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World:

¶ The new extended-range electric taxi model being made by the London Electric Vehicle Company will be exported to various parties in Norway beginning in 2018, the company announced. This follows an earlier agreement for the LEVC to supply the electric taxis to a transportation service for elderly and disabled persons in Amsterdam. [CleanTechnica]

London Electric Vehicle Company taxi (Screen shot)

¶ Transitioning the world to 100% renewable electricity is not just some environmentalist pipe dream, a study from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology asserts. It is “feasible at every hour throughout the year” and is more cost-effective than the current system, which largely relies on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. [AlterNet]

¶ Enel has won the rights to develop wind farms totalling 718 MW in Brazil and Argentina, in the Latin American countries’ latest renewables auctions. In Brazil, Enel will develop three projects totalling 618 MW, after securing 20-year power supply contracts in the tender organised by the country’s energy regulator ANEE. [reNews]

Wind farm in Brazil (Image: Enel Green Power)

¶ Saskatchewan’s power generation by coal is decreasing, though it still remains the largest source, according to the National Energy Board’s Renewable Power Landscape report. In 2005, coal accounted for 67% of energy production in the province. It is now down to 49%. In one year alone, from 2015 to 2016, it fell by 6.5 per cent. [CBC.ca]

¶ German developer Innogy has completed turbine installation at its 353-MW Galloper wind farm off the Suffolk coast of the UK. The project’s final Siemens Gamesa 6.3-MW turbine was installed by Fred Olsen jack-up Bold Tern. Galloper exported first power on 5 November and 12 of the project’s 56 turbines are already sending power to the grid. [reNews]

Final turbine at Galloper (Innogy image)

¶ Wind is now the cheapest source of renewable energy in India. Auctions conducted in Gujarat on Dec. 21 revealed a record-low tariff of ₹2.43 a unit (3.8¢/kWh). That is nearly 8% cheaper than the previous low of ₹2.64 that the industry saw in October. This tariff is also less than the lowest solar power tariff of ₹Rs2.44 recorded in May. [Quartz]

¶ The Brooks project, which launched last week off the Trans-Canada Highway in southeast Alberta, is the first utility-scale solar facility in Western Canada, far surpassing any other solar project currently operating. This is the first of several renewable energy projects to be constructed in Alberta as the province shifts away from coal power. [CBC.ca]

Brooks solar project and a pump jack (Photo: Kyle Bakx | CBC)

¶ More than half of the UK’s electricity came from renewable resources and nuclear power stations between July and September, official figures show. The record high share of 54.4% of power from low carbon sources was a result of the rapid growth in solar and wind power, according to the Office for National Statistics. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ The California Public Utilities Commission was scheduled to make a decision on PG&E’s application to decommission Diablo Canyon, the last nuclear power plant in the state, on Dec 14 vote, but put the vote off to a Jan 11 meeting. The commissioners made the decision to delay the vote without explaining their reasons. [New Times SLO]

Diablo Canyon Power Plant (Photo: New Times SLO)

¶ PNM Resources has shuttered two of four coal-fired units at its San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, New Mexico, in order to comply with federal visibility regulations, Kallanish Energy reports. The company’s Public Service Co of New Mexico, the state’s largest utility, made the announcement on December 20. [Kallanish Energy]

¶ Swedish heat power technology company Climeon announced an order for a small-scale geothermal power plant in California. The market for small-scale geothermal plants has seen a surge in interest. It is expected to provide opportunities for development and investment with an estimated market volume of billions of dollars. [ThinkGeoEnergy]

Susanville, California (flickr | David Prasad, creative commons)

¶ Deepwater Wind, the developer of the nation’s first offshore wind farm, proposed to the state of Massachusetts a multi-phase wind project in conjunction with the owner of Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Project and National Grid. The state had called for companies to supply at least 400 MW of offshore wind power. [The Recorder]

¶ Staff of the Georgia Public Service Commission asked Georgia Power whether it had considered a microgrid “for such a critical customer” as the Atlanta airport before this week’s 11-hour electrical outage. The airport lost power after a fire broke out in a service tunnel under the airport, and over 1,000 flights had to be cancelled. [Microgrid Knowledge]

Atlanta airport power outage

¶ Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power has received permission to complete the first new nuclear units in the US in 30 years. A press release said the Georgia Public Service Commission has given the company unanimous approval to finish work on Vogtle 3 and 4, which are near Waynesboro, Georgia. [Investing News Network]

¶ The “Clean Energy Industry Report” from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center said that the Massachusetts clean energy sector grew by 4% between 2016 and 2017. According to figures from MassCEC, the number of clean energy jobs in the state has increased by a whopping 81% since 2010, and it now employs 109,226 workers. [North American Windpower]

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This entry was posted on December 22, 2017 at 7:58 am and is filed under nuclear power, renewable power, solar, wind.

Tags: nuclear, nuclear power, renewable power, solar power, wind power