just want to make logical decisions about energy. [CleanTechnica]

Please click on the image to enlarge it.

World:

¶ Canberra’s renewable energy generation increased from an 18.8% share in 2014-15 to 20.2% in 2015-16 according to the ACT’s annual Feed-in Tariff report. The ACT’s small and medium FiT scheme had 34,910 MWh come from 10,304 solar power systems, and the large-scale FiT generated 57,423 MWh, up 72% from 2014-15. [Energy Matters]

¶ A residential building has become the first in the Ghatkopar neighborhood of East Mumbai to use solar energy to meet its electricity needs. The 15-story Shivshakti Heights has a 9.135-kW peak power rooftop solar system installed, which lights the lifts and the building’s common areas. The building is home to 76 families. [Hindustan Times]

Residents and solar panels of Shivshakti Heights (HT Photo)

¶ If countries abide by the Paris Agreement’s global warming target of 1.5° C, fish catches could increase by six million metric tonnes per year, a study says. Researchers also found that some oceans are more sensitive to changes in temperature, and they will have substantially larger gains from achieving the Paris Agreement. [Zee News]

US:

¶ Wind generation accounts for about one-third of Iowa’s power generation, with more than 6,300 MW of installed wind capacity. On the solar front, Iowa’s solar tax credit program has resulted in nearly $85 million in solar project investments since 2012. But Iowa ranks 32nd among the states for installed solar capacity. [KMAland]

Iowa wind turbines (Photo by Pixabay)

¶ If you’re a large buyer of electricity, one would think that you could buy electricity from renewable energy from your utility if you so desired. Apparently, that’s not the case in many US states. However, in a slight majority of states, there is at least some way to achieve this. There is an interactive map on precisely this topic. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Borrego Springs, California has a solar-storage microgrid that is an example of an “unbundled utility microgrid.” The model is one in which distribution assets are owned by a utility while at least some of the distributed power generation assets are owned by customers, the Berkeley Labs’ Microgrids-Grid Integration Group says. [Microgrid Media]

Solar array at Borego Springs

¶ The Sunnyvale, California city council voted 6-0 to use the GreenPrime service offered through the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority. The move means 100% of the city’s energy will come from renewable, carbon-free energy sources come April. Residents will automatically be enrolled in the program’s GreenStart option. [Milpitas Post]

¶ In Traverse City, Michigan, government buildings, streetlights, water plants, and more could be powered by green energy within the next five years. City commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution committing the city to source all of the energy for its operations from wind, solar, geothermal and landfill gas by 2020. [The Detroit News]

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Science and Technology:

¶ By studying the chemistry of growth rings in quahog shells, experts from the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences pieced together the history of the North Atlantic Ocean over the past 1000 years. The shells showed growth correlated to natural cycles until 1800, after which it became more related to carbon dioxide emissions. [Knowridge Science Report]

Quahog shells

World:

¶ A group of alumni from Ateneo de Manila University banded together to form a company that aims to deliver electricity from the sun to remote communities in the Philippines. Solar Sari Sari Store will provide electric power to people in distant off-grid communities such as secluded mountain villages and remote islands. [The Standard]

¶ In 2016, renewable energy surpassed coal as the largest source of installed power capacity. China’s carbon emissions peaked. The German upper house voted to ban gasoline-powered cars by 2030. Vancouver chose to ban natural gas in new buildings, also by 2030. And Canada is well on its way to a renewable future. [The Globe and Mail]

Alberta wind farm (Canadian Wind Energy Association photo)

¶ The government of Pakistan is working on 78 renewable energy projects that are expected to be completed by 2020, including solar, wind, and biomass. They have a total capacity of 2,796 MW. Fourteen wind, solar, and bagasse co-generation projects with a total capacity of 853.3 MW have been completed since March 2013. [Business Recorder]

¶ Atlantis Resources announced it has switched on of its first 1.5-MW tidal stream turbines in the Inner Sound of Scotland’s Pentland Firth. Four turbines are scheduled to be installed, but Atlantis wants to grow the project eventually to include dozens of turbines generating up to 400 MW of electricity through tidal power. [Interesting Engineering]

Tidal turbine (Atlantis Resources image)

US:

¶ The Hawaiian Electric Companies outlined a plan that aims
at using renewable resources to meet 100% of Hawaii’s power generation needs by 2045. The companies forecast they will greatly exceed the state’s renewable energy milestones. They expect to be 48% renewably powered by 2020, where 30% is mandated. [Satellite PR News]

¶ The Kidder Hill Wind project gave a 45-day notice of intent to file a permit with the Vermont PSB for two wind turbines up to 499 feet tall. The turbines would be in Irasburg or Lowell. Kidder Hill is expected to contribute about $40,000 in local community payments and $40,000 to the statewide Education Fund each year. [The Newport Daily Express]

Turbines of Vermont’s Georgia Wind project

¶ The 21-acre Heller Industrial Park in Edison, New Jersey had been a landfill. It will soon power 1,200 homes, turning a chunk of unusable property into a renewable energy site. With 24,000 solar panels, it will be the 10th solar farm built as part of Public Service Electric and Gas’s $500-million investment into its Solar 4 All program. [NJ.com]

¶ The Ithaca College solar farm, which the college said will cover 10% of the its energy needs, became officially operational and producing energy on December 22. The array is in the town of Seneca and includes 9,000 solar panels. It cost $6.4 million to construct, which was funded through grants from the state of New York. [The Ithacan]

Solar Array providing 10% of Ithaca College’s needs
(Photo courtesy of Ithaca College)

¶ The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada voted 3-0 to allow a Switch data center to leave as a retail customer of NV Energy if it pays a $27 million exit fee. The fee would soften the blow of its departure to the broader customer base by covering the cost of investments NV Energy made assuming that Switch would continue as a customer. [CBS Local]

¶ Georgia’s Public Service Commission voted unanimously to give Georgia Power one of the most expensive yuletide gifts ever. They let Georgia Power almost completely off the hook for cost overruns running into billions of dollars on two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. The costs will be passed on to Georgia Power’s customers. [Columbia County News Times]

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Science and Technology:

¶ In what may be a record-breaking heat wave, temperatures at the North Pole may rise up to 20° C higher than average on Christmas Eve. Unseasonably warm weather patterns in the Arctic region are directly linked to man-made climate change, scientists said. November and December temperatures have averaged 5° C above average. [NDTV]

A warmer arctic (Credit istockphoto.com / ekvals)

World:

¶ Government projections imply that India may see no new thermal power plants installed after 2022. Between 2022 and 2027, the power ministry plans to add 12,000 MW of large hydro capacity, 4,800 MW of nuclear power capacity, around 100,000 MW of renewable energy capacity, but ZERO of thermal power capacity. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Boralex commissioned the first 12-MW phase of the Plateau
de Savernat wind farm, which is in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The project currently consists of six turbines, but a further two machines will be installed by April 2017 to bring total capacity to 16 MW. It has a 15-year power purchase agreement with EDF. [reNews]

Wind turbine (Boralex image)

¶ World demand for coal will slow over the next five years as renewables and energy efficiency gain traction, the International Energy Agency has projected. But much of Asia will continue using coal which, while polluting, is also still seen as affordable and widely available, according to a report from the Paris-based body. [Manila Bulletin]

¶ India’s largest subway system is set up fully switch to solar power from next year with an aim to reduce its growing carbon footprint. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief Mangu Singh told reporters that the subway system shall fully shift to solar power to run trains and support infrastructure, like lighting at stations, from next year. [CleanTechnica]

Delhi Metro Rail Track in Sunset (Photo by Rameshng,
released into the public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ A study from researchers at Lappeenranta University of Technology shows that South America could transition to fully renewable electricity by 2030. The study, by LUT and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, also shows a 100% renewable system is the least costly option and would need little energy storage. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶ The women of Sudan’s North Kordofan state used to be famed for their war songs urging men to defend their meager desert assets of cattle, bush and watering holes. Now, in villages like Albaida, surrounded by deep orange sand dunes, women chant odes to protect their environment from a new enemy: climate change. [Saudi Gazette]

Women pick pumpkins in Albaida village in Sudan.

¶ A government-owned Canadian electricity exporter is making a C$350 million ($262 million) bet that the movement for “clean” power in the US will outlast the imminent pro-fossil fuels regime change. Manitoba Hydro applied for a construction permit for a 213-km (128-mile) transmission line from Winnipeg to the US border. [Natural Gas Intelligence]

¶ State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd set up a 3.5-MW solar energy project to power its airport in an eastern suburb of Bangalore. Spread over 23 acres, with 12,985 solar modules, the single-axis tracker based project is the first at an airport in the country. It will reduce emissions of about 166,256 tonnes of CO2 each year. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Solar system at HAL airport

US:

¶ Nordex received two orders for wind turbine components in the US worth almost €62 million ($64.81 million). The German manufacturer will supply components for its Delta turbines to a US independent power producer and parts of its AW125/3000 machines for a European utility, it said, without giving more details. [reNews]

¶ The South this year was the nation’s biggest producer of wood pellets, accounting for about 75% of the 3.1 million tons of pellets that are made from scraps from sawmills, logging operations, and other wood product manufacturing, according to the DOE. Nearly all wood pellets produced in the region are exported overseas. [Houston Chronicle]

Logs arriving at a pellet facility
(Must Credit: Washington Post photo by Joby Warrick)

¶ Georgia utility Southern Power has acquired two wind farms
in Texas with a combined capacity of 300 MW from EDF. The utility has bought the 174-MW Salt Fork wind farm in Donley and Gray Counties, as well as the 126-MW Tyler Bluff facility in Cooke County for an undisclosed amount. Both began operating this month. [reNews]

¶ In California, the fight is on between the old guard electric utilities and renewable energy advocates. All across California, cities and counties have been moving to implement Community Choice programs because they provide cheaper, cleaner, locally generated electricity. But the utilities hope you never hear about them. [OB Rag]

Community Choice Energy delivery model

¶ The DOE will provide $40 million in funding to build the US’ first open-ocean, power grid-connected wave energy test facility off the Oregon coast. A partnership of several renewable energy innovators and three universities in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska applied for the federal funding earlier this year. [Daily Energy Insider]

¶ In a dispute involving an ill-fated plan to build nuclear reactors in Levy County, Florida, Westinghouse Electric Co sued Duke Energy, initially for $512.6 million, for terminating a contract. US District Judge Max Cogburn Jr ruled that Duke is only required to pay a $30 million termination fee and about $4.25 million in interest. [News Chief]

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World:

¶ Installation of the 18 turbines of the 110.7-MW Nordergruende offshore wind project in the German North Sea has concluded, MPI Offshore Ltd said, as the wind turbine installation vessel MPI Enterprise has finished its work. The wind park is will produce enough power to provide the annual needs of over 70,000 homes. [SeeNews Renewables]

Nordergünde turbine installation (Image by WPD AG)

¶ In West Bengal, rooftop solar units installed on industrial and corporate establishments by third parties are offering power 30-40% below the rates offered by the state’s power distribution companies. This gap is expected to widen further as thermal power costs will likely rise and solar modules prices fall further. [ETEnergyworld.com]

¶ France has opened what it claims to be the world’s first solar panel road, in a Normandy village. A 1-km (0.6-mile) route in the small village of Tourouvre-au-Perche covered with 2,800 sq m of electricity-generating panels. It cost €5m (£4.2m) to construct and will be used by about 2,000 motorists a day during a two-year test. [The Guardian]

Solar panel road (Photo: Christophe Petit Tesson / EPA)

¶ Construction of a ­massive solar scheme that will power 26,000 homes is set to begin next month in Queensland after the State Government guaranteed its financial security. The $126 million, 50-MW Kidston solar facility will go ahead with $9 million in federal funding and a funding guarantee from Queensland. [Gold Coast Bulletin]

¶ A patch of land in the shadow of Mount Fuji is becoming a testing ground for energy storage, with some of Japan’s leading companies trying to develop technologies such as spinning flywheels and fuel cells. Yamanashi Prefecture’s government is hoping to make the prefecture a center for development of energy storage. [TODAYonline]

Solar panels in Yamanashi prefecture (Photo: Bloomberg)

¶ A rule change means consumers in Alberta can have more flexibility when it comes to generating their own electric power, the government said. Amended regulations on low-carbon power sources allow for more flexibility in grid connectivity and power limits, increasing micro-generation size limits from 1 MW to 5 MW. [UPI.com]

¶ Scottish renewable sources delivered the equivalent of 59.4% of the country’s gross electricity consumption in 2015 – up from 49.9% in 2014. This means that the 2015 50% renewable electricity target has been met and exceeded. Scotland exported 29% of the electricity it generated in 2015 and accounted for 26% of the UK renewable output. [Milngavie Herald]

Renewable energy in Scotland

¶ The Indian government predicted it will exceed the renewable energy target set in Paris last year by nearly half and it also predicted that it will be three years ahead of schedule. This forecast also reflects that the investment by private sectors in Indian renewable energy project has also increased in the past few years. [ScrollToday News]

¶ Half of the UK’s electricity came from wind turbines, solar panels, wood burning and nuclear reactors between July and September. Official figures show low carbon power, supported by the government to meet climate change targets, accounted for 50% of electricity generation in the UK in the third quarter. [The Guardian]

A boat visiting a turbine in the London Array
(Photo: Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

US:

¶ 8minutenergy Renewables claims to have “the first operational solar PV installation to beat fossil fuel prices in California.” The 155-MW Springbok 2 Solar Farm in Kern County will provide electricity to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power at $35 to $38 per MWh (adjusted for inflation) over the PPA term. [Greentech Media]

¶ A Montana company has been granted a license to build a $1 billion, 400-MW power storage project in the central part of the stat. The Gordon Butte Pumped Storage Project would use excess power produced by wind farms or other sources to pump water uphill to a 3,000-foot long reservoir, according to the license. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Wind turbines reflected on the water

¶ Fortune 500 companies have waked up to the potential of low-cost, reliable renewable energy in the last four years. Recently, there has been a flood of announcements. Eighty-three of the largest companies including GM, along with Amazon, Microsoft, Mars, and others have committed to go 100% renewable. [Windpower Engineering]

¶ The Metropolitan Council of Shakopee, Minnesota, together with several partners, is giving a major boost to the Community Solar Garden capacity in the state. In the past several days, CSGs began commercial operations at two of the council’s wastewater treatment plants. One has a capacity of 5 MW, and the other of 3 MW. [SW News Media]

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Science and Technology:

¶ A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change said seasonal storms could increase by a factor of five within this century. Climate Central also noted that the study concluded intense rainfalls could create 70% more rain. For example, 2 inches of rainfall now would equate to 3.5 inches by the end of this century. [CleanTechnica]

Flooded Baton Rouge (US Department of
Agriculture, via Wikipedia, some rights reserved)

Opinion:

¶ “Big Utility Sees Pathway to $10 Oil” • The oil industry must brace for five energy “tsunamis” that threaten to drag prices as low as $10 a barrel in less than a decade, according to Engie SA’s innovation chief. Solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles, “smart” buildings, and cheap hydrogen will all weigh on the price of crude, he said. [info-europa]

World:

¶ Taiwan Power Co is to pour NT$200 billion ($6.24 billion) in solar and wind energy projects in Changhua County, including over 1 GW of offshore wind. Its memorandum of understanding with Changhua also mentions 16 MW of onshore wind and 100 MW of solar station at the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park. [SeeNews Renewables]

Offshore wind park (Author: Tim Collins, CC BY-SA)

¶ New wind energy is now being contracted for prices as low as 6.45¢/kWh in Ontario, well below the average cost for electricity generation of 11.14 cents as of May 1, 2016. Forecasters expect costs for wind power to continue declining. At the same time, costs for other forms of new or refurbished generation are increasing. [Your Renewable News]

¶ Sri Lanka’s first 10-MW grid connected solar power project implemented by the private sector has been commissioned, with DFCC Bank acting as lead financiers to the project. Promoted by Sagasolar Power (Pvt) Ltd, the utility-scale power project is expected to add 19 GWh of clean energy to the national grid annually. [Lanka Business Online]

Solar farm in Sri Lanka

¶ NTPC, India’s largest electricity producer, plans to phase out some of its less-efficient, coal-based power plants that are more than 25 years old, as Asia’s third-largest economy steps up efforts to curb emissions amid growing demand for clean energy. Coal provides for nearly three-fourth of India’s power generation. [Nikkei Asian Review]

¶ Macquarie Group struck a £1.6 billion ($2.7 billion) deal with Denmark’s DONG Energy to buy half of a huge offshore wind farm in the UK. Macquarie’s European Infrastructure Fund 5 and Macquarie Capital will each take a 25% share of Race Bank, a 573-MW wind farm being built off the North Norfolk coast. [The Australian Financial Review]

DONG Energy’s ventures include the
London Array. (photo by Simon Dawson)

US:

¶ Wind generation has grown by more than 11 million MWh in just a year in the huge ERCOT market of Texas. A similar shift happened in the area served by the Southwest Power Pool, which includes all or most of Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and significant parts of several other states. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Project Icebreaker, a six-turbine demonstration of offshore wind in Lake Erie, is to be located eight to 10 miles off the coast at Cleveland. It could become the country’s second offshore wind farm; the first just started operating in Rhode Island’s waters. Utilities and Cuyahoga County have already pledged to buy power from the turbines. [WBFO]

Soil sampling for Project Icebreaker (Photo by Elizabeth Miller)

¶ Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor released the broad energy report that looks at Iowa’s energy needs over the next decade. The new energy strategy envisions electric car-charging stations across the state, anaerobic digesters that turn animal waste to energy, and top researchers finding ways to store wind and solar energy. [DesMoinesRegister.com]

¶ sPower announced that it has put online two new solar PV plants totaling 60 MW. The plants are located in Lancaster, California, and will supply power to Palo Alto’s municipal utility through a 25-year power purchase agreement. A third of Palo Alto’s electricity is now supplied by the sun. The city has been carbon-neutral since 2013. [pv magazine USA]

sPower solar project (sPower image)

¶ Allianz Global Investors has made, on behalf of clients, an investment of more than $400 million (€384 million) in a 400-MW wind project in Nebraska owned by Warren Buffett. Work started in 2015 and the park will be completed very soon. It has a power purchase agreement with Omaha Public Power District. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, based in Taos, New Mexico, is blazing new trails by committing to produce 100% of its electricity from solar facilities during its summer-peak season by 2023. Though the commitment itself may be remarkable, it is more remarkable that KCEC could make this commitment at all. [pv magazine USA]

Kit Carson

¶ Florida Power & Light Company announced plans to retire the Cedar Bay Generating Plant, a 250-MW coal-fired facility located in Jacksonville, this month. FPL purchased the plant in 2015 with the intention of phasing it out of service in this time frame. The move is expected to save FPL customers more than $70 million. [Satellite PR News]

¶ The NRC awarded Duke Energy licenses to build two nuclear power reactors in South Carolina, a decade after the project was originally announced. Duke has already spent $495 of the $11 billion the plant is expected to cost, but the Charlotte Observer reports that it is unclear whether the utility will ever finish it. [Fairfield Citizen]

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Science and Technology:

¶ Warm water flowing through a deep channel under East Antarctica’s largest glacier is driving rapid melting, a study published in the journal Science Advances says. It says that if the thinning continues and the massive shelf gives way, enough ice would slide into the sea to raise global levels by over 11 feet. [Wunderground.com]

The Totten ice shelf (Esmee van Wijke/ACE CRC)

¶ 2016 will be the hottest year in more than 120 years of record keeping by US agencies. It will be the third record-setting year in a row. Of of the 17 hottest years, 16 have been this century. The world is already more than halfway down the road to 2°C (3.6°F). The Paris climate goal was to limit temperatures to that amount by 2100. [AlterNet]

World:

¶ Ethiopia inaugurated one of Africa’s largest wind farms in 2013, the $290 million, 120-MW Ashedoga plant. This was followed by the even larger 153-MW Adama II facility in 2015. Now, the government has plans for at least five more wind farms, and possibly many more, aiming to deliver up to 5,200 MW within four years. [CNN]

Ashegoda wind farm in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.

¶ Renewable energy is expected to account for 32% of Germany’s electricity consumption in 2016 on track for the government’s target of 35% by 2020, according to new research. The analysts expect that there will have been 191 billion kWh of green power produced by the end of the year. This is up from 187 billion kWh in 2015. [reNews]

¶ Provisional figures show that the share of renewable energy sources in mainland Spain’s power mix in 2016 grew to 41.1% from 36.9% a year earlier. The number-one source with a share of 22%, was nuclear power. But this was followed by wind with 19.2% and hydro with 14.1%, grid operator Red Electrica de Espana said. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar PVs in Spain (Author: Jordi Domènech i Arnau, CC BY-SA)

¶ Siemens confirmed that it has been awarded a contract to provide 42 turbines for the Rentel offshore windfarm in Belgium. The customer is Rentel NV, which is part of the Otary partnership, a conglomerate of leading specialists from the Belgian renewable energy industry including investment and development. [Offshore Wind Journal]

¶ The first of over 1100 wind farms in Britain started generating electricity in Cornwall exactly 25 years ago, marking the start of the industry. The 10 turbines of the 4-MW Delabole wind farm, which is now owned by Good Energy, were switched on 21 December 1991. Wind power now generates about 12% of the UK’s electricity. [reNews]

Delabole wind farm (Good Energy image)

US:

¶ In Nevada, all Las Vegas city facilities are now running entirely on renewable energy, city officials announced. “We can brag that the city, this city of Las Vegas, is one of the few cities in the entire world that can boast using all of its power from a green source,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in a news conference. [Long Beach City College Viking]

¶ President Barack Obama designated the bulk of US waters in the Arctic Ocean, and also certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean, as indefinitely off-limits to future oil and gas leasing. The White House said the wording of the statute allowing the ban provides no authority for subsequent presidents to undo permanent withdrawals. [STLtoday.com]

Polar Pioneer drilling rig being towed

¶ Colorado-based Carbon Cycle Energy broke ground last week on a $100 million, swine waste-to-renewable natural gas project near the town of Warsaw in southeastern North Carolina. Duke Energy indicated that it will be using the renewable natural gas produced at four of its generating facilities under a 15-year contract. [Biomass Magazine]

¶ Meriden, Connecticut has made history as the first city in the US to install an Archimedes screw turbine to generate power at a dam. The 20-ton, 35-foot-long steel screw lifted by crane into the Hanover Pond dam will generate about 900,000 kWh of electricity annually and is expected to save the city $20,000 a year. [Meriden Record-Journal]

Archimedes screw being installed (Dave Zajac, Record-Journal)

¶ A solar power project officials say is the largest for the military in the Northeast is moving forward. The project will be put on a capped landfill on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, about 18 miles southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. It will have more than 50,000 solar panels that will produce 16.5 MW, enough to power 2,500 homes. [Stars and Stripes]

¶ Michigan lawmakers worked through the night to produce a new renewable portfolio standard. It took over 20 hours for them to agree on energy law changes. Notably, the bill raises the state’s renewable energy standard from 10% to 15% by 2022. The bill now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it into law. [Into the Wind – The AWEA Blog]

More renewable energy is coming to Michiganders.

¶ Exelon Corporation, which owns and operates 23 nuclear reactors, including the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants in Illinois, said the Future Energy Jobs Bill signed into law by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner in early December is already delivering new jobs and other economic benefits to the region. [Nuclear Street]

¶ EDF Renewable Energy has struck a deal to sell electricity from its 150-MW Desert Harvest solar project to Marin Clean Energy. The San Diego-based developer can now start construction on the long-awaited project, which will be built on 1,200 acres of federal land just south of Joshua Tree National Park, near an existing solar farm. [The Desert Sun]

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Opinion:

¶ “Energy Efficiency Is Growing Jobs & Fueling The Economy” 2016 marks another year in a long string of significant gains for energy efficiency, making efficiency not only the most cost-effective way to meet our energy needs, avoid use of dirty power plants, and cut utility bills, but also to grow our economy and create jobs. [CleanTechnica]

Please click on the image for a larger view.

¶ “From Climate Change to Coal Mining, Donald Trump’s Reality Is Pure Science Fiction” • President-elect Donald Trump has been twisting the facts in ways beyond what even George Orwell envisioned in his dystopian novel 1984. PolitiFact has analyzed over 300 of his assertions and found that only 15% were completely true. [AlterNet]

¶ “Why China is Dominating the Solar Industry” • Between 2008 and 2013, China’s fledgling solar-electric panel industry dropped world prices by 80%, which is a stunning achievement in a fiercely competitive high-tech market. China had leapfrogged from nursing a tiny solar program in the 1990s to become the globe’s leader. [Scientific American]

Rooftop solar (Credit: Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

World:

¶ India has released a new power plan promoting a dramatic increase in renewable energy. Among other things, it raises doubts about the Indian-owned Adani Group’s massive coal mine in Queensland. The new national electricity plan says India will not need any additional coal-fired energy capacity in the next decade. [info-europa]

¶ A dangerous gray haze descended on Northeast China over the weekend, choking off schools, flights, and industry. China saw the smog coming and last week issued its first red alert of the year for 23 cities. The smog covered an area of 10.1 million square kilometers (3.9 million square miles), roughly the size of the United States. [CNN]

Smoke rising from a factory in Tianjin

¶ Shell Energy Europe entered into an agreement for 100% of the power generated from Offshore Wind Farm Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands. The company will supply the power from the wind farm to European industrial and commercial customers seeking to meet their business needs with renewable energy. [CleanTechnology News, …]

¶ Aruba has pledged to transition to 100% renewable electricity within the next four years. The island is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels, with more than 80% of its electricity generated using heavy fuel oil. The Government of Aruba is emphasizing variable wind and solar for renewable energy. [Climate Action Programme]

Aruba’s Palm Beach

¶ The largest Central American microgrid is now operational in Costa Rica. Establishment Labs, SA has commissioned a solar-plus-storage microgrid at their medical manufacturing plant. The heart of the project is a 500-kW / 1 MWh lithium-ion battery system by Demand Energy, powered by a 276-KW solar PV system. [Microgrid Media]

¶ Japan’s government has urged Fukushima operator TEPCO to integrate its transmission and nuclear operations with peers to cut costs and generate higher income to pay the costs from the 2011 nuclear disaster. A government panel said that the next six months will be a “make or break” period for TEPCO’s reform efforts. [Reuters]

US:

Please click on the image for a larger view.

¶ We all knew that 2016 was going to be a very good year for the US solar market; however no one could say exactly how good. Now, the DOE’s Energy Information Administration posted some of the first concrete numbers for the year. EIA estimates that the US will have installed 9.5 GW of utility-scale solar installed in 2016. [pv magazine USA]

¶ With Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker describing climate change as a “serious threat,” the state’s clean air agency unveiled draft regulations aimed at securing greenhouse gas emission reductions from the natural gas, transportation and electricity generation industries. The regulations will be vetted in a series of public hearings. [Worcester Telegram]

Salem Harbor Power Station (File photo / The Associated Press)

¶ Norway’s state-owned Statoil oil and gas company won the right to develop an offshore wind farm in US waters last week, practically within hours of selling off its tar sands oil assets in Canada. The new wind area is off the coast near New York City, which makes it a high status, high visibility site for the global energy giant. [CleanTechnica]

¶ 8minutenergy Renewables LLC and DE Shaw Renewable Investments LLC have just commissioned the 191-MW DC Springbok 2 solar farm in Kern County, California. Springbok 2 joins the 137-MW DC Springbok 1 solar farm, which went online earlier this year. They are located 70 miles north of Los Angeles. [Solar Industry]

Springbok solar array

¶ Enel Green Power commissioned two wind farms with a combined 173 MW in Oklahoma. The company connected the 108-MW Drift Sand wind farm in Rush Springs and the 65-MW Chisholm View II facility in Grant and Garfield counties to the grid. Enel’s installed wind capacity in the US state is now more than 1.1 GW. [reNews]

¶ The EPA released a rule limiting sulphur dioxide pollutions from power plants as part of the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Sulphur dioxide in the air can cause asthma and even death. Ironically, the rule was proposed partly because Texas successfully fought back another emission rule saying it would raise electric bills. [KERA News]

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Opinion:

¶ “Solar Power: America Invented It… China Owns It… Opportunity Springs From It” • Gregory Wilson, the co-director of the US DOE’s National Center for Photovoltaics, put it this way: “We argue so much about the silly politics of climate change and fail to recognize the gargantuan economic opportunity that this presents.” [Wall Street Daily]

Solar power – invented in the US – monopolized by China

¶ “Will Big Business Help Fight Trump’s Anti-Environment Agenda?” • US Environmentalists still have hope. Though their public protests may fall on deaf ears as long as Trump is in the White House and Republicans control Congress, environmental activists may find more of an audience in corporate boardrooms. [The American Prospect]

World:

¶ State-run oil giant Saudi Aramco will commission the first wind turbine project in Saudi Arabia next month, developed in partnership with GE and aiming to support the renewable goals of Saudi Vision 2030. The 2.75-120 GE wind turbine will provide power to Saudi Aramco’s Bulk Plant in Turaif, in northwest Saudi Arabia. [Trade Arabia]

The wind turbine being transported

¶ UK Households will be facing “intermittent blackouts for the foreseeable future” unless something is done about problems with National Grid’s capacity. Recent winters have seen the spare electricity margin fall from around 17% in 2011-12 to around 1% this winter, according to a report by the British Infrastructure Group of MPs. [Sky News]

¶ Despite the best efforts of Taiwan’s government, energy market reform has repeatedly been sunk by its Legislature, with bills to amend the Electricity Act failing six times over the course of 20 years. But as the new pro-renewables Tsai administration vows to put power on the agenda, hopes are high for a breakthrough. [China Post]

Solar array in Taiwan (Photo courtesy of MOFA)

¶ With a clear focus on clean energy, and especially renewables, India has added 14,300 MW of renewable energy capacity in less than two and a half years since announcing its Renewable Energy program. The new renewable capacity includes 7.04 GW of Wind Power, 5.8 GW of solar, 0.53 GW of small hydro, and 0.93 GW of Bio-power. [EnergyInfraPost]

¶ Carnegie Clean Energy unit Energy Made Clean has formed a joint venture with infrastructure group Lendlease to deliver solar, battery and microgrid projects in Australia. The 50/50 venture will seek to identify, bid for, secure and deliver EPC contracts for the technologies across the country, Carnegie said. [reNews]

Australian solar array (Image: SXC)

¶ Powered by Reposit, South Australia has the largest operational virtual power plant in Australia, equivalent to a 300-kW diesel generator. It was achieved as part of a unique trial, led by SA Power Networks, involving residents from Salisbury. The final Reposit solar battery system in the virtual power station trial was installed this week. [RenewEconomy]

¶ H2One is a hydrogen-based energy supply system by Toshiba Corp. It will be used in a two-year study in Japan with a goal of finding ways to balance fluctuations in renewable energy output. Tohoku Electric Power Co will use the H2One system in its study of power management options, with the study planned to start in March 2017. [SeeNews Renewables]

Rendering of Hydrogen Power Storage System (Source: Toshiba)

¶ At least ¥375 billion ($3.2 billion) will be needed over 30 years to decommission the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture, according to a government estimate revealed on December 19. The government’s committee for fast reactor development proposed a plan is to start decommissioning from 2017. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶ A Bristol based renewable energy fund raised £7.7 million in under a month to help build two wind farms in Scotland. The projects, funded by Thrive Renewables, will have a total capacity of 11 MW and will be able to generate enough power for over 8,500 homes. The investment will also help fund a future solar project. [CommonSpace]

Scottish onshore wind farm (Picture courtesy of ms.akr)

US:

¶ It’s time for energy storage to shine. As technology improves and costs keep falling, we’ll see energy storage play a bigger role across the country. GTM Research estimates that 260 MW of energy storage will be built in the US in 2016, but that figure will jump to 478 MW in 2017 and 2,045 MW by 2021. [Bloomington Pantagraph]

¶ French renewable power producer Akuo Energy said it has secured the needed financing to build the 150-MW Rocksprings wind project in Texas. GE Energy Financial Services provided tax equity financing for the project. GE will also supply 53 units of its 2.3-MW wind turbines and 16 units of the 1.72-MW machines. [SeeNews Renewables]

GE wind turbine (Source: General Electric, all rights reserved)

¶ New York state may have banned fracking, but nevertheless
it consumes more of the fuel, a trend that researchers say is bad for the planet. Methane emissions from natural gas have dire consequences, warned Cornell University scientists Anthony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth on a recent visit to the Capitol. [Plattsburgh Press Republican]

¶ An ambitious group of engineers sees value in the abandoned shafts in a centuries-old iron mine in New York’s Adirondacks. They say the mine can provide a steady flow of electricity in a growing renewable energy market. They have a plan to use the millions of gallons of groundwater that have flooded the mine for energy storage. [Tribune-Review]

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World:

¶ Turkey will focus its efforts on local renewable energy projects to cut back on costly imports of up to $40 billion annually for energy. Geothermal energy projects will play a part in that. The Energy and Natural Resources Minister said Turkey will focus more on domestic and renewable energy investments in the future. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Istanbul (source: flickr / John Virgolin, creative commons)

¶ Australian Chief Scientist has outlined the case for serious and urgent reform in Australia’s energy markets. He said consumers are at the center of a massive and “unstoppable” transition to a grid based around wind and solar power. The technical solutions exist, but market structures and the supporting policies are also needed. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The latest coal predictions from the International Energy Agency say global coal demand growth will falter in the next 5 years as the appetite for it wanes and different energy sources increase in popularity. The IEA expects the share of coal in the power generation mix to drop to 36% by 2021, down from 41% in 2014. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

How’s your appetite for coal? (Photo by oatsy40 via flickr)

¶ Gamesa has achieved a new milestone, having installed 1,000 wind turbines in Brazil since it entered the market six years ago. The turbines have a total installed capacity of 2 GW, and provide enough power for a city the size of Munich, Germany. And they prevent emissions of around three million tonnes of CO2 each year. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶ In the Philippines, Energy Development Corporation is urging the country’s government to support the development of more geothermal projects. According to the Manila Bulletin, the company argues that geothermal is not only a clean, renewable, and indigenous energy source but its cost, as well as supply, is stable. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Philippine geothermal plant (source: Mike Gonzalez, CC BY-SA)

¶ Indian state-run engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is internally aiming to cut down its dependence on thermal power business from 80% to 50% in the next 10 years, a company official said. The company is investing ₹300 crore ($45 million) to increase the solar PV cell making capability to 225 MW. [NDTV]

¶ A northern Alberta county hopes to inspire other areas to look at producing their own renewable power after it put solar panels on a local fire hall. With a population of 1933, Northern Sunrise County is about 500 km northwest of Edmonton. Its installation of 88 panels on the roof of a fire station went into service last week. [Edmonton Journal]

Rooftop PVs on the St. Isidore/Three Creeks Fire Hall (Supplied)

¶ Khuzestan Regional Electricity Company of Iran and Medio Energy Invest GmbH & Co KG, a German company, have sealed two Memoranda of Understanding with an aggregate total value of approximately $104 million to build two solar and wind power stations in southern Iranian cities of Shushtar and Bandar-e Mahshahr. [Mehr News Agency]

US:

¶ In recent years, North Carolina has emerged as a leader in the solar energy market, ranking third nationally for solar capacity, behind California and Arizona. There are more than 200 solar-related companies in the state and approximately 2,436 MW of solar power has been installed, enough to power 260,000 homes. [StarNewsOnline.com]

Solar array in North Carolina (Matt Born / StarNews)

¶ Vermont utility Green Mountain Power will partner with Virtual Peaker Inc to help customers save money, reduce carbon emissions, and use more renewables. GMP will use proprietary software by Virtual Peaker that shares access to internet-based appliances and devices, so they can be managed to even out grid demand. [vtdigger.org] (Thanks to Tad Montgomery)

Baffin Wind farm (Photo by Mike McPheeters, Avangrid Renewables)

¶ The Texas coast could be the state’s next frontier for wind energy. The state’s wind boom began in the west, but developers are looking to the coast and the Panhandle for new sites. Wind farms at the coast will make wind energy available during a greater part of the day because wind picks up earlier in the evening there. [Victoria Advocate]

¶ In a report submitted to the Washington state Legislature, the state’s Ecology Department recommends more aggressive action on climate change, with a mid-century target of reducing carbon emission by 80% below 1990 levels. That compares with a current target that calls for a 50% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2050. [The Seattle Times]

¶ Exelon Generation will soon stop managing the closed the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant. The Omaha Public Power District issued a six-month notice to Exelon that it will terminate its contract with Exelon early. This triggers a $5 million early exit fee and clears the way for another nuclear contracting expert to manage the site. [Omaha World-Herald]

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Opinion:

¶ “Passive house building boom shows low-carbon future may be closer than we think” • The number of Passive House units in North America has quadrupled in the last year, from 500 to over 2,000 units. Once the projects on the books are completed, North America will have four times as many certified Passive House buildings as in 2015. [Straight.com]

Passive house construction (Stephen Hui, Pembina Institute)

Science and Technology:

¶ Lazard Ltd’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis compares costs of various generation technologies. Its latest, LCOE 10.0, shows that the cost decline of generating electricity from solar PV was steeper than decreases among other forms of renewable energy in 2016, with utility-scale PV technologies down about 11% from last year. [Solar Industry]

¶ The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released its 2015–2016 Arctic Report Card. With sea ice extent and snow cover diminishing, it now appears that the Arctic is stuck in a set of feedback loops that will only see temperatures in the region rise at ever faster rates for the foreseeable future. [CleanTechnica]

Please click on the image to enlarge it. 

World:

¶ For over a decade Argentina’s oil sector has profited from the government’s policy to keep domestic oil prices low. When President Mauricio Macri took office he vowed to reduce energy subsidies. Now his administration says it is making good on that promise and subsidies for oil producers are being stopped. [chinadialogue]

¶ Yet another study has affirmed that Australia could – and should – shift to a 100% renewable energy grid, as a “robust, reliable and stable” supply of clean electricity. It found that a fully renewable grid would provide long-term economic and social benefits for Australia, with fighting climate change as a benefit. [CleanTechnica]

Concentrating solar trackers at the Windorah Solar Farm  
(Photo by Aaronazz, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Japanese labor authorities have recognized the thyroid cancer of a man who worked at Tepco’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as a work-related. This is the third case that labor authorities have linked to radiation exposure for workers at the Fukushima plant. The two previous cases involved leukemia. [The Japan Times]

¶ China is targeting renewable energy output of 1.9 trillion kWh by 2020, accounting for 27% of the country’s total power output, the National Development and Reform Commission said in its latest five-year plan for renewable energy. The country aims to have installed renewable power capacity of 680 GW by 2020. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Chinese renewable energy

US:

¶ With an incoming presidential administration seemingly hostile towards action on climate change, local solutions have now become more important than ever. By a 5-0 vote, the town council of Boone, North Carolina passed a resolution demanding that the US completely stop use of fossil fuels to “avoid climate catastrophe.” [EcoWatch]

¶ In August 2010, one of Donald Trump’s most exclusive new hotels, the Trump SoHo in downtown Manhattan, boasted it would invest in 100% clean power. Specifically, it would purchase electricity from wind. One of the deal’s main architects said the move to purchase wind energy was spearheaded by Trump’s daughter, Ivanka. [Mother Jones]

Trump SoHo hotel condominium in New York City
(Alec Perkins / Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Public Service Electric & Gas, New Jersey’s oldest and largest publicly owned utility, is about to bring a new solar farm online in Edison. The solar array will produce 7.75 MW of power, which is enough to power 1,300 homes. It is one of the last sites to come online in the current phase of the utility’s Solar 4 All program. [MyCentralJersey.com]

¶ New England’s largest battery project, which is the size of eight shipping containers, is set to begin operating in the next week or so. The lithium-ion battery was installed in a warehouse at the oil-fired Wyman Station in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. NextEra Energy Resources is Wyman Station’s lead owner and operator. [Press Herald]

Four modules of New England’s largest power storage battery
(Derek Davis / Staff Photographer)

¶ The 10-MW Western Antelope Dry Ranch solar plant in Lancaster, California is now producing enough energy to power over 1,800 homes. Lancaster seeks to be the nation’s first city to produce enough clean energy to meet its electricity needs. The plant operates under a 20-year power purchase agreement. [San Fernando Valley Business Journal]

¶ Norwegian energy giant Statoil was declared the provisional winner of the US government’s wind lease sale of 79,350 acres in waters off New York. Statoil had submitted the winning bid of $42,469,725 in the online offshore wind auction conducted by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. [GCaptain]

Block Island wind farm (Photo: Deepwater Wind)

¶ American Electric Power Company Inc may be adding a lot more renewable energy in Ohio. The Columbus-based electric utility is taking proposals on new projects that would total 100 MW of solar-powered and 250 MW of wind-powered electricity, with a site preference for the solar projects in Appalachian Ohio. [Columbus Business First]

¶ In Vermont, the Burlington Electric Department continues to focus on sourcing 100% of its power from renewable generation with the addition of a new source to its power portfolio. Maine’s 17-turbine Hancock Wind Project began operating commercially on December 16, and it will supply 9% of Burlington’s energy needs. [vtdigger.org]

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Opinion:

¶ “We May Have Been Talking About Climate Change All Wrong” • German researchers suggest a new approach to talking about climate change. They reviewed attitudes of over 1,600 participants in the United States. Conservatives responded more favorably to messages focused on the past, rather than on the future. [CleanTechnica]

Lake Oroville in July 2011 (left) and January 2014 (right)
(Credit: California Department of Water Resources)

The Arctic in September, 1984 (left) and 2016 (right)
(Credit: NASA)

Science and Technology:

¶ A transformation is happening in global energy markets that is well worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the least costly form of new electricity. Unsubsidized solar is beginning to outcompete coal and natural gas on a larger scale, according to fresh data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [TechCentral]

World:

¶ More than 16,000 Indian households in 800 remote villages will be given a solar panel, with an eight-hour battery storage backup, according to the Indian energy minister. He said the households would also be given 5 LED bulbs, an energy efficient ceiling fan and a solar power-based mobile phone charging socket. [PV-Tech]

Rural India (Photo: flickr, ADDEVOL Design Studio)

¶ Senvion is to supply of 220 turbines totalling more than 500 MW to an Indian independent power producer. Delivery will start in the fourth quarter of 2017 and continue until 2019. Commissioning of the first site is expected by the end of 2017, Senvion said. The hardware will be manufactured in an Indian manufacturing plant. [reNews]

¶ The state-run Costa Rican Electricity Institute reported that most of the electricity so far this year came from renewable sources. The country surpassed 250 days using only renewable power sources according to an agency statement. During 2016, 98.12% of Costa Rica’s energy was generated from renewable sources. [The Tico Times]

First turbine running at the Reventazón plant
(Via Casa Presidencial)

¶ Tidal power company Atlantis Resources confirmed it is going ahead with the next phase of its MeyGen project in Scotland’s Pentland Firth. Four 1.5-MW tidal turbines will be deployed on the sea bed, adding to four installed last month. The project was awarded more that £14 million funding from the European Commission. [Press and Journal]

US:

¶ A member of the National Petroleum Council has penned an op-ed, apparently with the aim of persuading the incoming Trump Administration to adopt the Texas model for killing coal jobs. Her argument is pretty strong even though the CPP is still in legal limbo. She is basically arguing for a carbon tax. BTW, so did Exxon Mobil. [CleanTechnica]

Texas wind energy (screenshot, cropped image, via AWEA)

¶ The Michigan Legislature approved a rewrite of state energy laws, voting on the final day of the two-year term to boost the required use of renewable sources of power and to keep intact some competition in the electricity market. The bill is going to the governor, who supported it actively, for his signature. [Crain’s Detroit Business]

¶ California Governor Jerry Brown is calling on President Barack Obama to use his authority to permanently ban new offshore oil and gas leasing in federal waters off the coast of California. The call comes along with other actions Governor Brown outlined to combat climate change and help protect ocean waters off the Golden State. [GCaptain]

Offshore drilling rig

¶ Massachusetts has been a national leader for reliable power sources such as solar, wind and water, according to the 2016 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report. Early-stage investments in clean energy companies in the state grew 166% from the previous year, adding more than 6,300 clean energy jobs this year. [Metro.us]

¶ Middlebury College has won an important battle in what Resident Scholar Bill McKibben recently asserted must become an all-out war on climate change. Late last week the college announced it had reached carbon neutrality, bringing its net carbon footprint to zero, in response to a student challenge of 2007. [Addison County Independent]

Middlebury College maintains a 2,100-acres forest
preserve for sequestering carbon. (Photo by Brett Simison)

¶ The Burlington Electric Department has proposed creating an electric public bus fleet as part of its efforts to reach “net zero” carbon emissions in the city and meet state renewable energy requirements. The utility hopes in can partner with a transit provider, such as Green Mountain Transit or the University of Vermont. [vtdigger.org]

¶ Closing its lone nuclear plant helped the Omaha Public Power District head off a rate hike that would have resulted in a bill increase of 2.5% for average residential ratepayers in 2017. The utility’s board approved a recalculation based on closing the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant and the adding of 400 MW of wind power. [Omaha World-Herald]

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Opinion:

¶ “While Turnbull spins his wheels, industry is getting on with deploying renewables” • Incredibly, for the sake of party unity, Turnbull has turned his back on all administrative, economic and industry advice, including his own advice of a few years ago. But the rollout of renewable energy goes on, becoming more clearly achievable. [Independent Australia]

Flinders Island Hybrid Energy Hub (Image: Hydro Tasmania)

¶ “Could Rick Perry Forego his Special-Interest Past for a Clean Energy Future?” • Rick Perry is President-elect Trump’s pick for Energy secretary. Put simply: The appointment of Rick Perry is “open season” on the environment, and all who care about the health of their families should be concerned. [Environmental Defense Fund]

World:

¶ The British government reaffirmed its commitment to spend £730 million yearly on renewable power projects and confirmed that the second Contracts for Difference auction will open for less established technologies in April 2017. So companies may compete for the first £290 million worth of renewable project contracts. [Seawork International]

Government backs offshore wind
(Image copyright © Mercator Media 2016)

¶ New research carried out by the UK’s manufacturing sector concluded the sector has untapped potential to increase energy efficiency, which could lead to a 12 TWh reduction in annual electricity consumption. The energy efficiencies had a 20-month payback period, and a significant proportion had no capital investment at all. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Energy giant AGL’s dream of a solar PV Virtual Power Plant for Adelaide is taking shape, with a first release of 150 batteries sold out and nine already installed. AGL hopes that, when complete, the metropolitan distributed energy network will have an output equivalent to a 5-MW solar peaking plant, supported by 1,000 batteries. [EcoGeneration]

AGL virtual power plant installation (AGL image)

¶ Gamesa reported that it had beaten its own annual turbine manufacturing record, having already made more than 1,880 units with a total productive capacity of 3,880 MW. The old record, set in 2008, was 3,787 MW. The turbines were assembled all over the world, in India (36%), Europe (28%), China (26%) and Brazil (10%). [CleanTechnica]

¶ The price of electricity from offshore wind keeps dropping. A consortium made up of Shell, Mitsubishi/DGE, Van Oord, and Eneco has won the concession to build the Borssele III and IV Wind Farms, amounting to 700 MW, at a new record low cost of €54.5/MWh (5.7¢/kWh). Only last July, the record low price was €72.70/MWh. [CleanTechnica]

Offshore wind substation
(photo by Wikichops, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Energy storage provider Younicos was selected by Centrica to design and deliver one of the world’s most sophisticated battery-based energy storage systems, and one of the largest. To be completed by winter 2018, the 49-MW lithium-ion system will respond to demand fluctuations in less than a second, according to a press release. [solarserver.com]

US:

¶ New technology developed by Environmental Defense Fund, Google, and Colorado State University is reducing pipeline methane emissions by 83% in an area surveyed for a utility. A specially equipped Google Street View mapping car measures the volume of methane escaping, finding where the worst leaks are. [CleanTechnica]

Google Street View mapping car
(Courtesy Environmental Defense Fund)

¶ Donald Trump’s transition team is disavowing a questionnaire sent to the Energy Department asking for names of employees who had worked on climate change issues. “The questionnaire was not authorized or part of our standard protocol. The person who sent it has been properly counseled,” a Trump transition official told CNN. [CNN]

¶ Dong Energy is teaming up with Eversource Energy, the New England transmission system company, on the Bay State Wind project. The proposed offshore windfarm would be located approximately 15 to 25 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard in an area that has the potential to develop at least 2,000 MW of electricity. [Offshore Wind Journal]

Dong Energy and Eversource Energy plan to develop
the 2,000-MW Bay State offshore wind project together.

¶ New Hampshire Public Radio reports the state’s Site Evaluation Committee voted 5 to 1 to approve the Antrim wind farm. The project will include nine turbines that are expected to power roughly 12,000 homes. The project was first rejected in 2009, as opponents of wind farms argued the turbines would mar New Hampshire’s landscape. [PennEnergy]

¶ EDP Renovaveis SA announced it has signed a $114-million (€107 million) institutional tax equity financing deal relating to the Gamesa-powered 101-MW Timber Road II project in Ohio. The project has a long-term power purchase agreement with Amazon Web Services Inc and will start power generation in May 2017. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind park (Author: Santi Villamarín, CC BY-SA)

Please click on
the image to enlarge it.

¶ The DOE gave its approval this week to an international power line to carry 1,000-MW from Canada to southern New England. The electricity will come mainly from Canadian hydroelectric dams, but it will also include some power from wind turbines in New York state. The state of Vermont will have dibs on 200 MW of it. [vtdigger.org]

¶ Vernon officials heard a pitch from former Google executive Matt Dunne, who said the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s property would be good for a data center. Ever since Entergy announced it would close VY, the Vernon Planning Commission has working on an economic development plan for the site. [Vermont Public Radio]

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Science and Technology:

¶ When the EPA released its draft report in 2015 on the safety of hydraulic fracturing, industry groups seized on one sentence as proof that fracking is safe: a conclusion that the process has no national “widespread, systemic impact” on drinking water. Now, the final report is out – and that sentence has been removed. [Christian Science Monitor]

Fracking in a farm field (Andrew Cullen / Reuters / File)

¶ The Arctic is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world, triggering a “massive decline in sea ice and snow,” according to a new federal report. The study shows that the increase in average air temperature between October 2015 and September 2016 was the largest since 1995 at 6.3° F (3.5° C) above those recorded in 1900. [CNN]

World:

¶ A Hundred meters above the flat, dry grain country in western Victoria, the wind blows strongly. Last week the farming region took a big step towards capturing the power of this wind when a 116-turbine wind farm at Murra Warra got planning approval. It will power 250,000 homes, and it will create 60 permanent jobs. [Weekly Times Now]

Eighteen Murra Warra families banded together
to reap the benefits from hosting wind turbines.

¶ A new bid on solar power came in at an amazing price, given Denmark’s nascent solar market and its extremely northerly location. The auction brought in an average winning bid price of 38 Danish øre per kWh (5.4¢/kWh). This beats the LCOE from every other new power plant option except wind power – and it is in Denmark! [CleanTechnica]

¶ On some days Danish wind turbines produced 140% of the nation’s need, and they have solar energy and biomass. The Danish Energy Agency has said renewables produce 56% of Denmark’s electricity consumption. Their neighbours purchase any excess power they produce, and they can import power when the need to. [CleanTechnica]

Bottom of wind turbine at Avedore, Hovedstaden, Denmark
(Photo by Drouyn Cambridge via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 license)

¶ German energy group E.ON has invested in a British start-up business that uses sails instead of rotors to harness wind energy. Kite Power Solutions secured $6.36 million in a fresh funding round that, in addition, included oil industry services company Schlumberger and Royal Dutch Shell, according to E.ON. [Daily Times]

¶ The 20-MW Barcaldine Remote Community Solar Farm, Queensland’s largest solar power installation, is now supplying power to the grid, according to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The facility, developed by Elecnor Australia, a unit of Spain’s Elecnor SA, is expected to reach full generation by the end of 2016. [SeeNews Renewables]

Moree solar farm (Source: ARENA)

US:

¶ The US Department of the Interior signed a memorandum of understanding with California to help develop renewable energy projects on federal and state lands, as well as offshore. The MoU establishes objectives for all projects, including prioritizing the applications processing and making more efficient use of existing transmission systems. [reNews]

¶ Activists who have demonstrated for months against the Dakota Access Pipeline may have some fuel to justify their protests. A spill has occurred 150 miles from where protesters have fought construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. State officials estimate 4,200 barrels of crude oil have leaked from the Belle Fourche Pipeline. [CNN]

Most of the oil has flowed into Ash Coulee Creek.

¶ An Arizona utility regulator suggested that nuclear energy should count as a renewable power source, allowing it to compete with solar and wind. One of the five members on the panel that regulates utilities proposed the change in a letter that also implies that he never supported the state’s Renewable Energy Standard. [Arizona Daily Sun]

¶ Good news for environmental campaigners: President-elect Trump has finally nominated someone to his cabinet who actually believes in climate change science. The bad news for those same campaigners is that this true believer happens to be CEO of ExxonMobil, who also sees fossil fuels as critical to humanity’s survival. [BBC]

Protestors young and old making their feelings heard
at the Exxon Mobil annual general meeting in Texas

¶ In another sign that the transition isn’t proceeding as smoothly as President Obama professes, the Energy Department refused Tuesday to provide President-elect Donald Trump’s team with a list of federal employees who have worked on climate-change programs. Trump’s transition team did not explain the request. [Washington Times]

¶ Two power line projects that won federal approval Tuesday will give a big capacity boost to the Western energy grid, including power for up to 1 million homes from what’s on track to become the biggest wind farm to be built in the US, the 3,000-MW Chokecherry-Sierra Madre wind farm in southern Wyoming. [Carlisle Sentinel]

Happy Jack Wind Farm, west of Cheyenne

¶ The San Roman Wind Farm, a 93-MW renewable energy project located near Brownsville, Texas, has begun commercial operation. It will produce sufficient electricity to power more than 30,000 Texas homes. It is expected to generate $30 million in tax revenues and $25 million in lease payments to landowners. [Commercial Property Executive]

¶ Donald Trump’s nominees for the secretaries of Energy and State, and administrator of the EPA, are creating a growing hydrocarbon council in his administration. While generally thought to be good for oil and gas, the ramifications remain unclear. The government perception of fossil fuel will doubtless change. [Oil and Gas Investor]

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Science and Technology:

¶ In early 2015, scientists announced the discovery of an almost circular structure in the Antarctic ice surface, about 2 km (1.2 miles) wide. Now, a team of climate researchers has found that the mysterious crater on the King Baudouin ice shelf shows that the East Antarctic ice sheet may be more vulnerable to climate change than expected. [Raw Story]

Antarctica’s Larsen C Ice Shelf (Youtube)

World:

¶ Five countries in Africa – Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Togo – have jointly announced they will begin rejecting shipments of high-sulfur diesel fuel refined in Europe in a bid to reduce harmful emissions. Nigeria will reportedly accepting only diesel fuels with under 50 ppm of sulfur – down from the 3,000 ppm currently allowed. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The largest PV plant in East Africa is being commissioned in Soroti, Uganda. Made up of 32,680 PV panels, the new 10-MW facility is the country’s first grid-connected solar plant. The Soroti plant will generate enough clean, low-carbon, sustainable electricity for 40,000 homes, schools and businesses in the area. [PC Tech Magazine]

Soroti solar farm (Credit: APO)

¶ NTR has acquired the Twin Rivers wind farm in Yorkshire from InfraRed Environmental Infrastructure Fund and the Co-operative Group for £80 million. The 28.7-MW project consists of 14 Senvion MM92 turbines and is expected to come online before the end of the year. It is NTR’s tenth wind farm in the UK and Ireland. [reNews]

¶ Siemens Wind Power is to supply turbines totalling 60.6 MW to the Uljin wind farm in South Korea for SK D&D Company. The project, which is in Gyeongsangbuk province on the east coast of the country, will feature 16 SWT-3.6-130 machines and one SWT-3.0-108 turbine. Hub heights will range from 71 to 115 meters. [reNews]

Siemens 3.3-MW turbine (Siemens photo)

¶ Four Russian cities have expressed interest in using small nuclear reactors to supply heat and power, according to Yuriy Kuznetsov of NA Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering. A Rosatom feasibility study concluded that up to 38 cogeneration reactors could potentially be deployed at 14 sites. [World Nuclear News]

¶ A “trail-blazing” trial in a Welsh village could change how communities up and down the UK buy their electricity. By clubbing together, 100 households in Bethesda will be able to purchase the power generated by a local hydro scheme for half the price. Other communities might benefit from renewable energy projects in their areas. [BBC News]

Avon Idwal, Bethesda, Gwynedd, Wales
(Photo by Eric Jones, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

US:

¶ According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Q4 2016 US Solar Market Insight report, 4,143 MW of solar PV were installed in the US in the third quarter of the year, a rate of one MW every 32 minutes. That pace has picked up and is even faster today, as the fourth quarter will surpass the third. [Your Renewable News]

¶ German electric utility E.ON is to develop a 228-MW onshore windfarm in Willacy County, Texas. The Bruenning’s Breeze windfarm will include 76 Nordex wind turbines, each with a generating capacity of 3 MW. With the commissioning expected at the end of 2017, it will be E.ON’s 22nd wind project in the US. [Power Technology]

E.ON wind turbines (Photo: courtesy of E.ON)

¶ Bill Gates and a few super-rich pals are going to pump $1 billion into cleaner energy tech. They launched Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a venture capital fund dedicated to fighting climate change (and, ideally, making money). This is step one in delivering on promises Gates made last year during the Paris climate talks. [Grist]

¶ The Block Island Wind Farm is supplying power to the grid, making it America’s first offshore wind facility. Deepwater Wind and project partners have commissioned the 30-MW installation off the coast of Rhode Island, and it is now delivering power into New England’s electric grid via a 20-mile-long submarine cable. [POWER magazine]

Block Islands last turbine going up

¶ Last week, Donald Trump’s transition team sent a 74-item questionnaire to the DOE, including a request for the names of anyone who attended global climate talks. Since then the full text of the questionnaire has been revealed. Sadly, it only increases the concerns regarding the intentions of the incoming Trump administration. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Texas grid operator ERCOT announced a new record in November for wind power in the state. For the first time, wind provided more than 15,000 megawatts of electricity in a single day. Already a clear leader in wind power in the US, Texas has more than 18,000 megawatts installed and another 5,000 under construction. [Energy Digital]

Texas wind power (Image via Wiki Commons)

¶ A long-running debate over whether Entergy New Orleans should build a $216-million power plant in New Orleans East has morphed into a wider dispute over the future of local energy generation in New Orleans. A city council meeting ran into two hours, with members of the public decrying the idea of a new gas-powered plant. [Lake Expo]

¶ The hydroelectric power station at the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River generates enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. But there are many smaller dams on the Three Rivers that aren’t generating power. Putting those existing dams to work could give the region a valuable source of renewable energy. [West Virginia Public Broadcasting]

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Opinion:

¶ “EIA’s Lack Of Math And Logic Skills Makes For An Interesting Investment Environment” • Every year the US DOE’s Energy Information Administration releases an Annual Energy Outlook. Every year, it projects that renewable growth will slow down. But the EIA projections have never done well portraying reality. [Seeking Alpha]

Please click on the image to enlarge it.

Science and Technology:

¶ Methane levels in the atmosphere are rising faster than at any point in the past two decades, according to new research. The findings are presented by the newly-released “Global Methane Budget” published Monday, part of an effort by 100 international scientists to understand just how much methane is rising, and why. [CNN]

¶ Wind power plays a key role in curbing greenhouse emissions from other energy sources such as coal and gas, a study from researchers at Edinburgh University has shown. Energy from wind farms in the UK prevented almost 36 million tonnes of carbon emissions in six years, equivalent to taking 2.3 million cars off the road. [STV News]

Wind curbing emissions (STV file photo)

World:

¶ South Africa unveiled the first solar system in the continent to power an airport. Located halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, George Airport will meet 41% of its energy demand from a brand new solar power plant built on its grounds. Its capacity will be increased in time, eventually reaching a total of 750 kW. [CNN]

¶ Oil prices have surged after oil-producing countries that are not OPEC members agreed to cut output. Brent crude jumped to $57.89 a barrel, the highest since July 2015, before falling back to $56.79, although that was still a gain of 4.5% on the day. Non-OPEC countries agreed to cut their output by 558,000 barrels per day on October 10. [BBC]

Offshore oil rig (Mikhail Mordasov, Getty Images)

¶ Waning appetite from key consuming nations and swift growth in other sources of energy will stall global demand for coal over the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency. An EIA forecast says coal’s share in the global power generation mix will drop to 36% by 2021, down from 41% in 2014. [City A.M.]

¶ Vestas Wind Systems A/S will equip and help build the 270-MW Sapphire wind farm in New South Wales, for AUS$430 million (US$321 million, €303.5 million), under a contract won in consortium with Australian firm Zenviron Pty Ltd. Vestas said it will supply and install 75 units of its V126-3.45 MW turbines. [SeeNews Renewables]

Vestas turbines at the Macarthur wind farm
(Image courtesy of Vestas Wind Systems A/S)

¶ A report by the Australia’s energy regulator has recommended a multi-billion-dollar investment in electricity infrastructure to help secure the stability of Australia’s power grid. The report argued the investment would help save money in the long run, especially considering the growing use of renewable energy generation. [The New Daily]

¶ Power generated by UK wind farms prevented the release of almost 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2014, according to a new study from the University of Edinburgh. The power generated by the UK’s wind farms was the equivalent of taking 2.3 million cars off the road, the study said. [Holyrood.com]

Wind turbines (Credit: Holyrood)

¶ Chinese state-funded renewable energy firms are spreading their nets overseas, as quality new projects become harder to come by at home. The two most active are China General Nuclear Power Group, the country’s largest nuclear reactor developer, and China Three Gorges, its biggest hydro power developer. [South China Morning Post]

¶ The 270-MW Sapphire wind project in New South Wales will proceed to construction, after securing up to $120 million in debt finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The CEFC said that its commitment to the $588 million project would demonstrate the bankability of Australian renewable energy projects. [RenewEconomy]

Taralga wind farm (courtesy of Vestas Wind Systems)

US:

¶ Donald Trump won’t get Rex Tillerson as secretary of state without a fight. Nominating the ExxonMobil tycoon for the position could ignite a showdown between the President-elect and senators in his own party. Tillerson has a close relationship with Vladimir Putin, and the CIA says Russia likely intervened in the presidential election. [CNN]

¶ The city council of St Petersburg, Florida unanimously voted to target 100% renewable electricity. It aims to achieve this goal with the help of some of the $1 million it received in a settlement with BP over the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. St Petersburg is reportedly the 20th US city to target 100% renewables for its electricity supply. [CleanTechnica]

St Petersburg (Photo: Cynthia Shahan | CleanTechnica)

¶ US utilities have traditionally been a safe bet for investors, and they may continue to be in 2017. Still, there are some worrisome undercurrents for the sector, and these deserve close attention, Fitch Ratings says in its annual look at the credit-worthiness of investor-owned companies that provide electricity and natural gas. [USA TODAY]

¶ Donald Trump said he still doesn’t think climate change is really happening, in an interview on Sunday 11 December. “I’m still open-minded. Nobody really knows,” he said after a Fox News anchor played a clip in which he calls climate change “a big scam for a lot of people to make a lot of money.” [International Business Times UK]

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Science and Technology:

¶ Climate change may be to blame for the deadly avalanche in Tibet, a study found. On July 17, more than 70 million tonnes of ice broke off from the Aru glacier in the mountains of western Tibet. Glacial collapse is unprecedented in that area of Tibet, which for decades has seemed to resist the effects of climate change. [The Statesman]

Avalanche (Getty Images)

World:

¶ The Solar Energy Corporation of India has launched a tender of 1000 MW capacity for the development of grid-connected rooftop solar capacity for Central Government Ministries and Departments. This would be the largest rooftop tender for SECI, which has commissioned rooftop solar projects with over 54 MW of capacity. [NetIndian]

¶ Eleven oil-producing countries that are not OPEC members agreed to cut their output to boost prices. The group, which includes Russia, said that they will cut production by 558,000 barrels per day. OPEC announced last month that it would be reducing its own production to ease an over-saturated global market. [BBC]

Worker in a Siberian oil field (Reuters image)

¶ Renewable energy can add resiliency to electricity grids, and there’s no reason why individual states can’t set their own goals higher than a national target, a senior GE technology director says. His comments bolster the case made by state governments acting on their own, such as Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia. [Queensland Country Life]

¶ Negotiations to construct the $300 million Singida Wind Farm in Tanzania are in advanced stages. It has a potential capacity of 100 MW of wind-powered electricity. It is being developed by Wind Power East Africa Limited in the country’s Singida Region. Construction is expected to begin in April or May of 2017. [The Exchange]

Tanzania is developing wind, solar, and geothermal power.

¶ India has asked American and French nuclear companies to furnish details of functional reactors designed by them as proof of their efficacy. Sources said Westinghouse and EDF are still not ready with fully operational “reference plants”, a pre-requisite before a final General Framework Agreement could be signed with these entities. [News Nation]

US:

¶ With just days left in the two-year term, the Michigan Legislature may be inching toward votes on what is billed as a comprehensive rewrite of state energy laws, legislation that Governor Rick Snyder has made clear is his highest priority. The bill would increase the amount of renewable power, but it has some heavy down sides. [Kansas City Star]

Wind turbine near Caseville, Michigan (Paul Sancya AP Photo)

¶ According to documents obtained by Politico, Donald Trump’s transition team has asked the Energy Department to cough-up the names of any employees who have worked on President Obama’s climate initiatives, including all who have worked on the “social cost of carbon.” It looks like a witch hunt is already under way. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The state of Michigan has legalized self-driving vehicles. This means that manufacturers can now sell consumers vehicles that drive themselves all of the time. These vehicles don’t even have to feature steering wheels or brake pedals. The legalization was heavily backed by Uber, Lyft, Google, the Detroit 3, and Toyota. [CleanTechnica]

PTT MTV Preview

¶ Two new Oklahoma wind farms expected online early next year will help Google meet its goal of providing 100% of its energy needs from renewable resources as soon as they are generating power. The new Oklahoma wind farms are among nearly 1,700 MW of new renewable power the company has agreed to buy. [Tulsa World]

¶ Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, an engineering firm in Springfield, Illinois, is nearing completion of a $1.8 million rooftop solar PV system at its corporate headquarters. When it is completed early next year, more than 3,700 panels will generate about 400 kW of power, meeting 90% of the company’s annual demand. [The State Journal-Register]

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Science and Technology:

¶ The hemlock woolly adelgid, which is killing whole stands of trees in the Northeast, is one in an expanding army of insects destroying forests across the US. Aided by a warming climate, global trade, and drought-weakened trees, the invaders have become one of the greatest threats to biodiversity throughout the country. [Glens Falls Post-Star]

Evidence of hemlock woolly adelgid infestation
(Photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

World:

¶ As first ministers of the Canadian provinces emerged from a day-long summit, most hailed a pan-Canadian agreement on climate change. Saskatchewan’s Brad Wall stood in opposition. Here is a selection of what was said after the meeting ended, including a back-and-forth between Wall and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. [680 News]

¶ An environmentally neutral, grid-scale energy storage system, which liquefies air, stores it, and then uses it to drive a generator to feed power into the grid, may sound like tomorrow’s world. It is however, a very real prospect. A new 5-MW liquid air energy storage facility is being set up in the UK and will soon be put into operation. [Engineer Live]

Model of the Highview liquid air energy storage facility

¶ Energy storage accounted for 3.2 GW of the 52.43 GW secured in the latest UK capacity market auction for 2020–2021 delivery. The clearing price for the auction was £22.5/kW a year. Two battery storage facilities, each of 49 MW, were among the other projects bid. There was also 711 MW of hydro power capacity in the auction. [reNews]

¶ Staff at a Canadian company, Idenergie, have managed to create a kit that can turn the flowing water of a river into as much as 12 kWh of electricity per day. The river turbine system is mainly designed for off-the-grid applications such as small communities or remote cabins where it is not logical to be connected to the grid. [Trendintech]

River turbine by Idenergie

¶ A report shows that the total number of anaerobic digestion plants in live operation in the UK has risen from 424 a year ago to 540 today. This has reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the UK by about 1%, with numerous other benefits, including food waste recycling, low-carbon electricity, and green gas for the grid. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ India now has the world’s biggest solar plant. At full capacity, the new 2,500-acre plant in Kamuthi could power up to 150,000 homes and add 648 MW to India’s electricity generating capacity. The Kamuthi plant was built in just eight months, at a cost of $679 million. India has pledged to get 40% of its power from renewables by 2030. [Grist]

Solar panels in India (Photo: Daniel Cossio)

US:

¶ Connecticut policymakers are scrambling to develop a new energy strategy now that decisions in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have stalled huge pipeline projects. The legislative deadline for updating the energy strategy was October, but state officials now say they hope to have it completed by early next year. [Hartford Courant]

¶ US renewable energy has been growing exponentially. Over the last five years, Iowa and Texas have doubled their production of wind power, and solar generation in Nevada has increased seven-fold. In the first quarter of this year, about 15% of total electricity output came from renewable sources. Solar PVs provide enough power for 6 million homes. [Co.Exist]

Growth of solar and wind power

¶ First Solar and NextEra Energy announced that they have put the Silver State South PV plant online. The 250-MW plant has 3.4 million First Solar thin-film PV modules mounted on single-axis trackers. It was built on about three square miles of public land in Nevada. It will sell power to Southern California Edison. [pv magazine USA]

¶ The US Army and Georgia Power Co have formally opened a 250-acre solar energy farm at Fort Stewart. The project has been in the works for more than a year. It was built at a cost of $75 million and is the Army’s largest renewable solar energy project in Georgia. In fact, it is one of largest solar farms in the state. [Savannah Morning News]

Solar farm at Fort Stewart
(Image: Lt Col Brian Fickel, 3rd Infantry Division)

¶ The US electric power industry has invested in renewable resources well beyond states’ renewable portfolio standards and targets in some regions, a report from The Brattle Group says. The regions where this has happened have organized regional electricity markets or offer access to low-cost wind or solar potential. [Solar Industry]

¶ Researchers say seaborne radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster has been detected on Oregon shores. Seawater samples from Tillamook Bay and Gold Beach indicate radiation from the nuclear disaster, but it is at extremely low levels that are considered not to be harmful to humans or the environment. [The Indian Express]

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Opinion:

¶ “Why clean energy is the next big business opportunity” • The American political landscape shifted drastically on November 8, but the scientific facts of climate change remain steadfastly the same as ever. Transitioning to clean energy will not only reduce the economic risks of climate change but will create economic opportunities. [CNN]

Workers installing a turbine (Photo: Dennis Schroeder, National
Wind Technology Center, public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

World:

¶ Wholesale electricity prices in two of the most coal dependent grids in Australia, those in New South Wales and Queensland, have soared in recent weeks. According to official data, they were more than twice the price of wholesale electricity in renewable-rich South Australia. And they have also had prices spike as high as $13,000/MWh. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Air pollution in Paris has hit dangerous levels prompting city officials to curb car use and make public transport free of charge until Friday. The city’s Metro and bus services have been free since Tuesday and set days of travel have been allocated for cars with odd and even numbers, in an attempt to reduce levels of pollutants. [CNN]

Smog in Paris

¶ US technology giant Apple Inc has taken another step into China’s new energy sector, as it started a collaboration with Xinjiang Goldwind Science and Technology to develop wind power. Under the deal, a Goldwind subsidiary is expected to transfer a 30% stake in a total of four wind project companies
to Apple. [gbtimes]

¶ For the first time, the UK’s wind turbines have set a record by generating more than 10,000 MW of electricity. This has given RenewableUK cause for celebration. The record of 10,104 MW was set between 2:00 and 2:30 pm on December 7, during which time wind provided 23% of Britain’s total electricity demand. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

Wind turbines at sunrise

¶ According to the Japanese industry ministry, total costs to resolve the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster will reach ¥21.5 trillion (about $188 billion), nearly double the previous estimate. Much of the additional costs will be eventually covered by the public, as the government plans to raise electricity charges to that end. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ Xcel Energy’s Courtenay Wind Farm, in North Dakota, is fully operational. The 200-MW project is part of Xcel Energy’s plan to provide its Upper Midwest customers with reliable, cost-effective energy. The Courtenay Wind Farm delivers enough energy, on average, to power approximately 100,000 homes. [Transmission and Distribution World]

Xcel Energy’s Courtenay Wind Farm under construction

¶ A memo obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy outlining Donald Trump’s energy agenda for when he takes Office next January has revealed the full extent to which Donald Trump is going to lay waste to America’s climate record and clean energy industry. It lists 14 key energy and environment policies planned. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Duke Energy Renewables bought the 13-MW Victory Solar Power Project in Adams County, Colorado, from developer juwi Inc. Intermountain Rural Electric Association is purchasing the electricity generated by the project under a 25-year agreement. The solar site can power about 2,600 average homes. [Electric Light & Power]

Colorado solar project

¶ A new NRDC report finds that the transition from fossil fuels
to clean energy is irrevocably underway. Several major utilities interviewed by S&P Global Market Intelligence indicated that their fossil fuel retirement and clean energy investment plans have not changed because of the recent election results. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶ Entergy Corp announced that it will close down its Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan on October 1, 2018. It has struck a deal for early termination of a power purchase agreement for the generation, which had been to end in 2022. Officials say ending the contract early could save ratepayers $172 million over four years. [Utility Dive]

Palisades nuclear plant (Entergy photo)

¶ Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has signed SB2814, into law. The benefits of the bill had been touted as increasing energy efficiency, expanding renewable energy, providing zero-carbon incentives for nuclear power plants at-risk of closure, additional funding for low-income assistance, job training, and cap of electricity increases. [JURIST]

¶ In a document obtained by Bloomberg, President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team asked the Energy Department how it can help keep nuclear reactors “operating as part of the nation’s infrastructure” and what it could do to prevent them from being forced out of the market by cheaper natural gas and renewable resources. [Bloomberg]

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World:

¶ Sudan’s ecosystems and natural resources are deteriorating. Temperatures are rising, water supplies are scarce, soil fertility is low and severe droughts are common. Experts say that without quick intervention, parts of the African country – one of the world’s most vulnerable – could become uninhabitable as a result of climate change. [CNN]

Dust storm approaching Khartoum

¶ The Kremlin has announced that commodities trader Glencore and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund are together buying a 19.5% stake in Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil company, at a price is $11.3 billion. The Russian government is selling state assets to help balance the budget amid a two-year recession partly caused low oil prices. [BBC]

¶ The European Union will start to phase out coal subsidies and reduce its energy usage by 30% before 2030 pursuant to the terms of a major clean energy package announced in November. It expects to lower household utility bills, integrate renewables into power markets, and limit use of unsustainable bio-energy, among other benefits. [CleanTechnica]

Generating smoke, with electricity as a valuable by-product

¶ Australian utility EnergyAustralia has agreed to buy around 500 MW of power from new wind and solar projects, for $1.5 billion. The company, which operates two of Australia’s largest coal-fired power plants, cited emissions reduction as one of the reasons it plans to step up its renewable generation. [Power Engineering International]

¶ Battery storage coupled with low-carbon electricity generation could have helped to avoid the power outages experienced in South Australia earlier this year, according to a study by RES and Lloyd’s Register. RES Australia’s technical head said the power outages will mean a detailed review of the state’s power system security policy. [reNews]

Energy storage (RES image)

¶ The Dutch government released a long-term energy plan stipulating that no new cars with combustion engines may be sold from 2035 on. Also, all of the houses in the country, which has been for over 50 years the EU’s largest natural gas producer, will be disconnected from the gas grid by 2050. The measure has broad parliamentary support. [CleanTechnica]

¶ An Australian Energy Market Operator report has cast serious doubt over the role of gas power generation in Australia’s future energy mix, warning that the falling cost of renewable energy and battery storage could turn any new gas plants into costly stranded assets. This could possibly happen as early as 2030. [RenewEconomy]

Australian electric plant

US:

¶ Cape Light Compact, the electric utility serving the 21 towns in Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, has announced that its aggregation power supply load is going with 100% renewable power. The Compact has teamed up with NextEra Energy Services to provide low price electricity to all of its customers. [CapeCod.com News]

¶ Renewable energy provider sPower said it has signed a power purchase agreement for 105 MW of solar capacity with MCE, a community choice aggregation program in California. The 20-year contract is sPower’s largest to date. A solar power plant to be built in northern Los Angeles County will provide the power. [SeeNews Renewables]

Sandstone Solar facility (Photo: Business Wire)

¶ Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Environmental Protection Agency administrator, his former campaign manager told reporters. The move elevates a fierce EPA critic – Pruitt had sued the agency over its regulations of power plants – to the position of EPA administrator. [CNN]

¶ German energy group E.ON said it has decided to build the 228-MW Bruenning’s Breeze onshore wind farm in Texas. The facility will be the group’s 22nd US wind farm. So far, it has installed over 3 GW of wind power capacity in North America. E.ON is also building the 278-MW Radford’s Run wind park in Illinois. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind park in Texas (Author: Rockin’Rita, CC BY SA)

¶ Renewable energy demand from companies in the Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 “is significant and growing quickly,” according to a report published by US business group Advanced Energy Economy. Of the Fortune 100 companies, 71 have set renewable energy or sustainability targets. This is up from 60 just two years ago. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corp, and Amphitheater Public Schools, a school district in Tucson, Ariz., have announced completion of a district-wide solar project totaling 9.3 MW. The project, located among 25 facilities, is expected to generate more than 60% of the district’s electricity needs in the first year of its operation. [Solar Industry]

PVs at an Arizona public school (Photo courtesy of Constellation)

¶ As a two-year freeze on Ohio’s renewable energy mandates is set to expire, the Ohio House approved a bill making compliance optional for the next three years. The Republican-led House voted for the bill 51-36 Tuesday. It’s scheduled for a Senate committee hearing Wednesday and a possible vote by the full Senate Thursday. [WTOL.com]

¶ The staff at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station appear to be “overwhelmed” and struggling to improve performance at the facility, which has a poor safety record and is set to close in less than three years. This is according to an internal memo from a federal regulator, which had been inadvertently sent to a local environmental advocate. [The Boston Globe]

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Opinion:

¶ “Texas is the Best. And Worst. #1 in both Wind Energy and Carbon Pollution.” • Texas is the number one producer of carbon pollution in the US. But these days, you can barely drive an hour without running into a new wind farm going up or a convoy of trucks carrying turbine blades. [The Equation: Blog of the Union of Concerned Scientists]

Oil extraction in a cotton field (Photo: Wikimedia)

¶ “Turns Out That Breitbart Article the House Science Committee Tweeted Out is a Con Job” • Texas Republican Lamar Smith is the oxymoronic Chairman of the House Science Committee, whose official government Twitter account tweeted out, “Global Temperatures Plunge. Icy Silence from Climate Alarmists.” [eNews Park Forest]

¶ “Trump’s Lies Threaten Wind Techs: Fastest-Growing US Job” There are reasons why Trump’s vendetta against what he calls “the windmills” hurts his own voters. First, wind techs, the guys who climb the towers to do maintenance, are blue-collar workers from red states. And theirs is the fastest growing job in the US. [CleanTechnica]

(Please click on the image to enlarge it.)

Science and Technology:

¶ As global temperatures continue to rise, a huge chunk of polar sea ice covering an area about the size of India, or twice the size of Alaska, has melted, climate scientists said. The scientists said that the warm ocean temperatures, the warming atmosphere and wind patterns like El Niño, are preventing ice from forming. [Science World Report]

World:

¶ A $662 million wind farm in Victoria’s west has been approved by the State Government. The wind farm, which will include up to 116 turbines, is set be built in Murra Warra, north of Horsham, after no objections were raised by local residents. It will power about 252,000 homes and go some way to meeting the state’s renewable energy targets. [The Mercury]

The Woodlawn Wind Farm in New South Wales.

¶ German energy suppliers can claim compensation over the country’s phasing out of nuclear power, a court has ruled. Judges did not agree with power plant operators that the shutdown, ordered after the Fukushima Disaster, was expropriation of their assets. But they ruled the government should compensate the firms. [BBC News]

¶ Off-grid solar could energize communities all across Myanmar. As traditional power sources like diesel generators are far too expensive for many people who live in poverty in the country, government-funded off-grid solar could offer cost-effective, clean electricity for more people. Non-profit organizations are also helping. [Inhabitat]

Solar Energy Myanmar Panasonic (Image via The Guardian)

¶ Google has confirmed it will hit its target of offsetting 100% of the energy used at its data centres and offices against power from renewable sources. The firm first made the commitment in 2015 to go 100% renewable by 2017. In a blog, the company said it was now the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world. [BBC]

¶ Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall AB said today it has taken over Danish energy firm Vindstod.dk, which offers 100% wind power sourced locally to private customers in Denmark. Vattenfall has a strategy to set foot into new markets through small sales companies with an existing customer base, it said. [SeeNews Renewables]

Danish wind turbines (Author: Tambako The Jaguar, CC BY SA)

¶ Donald Trump’s plan to erect a huge sea wall at his Irish golf course has been withdrawn in the light of stiff opposition from environmentalists. The original application cited rising sea levels as a result of climate change as a key reason for the protective barrier. A new plan with smaller wall is expected to be submitted shortly. [BBC News]

US:

¶ The sweet taste of victory has already begun to sour at the Oceti Sakowin Camp just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. When the US Army Corps of Engineers said it would seek alternative routes for the pipeline, protesters cheered. But as a winter squall descended and temperatures dropped, so too did the enthusiasm. [CNN]

White-out conditions near the camp

¶ A survey of economists by the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University Law School finds that most think climate change will have a greater negative impact on the US economy than expected, and will have it sooner than expected. The IPI surveyed economists who had published papers relating to climate change. [CleanTechnica]

¶ As the first US offshore wind farm prepares to come online, the Energy Information Administration has released new statistics showing the continued expansion of offshore wind leasing. The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that the US has 4,200 GW of potential offshore wind energy open for development. [WorkBoat]

Block Island installation (Deepwater Wind photo)

¶ University of California, Irvine engineers have put up the first power-to-gas hydrogen pipeline injection project in the US, showing how excess clean electricity that would otherwise go to waste can be used. Surplus sustainable energy from solar panels or wind farms is into hydrogen, which is blended with natural gas for general use. [Newswise]

¶ The largest battery in New England – and once the world – was built 45 years ago and is still working. It’s hidden, on top and deep inside a mountain in north-central Massachusetts. Northfield Mountain is now undergoing re-licensing to run for another 50 years, providing grid load leveling for solar and wind power. [New England Public Radio]

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Opinion:

¶ “Going 100% renewable: An exciting new energy game” • An exciting new home energy game opened up for me this week when I made enquiries with my energy retailer. The average Australian emits 4.5 times the global average CO2, so the goal is to lower our household carbon emissions. It is an exciting game we play every day. [The Fifth Estate]

Wind turbines (Wind Data Centre)

¶ “Trump brings Koch network’s green-energy foes from the fringe to the center of power” • The head of the anti-renewable Institute for Energy Research is suddenly at the center of power. A former Koch Industries lobbyist who has led a coordinated national assault on renewable power is at the DOE, in charge of its transition. [Chicago Tribune]

¶ “Wind and Solar Are Better Together” • Building turbines and photovoltaics at the same location can reduce grid and battery costs and level out power supply. A handful of enterprising renewable energy developers are now exploring how solar and wind might better work together, developing hybrid solar-wind projects. [Scientific American]

Solar and wind together (Credit: Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0)

World:

¶ UK utility Centrica is launching a three-year trial in which batteries and other systems, such as combined heat and power units, will be installed in dozens of houses, businesses and hospitals in Cornwall. The £19 million project will evaluate the potential for a new independent power market in the southwest of England. [Decentralized Energy]

¶ In Scotland, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is in support of the Dounreay Tri floating wind demonstration project of Swedish engineering company Hexicon AB. The conservation charity said it has submitted a consultation response to Marine Scotland in support of the project west of the Pentland Firth. [SeeNews Renewables]

Multi-turbine floating platform (Image: Hexicon)

¶ Canadian Solar has closed financing of ¥14.9 billion ($141.5 million) to build and operate the 55-MW Yamaguchi Shin Mine solar plant in Japan. The loan facilities were arranged by Hanwha Asset Management, with a maturity of 17 years. The company considers Japan as a key growth market, having 597 MW in late development stages. [reNews]

¶ Five western Queensland councils, as reported by local media, have made steps toward utilising the Great Artesian Basin for local geothermal energy production. One project in Winton is actually already developing a plant, which is expected to come online in early 2017. The potential for geothermal power to save money is high. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Winton, Queensland, Australia
(source: flickr / Chris Fithall, creative commons)

¶ Consumers using rooftop solar panels and batteries will produce between a third and half of Australia’s electricity by mid-century if the right policies are introduced, according to a roadmap from the CSIRO and Energy Networks Australia. It suggests it could help create a reliable electricity grid with zero emissions by 2050. [Queensland Country Life]

¶ The US is sponsoring India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which aims to stop nuclear proliferation by controlling exports of materials, equipment, and technology that can be used to assemble nuclear weapons. At the same time, the US is backing plans to construct six AP1000 nuclear power plants in India. [Power Technology]

Westinghouse reactor under construction

¶ Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 3% to a five-year low in the financial year through March owing to lower power demand, growing renewable energy and the restart of nuclear power plants, government figures showed. Emissions fell for a second straight year to 1.321 billion metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent. [Times of India]

US:

¶ The Omaha Public Power District’s four proposed generation portfolios show that wind power is at the forefront of its future plans for renewables. The utility’s ultimate direction, however, depends on the new administration’s stance on renewable resources and implications of the Clean Power Plan’s judicial review. [Blair Enterprise Publishing]

Wind farm (Courtesy: Pixabay)

¶ Former Vice President Al Gore has met President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump to discuss climate policy. The meeting “was a sincere search for areas of common ground,” according to Mr Gore, a climate change activist. Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka reportedly wants to make the subject one of her signature issues. [BBC]

¶ Two Vermont towns, Stowe and Hyde Park, have recently commissioned municipally owned solar plants, making them the first towns in the state to do so. Together, the plants will produce 2.7 MW of solar electricity. This is enough to power 229 average residences of in the towns, about 7% of the total number of homes. [pv magazine USA]

Hyde Park, Vermont solar array

¶ With two solar facilities moving toward completion and a third in the planning stages, Pownal, Vermont is becoming a leading community. The total countywide capacity from solar sources is approximately 3.7 MW, of which 2.2 MW are in Pownal, but a 2.2-MW array is under construction, and a smaller array is also planned. [vtdigger.org]

¶ A 20-year extension for the operating license of the Fermi 2 nuclear power plant in Michigan has been put on hold after an activist group encouraged a federal agency to look more closely into how potassium iodide pills would be given to area residents if the plant ever has a major release of radioactive steam. [Electric Light & Power]

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Opinion:

¶ “Reliable renewable electricity is possible if we make smart decisions now” • Our recent research took a highly conservative approach to testing the cost question. With very conservative assumptions, we found that strategies to manage the variability of renewable resources were effective in a 100% renewable energy mix. [EconoTimes]

Wattle Point wind farm near Edithburgh, South Australia
(Photo: ScottDavis / Wikimedia)

¶ “Push towards renewable energy in India indicates coal is becoming yesterday’s fuel source” • Revelations that Labor has plans to progressively retire Australia’s coal-fired power stations put the cat among the energy pigeons. But, the fact is Australia is being buffeted by winds of change blowing far from our shores. [Courier Mail]

¶ “Through climate change denial, we’re ceding global leadership to China” • China was no more prepared for the results of the American election than the US. But it has been quick to size up the environmental implications of a Trump victory, and officials in Beijing are contriving to cast China in a fresh leadership role. [Los Angeles Times]

Shenzhen has won awards for its efforts to tackle climate change.
(Brent Ng / Associated Press)

World:

¶ As Liberians await the first 22-MW turbine at the Mt Coffee Hydro Power Plant to go online on December 15, the ‘Liberia Energy Access Practitioner’ group has been launched to help government decentralize energy to rural areas in the country. The program was organized by Mercy Corps with funding from the EU. [Liberian Daily Observer]

¶ About 20,000 passengers were stranded at an airport in Chengdu, China as flights were grounded because of heavy smog and a thick fog that left the city in a dark haze. The air quality index in Chengdu registered 280, a level considered “very unhealthy.” In some industrial cities south of Beijing, the air quality levels reach up to 875. [Digital Journal]

Pollution is a popular discussion topic on social media.
(File photo: Fred Dufour, AFP)

¶ The European Commission, the legislative arm of the EU, will publish a draft law allowing higher payment for surplus energy. Much of the money set aside by the law will be funneled to renewable energy companies, so they can provide electricity only when it is needed rather than simply generating as much as possible. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

¶ An initiative by youth organisations in Cameroon to turn human waste into biogas is reducing pollution and providing cheap, renewable energy. A non-governmental organisation run by young people, Bioenergy-Cameroon, installs equipment that converts waste from septic tanks and pit latrines into biogas. [New Straits Times Online]

Filling a bioreactor in Cameroon (Photo: Bioenergy-Cameroon)

US:

¶ Throngs of veterans from the group “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock” were arriving at the freezing Dakota Access Pipeline protest site on Sunday, one day before authorities are expected to remove protesters. The group said more than 2,000 veterans had signed up to support members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. [CNN]

¶ On Sunday afternoon, tribe members and their numerous allies celebrated, crying tears of joy, over the fact the pipeline project would be rerouted away from land that’s deemed sacred. Even so, the decision to re-route the Dakota Access Pipeline could be reversed once President Barack Obama leaves office next month. [CNN]

Snow covers the camp on November 30.

¶ The Solar Energy Industries Association reports that over 147 solar companies employ nearly 2000 people in Connecticut. The installed capacity of solar PVs in Connecticut is 265 MW, ranking it 17th in the US. The state’s 2015 solar installation ranks 14th nationally, growing 64% in 2015, with 91 MW installed for the year. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Comments from utility DTE Energy’s CEO Gerry Anderson provided may be the best assessment of the future of coal: “I don’t know anybody in the country who would build another coal plant.” He says coal is dying because of its cost, and that is the case “regardless of what Trump may or may not do with the Clean Power Plan.” [Madison.com]

Michigan coal plant (DTE Energy image)

¶ The environmental group Hudson River Sloop Clearwater sued New York regulators over their subsidies for upstate nuclear power plants. Clearwater wants the court to vacate a part of the state’s Clean Energy Standard that would pay zero-emission credits to three generators that could have closed as early as next year. [RTO Insider]

¶ Scientists recognize that a waterborne disease sickening tens of thousands of people each year is associated with warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico moving northward, partly due to climate change. While it is rare in New Hampshire and Maine, scientists have seen cases elsewhere in New England and expect it to spread. [Torrington Register Citizen]

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Opinion:

¶ “EPA boss: Here’s the good news about climate change (yes, that exists)” • Climate change is happening now. We’re causing
it. And frankly, it can seem terrifying. But – and this is a critical “but” – there’s still room for hope. That’s the message we may take from an interview with the outgoing head of the EPA, Gina McCarthy. [CNN]

Dawn (US Fish and Wildlife Service photo)

World:

¶ Many Albertans have been left on edge, thanks to the federal and provincial plans to phase out coal power plants and mines by 2030. However, Kim Perrotta, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, believes phasing out coal will have many benefits for all Albertans, especially for their health. [660 News]

¶ The sun looks like it is setting on Japan’s clean energy boom, despite projects like a massive floating solar farm near Tokyo. Renewable energy investments have hit a plateau and are set to fall as Tokyo cuts back subsidies while fossil fuels remain cheap. Japan also has a shortage of land for new solar installations. [Taipei Times]

Solar panels with Mount Fuji in the background
(Photo: AFP / Solar Frontier Company)

¶ India is the world’s most attractive destination in the energy sector that has the potential to attract investments of a trillion dollars over the next few years, Union power minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. He said his optimism for the energy sector stemmed from the Narendra Modi government’s climate commitment. [Hindustan Times]

¶ As heavy rains pound some parts of Kenya, livestock are dying in other areas due to prolonged drought. The National Drought Management Authority says pastoralists in arid regions have suffered huge losses. Climate scientists say that pastoralists and livestock keepers are the people in the country most hurt by climate change. [Daily Nation]

Livestock in Kenya

US:

¶ Columbia, Missouri could more than double the amount of wind energy it uses with a proposed contract coming before the city council Monday. The Columbia City Council will take under consideration a contract with Iowa-based Crystal Lake Wind III LLC to purchase wind energy for $19.55/MWh (1.955¢/kWh). [Columbia Daily Tribune]

¶ Senator Diane Feinstein has urged the US Department of Agriculture to revisit her request for federal aid to help crews clear over 100 million dead trees posing hazards throughout California’s forests. Dried out, free-standing timber throughout the state threatens nearby structures and increases the risk of forest fires. [Asianjournal.com]

California forest in trouble

¶ The idea of deploying microgrids is gaining momentum throughout the US. A total of 124 microgrids with a combined capacity of 1,169 MW were operating across the nation as of July 2015, according to Pew Research. The group also predicted that microgrid capacity will grow to exceed 2,850 MW by 2020. [Satellite PR News]

¶ Rhode Island sits in the middle of one of the most wealthy and progressive regions of the world. But with 400 miles of coastline, it’s also one of the most susceptible areas to flooding and erosion. A committee, with a working name of the Civic Alliance for a Cooler Rhode Island is starting to meet to accelerate climate action. [The Westerly Sun]

Uniquely susceptible Rhode Island (Courtesy of ecoRI)

¶ An energy overhaul pending in the Michigan legislature has Democrats focusing on solar net metering. It is only a small part of a big energy package, but it became a huge part of the debate when the Senate introduced bills that would require users to buy energy at a retail rate but sell it at what is essentially a wholesale rate. [MLive.com]

¶ About 360 people gathered at the State Capitol in Hartford, Connecticut to oppose natural gas pipelines like the Access Northeast Pipeline, and to demand a renewed commitment to renewable energy. The march was organized by the Connecticut Sierra Club, 350 Connecticut, and a broad coalition of other groups. [WTNH Connecticut News]

Connecticut State Capitol

¶ New Mexico’s Kit Carson Electric Cooperative says it wants to serve all of its customers on sunny summer days with locally generated solar power by 2022. To hit that target, Reyes said, the co-op wants outside investors to build dozens of small solar arrays, of about 1 MW each, across its service territory. [Santa Fe New Mexican]

¶ Marquette, Michigan is on track to have its own community solar garden by next summer, offering city residents the chance to get their energy from the sun. The best part? The program will pay for itself. The Marquette Board of Light and Power adopted, in a 4-1 vote, a plan for its new community solar garden. [Marquette Mining Journal]

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Science and Technology:

¶ Batteries are not the cheapest way to store grid power. There are many different kinds of storage technologies, each with different characteristics. To be a sensible economic investment, the benefits have to outweigh the costs. Storage has to match the type of demand, considering how much power is needed, and for how long. [Gizmodo Australia]

Storage power ratings – Please click on the image to enlarge it.

World:

¶ China’s coal prices have soared this year due to domestic supply issues as the country tried to cut overcapacity. But new analysis suggests China’s coal demand will stabilize at around 4 billion tonnes, demand which will be able to be met easily with domestic supply, leading to the eventual phase-out of coal imports. [CleanTechnica]

¶ German wind turbine maker Senvion SA started operation of the 150-MW Mesgi’g Ugju’s’n wind farm in Quebec. The project is a 50/50 partnership between Canadian developer Innergex Renewable Energy Inc and the three Mi’gmaq communities located on the territory of Gespe’gewa’gi, namely Gesgapegiag, Gespeg and Listuguj. [SeeNews Renewables]

Senvion wind turbines (Source: Senvion, all rights reserved)

¶ According to a Greenpeace report, deaths from air pollution are underreported in India by 600,000 people per year. It kills over 1.6 million people in India, and the same number in China, every year. The main culprit is fossil fuels, particularly coal, and as use of these products increases, so do deaths caused by their pollution. [New Kerala]

¶ According to preliminary figures from the Power Trading Chamber, Brazil’s November wind power output rose by 57% on the year to 4,519 MW. Wind power’s share in total electricity generation grew to 7.3%. There was also growth in solar and biomass generation, though hydropower generation declined slightly. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in Brazil (Author: Otávio Nogueira, CC BY SA)

¶ An experimental Wave Hub renewable energy test site off the north coast of Cornwall is about to host its first commercial operation, after an Australian-based company announced plans to construct and operate a wave farm there. The annual output is due to rise to 15 MWh per year by 2020; enough to power 6000 homes. [Maritime Journal]

¶ The 23.1-MW Falcon Ma’an solar park in Jordan has been tied to the grid, according to an announcement by Enerray SpA. The facility is powered by JinkoSolar modules and uses SMA Solar Technology AG’s Medium Voltage Power Station. The solar park is expected to generate 147 million kWh of electricity per year. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar array (Image by Enerray)

US:

¶ An official with the company seeking to buy the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant says it can dismantle the power plant for the money currently in its decommissioning fund. The CEO of NorthStar says if his company can’t dismantle the plant for the $580 million in the fund, then his company would make up the difference. [Electric Light & Power]

¶ Wayland, Massachusetts is harnessing the power of the sun thanks to four new solar arrays. The town expects to save more than $100,000 per year through a partnership with Ameresco, based in Framingham. Ameresco will maintain and operate the arrays, which have over 4,200 panels, for the next two decades. [Wicked Local Wayland]

Wayland Middle School (Photo: Andrew Bakinowski, Ameresco)

¶ Massachusetts regulators are looking for an independent evaluator to help develop and run an upcoming call for offshore wind power. The state’s Department of Energy Resources has issued a request for quote, and responses are due by 9 December. Massachusetts is required by law to contract 1.6 GW of offshore wind by 2027. [reNews]

¶ When the Block Island Wind Farm officially goes online this month only four of its five offshore turbines will be operating. Turbine 2 broke down in early November during routine testing. It turned out that a 6-inch drill bit had been left behind between the turbine’s generator and direct-drive system during assembly of the 6-MW turbine. [ecoRI news]

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Opinion:

¶ “Mayors could override Trump on the Paris climate accord – here’s how” • In a recent op-ed, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote, “If the Trump administration does withdraw from the Paris accord, I will recommend that the 128 US mayors who are part of the Global Covenant of Mayors seek to join in its place.” [Business Insider]

Sunny day flooding now hits Miami regularly, thanks to rising
sea levels. (Photo by B137, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

World:

¶ Blueprint documents for the wind and hydro sector from China’s National Energy Administration showed that the country is set to spend at least ¥1.2 trillion ($174 billion) between 2016 and 2020, according to Reuters. Construction of new wind farms is expected to provide approximately 300,000 new jobs by 2020. [CleanTechnica]

¶ All new single-decker buses for use within the center of town
in London will be zero-emissions models from here on out, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced. He was speaking at a public event unveiling of the “world’s first” hydrogen fuel cell double-decker bus, which will be trialled in London in 2017. [CleanTechnica]

London zero-emissions bus

¶ The Canadian province of Alberta, known for its notoriously dirty oil sands, has just made a symbolically significant about-face on energy policy, with potentially major implications for North American wind power. First up is a tender for 5 GW of wind power. Alberta will also pay its coal plants $1 billion to shut down. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Offshore wind projects have fewer delays and cost overruns than other large power and utility projects, according to a new report from EY. While offshore wind averaged about 15% over budget, with delays of less than six months, hydropower, water, coal and nuclear projects were over budget by 49% on average. [reNews]

London Array (Credit: reNews)

¶ The global solar PV market is set to increase nearly 70 GW in 2016, reaching 294.69 GW, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. A new report from GlobalData investigating the global solar PV market concluded that capacity will increase from around 225 GW in 2015 to 294.69 GW by the end of 2016. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The mayors of Paris, Mexico City, Madrid, and Athens said their cities will stop the use of all diesel-powered cars and trucks by the middle of the next decade to improve air quality. They will give incentives for alternative vehicle use and promote walking and cycling. The commitments were made in Mexico at a biennial meeting of city leaders. [BBC]

Air quality in Paris (Getty Images)

¶ EU countries are on track to meet their 2020 targets for renewable energy and emissions cuts but could fall short of longer-term goals, according to the European Environment Agency. “The EU’s 2020 targets on energy and climate are now well within reach,” its executive director said in a statement. [ETEnergyworld.com]

¶ Gamesa won a contract to deliver 55 of its G114-2.1MW turbines for a wind farm in Chile. The company will install the machines at the first phase of the Cabo Leones 1 wind farm in the Comuna de Freirina, which is being developed by EDF EN and Ibereolica. The turbines will be delivered by the end of the first half of 2017. [reNews]

4.5 MW wind turbine (Gamesa image)

¶ A Senate inquiry has recommended closing all 24 of the coal-fired power stations in Australia over the next ten years and the creation of a comprehensive energy transition plan to help with the ordered closure of the plants. The Retirement of Coal Fired power Stations Inquiry made four energy recommendations. [Green Left Weekly]

US:

¶ Xcel Energy’s Courtenay Wind Farm, a 200-MW project in North Dakota, is now fully operational. The project is in an area ideal for wind development. The project comprises 100 Vestas turbines and is now delivering enough energy, on average, to power approximately 100,000 homes, according to Xcel. [North American Windpower]

Wind farm under construction

¶ The House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology tweeted a misleading article at Breitbart about the state of the global climate. It read, “Global Temperatures Plunge. Icy Silence from Climate Alarmists.” Senator Bernie Sanders responded to the tweet, asking, “Where’d you get your PhD? Trump University?” [mySanAntonio.com]

¶ The green energy tariff that regulators approved for a $250 million Facebook data center under construction in New Mexico could trigger a “sea change” for renewable energy in the state, according to a public utilities attorney who had been retained by Facebook to negotiate with Public Service Company of New Mexico. [Albuquerque Journal]

Facebook data center for Los Lunas (Source: Facebook)

¶ A technology developed at the University of Chicago, and now being commercialized by a University startup, is addressing the intermittent nature of some renewable energy sources. It uses a selectively evolved, unicellular microorganism that helps convert electricity into bio-methane gas, a renewable replacement for natural gas. [Phys.Org]

¶ Two Illinois nuclear plants on life support got at least 10 more years after Exelon won a bid for ratepayer-financed subsidies. The governor and Democratic legislative leaders agreed on legislation requiring ratepayers statewide to finance hundreds
of millions annually in support for the nukes along with clean energy. [Crain’s Chicago Business]

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Science and Technology:

¶ New research from Ohio State University determined that a calving event creating an enormous iceberg in West Antarctica in 2015 was even more notable than first thought. It was the result of a deep, subsurface rift that formed approximately 20 miles inland. This implies that the glacier is deteriorating faster than thought. [CleanTechnica]

Rift in Antarctic glacier

World:

¶ The European Commission unveiled a reform of Europe’s power grid after 2020 on Wednesday. The draft law, which still needs to be approved by member states and the European Parliament, sets a binding target to cut energy use by 30% by 2030 and for renewable energy to make up at least 27% of the bloc’s power mix by 2030. [Zawya]

¶ The recently completed Kamuthi Solar Power Plant in Tamil Nadu is the largest solar power plant in the world. Since Delhi, Mumbai, and many other Indian cities have chronic pollution problems, this news brings the much-needed respite for India. The Kamuthi power plant is will supply enough power for over 150,000 homes. [Northbridge Times]

Kamuthi solar power plant

¶ Nuclear energy and wind power remained the top two sources of electricity generation in Spain for the first 11 months of 2016, with shares of 23.1% and 19.9%, respectively. According to the provisional figures released today by grid operator Red Electrica de Espana, renewables accounted for 42.2% of total generation.
[SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The oil cartel OPEC has agreed its first supply cut in eight years, after more than two years of depressed oil prices because of a supply glut on the market. OPEC’s president said that a cut of 1.2 million barrels a day would start from January. The price of Brent crude jumped 10% to $51.94 a barrel, and US crude rose 9% to $49.53. [BBC News]

Oil prices since 2014

US:

¶ The frigid North Dakota cold hasn’t stopped thousands of protesters from camping outside, trying to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Now, leaders of “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock” said they’re ready to go to North Dakota to join them, even though it was 29° Fahrenheit there on Wednesday afternoon. [CNN]

¶ A survey by Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, conducted for the Conservative Energy Network, found that strong majorities supported increasing their states’ use of wind, solar, and hydropower, while a plurality supported the increased use of natural gas, and a majority opposed the increased use of coal. [Morning Consult]

Wind turbines (toddarbini iStock.com)

¶ Michigan’s largest utility, DTE Energy, is moving ahead with efforts to phase out its use of coal and will not be swayed by any potential changes to federal energy policy. DTE Energy intends to embrace renewable energy more aggressively in the coming years regardless of what changes come from the recent election. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

¶ American Electric Power is asking regulators for $52 million to build eight to ten microgrids in Columbus, Ohio. The microgrids are to be installed at critical facilities, such as hospitals, shelters, water plants, grocery stores and gas stations. AEP intends to let other nearby customers to connect to the on-site generation for a fee. [Greentech Media]

Columbus, Ohio (American Electric Power)

¶ Active Energy Group plc developed CoalSwitch, a biomass fuel that can be mixed at any ratio with coal as a drop-in fuel, or replace it altogether, in existing coal-burning powered plants. The company is building its first production facility in North America following recent testing and endorsement by Rocky Mountain Power. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority may become the first US state entity to participate in a federal auction for an offshore wind site. NYSERDA submitted documentation and a bid deposit to take part in an auction for a 79,350-acre Wind Energy Area 12 miles off the Long Island coast. [Windpower Engineering]

Offshore wind power

¶ The US EPA has published a proposed decision on the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) fuel efficiency standards. The CAFE standards were set by the current Obama Administration back in 2012. The proposed decision simply maintains the current standards for vehicles in model years 2012 through 2025. [CleanTechnica]

¶ A Texan under consideration to lead the EPA wants to end subsidies for renewable energy and said it’s not clear how much human activity contributes to global warming. Kathleen Hartnett White, the head of a conservative Texas think tank, confirmed that she is being considered to lead the EPA after meeting with Donald Trump. [Sacramento Bee]

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