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Opinion:

¶ “The Fortune 500 Can’t Go Along with a Rollback on Climate Policy” • Nearly every firm in the Fortune 500 has acknowledged the reality of climate change, along with thousands of smaller companies. Most of the business world sees climate change’s tremendous threat – they need to make that perspective heard. [Harvard Business Review]

Flooding stops a film crew in Miami Beach
(Photo by maxstrz, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ “Experts: Trump’s Climate Policies Could Shift US Jobs to China” • Wind power is 60% cheaper than it was just seven years ago. Large-scale solar is 80% cheaper. Renewable power is now often cheaper than natural gas. The big leadership opportunity for energy growth is for wind and solar in the developing world. [Big News Network.com]

World:

¶ The Solar Impulse Foundation launched the World Alliance for Clean Technologies at COP22, as a legacy to the first solar flight around the world. Its goal is to federate the main actors in the field of clean technologies, creating synergies and promoting profitable solutions to some of the world’s most pressing energy needs. [PennEnergy]

Solar Impulse

¶ Fears that the UK power system would not be able to cope with intermittent technologies, such as wind and solar, have been “overblown”, according to the Secretary of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Speaking at the annual Energy UK conference, he said “doubters have been proven wrong.” [reNews]

¶ Spanish clean energy company Acciona Energía has connected the 246-MW El Romero solar plant in Atacama desert, Chile to the county’s Interconnected Central System. The $343-million plant features 776,000 polycrystalline silicon PV modules, spread across 280 hectares. It was completed “in record time.” [Energy Business Review]

The El Romero Solar plant (Photo courtesy of Acciona)

¶ Last year set a record for global PV installations, according
to a International Energy Agency’s report, Trends in Photovoltaic Applications, with 51 GW installed in 2015, up from around 40 GW in the two preceding years. At least 227 GW of PV are now installed worldwide, supplying over 1.2% of global electricity. [Greentech Media]

¶ Having already signed two renewable energy purchase deals in the US and Scotland in just over a year, confectionery company Mars Inc announced a new wind power partnership, this time in Mexico. The company urged global leaders to adopt ambitious goals; its own objective is to become carbon neutral by 2040. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in Mexico. (Author: Presidencia
de la República Mexicana. CC BY SA 2.0)

¶ The renewable energy projects operating and being developed in the Dominican Republic could produce 27% of its electricity by 2018. Generation is being developed from solid waste and wind. Hydroelectric plants already produce 15% of the electricity. The country could easily exceed its promised 25% for COP21. [Dominican Today]

¶ The nuclear agreement reached by Japan and India was greeted with protests from survivors of the 1945 atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and evacuees from the Fukushima Disaster. Some are incensed about the accord because India has nuclear weapons but has not joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. [Asahi Shimbun]

Protest against the nuclear agreement (Tetsuro Takehana)

¶ Guleslettene Vindkraft AS has been granted concession to
build and operate a wind farm of up to 160 MW in Bremanger and Flora, Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said. The ministry ordered bird studies in the area, the results of which will help make sure the turbines do not have a significant impact. [SeeNews Renewables]

US:

¶ ExxonMobil has just dropped a tweet in support of putting the Paris climate agreement into force. Connect the dots, and that may mean the Trump Administration may be poised to throw coal under the bus. The company has clearly been positioning itself to be able to continue extracting fossil fuels in a changing world. [CleanTechnica]

Coal trains (Photo: Kimon Berlin via
flickr.com, creative commons license)

¶ Indiana Michigan Power has finished building a new solar PV facility in Watervliet Township, Michigan. The 35-acre site has more than 50,000 solar panels to generate up to 4.6 MW of electricity, enough to power 650 homes. It is the company’s fourth solar generating facility to become operational in the
past year. [Herald Palladium]

¶ The nation’s three major coal-producing regions experienced the sharpest declines in production in 29 years for 2015 and are on pace this year to hit declines even more severe. Employment numbers show a 12% drop in one year. Coal consumption saw a 23% decrease in the first seven months of 2016, compared with 2015. [Deseret News]

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Science and Technology:

¶ Fish being caught for our tables are shrinking according a survey of studies published in the journal Science. There has been a 23% decrease in commercial catches because of smaller body size, caused by rising ocean temperatures. This is particularly concerning because fish provide 17% of our protein. [The Sydney Morning Herald]

Smaller catches (Photo: Andrew Quilty)

¶ Climate change has already touched almost all life on the planet, even under moderate rates of global warming, according to a report published in the journal Science. An international team of researchers found 82% of key biological processes necessary for healthy ecosystems had been impacted by the phenomenon. [Huffington Post]

¶ Lappeenranta University of Technology’s global Internet of Energy Model uses a 100% renewable energy system for the electricity sector by 2030. Sych a system appears to be possible worldwide, as the total electricity cost would be around roughly €55/MWh to €70/MWh for all nine major regions of the world. [sciencefocus.com]

Energy for the future (Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

¶ A new analysis of the global climate from 2011 to 2015 by the World Meteorological Organization has highlighted the increasing link between human-induced climate change and extreme weather events. The new report, The Global Climate 2011-2015, investigated the warmest five-year period on record, 2011 to 2015. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ Politicians across Scotland’s islands have bitterly condemned the UK Government’s decision not to support renewable energy in the islands. The Government has not included the islands in the next round of Contract for Difference, a form of support that is required to make island renewable energy projects viable. [Island News & Advertiser]

South Uist community wind turbines

¶ India and Japan today signed the civil nuclear agreement during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Tokyo. The deal would allow Japan to export nuclear technology to India, making it the first country to have such a deal with Tokyo that has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But it would help counter an assertive China. [India TV]

¶ A Nuclear Cooperation Agreement between Japan and India will not save Westinghouse or Toshiba’s failing nuclear programs, nor will it deliver safe energy to India’s people, Greenpeace Japan and Greenpeace India warned in a joint statement. They say it will increase the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation in Asia. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Kudankulam Nuclear Plant (Photo via
indiawaterportal.org, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

US:

¶ A federal judge denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss the “climate kids” case, meaning their lawsuit over climate change will go to trial in federal court in Oregon, likely next year. The plaintiffs, ages 9 to 20, allege the federal government is doing far too little to keep dangerous global warming in check. [CNN]

¶ In 2017, non-hydro renewable-energy generating capacity should account for 9% of the country’s electricity-generation capacity, according to the US DOE’s most recent Short-Term Energy Outlook. That’s up from 8% this year, the agency says. Solar power is expected to account for most of the anticipated growth. [Green Car Reports]

Solar field at a VW plant in Chattanooga

¶ President-elect Donald Trump has selected Myron Ebell, a climate skeptic, to lead his Environmental Protection Agency transition team, a man whose beliefs are distinctly at odds with President Obama’s environmental policies. Ebell is also viewed by many as a top candidate to become the next head of the EPA. [WDEF News 12]

¶ Opposition from environmental groups and coal plant operators has kept bill that would bail out two nuclear plants from passing in the Illinois legislature. But Exelon is reportedly in negotiations with Texas-based coal power company Dynegy, and a compromise could benefit both the failing nuclear plants and coal. [Illinois Times]

Clinton nuclear power plant.

¶ Federal regulators made final a rule on how wind and solar power companies lease public land. The rule from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management creates a competitive bidding process for the first time for renewable energy on federal land, similar to the process gas and coal companies use. [The Hill]

¶ President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to roll back federal environmental regulations will likely have little effect on New York’s efforts to combat climate change, according to the state’s top energy official. New York’s various clean-energy programs are independent of the federal programs such as Clean Power Plan. [WGRZ.com]

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Opinion:

¶ “Managing climate risk in Trump’s America” • The world will forge ahead on reducing emissions without US leadership. The Paris Agreement has already taken effect. While the federal government may not try to meet the US commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, states’ policies and market forces will continue. [The Conversation US]

Street flooded by Hurricane Sandy, Lindenhurst, Long Island
(Photo by Jason DeCrow, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ “Trump Can’t Stop the Energy Revolution” • The planet is warming, dangerously so, and burning more coal will make it worse. President-elect Donald Trump thinks man-made climate change is a hoax and he’s promised to revive the US coal industry by cutting regulation. So renewables are dead in the water, right? Maybe not. [Bloomberg]

Science and Technology:

¶ Researchers from the US and the UK found evidence that the White Cliffs of Dover are undergoing rapid erosion. Erosion has been 10 times quicker in the last 150 years because of climate change and poor management of beaches. The findings of the study were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Science World Report]

White Cliffs of Dover (Photo : Ben Pruchnie / YouTube)

World:

¶ Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Parliament that Australia had become the hundred-and-fortieth country to ratify the agreement which was decided upon at the UN climate meeting in Paris last December. In April, the accord was signed by 196 nations in New York to limit warming to 2° C (3.6° F).
[Deutsche Welle]

¶ A huge tidal turbine was lowered into place on the seabed at a test site off the shore of Nova Scotia in the Bay of Fundy. Cape Sharp Tidal’s 1,000 ton turbine was set in place during an ebb tide that lasted four hours. The Bay of Fundy, with the highest and lowest tidal flow in the world, is a perfect place to harness tidal energy. [Digital Journal]

Tidal turbine being deployed (Cape Sharp Tidal image)

¶ Mainstream Renewable Power has signed an agreement for three wind farms in Vietnam which have a combined capacity of 940 MW. Mainstream had already announced an 800-MW project, but the agreement also covers two smaller projects. Mainstream has 10,000 MW of clean-powered projects under development. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The UK Government is seeking views on proposals to put into effect the closure of unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025. It has launched a consultation to test its plans for a constraint on coal generation “to manage closures in an orderly way,” as it moves on a low carbon economy. [Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy]

Coal plant (Image: Shutterstock)

¶ The UK government reaffirmed its commitment to spend £730 million of annual support on renewable electricity projects over this parliament, and set out details for the next contracts for difference auction where companies will compete for the first £290 million worth of contracts for renewable electricity projects. [Offshore Wind Journal]

¶ A million Australians are expected to connect batteries to their home solar power units in the next few years, creating a whole new source of base load power for the network. And according to Bloomfield’s energy expert Peter Littlewood, Australia is ideally placed when it comes to renewable resources, such as solar and wind power. [ABC Online]

A 7-kW solar array supplying a 13-kWh battery
(Image supplied by Repositpower.)

¶ Vietnam’s government is scrapping plans to construct the country’s first two nuclear power plants, citing slowing demand for electricity and declining prices of other sources of energy, state media reported The state-controlled Tuoi Tre newspaper said the lawmaking National Assembly will ratify the decision later this month. [Khaosod English]

¶ Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has developed a microstructured, chemical reactor providing a technology that is key for a plant planned in Finland to produce renewable fuels using solar power. The reactor can produce gasoline, diesel, and kerosene from regenerative hydrogen and CO2. [Energy Business Review]

KIT-Ineratec reactor (Photo courtesy of INERATEC/KIT)

US:

¶ The result of the US election may further aggravate the oversupply situation in the global PV market, according to an analyst for EnergyTrend. The federal Investment Tax Credit for solar power, which the congress has extend to the end of December 2022 will maintain PV demand in the US at a level over 8 GW per year to 2019. [CTIMES]

¶ The shares of companies in the renewable energy business plunged after Donald J. Trump’s victory, and shares of coal companies soared on anticipation the president-elect would make good on vows to revive the industry’s fortunes. By midday, however, renewable energy stocks had recovered some of their lost ground. [Washington Post]

SolarCity employees install solar panels
(Michael Nagle / Bloomberg)

¶ The effect of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election on future wind turbine installations in the US would be modest, according to the head of the Danish Wind Industry Association. He said Trump could see wind energy is good business, and current development supports would be hard to remove. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Environmentalists hail the Colorado state regulators’ approval of a landmark, far-reaching Xcel Energy deal with implications not just for that industry but for how all of the utility’s residents in Colorado may someday be charged for their electricity. Xcel calls it the largest agreement of its kind ever in Colorado. [Grand Junction Daily Sentinel]

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Science and Technology:

Artist: Azmaa Omassou / ZME Science / COP22.

¶ Scientists are dismayed at the election of science denier Donald Trump, calling it a huge blow. Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a veteran US observer of the UN climate talks, in Marrakech, Morocco, said he hopes Donald Trump will adopt a more “responsible” view of climate change once he takes office. [Hong Kong Standard]

¶ The World Meteorological Organization has just submitted a detailed climate analysis in a report “The Global Climate in 2011-2015,” the hottest years on record, and it doesn’t look very good. The WMO shows that humanity’s footprint on extreme weather and climate events is becoming more pronounced, dangerous, and costly. [ZME Science]

World:

¶ The smog smothering millions in New Delhi is so thick, it’s plainly visible from space. Visible satellite imagery posted by NASA’s Worldview tool shows persistent smog across northern India since late October. This coincides with the advent of winter weather patterns that often bring more stagnant air masses to the region. [Mashable]

Smog in India delineated by blue arrows (NASA Worldview image)

¶ Spanish energy giant Gamesa reached a new milestone in its development of offgrid electricity generation, with a lithium power storage battery system at its prototype installation in La Muela, Spain. The prototype combines solar power, wind power, diesel generation, and battery storage in a single offgrid solution. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Punjab’s Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated the state’s largest solar power plant, which was set up at an investment of around ₹640 crore ($137 million). He said the 100-MW plant is India’s largest horizontal single axis tracking plant at a single location and would be instrumental in changing the face of the state’s economy. [News18]

Solar plant like that in Punjab (Reuters)

¶ DP Energy and Floating Power Plant have formed a joint venture to evaluate and potentially develop two sites in Scotland and Wales for floating offshore demonstration projects. Danish outfit Floating Power Plant developed the platform, which combines a 5-MW to 8-MW wind turbine with a 2-MW to 3.6-MW wave device. [reNews]

¶ Vattenfall has won the rights to build the 600-MW Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in Denmark with a record-low bid price of 37.2 ore/kWh (€50/MWh ($55/MWh). The Swedish utility beat competition from DONG, Statoil, EnBW, and Eon to win the Danish government tender. It will invest up to €1.3 billion in the project. [reNews]

Kentish Flats offshore wind farm (Credit: Vattenfall)

¶ Commissioning is underway at Dong Energy’s REnescience facility in Cheshire with the first waste due to arrive in February 2017. It can treat up to 120,000 tonnes a year. Once operational, the site will generate approximately 5 MW of renewable power and deliver clean plastic and metals for recycling. [Materials Recycling World]

¶ Wind turbines could soon supply most of the UK’s electricity, the boss of the country’s largest windfarm operator said. He confirmed plans to sell DONG Energy’s oil and gas division, to help DONG be a “global leader in renewables.” DONG was set up 44 years ago to exploit Denmark’s North Sea oilfields. [The Guardian]

Dong Energy’s London Array windfarm
(Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

¶ Novo Nordisk, a healthcare company with more than 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care, is an industry pioneer in sustainability. All of the company’s production facilities worldwide will be run on renewable power by 2020. The production site in Tianjin realized this goal four years early. [Global Times]

¶ Fracking in Scotland is “doomed”, according to one MSP, while another said it was clear the Scottish Government “is on a long journey to saying no”, to the controversial process. The comments came after Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse published a series of reports on the technique, with MSPs expected to vote this year. [The National]

Fracking, on balance without much benefit

US:

¶ The Energy Information Administration expects US crude oil production for 2016 and 2017 to fall by less than previously expected, according to its November Short-Term Energy Outlook. The agency said 2016 oil production will fall by 580,000 barrels per day to 8.84 million bpd. It also predicted a decline in 2017 production. [Reuters]

¶ Entergy Corp announced today an agreement to sell the closed Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which would shorten the time to dismantle and decontaminate the site by 45 years. Entergy plans to transfer its federal licenses to subsidiaries of NorthStar Group Services to accelerate decommissioning and site restoration. [The Recorder]

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

¶ ExxonMobil Corp is misleading investors about the drop in its oil and gas reserves resulting from climate change risks and the decline in oil prices, according to a class action lawsuit filed in federal court. The company is charged with posting positive projections about oil reserves it knew it wouldn’t be able to extract. [Bloomberg BNA]

¶ Through October, 2016 was the second hottest year on record for the contiguous United States with an average temperature of 57.8 degrees Fahrenheit or 2.8 degrees warmer than average, scientists with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information said. The only year that was warmer during this period was 2012. [The Weather Channel]

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Opinion:

¶ “Public power: An industry in flux” • The power industry is in the midst of tectonic-level shifts, the heads of Nebraska’s three largest electric utilities said Monday. One of the most visible is the closing of the Fort Calhoun Station, the fifth US nuclear power plant to begin the process of closing in the past five years. [Lincoln Journal Star]

Wind turbine in a field near Lincoln, Nebraska
(Photo by Urban, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ “Here’s How You Know the Coal Industry Is All but Dead” • Considering the number of bankruptcies to hit the coal industry over the past few years, there’s irony in the crazy rally that has seen coal prices triple in 2016. Yet despite what looks to be good news, Caterpillar is looking to exit an important equipment market. [Motley Fool]

Science and Technology:

¶ An emerging option for grid stability, which will get a hearing next week at the 15th International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power in Vienna, is synthetic inertia. It is achieved by programming power inverters at wind turbines so that they emulate the behavior of synchronized spinning masses. [IEEE Spectrum]

Quebec wind farm (Photo: iStockphoto)

World:

¶ Extended outages at some of Electricite de France SA nuclear reactors have sent European power prices to records. The world’s biggest operator of atomic plants has cut its 2016 output target for a third time after the regulator asked for more information on the first five units to have completed required safety checks. [BloombergQuint]

¶ According to a report released by Oxfam, members of ISIS have torched more than a dozen oil wells as they retreat towards Mosul ahead of a massive Iraqi offensive. The situation was made worse after ISIS set fire to a sulfur plant in the area. ISIS fighters are leaving behind a toxic cloud causing breathing-related illnesses. [The Weather Channel]

Iraqi oil wells burning (NASA satellite image)

¶ Dulas, a leading British solar refrigeration manufacturer and renewable energy specialist, has won a contract to supply a total of 345 VC200 Solar Direct Drive fridges, used to safely store vaccines, to agencies working in Yemen, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. The fridges will be used to help fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. [PennEnergy]

¶ A smarter power system using clean technologies could save UK households £90 per year by 2030 according to a new report by think tank Policy Exchange. It identifies important ways to remove regulatory and policy barriers facing new technologies such as demand response and storage, to create a level playing field. [The Actuary]

System overhaul needed (©Shutterstock)

¶ China, the world’s biggest clean-energy investor, lowered its solar and wind power targets for 2020, a reflection of how record installations of renewables have overwhelmed the ability of the nation’s grid to absorb the new electricity. China is now aiming for 110 GW of solar power by 2020, a 27% reduction in the target capacity. [Bloomberg]

¶ China Renewable Energy Investment Ltd said its 74-MW wind power project in Henan province has been given a final approval by the Luoyang Development and Reform Commission. The wind farm is expected to be able to generate approximately 153 GWh of electricity annually, enough to power some 63,000 local households. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind turbine. (Author: Susanne Nilsson.
License: CC BY SA 2.0 Generic.)

¶ China Guangdong Nuclear Power Research Institute officials announced signing a vessel purchase agreement, marking the official start of construction of their first offshore nuclear power plant. The reactor, with a capacity of 60 MW, was developed for the supply of electricity, heat, and desalination, according to CGN. [Next Big Future]

¶ China aims to cap coal-fired power capacity at 1,100 GW in 2020, higher than the current ceiling but accounting for less of the country’s total power supply, as the top global energy market seeks to increase the use of cleaner renewable fuels. China aims to have 2,000 GW of generating capacity by 2020. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]

Coal working in China
(Photo by Ismoon, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

US:

¶ Ameresco has completed a 16-MW landfill-gas-to-energy project in Illinois. The facility, at the Orchard Hills Generating Station near Rockford, Illinois is powered by six 620 GE Jenbacher engines. Municipal solid waste landfills accounts for 20% of methane emissions in 2014, according to the EPA. [Environmental Leader]

¶ Boulder, Colorado has long contemplated kicking out Xcel Energy Inc and creating its own electric utility. The city said the new utility would include more renewable energy in its portfolio than Xcel can provide. Boulder’s proposed city-owned electric utility, “would be cost effective over a 20-year period.” [Denver Business Journal]

The Pearl Street Mall in Boulder
(Mark Harden | Denver Business Journal)

¶ Last week, the EPA took a big step in its Clean Power Plan campaign, finalizing a voluntary carbon trading model for states and sending it to Office of Management and Budget for review. The model, ClimateWire notes, could form the foundation of federal compliance plans issued to states that do not write their own. [Utility Dive]

¶ Wal-Mart is laying out its environmental map for the next several years as it tries to satisfy customers who want green products at affordable prices. The world’s largest retailer said it will seek to reduce emissions in its own operations by 18% by 2025. It will also work to add no waste to landfills in Canada and the United States. [Lowell Sun]

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Opinion:

¶ “Swansea tidal lagoon: The environmental arguments” • The prospect of securing the world’s first tidal power station off the shores of Swansea Bay is seen by many green organisations as pretty momentous. It could supply Wales with 11% of its power, and similar projects are in the wings. The WWF urges caution for migrating birds. [BBC News]

Migrating birds that depend on the Severn Estuary

Science and Technology:

¶ The hottest year on record globally in 2015 could be just another average year by 2025 if carbon emissions continue to rise at their current rate, according to new research published in the Bulletin of American Meteorological Society. And that “new normal” for global average temperatures is already locked in for no later than 2040. [Phys.Org]

¶ The UN Environment Program says the door will close on the 1.5° C warming limit unless countries raise their ambition before 2020. The Emissions Gap report was published one day before the Paris Agreement on climate change enters into force. It is the first to explicitly measure the so-called “ambition gap” for 1.5° C. [Carbon Brief]

Pollution in the wind (Credit: Zhan Tian)

World:

¶ Africa produces just 3.5% of the world’s fossil fuel emissions, despite having 16% of the population. The continent’s energy infrastructure is far less developed than that of other regions. The International Energy Agency says around 600 million people in Africa do not have access to electricity. But green energy is growing in Africa. [Deutsche Welle]

¶ Currently 40% of the energy generated in Finland comes from renewable sources, and power plants use waste as raw material in order to produce heat and electricity. Mexico could follow this lead because of its interest in energy reform and commitment to promote the use of clean energy. Finland has solutions to offer. [The Yucatan Times]

Wind power in Mexico

¶ Residents in a village in northern Scotland have launched an ambitious £400,000 green energy project, aimed at saving the tiny settlement. The Knockando Community Trust wants to sell electricity generated by a water turbine in the Knockando Burn, and use the cash to rescue the crumbling village hall they consider vital. [Press and Journal]

¶ Fresh air doesn’t exist in New Delhi at the moment. India’s capital is choking under heavy smog, with some parts of the city reporting levels almost five times the minimum level considered “unhealthy” by the US EPA. Measurements of the Air Quality Index taken at the US Embassy in Delhi were literally off the standard chart. [CNN]

Smog at the Jama Masjid Mosque

¶ South Africa’s cabinet is to consider a proposal that a mooted nuclear power deal for the country be financed through the state-owned power utility Eskom. This is the latest twist in South Africa’s controversial efforts to expand its nuclear power capacity with a total of up to 9.6 GW of energy at six nuclear power stations. [eNCA]

¶ Mainstream will develop and operate the 800-MW Phu Cuong wind farm in Vietnam’s Soc Trang Province in partnership with GE Energy Financial Services and local company Phu Cuong Group. The wind project, Vietnam’s largest to date, will be developed in five phases for about $2 billion, according to Mainstream. [reNews]

A Mainstream wind farm (Credit Jeffreys Bay Wind farm)

¶ Vietnam may postpone the construction of nuclear power plants with the participation of Russia and Japan because of financial problems. The government is reconsidering plans for nuclear power plants, as allocating sufficient funding it would be “extremely difficult,” Japan’s Kyodo news agency said. [Russia Beyond the Headlines]

¶ Wind turbines in Scotland provided enough electricity to supply the average needs of 87% of all Scotland’s homes last month, according to a WWF report. Data from WeatherEnergy showed turbines generated 792,717 MWh of electricity to the National Grid in October, up more than a quarter on the same month last year. [Herald Scotland]

Wind turbines providing power in Scotland

US:

¶ An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 shook central Oklahoma on Sunday, causing damage to a number of buildings. The epicenter of the quake struck the city of Cushing, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Oklahoma City. Tremors were felt as far away as Texas. The earthquake was one of 19 that have hit Oklahoma in the past week. [BBC]

¶ The Colorado River Research Group released a concise four-page paper explaining how climate change is affecting the river. It is a remarkably accessible summation of lots of complicated science. The conclusion is that we simply need to adapt to a future in which water scarcity is the norm. “Climate change is water change.” [News Deeply]

Steamboat on Lake Mead (Jae C. Hong, AP)

¶ The California Air Resources Board found another cheat device in Volkswagen Group cars. Like the earlier device the new one lowers a car’s CO2 emissions if the software detected that the car was on a test machine. However, the new cheat device was used on cars with automatic transmissions, both gasoline and diesel. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Arcadia Power has launched first nationwide community solar program. Available in all 50 states, Arcadia’s community solar product is for those who live in apartments, have shaded roofs, or don’t want to be locked down in a contract. Customers can purchase enough panels to bring their electricity bills to $0. [Your Renewable News]

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Opinion:

¶ “Climate change: What does it mean for Canada and how can we respond?” • Climate change is the biggest health threat of the 21st century, the World Health Organization says. Canada has already seen health impacts from increased air pollution from wildfires, the spread of Lyme disease, and other health issues. [Canada News]

Climate change in the North

Science and Technology:

¶ For every tonne of C02 a person produces (the amount of CO2 from burning 100 gallons of gasoline), three square meters of Arctic sea ice melts, according to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Germany, the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado, and the University College London in the UK. [DailyQuint]

¶ Burning fossil fuels and emissions of other greenhouse gases mean more of the earth’s heat that would have been radiated back to space is trapped at lower levels of the atmosphere. Cooling in the stratosphere is causing it to shrink, lowering that layer by “a number of kilometres”, according to NASA. [The Sydney Morning Herald]

The Paris climate agreement, in effect on November 4 (Photo: AP)

World:

¶ Western Queensland is becoming a major hub for solar energy, with the state’s largest solar power farm soon to go online and construction of another major project about to get underway. Six solar projects partially funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency were either recently completed or being built. [ABC Online]

¶ Sir Ed Davey, the UK’s Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015, has actually had to resort to a Freedom of Information request for a report he commissioned himself. And his request has been turned down, an act he calls “an abuse of power.” It is on the true costs of different electricity sources. [Telegraph.co.uk]

The true cost of wind power – a state secret?
(Photo: Graham / Rex Shutterstock)

¶ In Papua New Guinea, the Chief Executive Officer of PNG Power Limited says the government power company received an unsolicited proposal from Australian company, Mayur, to build coal-fired power plants in Lae, the second largest city, and other centers. The government has environmental concerns and is being cautious. [EMTV Online]

¶ The 2016 Vendee Globe, a non-stop round-the-world single-handed sailing race, starts on Sunday, November 6. One skipper is planning to become the first to race around the world using only 100% natural energy, with no fossil fuels. The sails have flexible solar cells on them, and the boat’s forward motion drives a generator. [sail-world.com]

Foresight Natural Energy (© Jean Marie Liot / DPPI)

¶ Japan and India are set to sign a controversial civil nuclear deal this week, reports said on Sunday, as the two Asian allies look to boost economic and security ties to counter China. India will be the first non-signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to reach such a nuclear deal with Japan. [South China Morning Post]

¶ African countries are adopting renewable energy strategies at a national levels to meet growing demand, according to a new report, “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries: Contributions to Reducing Global Emissions.” The report notes that these efforts could inspire similar efforts on a worldwide basis. [Face 2 Face]

The Noor solar plant in Morocco (Photo Credit: NPR)

US:

¶ New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte is the only Republican senator in a competitive race who admits humans are behind climate change and who backs President Obama’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Her stance cost millions of dollars in lost funding from the climate-denial-backing oil billionaire Koch brothers. [The Intercept]

¶ Alpha Omega, a winery in Rutherford, California, has placed into operation a new solar system featuring a “fully integrated” solar and battery facility back-up power system. The multi-million dollar microgrid system has already drastically reduced Alpha Omega’s average monthly PG&E bill from $15,000 to $1,000. [Napa Valley Register]

Alpha Omega’s solar awnings (Photo: Bob McClenahan)

¶ FuelCell Energy, Inc, a leader in the design, manufacture, operation, and service of fuel cell power plants, announced the completion of construction and commercial operation of a previously announced 5.6-MW fuel cell project on the Pfizer research and development facility in Groton, Connecticut. [DirectorsTalk Interviews]

¶ The Red Lake Band of Chippewa in northern Minnesota intends to build enough solar energy capability on tribal lands over the next few years to free itself from electricity generated from fossil fuels. Given outside investors who can tap of tax credits, depreciation and deductions, it will cost the tribe very little. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

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Science and Technology:

¶ On a March evening in 1933, the Newport-Inglewood fault ruptured violently along the Huntington Beach coast. The Long Beach quake was the deadliest in Southern California history. But a new study suggests that the quake may have been caused by an unexpected factor: Deep drilling in a Huntington Beach
oil field. [ktla.com]

Home lost in the San Clemente earthquake
(Credit: Lt Charles A Pierce / US Geological Survey)

World:

¶ The Paris Agreement on climate change became international law on Friday, November 4, 2016, after about 20 years of global wrangling. Exactly 30 days ago, it crossed both national and emissions thresholds needed to enter into force. The agreement now has 98 parties representing nearly 70% of global carbon emissions. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Okikendawt Hydro project, a “run-of-the-river” facility in north central Ontario, now has two turbines online, generating renewable power that the Dokis First Nation sells back to the province’s electricity grid through government clean energy programs. The 10-MW facility produces enough power for about 3,000 local homes. [CBC.ca]

Okikendawt Hydro Project (Credit: Nicole Ireland / CBC )

¶ Researchers from the Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland have modeled a global 100% renewable energy system, structured into 145 separate regions as part of 9 major world regions. The Internet of Energy Model puts into effect the targets set by the Paris Agreement using only renewable generating sources. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Enel, through a Mexican renewable energy subsidiary, has connected the two wind farms to the national electricity grid. The 129-MW Palo Alto wind farm is in the State of Jalisco and the 100-MW Vientos del Altiplano wind farm in Zacatecas State bring Enel’s installed capacity in Mexico to 729 MW. [Energy Business Review]

Wind energy in Mexico

¶ Ten major oil and gas companies have confirmed they are to invest $1 billion over the next decade in an attempt to drastically cut their emissions. They have formed the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative, which will seek to reduce emissions through efficiency. However, have left renewable power development off the table. [Clean Energy News]

¶ China’s Cabinet issued a new climate plan targeting an 18% cut in carbon emissions by 2020 compared with 2015 levels, on the same day that the Paris Agreement involving nearly 200 countries took effect. Under the new State Council plan announced Friday, coal consumption must be capped at about 4.2 billion tons in 2020. [The Japan Times]

Wind turbines on the Liu’ao Peninsula, Fujian Province, China
(Photo by Vmenkov, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ An anti-nuclear stance taken by Japanese opposition parties could lift them from their doldrums and defeat the ruling coalition, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said. He pointed to the recent election of Niigata governor, who ran on a plank urging caution on restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ Goldwind Americas, a subsidiary of Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, announced an agreement with Viridis Eolia to supply 1,870 MW of Goldwind Permanent Magnet Direct Drive wind turbines to the company’s Wyoming wind facility. The first phase, consisting of 32.5 MW, should be operational by 2017. [PennEnergy]

Goldwind turbine

¶ Dairyland Power Cooperative has finalized agreements for three additional utility-scale solar generation projects. Two of these, with a total capacity of 3.5 MW, will be built in Wisconsin. The third site, with 1.3 MW, will be in Iowa. The projects will increase the utility’s total solar generation from 15 MW to 20 MW. [Wisconsin Ag Connection]

¶ Tucson Electric Power Co is vetting proposals for big new renewable-energy projects, including a community-scale solar array, that could power more than 21,000 homes by 2019. TEP has issued a request for proposals to buy power from a solar farm with up to 100 megawatts of capacity under a 20-year agreement. [Arizona Daily Star]

Tucson Electric solar (David Sanders / Tucson Electric)

¶ Wrightspeed, a manufacturer of range-extended heavy-duty electric vehicle powertrains that was founded by a Tesla Motors co-founder, and The Ratto Group, a refuse, yard waste, and recycling firm based in Santa Rosa, California, have launched the “first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ A solar array of 18.15 kW capacity is being installed at Cross Roads House, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire homeless shelter. The project results largely from efforts of solar professional Chris Pamboukes and his cycling partner Josh Andrews. ReVision Energy is providing materials at cost, with installation by volunteer employees. [NH1 News]

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Science and Technology:

¶ A UN review of national plans to cut carbon says they are well short of the levels needed to keep the rise in global temperatures under 2° C. The report finds that by 2030 the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere will be some 25% above that mark. Many scientists say that technology to remove carbon from the air will be needed. [BCC]

An era of gradually worsening weather
(Photo by Justin Hobson, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

World:

¶ Ratch Australia and Port Bajool have reached financial close on the 180-MW Mount Emerald wind farm in Queensland, according to the state government. The $380-million project now has engineering, procurement and construction contracts in place, a long-term contract, a 25-year grid connection agreement and finance secured. [reNews]

¶ EU Priority Dispatch rules require network operators to feed energy produced by renewables into the grid. However, an EU impact assessment seen by The Guardian this week shows that modelling of four future energy scenarios could include the removal of the system from the EU renewable energy directive. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Polish wind farm

¶ Alberta will hold its first auction for renewable power contracts early next year as the NDP government moves on its strategy of having 30% of the province’s electrical supply coming from sources such as wind, solar and hydro by 2030. Investors will bid to provide up to 400 MW of renewable electricity for 20 years. [Edmonton Journal]

¶ NextEra Canada has agreed to buy a 291-MW wind project in Alberta from local outfit Heritage Wind Farm Development. Heritage received clearance in 2011 for the 97-turbine proposal near Pincher Creek. In 2014, the Alberta Utilities Commission had approved an extension to December 2017 to complete construction. [reNews]

NextEra wind farm in Ontario (Image: NextEra)

¶ The Philippine President said it’s unlikely his country will adopt nuclear energy during his six-year term because of safety concerns. He said nuclear energy remains an important option in the future, but the Philippines needs to undertake a study and put “really tight safeguards” in place to assure there will be no disasters. [PennEnergy]

US:

¶ A press release from the US Solar Energy Industries Association reveals that Florida voters are waking up to deceptive wording on Florida’s Amendment 1, which is meant to slow the Sunshine State’s rooftop solar growth and even penalize it. But big utilities are pumping millions of dollars into ads before election day. [CleanTechnica]

Solar Victory poster

¶ The US Department of Agriculture provided capital support to 17 Vermont businesses transitioning to renewable or energy efficient technologies to cut costs and energy consumption this year. The grants and loan guarantees through USDA Rural Development’s Rural Energy for America Program totalled over $3 million. [Vermont Biz]

¶ The US Fish and Wildlife Service issued an ‘eagle take permit’ for NRG Yield’s 137-MW Alta East wind farm in California. The agency said the project could kill up to three golden eagles over five years. NRG has prepared a conservation plan that includes steps to protect birds and bats from turbines and power lines. [reNews]

Golden Eagle (Image: Darren Danks)

¶ Mountains of trash are being turned into utility resources in Brown County, Ohio. The Rumpke Brown County landfill is being turned into a place where methane from decomposition of trash will be used to generate electricity. Costing approximately $8 million, the plant should be operational in the late spring of 2017. [Ledger Independent]

¶ Electric vehicle use in Minnesota reduces greenhouse gas emissions (well-to-wheel carbon intensity) by at least 61%, according to a new analysis from the Great Plains Institute. If the electric vehicle owner uses 100% renewable energy to recharge the vehicle, then this figure can be raised to 95% most of the time. [CleanTechnica]

US electric use (Image: America’s Power Plan)

¶ Connecticut’s fuel cell industry, one of the most robust in the nation, is up against a powerful coalition that includes the Koch brothers and other conservative interest groups. After elections, in a lame-duck session of Congress, there will be a showdown over the federal incentives for fuel cells and geothermal heat pumps. [The CT Mirror]

¶ National Renewable Energy Lab says ample resource availability, falling prices, and results from both research and actual experience in Europe are showing that there is no reason why we can’t reach much higher levels of renewable energy deployment. A 30% share of grid power from solar and wind would be easy. [pv magazine USA]

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World:

¶ Top oil companies including Saudi Aramco and Shell will join forces to set up an investment fund to develop technologies to cut carbon emissions and promote renewable energy, sources said on Wednesday. The chief executives of BP, Eni, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, Shell, Statoil, and Total will announce details on Friday. [The Maritime Executive]

Offshore wind farm at sunrise (Reuters file image)

¶ In an address given at the Canadian Wind Energy Association’s 32nd Annual Conference and Exhibition in Calgary this week, the Canadian Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change said the federal government aims to source 100% of the electricity for its operations from renewable energy by 2025. [Windpower Engineering]

¶ For years environmentalists have campaigned to shut down
the Hazlewood coal-fired power station in Victoria. It is one of the world’s most polluting power plants. Now the owner, French energy company Engie, announced that the power station would shut down in 2017 as a result of “current and forecast market conditions.” [Junkee]

Hazelwood (Photo by Mriya, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ The Indian government and three state-run firms will jointly set up an equity fund of up to $2 billion for renewable energy companies to tap into to help New Delhi meet its clean energy goals. India’s government hopes the Clean Energy Equity Fund will attract pension and insurance funds from Canada and Europe. [Firstpost]

¶ The New South Wales Coalition government has decided to break ranks with its Coalition partners in the federal arena and announced a major expansion into both large-scale and small-scale renewable energy, as well as electric vehicles and energy efficiency, as part of a new plan to reach “zero net emissions” by 2050. [RenewEconomy]

New South Wales parliament building

US:

¶ President Barack Obama said the Dakota Access oil pipeline, which has seen months of protests in North Dakota, could be re-routed. In an interview, he said he would allow the conflict to play out for “several more weeks” to see if the issue could be resolved. The pipeline crosses an area near a Native American reservation. [BBC]

¶ Altus Power America Inc said it has initiated the construction of a 6.2-MW PV plant on the west coast of Oahu island. This represents Altus Power’s first investment to date in the state of Hawaii, according to the press statement. The ground-mounted solar farm is due for completion in the first quarter of 2017. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar PVs in Hawaii (US Navy public domain image)

¶ Following its final Environmental Assessment and a “Finding of No Significant Impact,” the Bureau of Land Management has decided to offer 40,000 acres of Wayne National Forest, Ohio’s only national forest, up for fracking. The auction will begin on 1,600 acres on December 13, with bids starting at $2 per acre. [EcoWatch]

¶ Vermont’s Public Service Department has issued the final planning standards required under the state’s new energy siting law. These are the guidelines, consistent with state energy goals, that towns and cities will have to follow to have a greater say when the Public Service Board considers large energy projects. [Vermont Public Radio]

South Burlington solar panels (Photo by Toby Talbot / AP / File)

¶ ArcLight Capital Partners, an energy investment company based in Boston, has signed an agreement to buy TransCanada’s hydroelectric facilities along the Deerfield and Connecticut rivers. The sale is expected to close in mid-2017, subject to customary regulatory and other approvals. The price has not been announced. [The Recorder]

¶ Anaerobic digestor research, renewable energy education, and Rutland solar development are the latest beneficiaries of funding from an old Vermont Yankee insurance policy. The state Public Service Board has approved Green Mountain Power’s plans to distribute $302,719 from a Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited fund. [Commons]

Anaerobic digestion plant
(Photo by Rosser1954, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Fort Hood will soon get around 15% of its power from an on-post solar array and up to another 50% from a wind farm near Lubbock, Texas. The solar array will be the size of 100 football fields when complete and will have a capacity of 15 MW. The off-post wind farm of 24 turbines will add a capacity of 50 MW. [KCEN-TV]

¶ Barstow’s Longview Farm sits in the shadow of Mt Tom, near the Connecticut River, in Hadley, Massachusetts. Known for their homemade creamery, it’s another cow product that’s making news. The farm has won an award for their anaerobic digester, which it uses to turn manure and food waste into electricity. [wwlp.com]

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World:

¶ Drought-stricken Mozambique will start building its first large scale solar plant in early 2017, after Scatec Solar, which owns several such plants in Africa, signed an $80 million deal to sell electricity to the state-owned energy company for 25 years. The 40-MW plant will produce energy for some 175,000 households. [eNCA]

Mozambique (Photo: Flickr.com / Ashley)

¶ The offshore wind industry has seen its global levelized costs of electricity plummet 22% due to competitive bidding, reaching a benchmark estimate of $126/MWh during the second half of this year, down 22% from the first half of 2016, and down 28% from the second half of 2015, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Toyota’s somewhat baffling unwillingness to embrace all-electric vehicles may finally be ending. Recent comments made by prominent engineers at the company imply that they may be planning to release all-electric models at some point in the near future. They say this is possible because they “tamed” lithium-ion battery technology. [CleanTechnica]

2017 Toyota Prius Prime 0

¶ A popular Swiss initiative ‘For an orderly withdrawal from the nuclear energy programme’, backed by the Green Party, will be put to the public vote in a referendum on November 27th. If passed, three nuclear power reactors will be closed as soon as 2017, with the remaining two being decommissioned in 2024 and 2029. [The Local Switzerland]

¶ One of Scotland’s biggest energy providers warned onshore wind development will come to a standstill if the UK government does commit to its future. No new framework has been created for wind farms for when subsidies come to an end in April, Scottish Power says. UK ministers said their position remains unchanged. [BBC News]

Scottish wind turbines (Thinkstock image)

¶ The first large-scale wind farm to be built in Queensland, the 180-MW Mount Emerald project near Mareeba, has reached financial close and will begin construction next month. It had already received a power purchase agreement from regional utility Ergon to buy all its output until 2030 earlier this year. [RenewEconomy]

¶ Wind and solar farms generated 25.7% of Spain’s power in January-October 2016, while the total renewables share was 43.4%, according to provisional data. It was announced recently that Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism is preparing a new renewable energy auction for the end of the year. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind park in Spain (Author: Santi Villamarín, CC BY-SA 2.0)

¶ Indonesia and Vietnam are looking to join Thailand in blazing a trail for solar power in Southeast Asia, with targets for green energy generation as a landmark global agreement to curb pollution is set to take effect this week. Annual solar power production in the region will expand to 13 GW in 2025 from around 1.6 GW in 2014. [Daily Mail]

US:

¶ BP Plc reported a 49% decline in third-quarter earnings after crude prices fell. Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes dropped to $933 million from $1.8 billion a year earlier. The company’s exploration and production division lost $224 million compared with a profit of $823 million a year earlier. [mySanAntonio.com]

Flaring gas recovered from BP’s Deepwater Horizon
(Photo by DVIDSHUB, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ An energy conservation and distributed generation project will enable the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia to become the Navy’s first Net Zero Energy base. The project will meet energy demands from renewable sources, thanks to a $170 million, 23-year contract from an Exelon subsidiary. [Facility Executive Magazine]

¶ Dozens of demonstrators aiming to raise awareness of the ongoing pipeline protest in North Dakota disrupted the morning commute at New York’s Grand Central Terminal. After that, they marched on the offices of major US banks to protest pipeline funding. They carried signs reading, “Water is life” and, “Respect the Earth.” [CNN]

Dakota Access Pipeline protest

¶ E.ON is building its first energy storage project in North America. Iron Horse is a 10-MW lithium-ion battery facility with an adjacent 2-MW solar array. The project is located in the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park, southeast of Tucson, and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2017. [Environmental Expert]

¶ The city of San Bernardino and Hydrogenics Corporation are partnering to build North America’s largest 100% renewable hydrogen plant in Palm Springs, California. The 2.5-MW zero impact production hydrogen facility will use Hydrogenics’ technology to convert wind and solar energy into renewable hydrogen. [gasworld]

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Opinion:

¶ “Oil patch states may have seen the last boom” • A growing body of research says changes in the international oil market, advances in wind power and solar generation, and regulations aimed at curbing climate change may hold down the price of oil and natural gas for years or even a decade. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

North Dakota oil pumps (Photo courtesy of AP Images)

Science and Technology:

¶ A report from Navigant Research on the global market for residential distributed energy resources predicts that annual revenue for the market is set to increase from about $19.7 billion in 2016 to $92.7 billion in 2025, growing at an annual growth rate of 18.8%, and bringing the sector’s total revenue up to $423 billion. [CleanTechnica]

¶ PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual Low Carbon Economy Index report has found that the global carbon intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) fell by 2.8%. This was more than double the average fall of 1.3% between 2000 and 2014, but far below the 6.5% required to stay within the 2° C warming limit set by the Paris agreement. [The Guardian]

Cooling towers at a coal plant (Photo: Pawel Kopczynski / Reuters)

World:

¶ Etrion Corporation announced today it has commenced full commercial operation of the 24.7-MW Shizukuishi solar power plant located at a site in the Iwate Prefecture of northern Japan. Etrion’s partner and EPC contractor, Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, delivered the project on-time and on-budget. [Business Wire]

¶ Offshore wind has the potential to reach 100 GW of capacity by 2030 thanks to technology advancements and cost declines, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. The sector could grow more than 650% from the 13 GW in operation last year to become a key electricity generation technology. [reNews]

Offshore wind farm (MorgueFile image)

¶ Shopping center Iso Omena plans to build a large solar power system. When complete, this will be the largest solar power plant realized on a Finnish retail property. To be installed on the roofs of the shopping center, the approximately 2,000 solar panels will produce around 460,000 kWh of solar electricity annually. [EPR Retail News]

¶ A2Sea is to install 102 Siemens 7-MW turbines at ScottishPower Renewables’ 714-MW East Anglia 1 offshore wind farm 45 km off the coast of Suffolk in the UK. Installation vessel Sea Challenger will carry out the work, which is set to start in the summer 2019. A2Sea said it will aim to use UK suppliers for the mobilization of the vessel. [reNews]

A2Sea’s Sea Challenger at work (A2Sea image)

¶ The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing a $70 million loan to Green Watts Renewable Energy to help build the 86-MW Al Rajef wind farm in southern Jordan. The $185 million project is the first wind farm developed under round one of Jordan’s renewable energy feed-in-tariff program. [reNews]

¶ China accounts for a third of the world’s investment, according to the director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency. China’s investment in renewable energy last year was $102.9 billion, up 17% from the same period the year before. World investment in renewable energy, including China’s, was $330 billion. [China Daily]

Wind farm in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province. (Photo/China Daily)

US:

¶ Sempra US Gas & Power has restarted seven of the eight Siemens 3MW-101 direct drive turbines at the 21-MW Auwahi wind farm in Hawaii, after a major failure of one unit resulted in a temporary shutdown. A spokesperson said initial investigation revealed problems with the fasteners connecting the nacelle to the tower. [reNews]

¶ Amazon Web Services Inc is adding another wind farm, a 189-MW project in Ohio, in its effort to power its infrastructure with 100% renewable energy. The cloud computing unit Amazon.com Inc engaged EverPower Wind Holdings Inc to build, own and operate the wind farm, called Amazon Wind Farm US Central 2. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm (Author: Samir Luther, CC BY-SA 2.0)

¶ Iberdrola Renewables is offering residents of two Vermont communities direct payments if a windfarm is built in them.
The payments are estimated at $1,162 per year for full-time
adult residents of Windham and $428 for Grafton residents.
The Vermont attorney general’s office has found nothing improper with the proposal. [PennEnergy]

¶ The Tule Wind Project has received the go-ahead from California’s State Lands Commission to build a second phase in San Diego’s East County. In a unanimous decision, members of the commission approved a 40-year lease on 640 acres. The second phase will have 24 turbines with a capacity of 69 MW. [The San Diego Union-Tribune]

Tule Wind Project (Photo from Avangrid Renewables)

¶ NextEra Energy’s earnings were $809 million in the third quarter of 2016, up from $730 million in the same period last year, bolstered by new investments in wind power. NextEra Energy Resources unit added about 600 MW of new wind projects and roughly 1.3 GW of additional repowering opportunities to its backlog. [reNews]

¶ Exelon is again preparing to introduce a bill in the Illinois legislature aimed saving two of its at-risk nuclear plants the utility says are unprofitable in regional electricity markets and will close without financial support, Crain’s Chicago Business reports. The bill would calculate subsidies for the nuclear plant. [Utility Dive]

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Opinion:

¶ “How the electricity utilities ‘use a little bit of political jiu-jitsu’ to steal the sun” • US electrical utilities, feeling pressure from distributed solar power, are acting to protect their monopolies. In Florida, the utilities are spending tens of millions of dollars to manipulate the electorate into voting to limit solar power’s growth. [Electrek]

¶ “Taiwan bows to public opinion in pulling plug on nuclear power” • Like Japan, Taiwan is poor in natural resources. It introduced nuclear power generation in the 1970s. Currently, three nuclear power plants are in operation in Taiwan. However, like Japan, Taiwan is prone to earthquakes and other natural disasters. [Asahi Shimbun]

World:

¶ A 100-MW offshore wind power pilot project will likely be installed in ocean off Gujarat in about three years, according to an expert in renewable energy at DNV GL, which has a 30-consultant team in India and has been in the Indian market in 1989. He spoke on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week. [Millennium Post]

Lifting ship Svanen at the Burbo Banks Offshore Windfarm
(Photo by Ian Mantel, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ UNICEF is calling on world leaders to reduce air pollution, saying it leads to the deaths of more children yearly than malaria and HIV/AIDS combined. Around 600,000 children under age 5 die every year from diseases caused by or exacerbated by outdoor and indoor air pollution. Conditions are especially difficult in poor nations. [CNN]

¶ Angry residents of Delhi are sharing images of smog, one day after Diwali celebrations saw huge quantities of fireworks set off. Levels of particulate matter in the air hazardous to health rose to nearly 10 times the safe limit of 100. Diwali the most important Hindu festival in north India, celebrates the victory
of good over evil. [BBC]

The day after Diwali (AP)

¶ Macquarie Capital of Australia sees Taiwan’s green energy project as Asia’s biggest business opportunity and has decided to invest NT$25 billion ($790 million) over three years in Taiwan’s renewable energy market. Macquarie earns a 6% to 7% return on investment in Korea, and expects a similar return in Taiwan. [Focus Taiwan News Channel]

¶ Enticed by steady yields from offshore-wind projects in the North Sea, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc have pushed past European competitors in writing project finance loans to clean-energy developers during the first 10 months of the year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [Bloomberg]

US:

¶ Chicago high school students will soon be projecting environmental data onto a large globe thanks to a half million dollar federal grant received by the city’s Museum of Science and Industry. It’s part of a program to help them visualize, understand and respond to climate change. The grant is from NOAA. [Great Lakes Echo]

Museum of Science and Industry (Image: zooeybat on Flickr)

¶ Dakota Electric Association, based in Farmington, Minnesota, along with its power supplier Great River Energy, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, on October 28th, 2016 announced a joint solar PV project that will provide solar power directly to Dakota Electric’s membership. The 1-MW solar array will be built by SoCore. [solarserver.com]

¶ South of Alliant Energy’s Prairie Creek Generation Station on the Iowa city’s southwest side sits a mound of coal, enough to supply the Cedar Rapids power plant for three months. But by 2025, all four of the 245-MW station’s coal-powered units will have been converted to natural gas. [The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines]

Coal train from Wyoming (Adam Wesley/The Gazette)

¶ Over 10,000 New York City residents are using solar power to reduce their electric bills, but hardly any of them are poor. This is mostly because poor people do not have roofs they can put solar panels on. Consolidated Edison is offering use of its own rooftops to help solve that problem for at least some low-income customers. [New York Times]

¶ NASA’s earth science work, something it’s undertaken since the 1970s, includes a focus on climate change research, making NASA the only federal agency able to study the impacts of a warming Earth from orbit. Presidential candidate Donald Trump wants to refocus NASA on space exploration and away from satellite studies of Earth. [The Hill]

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Opinion:

¶ “The Bentley Effect: Why Community Energy Will Power Our Future” • The newly-completed documentary “The Bentley Effect” chronicles the community fight against coal seam gas in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It provides the history, from early defeats to the resounding victory in Bentley. [CleanTechnica]

The Bentley Effect

¶ “100% Renewables Increasingly Possible” • Research may be toppling one of the strongest objections to renewable energy: that wind and solar are not reliable enough to support the grid 24-7-365, so they need fossil and nuclear backup. Scientists seem to be finding simple and cheap solutions to the variability of solar and wind. [Forbes]

¶ “Solar benefits all ratepayers” • Don’t believe the old untruths. Independent studies, in state after state including Maine, have found that solar net metering saves money for all electric ratepayers. Plus, residential solar development is proven to help grow local economies, create new jobs, raise incomes and reduce pollution. [Press Herald]

Solar panels on a house in New England
(Photo by Gray Watson, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

World:

¶ Twenty-four labor, farmers, and civil rights organizations are protesting a plan in Bangladesh to increase coal dependency from the present 4% to 30 % in 2020 for energy, saying it would be suicidal. Government should redirect present energy subsidy of $13 million toward renewable energy rather giving it to private companies. [Prothom Alo]

¶ Netherlands Railways announced that all electric trains on the Dutch network will operate exclusively using power from renewable sources with effect from January 1 2017, a year earlier than originally envisaged. The sector is purchasing 1.4 TWh per year, of which 1.2 TWh is used for traction. [International Railway Journal]

Electric train in the Netherlands (photo by Quintus Vosman)

¶ The declining cost of rooftop solar panels, down over 90% since 2000, offers hope for growing small-scale electricity generation. But the issue of home ownership is a barrier in Canada. Soaring housing prices and a red-hot market block many Canadians from buying a home, and renters without incentives have little reason to go solar. [CBC.ca]

¶ Nigeria will invest $10 billion on infrastructure to end an insurgency, in which militants demand that the country spend more of its oil wealth dealing with poverty, the country’s oil minister said. The militants also accuse multinational firms of polluting the environment, destroying the livelihoods of farming and fishing communities. [BBC]

Militants in Nigeria (AFP)

¶ Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and the Korea Electric Power Corporation signed a joint venture agreement establishing a long-term partnership, including the set-up of an independent subsidiary owned by the two companies. It will represent the commercial and financial interests of the nuclear power plant project. [Utilities-ME.com]

US:

¶ According to a study from the American Lung Association in California, the unaccounted for health and societal costs of burning a gallon of gasoline total $1.30. This means that if these costs were to be accounted for in the price of gasoline, then pricing would be at least $1.30/gallon higher than it currently is. [CleanTechnica]

Please click on image to enlarge it.

¶ Renewable energy could save Ohio residents hundreds of dollars a year, if state lawmakers and lobbying groups can agree on how and when to invest. Ohioans could save $156 per year on their utility bills by 2030 if the state continues investment in wind and energy technology, according to a report from the Advanced Energy Economy Institute. [WCPO]

¶ Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Fisher Stevens have produced a new documentary, “Before the Flood,” which examines climate change. It debuts on the National Geographic Channel on October 30 and will stream for free on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, iTunes and Google Play from that day until November 6. [Canoe]

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Opinion:

¶ “7 Solutions to the Climate Crisis” • With the Paris Agreement becoming official on November 4, we finally have the framework to fight climate change. We have the tools and technology to shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy, affordably and effectively. In case you want proof, here are seven reasons to be hopeful. [EcoWatch]

Rooftop solar system

Science and Technology:

¶ Costs for onshore wind energy will fall 15%, while offshore
wind could cut costs by half, in the next five years, a report from the International Energy Agency says. The projections assume sustained policy support, continuing technology progress, and expansion into newer markets with better renewable resources. [Environmental Expert]

¶ Tesla announced an update to its Powerpack system, with a new energy module and power electronics, as well as twice the energy density of its predecessor, bringing it to 200 kWh. The company says, “The combined system is now a cost-competitive alternative to other traditional utility infrastructure solutions.” [Bloomington Pantagraph]

Powerpack (Image: Tesla Motors)

World:

¶ Exxon Mobil Corp warned it may be facing the biggest reserves revision in its history as production sank to a seven-year low and profit slid amid a prolonged slump in energy markets. About 4.6 billion barrels of reserves, mostly in the Canadian oil sands, may be in jeopardy if the average energy prices for 2016 persist. [Energy Voice]

¶ Bosnia and Herzegovina is a net exporter of power. It has some of the worst air pollution in Europe. Yet this small, Balkan state of 3.5 million people is planning to nearly double its coal power capacity, a major source of harmful emissions. Green groups are fighting a powerful energy lobby that says it is seeking to save jobs. [Climate Home]

Coal plant in Tuzla (Pic: Flickr/Steffen Emrich)

¶ Danish energy giant DONG Energy has confirmed rumors that it is investigating the sale of its oil & gas business, and that JP Morgan has been contracted to conduct a preliminary market assessment. DONG had already divested itself of its Danish gas business and is has been concentrating on offshore wind power. [CleanTechnica]

¶ For the first time, renewable power has surpassed coal, according to the International Energy Agency’s Medium-Term Renewable Market Report. It says renewables have become the largest source of new installed power capacity in the world in 2015, exceeding coal power. This is largely due to growing solar and wind power. [Nature World News]

Offshore wind farm (Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

US:

¶ New single-family homes built in Santa Monica, California must be rated at “zero net energy” use, starting in 2017. Santa Monica City Council voted this week to approve the first of its kind in the world requirement. They homes must generate as much energy from renewable sources as they use each year. [Central Valley Business Times]

¶ Roof tiles with built-in solar panels have been unveiled by Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. The tiles are intended to be a more attractive way to add solar panels to homes, compared with currently-used solar technology. The launch took place in Los Angeles, on what used to be the set for the television show Desperate Housewives. [BBC]

House with Tesla’s solar roof tiles

¶ Installation of an innovative new AC/DC nanogrid has been completed at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Keating Sports Center by Aquion Energy, Schneider Electric, and Azimuth Energy. The nanogrid installation was designed and installed primarily by the engineering and construction firm Azimuth Energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Xcel Energy announced it intends to build four new wind farms, with a combined capacity of 750 MW, growing wind capacity in the upper Midwest. Almost 20% of electricity in North Dakota was generated from wind, as of July. In Minnesota, more than 17% of electricity generation was from wind, and in South Dakota, almost 27%. [INFORUM]

North Dakota wind farm (AP Photo / The Forum, Darren Gibbins)

¶ The United States’ first offshore wind farm, Deepwater Wind’s Block Island Wind Farm, hasn’t even begun generating electricity to the grid, but there is now news out there that suggests the country’s second offshore wind project could be developed in Lake Erie. Fred Olsen Renewables AS would build the 20.7-MW power plant. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Park City, Utah is the latest American city to pledge to turn to 100% renewable energy, setting 2032 as its deadline. Boulder, Colorado, San Francisco and San Diego, California, Georgetown, Texas Grand Rapids, Michigan, and other cities have already committed to the cause. With congress failing to act, cities are leading the way. [Off-Grid]

Park City Transit Center
(photo by An Errant Knight, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Green Street Solar Power, located in the Bronx, NY, has begun construction on a 4.1-MW high efficiency PV system in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It will be the state’s the largest single rooftop installation. The system will be used to offset the electric bills for the entire public school system in Attleboro. [Your Renewable News]

¶ Robbie Leppzer first thought of making a movie about the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant when he learned its operating license was set for review in 2012. He photographed 700 hours
of government deliberations and grassroots demonstrations. “Power Struggle” will debut on November 3, at a Brattleboro “sneak preview.” [Brattleboro Reformer]

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Opinion:

¶ “Guess Which Big EU Country Might Have Blackouts This Winter?” • At present, 21 of France’s 58 nuclear reactors are offline. The country’s power prices have skyrocketed, as have imports. Power from fossil fuel is increasing, and the country has now postponed its plans to implement a floor price on carbon. [RenewEconomy]

The Blayais nuclear power plant in France
(photo by Pierre-Alan Dorange, edited, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Science and Technology:

¶ Southern Spain will be reduced to desert by the end of the century if the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, researchers have warned. With anything less than extremely ambitious and politically unlikely carbon emissions cuts, ecosystems in the Mediterranean will change dramatically. [malaysiandigest.com]

World:

¶ French utility Engie announced it is now offering contracts for renewable electricity at no additional cost to new residential and small business customers. Engie aims to sign up one million new contracts by the end of 2017, its CEO said in a press statement. At present, the company has three million electricity customers in France. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind turbines in France
(photo by Fr.Latreille, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Kuwait began operating its first-ever solar power plant at the Umm Gudair oil field, a landmark for the OPEC member country as it seeks to diversify its sources of energy to meet fast-rising local demand. The project, Sidrah 500, will produce 10 MW of electricity, half of which will be supplied to the public electricity network. [Al-Arabiya]

¶ Societe Generale said it will quit financing coal-powered electricity plants from January and increase its support for renewable energy projects. It is the third major French bank to cut exposure to coal for climate change reasons. BNP Paribas announced a similar move last year, and Credit Agricole did so on Wednesday. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Cooling towers

¶ Figures showing widespread UK public support for the use
of onshore wind to produce energy have been welcomed by environmental campaigners. A government survey reveals overall support for renewables remains high, with almost eight
in 10 people backing the clean technologies and just one in 25 against. [Herald Scotland]

¶ Carbon dioxide emissions in Ireland from energy-related activities including power generation, heating and transport decreased by 19% in the decade to 2015, according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. It said the fall in emissions came despite a 40% increase in economy growth
over the same time period. [reNews]

Kingspan solar rooftop project in Ireland (Kingspan image)

US:

¶ Connecticut energy officials canceled plans for major natural gas pipelines and other regional gas projects, citing recent court and administrative rulings in other New England states that raised doubts about regional cooperation to pay for such big projects. There has been growing opposition to use of natural gas. [Hartford Courant]

¶ The Tesla/Panasonic Gigafactory is still on track to begin lithium-ion battery cell production later this year, according to Tesla’s just released Quarter 3 2016 shareholder letter. Battery cell production at the Gigafactory will be used primarily for energy storage products, with support for the Tesla Model 3 growing in 2017. [CleanTechnica]

Gigafactory 1 Grand Opening

¶ For the first time, more than a third of Iowa’s electricity is generated by wind power, according to a study published this week. Wind energy provided 35.8% of the electricity generated in Iowa from August 2015 to July 2016, according to the report published by the American Wind Energy Association. [Mason City Globe Gazette]

¶ In what is being hailed as a milestone for wind energy in New York, with the release of a Final Sale Notice for the lease auction of almost 80,000 acres off the shores of Long Island. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has named 14 qualified bidders for the auction to be held on December 15th. [Public News Service]

Offshore wind (US DOE / Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Massachusetts ranks fourth for cumulative installed solar capacity, according to MassSolar. The state had 10 MW of solar in 2009, and this has grown to over 1,050 MW in 2016. Public policies have guided solar’s success and permanence in the state. The process has been long, deliberate, and at times contentious. [PlanetSave.com]

¶ Swiss Re held a groundbreaking for a new solar field at its US headquarters in Armonk, New York. The project is slated to add 7,700 individual solar panels to the rolling hills surrounding the Westchester campus, which will generate 2 MW of power. This would constitute roughly 60% of all power required by the 700-person office. [Westchester Magazine]

Solar array in Armonk (Photo courtesy of Swiss Re)

¶ The EV company Proterra has been steamrolling over the diesel bus market, and it looks like downtown Chicago is the latest proving ground. Proterra has just inked a lease deal with the A-list real estate company JLL that will enable it to ditch a whole fleet of diesel shuttle buses in favor of all-electric buses. [CleanTechnica]

¶ US developers are building or about to install 20.3 GW of wind capacity across the country as the sector gains momentum, according to AWEA. The near-record pipeline of projects was boosted in the third quarter of the year by 2501 MW of new construction announcements and another 1216 MW entering advanced development. [reNews]

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Science and Technology:

¶ Global wildlife populations have fallen by 58% since 1970, a report by the Zoological Society of London and WWF says. The Living Planet assessment, suggests that if the trend continues that decline could reach two-thirds among vertebrates by 2020. Habitat loss, wildlife trade, pollution, and climate change are among causes. [BBC]

Wildlife populations down by nearly 60% since 1970
(Photo by Roger Leguen / WWF)

World:

¶ Gamesa, India’s leading renewable energy company, has announced a new 130-MW solar project with Atria Power to be commissioned in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh by March 2017. Gamesa will handle the complete value chain of the project including 96 units of Gamesa E-1.37MW hybrid cooled solar inverters. [Indiainfoline]

¶ Vattenfall has generated the first power from its 228-MW Pen y Cymoedd wind farm in Wales. The Swedish company said the 76-turbine project, which is the largest wind farm in Wales, is on schedule to be fully operational early next year. The company is motivated for decarbonization of the energy sector, a spokesman said. [reNews]

Turbines going up at Pen y Cymoedd (Vattenfall image)

¶ The Hungarian utility MVM and Munich-based clean-tech startup Electrochaea GmbH are building the world’s first grid-scale power-to-gas plant together in Hungary. The unit will have a power consumption of up to 10 MW of stranded electricity from renewable sources, and will make methane from carbon dioxide. [portfolio.hu]

¶ LS Industrial Systems Co, of South Korean, has won a license to establish a renewable energy-powered island in Singapore, along with global firms such as GE-Alstom and Schneider. The company signed a memorandum of understanding to set up the microgrid system on Semakau, an island in southern Singapore. [BusinessKorea]

Aerial view of Singapore’s southern island of Semakau

¶ Vietnam seeks financial support for its transition from ‘black
to green,’ but international partners say what’s needed is better policy. International development partners and donors have called on Vietnam to commit to bigger greenhouse gas emission reductions, warning that coal have high environmental costs in the future. [VnExpress International]

¶ Dutch companies, including Siemens Nederland, Van Oord, and Shell, are calling on their government to draw up climate legislation to implement the aims of the Paris agreement. The
39 businesses said they want the government to put higher priority on accelerating the energy transition to reach the country’s 2050 targets. [reNews]

Offshore wind installation (Van Oord image)

¶ UK public support for fracking has fallen to new lows, a Government survey has revealed. Just 17% of people backed the process of extracting shale gas, compared with a third who opposed it, and just under half (48%) who had no opinion, the latest figures from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy show. [BT.com]

US:

¶ Houston has become a diversified energy capital, a center not only of oil and gas development, but increasingly green energy, such as wind and solar. Companies like Pattern Energy and even oil giant BP already run wind farms from operations centers in downtown Houston. And SolarCity is expanding into the region. [Houston Chronicle]

Control center at Pattern Energy’s Houston office
(Photo by Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle staff)

¶ The California Independent System Operator reported that benefits of the western Energy Imbalance Market for third quarter 2016 were $26.16 million. This brings the total benefits since the western regional market was launched in 2014 to $114.35 million. A similar trend was noted in the results for Q2 to Q3 in 2015. [PennEnergy]

¶ Regulators, decision makers and environmentalists will gather in Albany next week to discuss how to achieve New York’s ambitious goal for switching to renewable energy. According to the executive director of Alliance for Clean Energy, achieving 50% renewable energy in New York by 2030 will be challenging, but doable. [Public News Service]

Achievable goal (Windtech at English Wikipedia)

¶ Massachusetts state and federal officials released two marine wildlife studies on endangered whale, turtle, and bird species to inform offshore wind permitting processes. They found no significant conflicts between wildlife and offshore wind development in federally designated areas south of Martha’s Vineyard. [AltEnergyMag]

¶ Combining their buying power for the first time, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have selected six proposals to develop more clean energy for the New England market. The projects include mostly wind and solar power projects, which are expected to generate 460 MW of electricity collectively. [Electric Light & Power]

Wind turbines in New England

¶ Wind energy is climbing across the United States, with 11 states in 2015 getting at least 10% of their total electricity from wind farms, according to the Energy Information Administration, an arm of the DOE. Just five years ago, only three states had at least 10% of their electricity produced by wind farms, the EIA said. [Denver Business Journal]

¶ PG&E customers will see an increase in their electricity bills
if state regulators approve rate increases linked to the proposed closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Typical residential customers using 500 kWh of electricity a month would see an average bill rise 1.6%, a PG&E spokesman said. [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

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Opinion:

¶ “Is clean coal a lost cause?” • After decades of research and billions of dollars of funding, it seems time could be running out for ‘clean coal.’ With the latest large project backed by the US DOE ready to fail, Dr Gareth Evans hears from the rising number of voices proclaiming clean coal to be a lost cause. [Power Technology]

Is clean coal a lost cause?

World:

¶ The Prince of Wales is joining an Anglo-French government initiative to improve the condition of global soils. Ministers from both governments are meeting the prince to discuss how to improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming. Ministers will debate how to store more carbon in soils. [BBC]

¶ Edinburgh is celebrating the completion of what is thought to be the largest community-owned rooftop solar framework in the UK, after 1.4 MW of solar was deployed across the city’s public buildings. The project was funded by a community offer, which raised just under £1.5 million from local residents in six weeks. [Solar Power Portal]

Rooftop solar system in Edinburgh (Image: Emtec Energy)

¶ In May, the Norwegian government announced its intention to release ten production licenses to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Barents Sea. A group of young people filed suit this week against the Norwegian government, contending that drilling for oil and gas violates their constitutional right to a healthy environment. [CleanTechnica]

¶ European countries climbed in Ernst & Young’s Renewable energy country attractiveness index, though the UK bucking the trend. The rise was not easy, because European countries lack the flexibility of emerging markets and face challenges of integrating renewables with historically centralized conventional power generation. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar farm in France. (Image: Mny-Jhee / Shutterstock.com)

¶ Entrade Energiesysteme AG will sell electricity from 400 of its container-sized biomass-to-power machines set up in Fukushima Prefecture, the company’s Chief Executive Officer said. The devices will generate 20 MW by next year, providing power that kicks in when the sun descends on the region’s solar panels. [Bloomberg]

¶ As it weans itself from nuclear power and embraces renewable generation, Germany’s power grid outage averaged 12.7 minutes last year, 41% less than in 2006, even though renewables have grown to account for as much as a third of power generation in the country, according to data released by the federal regulator last week. [RenewEconomy]

Powerlines

¶ For China’s nuclear industry, 2016 has been a frustrating year. So far, construction has started on only one new plant, and its target of bringing 58 GW of nuclear capacity in service by 2020 seems impossible to meet. At present, China has 19.3 GW of nuclear supply under construction and 31.4 GW in service, but progress is slow. [chinadialogue]

US:

¶ New York’s largest nonprofit nature preserve is growing greener thanks to a new partnership with electricity provider Green Mountain Energy Company. The 8,000-acre Mohonk Preserve in Gardiner, NY has signed an agreement with Green Mountain to provide clean electricity to power the site’s facilities. [3BL Media]

Autumn Morning at Mohonk Preserve
(photo by Kate Schoonmaker)

¶ Solar industry entrepreneur Danny Kennedy, co-founder of Sungevity, the nation’s largest privately held solar company, gave an upbeat assessment of the solar industry’s future at the 2016 Annual Bioneers Conference in Marin County, north of San Francisco. He said California could be 70% renewably powered by 2030. [Huffington Post]

¶ VSECU, a member-owned cooperative and not for profit credit union for everybody in Vermont, is going solar. VSECU entered into an innovative partnership with Soveren Solar, through which the credit union will purchase the solar net metering credits produced by a 500-kW solar array to offset its GMP power bill. [Vermont Biz]

Guilford solar array

¶ Dominion Virginia Power is set to add some major assets to its PV pipeline, as the company is currently constructing three large-scale solar projects in the Virginia counties of Isle of Wight, Louisa and Powhatan. The installations will generate 56 MW of PV generation at peak output, enough to power around 14,000 homes. [PV-Tech]

¶ Xcel Energy plans to build three new wind farms in Minnesota and one in North Dakota, part of a larger program to increase its wind generation capacity by 60% in the Upper Midwest. Together, the four projects total 750 MW, the company said, sufficient to provide enough energy to power nearly 400,000 homes. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

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Science and Technology:

¶ While human emissions of CO2 remained fairly static between 2014 and 2015, the onset of strong El Niño weather phenomena caused a spike in levels of the gas in the atmosphere. The spike results from drought conditions in tropical regions produced by El Niño, which meant that vegetation was less able to absorb the CO2. [BBC]

Air sampling station at Mauna Loa observatory (NOAA photo)

¶ Researchers from the UK’s Overseas Development Institute and India’s Vasudha Foundation warn that following through on plans to build more coal power would push global temperature increases beyond 2° C. This would plunge many millions into poverty as a result of climate change-driven effects on their regions. [pv magazine]

World:

¶ In Central Asia, a crisis is brewing over water and electricity. The Soviet-era system in which the five countries of the region shared their resources has broken down, leaving some facing water shortages and others chronic power cuts. Instances of small-scale unrest have already occurred, but this could be just the beginning. [BBC]

Tajikistan’s largest hydro-electric power station, Nurek

¶ New installations of renewable energy overtook conventional power for the first time in 2015, the International Energy Agency said in its Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report. Global green power rose by a record 153 GW. This was equivalent to 55% of newly installed capacity last year, exceeding coal for the first time. [Bloomberg]

¶ Spain is aiming to provide 100% of its energy needs using only renewable sources, and experts in the country believe it is an achievable target. The current average per day stands at 17.4%, according to ABC News, enough to power 29 million homes across the region. That is a 2.5% increase in the past two years. [Huffington Post UK]

Wind farm (Photo: Charlie Dean via Getty Images)

¶ Sweden is on track to produce all its energy from renewable sources by 2040, a top regulatory official from the country said late on Monday. Renewables accounted for 57% of the nation’s 159 TWh of power last year, with most of the rest coming from nuclear. Sweden does not plan to subsidize more nuclear energy because of costs. [Daily Mail]

¶ Senegal has become a regional player in renewables on a continent where the majority remain off-grid. The 20-MW Senergy 2 project, located close to the Mauritanian border, will serve 160,000 people with electricity and will contribute to Senegal’s target of having renewables provide 20% of its energy needs by the end of 2017. [africanews]

Senegal has a new 20-MW solar power plant.

¶ According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, 10% of the 600 million people living off-grid in Africa now use solar energy to power their homes. The decreasing prices of home solar systems in Africa have made this possible, as the cost for solar has dropped below the cost of diesel and kerosene. [Climate Action Programme]

¶ Dong Energy has installed its 1000th offshore wind turbine, the first company globally to reach the milestone. Dong’s first offshore wind turbine was installed in 1991 and had a capacity of 0.45 MW. The company said that between 2016 and 2020 it is set to build more offshore wind capacity than in the preceding 25 years. [reNews]

Turbine installation at Gode 1&2 (Siemens image)

¶ The cost of scrapping the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is set to rise to hundreds of billions of yen annually over a 30-year time from, according to a new government projection disclosed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Previous projections had the figure at ¥80 billion a year. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶ In a groundbreaking precedent that will likely be felt for decades to come, a federal appeals court in the US has ruled that a species can be listed as “threatened” based on climate change projections. The decision reinstates Endangered Species Act protections for the bearded seals, but it also sets an important precedent. [Gizmodo India]

Alaskan seal (NOAA image)

¶ Gasoline deliveries in the US during September 2016 reached a new record high (for the month), with roughly 9.4 million barrels on average being delivered every day of the month, according to new figures from API. That represents a 1.1% year-on-year rise as compared to September 2015. Year-to-date figures were also up in 2016. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Duke Energy Carolinas has issued a request for proposals for 750 GWh of renewable energy located in its service territory. The aim is for the company meet a North Carolina energy portfolio standard requiring generation 12.5% of its in-state retail sales by renewable energy or energy efficiency by 2021. [North American Windpower]

Wind farm (iStock image)

¶ The New Hampshire environmental protection and public health agencies just finished installing a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art biomass heating plant at its facility in Concord. While the broader EPA can’t seem to come to a consensus on biomass emissions, the technology has been chosen in at least some cases. [Biomass Magazine]

¶ Envision Solar International, Inc, a manufacturer of EV charging equipment, has announced that New York State has issued a purchase order for the Company’s EV ARC product. Envision Solar has previously delivered the EV ARC to New York City, but this is the first purchase order from New York State. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

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Opinion:

¶ “‘The atmosphere is being radicalized’ by climate change” Climate change’s impacts on extreme weather and society are becoming increasingly clear and undeniable. While we are making progress in solving the problem, one of the two political parties governing the world’s strongest superpower continues to deny the science. [The Guardian]

Hurricane Matthew (Photo: NASA / EPA)

¶ “Oil industry must back workable climate policies” • If the oil industry does not support sensible climate policies, it will suffer from stupid ones. Rex Tillerson, chief executive of ExxonMobil, last week complained about a “hodgepodge” of climate policies. But large oil companies have only themselves to blame for lack of clarity. [The National]

Science and Technology:

¶ SunCulture Solar is introducing an innovative patented all-in-one solar power unit: the SolPadTM, a panel that integrates a PV panel, battery, charge controller, and flexgridTM inverter. The modules are modular, so they can be installed individually to power stand-alone circuits, or they can be combined into larger systems. [ENGINEERING.com]

A SolPad Mobile unit

World:

¶ Greece will run its first renewable energy tender on December 12. It is a pilot tender for a total capacity of at least 40 MW which is reserved solely for solar PV projects. The country’s energy regulator said about 130 MW of PV projects had already received grid connection licenses before the approval process was suspended in 2012. [pv magazine]

¶ UK-based company Offshore Design Engineering has been selected to work on an offshore wind project in Taiwan, owned by Northland Power Inc and Enterprize Energy. Enterprize Energy announced the launch of the Hai Long Offshore Wind Farm Project, in which it holds a 40% stake through subsidiary Yushan Energy. [SeeNews Renewables]

The Ormonde Wind Farm (Source: Vattenfall)

¶ Gods and the governments have always been the first and last refuge of the farmers in India’s northern plains when it comes to irrigating their fields. They hold the fate of the crops in the balance. But now, troubled with the unscheduled power cuts, the farmers are increasingly looking towards solar-powered water pumps. [ETEnergyworld.com]

US:

¶ Target has hit a solar energy bullseye. The Minneapolis-based retail giant topped all other American big businesses going solar, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association. In the 2016 Solar Means Business report, Target knocked out former champion Walmart. It was a close race, however. [CleanTechnica]

Target solar installation (Image via SEIA)

¶ About 18 weeks after the board of directors of the Omaha Public Power District voted unanimously to pull the plug on the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, operators are powering down the reactor there for the final time. After reducing the output slowly since September 29, the final shutdown will happen at 1 pm on October 24. [Omaha World-Herald]

¶ With the Omaha Public Power District’s closure of its Fort Calhoun nuclear plant clearing the way, renewable generation will fill the void left by the 478-MW plant. OPPD will virtually double the portion of renewable energy it receives by the time the new year rolls around, as newly built sources come online. [Omaha World-Herald]

Grande Prairie wind farm
(Megan Farmer / The World Herald)

¶ A Chicago green-energy developer is proposing the largest infusion of renewable power yet for Long Island, a mix of wind and solar sources in disparate locations as far away as North Carolina and West Virginia. Invenergy already has LIPA approval for a large commercial solar array in Shoreham, New York. [Newsday]

¶ In order to comply with a new regional rule to cut another pollutant that often leaves Southern California blanketed in a layer of smog, the oxides of nitrogen, or NOx, a Riverside County landfill has decided to shut down its generators and will simply flare the methane, emitting the carbon dioxide alone. [Los Angeles Times]

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Opinion:

¶ “India’s Solar Power Is Set to Outshine Coal” • India wants to provide its entire population with electricity and lift millions out of poverty, but in order to prevent the world overheating it also needs to switch away from fossil fuels. Different analysts disagree on the future of Indian power generation, but solar power costs are dropping. [Truthdig]

India One Solar Thermal Power Plant
(Brahma Kumaris via Flickr)

¶ “Coal will not recover” • As recently as 10 years ago, coal provided half of America’s electric power needs. Today that number is closer to 30% and falling. Coal is not likely to fade entirely from the scene any time soon, but informed analysts see its share of the US energy mix dropping to less than 20% in the near future. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

World:

¶ Infinity Solar and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company have signed an agreement to purchase the former’s renewable energy. The Director of Infinity Solar said that the company has agreed with the German bank LP to finance the required foreign funding for the solar power plant by 85% of the total cost. [Daily News Egypt]

Renewable power in Egypt

¶ India’s premier technical institute, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, will soon be equipped with one of the largest solar rooftops in a government academic institute in the region. The 1-MW rooftop solar plant will be inaugurated on November 12. The power grid is being installed across 11 academic buildings. [NYOOOZ]

¶ Taking a step towards renewable energy, the power department of New Delhi Municipal Council plans to install solar panels at 102 buildings within their jurisdiction. Under the Smart City project, one set of solar panels would be installed at 28 buildings to produce a total of 1.5 MW and another on 74 more buildings to generate 1 MW. [ETEnergyworld.com]

Civic Center in New Delhi (CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Jordan signed an agreement Saturday with Masdar, a company in the United Arab Emirates, to build a 200-MW PV plant, the largest solar plant in Jordan, according to the country’s Ministry of Energy. The agreement marks the “forward progress of a significant investment in Jordan’s energy security,” said Jordan’s Energy Minister. [Global Times]

¶ In a rare move for power-hungry Asia, the government of Taiwan has decided to abolish nuclear power generation by 2025 to meet the public’s demand for a nuclear-free society following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, which is equivalent to the Japanese Cabinet, has approved revisions to the law. [Asahi Shimbun]

Lungmen nuclear plant, before construction halted (Photo by Mastehr, placed in the public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ China’s first molten salt solar thermal power plant has started to send electricity to the grid, its developer said. The Tianjin Binhai Concentrating Solar Power Investment Co Ltd said its 50-MW molten salt trough project in northwest China’s Gansu Province shows the mature commercial development of solar thermal technology. [Global Times]

US:

¶ American Municipal Power dedicated West Virginia’s newest hydroelectric plant at the Willow Island Locks and Dam on the Ohio River in Pleasants County. At the ceremony, US Senator Shelley Moore Capito said the regulatory process required for a hydroelectric plant took too long and should be streamlined. [The Exponent Telegram]

Hydro project at Willow Island Locks and Dam
(Photo by Jim Foss / for the State Journal)

¶ The Bureau of Land Management will hold a competitive geothermal lease sale later this month in Sacramento, offering parcels in California, Nevada and Utah. For Utah, it will be the first time federal geothermal resources have been up for bid in six years, and a total of 15,782 acres of public lands will be offered. [KSL.com]

¶ A pending settlement between Xcel Energy and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission would give ratepayers a break based on time of use, so they can get lower rates by running a dryer at night, for example. It would also give them the option of buying power produced entirely by renewable sources such as wind and solar. [Pueblo Chieftain]

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Financial Woes:

¶ A Fitch Ratings and Bloomberg both warn of a meltdown in the oil industry. The Fitch report warns that this could begin in 2023, based on “an acceleration of the electrification of transport infrastructure,” which it says “would be resoundingly negative for the oil sector’s credit profile.” Bloomberg says it might be as late as 2028. [Gas 2.0]

BNEF oil crash chart (please click on image for a larger view)

¶ The Dutch cabinet is prepared to help energy company Delta overcome its financial problems, but not by putting money into the Borssele nuclear power plant. Closing the nuclear power plant is not an option because of the €1.3 billion price ticket, but keeping the plant open would only be profitable if electricity prices double. [DutchNews.nl]

World:

¶ A year ago, no one living in Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, had electricity. By the spring of 2016, the town had a brand new grid, and it will soon run completely on solar and wind energy. Sigora International plans to get electricity to 300,000 people in Haiti by the end of 2017. By the end of 2018, they hope to reach a million people. [Co.Exist]

Electric work in Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti

¶ A rapid transit system coming up near India’s capital, New Delhi, is planning to be the greenest such transport system in the country. It will include several rooftop solar power projects with a total capacity of 12 MW. The planned solar power plants will supply electricity to all 21 stations and offices, as well as the train depot. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Andaman & Nicobar Islands, long fabled among holiday travellers for legendary beaches, world-class diving and far-flung location in the middle of nowhere, will soon have something else to boast of. The country will have its first city-scale renewable grid system with a combination of solar power plants and battery storage. [Gulf Digital News]

Solar panels on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands

¶ According to a World Bank report, the cost of climate change mitigation could be reduced 32% by 2030, by increasing global cooperation through carbon trading. There are 40 national jurisdictions and over 20 cities, states, and regions, that are already putting a price on carbon, covering 13% of global greenhouse gas emissions. [CleanTechnica]

¶ New Scientist reports on a fascinating new effort underway in Iceland to turn our planet’s gooey innards into a cheap and abundant source of power. If the drill can penetrate to a depth of 3 miles (5 kilometers), it will reach “supercritical steam,” water heated to 1,000° C by lava to have enormous energy potential. [Gizmodo Australia]

Emerging lava

¶ Plans to build the world’s longest power interconnector, from Iceland to Britain, could be delayed by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. The two governments agreed last year to jointly study building the 1,000-km IceLink cable, with 1,000 MW of capacity, sufficient to power some 1.6 million homes in the UK. [Investing.com UK]

¶ In a bid to defuse anger over skyrocketing bills, Ontario has a new deal to buy more hydroelectric power from Quebec. The seven-year pact will save the province $70 million, but will also trim 1 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually by cutting use of natural gas while the Darlington nuclear station is refurbished. [Hamilton Spectator]

Transmission lines (Darren Calabrese, The Canadian Press)

US:

¶ Engineers from the NASA Glenn Research Center have begun testing new, electric aircraft technologies at a new facility. NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed facility will become “a world-class, reconfigurable testbed that will be used to assemble and test the power systems for large passenger airplanes with over 20 MW of power.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ Analysts think we could meet at least a quarter of US electricity needs by harnessing wave power around our coasts. There are technical and financial challenges, however, and advocates of wave energy say the federal government has done too little to encourage research and development in this promising energy sector niche. [The Bradenton Times]

Ocean Power Technologies’ PowerBuoy

¶ Solar power capacity in the US will have nearly tripled in size in less than three years by 2017, according to monthly data published by the US DOE. This is amid an energy shakeup that has seen natural gas solidify its position as the country’s chief source of electricity and coal power increasingly becoming obsolete. [The Guardian]

¶ The US Energy Information Administration says in its latest report that solar power is the fastest-growing renewable energy source in the United States, and it’s expected to keep growing. The report said the generating capacity of utility-scale solar, rose from 10 GW in 2014, to 27 GW in 2017, for an annual growth rate of 39%. [Inverse]

Installing solar panels

¶ The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has announced $3.5 million in funding available for the private sector with solutions to make it easier, less costly and less time-consuming to connect renewable resources, such as solar and wind, to the electric grid. [North American Windpower]

¶ According to a recent Bloomberg report, May 2017 will be a moment of truth for at least four of the country’s nuclear power plants. That’s when PJM Interconnection, the US’ biggest power market operator, will hold a supply auction. Davis Besse, Beaver Valley, Byron, and Three Mile Island are all expected to submit bids. [Manufacturing.net]

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Opinion:

¶ “A renewable fiction: Myths mainstream media refuses to let go” • For years now, many in mainstream media have been propagating myths about renewable energy in general, and wind and solar in particular. It’s unclear why this is so. Perhaps it is fear of new technologies and new ideas. But it remains an issue. [RenewEconomy]

Wind farm

¶ “What would it mean for Los Angeles to go 100% renewable?” The Los Angeles City Council recently passed a unanimous resolution requiring Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipally-owned utility in the country, to study how the city can achieve a 100% clean energy future. [Environmental Defense Fund]

¶ “‘Last Gasp of Dying Industry’: Nuclear Experts Decry First New US Reactor in 20 Years” • Watts Bar’s launch is “a symbolic gesture. It’s very sad that this is the last gasp of the industry because it looks like such an extraordinarily dumb one.” Experts on nuclear energy decried the reactors archaic technology and expense. [Common Dreams]

Watts Bar (Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority / flickr / cc)

World:

¶ Next Kraftwerke is delivering the Next Box to connect to its Virtual Power Plant in Northern Europe. The VPP is a distributed network of medium and small power-producing and power-consuming units, provided with Internet of Things connectivity to allow them to talk with and respond to the Next Kraftwerke control center. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Enel Green Power signed a 10-year power purchase agreement to supply wind power to HSBC’s offices in Mexico. The utility will start supplying 50-GWh of electricity each year, from the second half of next year, it said. The power will come from Enel’s 200-MW Dominica wind farm in the state of San Luis Potosi. [reNews]

Wind farm in Mexico (Enel image)

¶ Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister said the tender for a 1,000-MW PV plant, which will be established in Konya’s Karapınar district, will be held in December. Poised to
be the largest of its kind in the world, the solar power plant will pave the way for a new period in Turkey’s use of renewable resources. [Daily Sabah]

¶ General Electric’s renewable energy arm has signed a turbine-supply agreement with German construction company Max
Bögl to develop the world’s first wind farm with an integrated hydropower plant capable of generating power even when there’s no breeze. The wind turbines act together with pumped storage. [EcoWatch]

Project Gaildorf (Max Bögl image via Facebook)

¶ Mainland China’s wind farm developers and equipment suppliers face a substantial drop off in installation volume in 2018 when proposed cuts to wind power tariffs are expected to take effect, industry executives warned. Profitability will also be hampered by further power grid bottlenecks and competition. [South China Morning Post]

¶ As costs on offshore wind keep dropping, installations increase. Last year, almost every third new wind turbine went up offshore. That growth has helped boost the share of wind energy in the European Union’s electricity supply from 2% in the year 2000 to 12% today, according to WindEurope, a business advocacy group. [The Guardian]

Wind turbine installation at Dong Energy’s Burbo Bank
(Photograph: DONG Energy)

¶ China will further limit construction of coal-fired power plants by cancelling some projects that were approved this year, its National Energy Administration said. In a shift to cleaner fuels, the agency will also stop construction of any project that started this year and reassess the schedule for those that started in 2015. [ETEnergyworld.com]

US:

¶ E.On is committing to the renewables market in the US and strengthening its position in the region with new renewable energy projects, power purchase agreements and power plant services. The company began the construction of its Radford’s Run Wind Farm in Macon County, Illinois, with 278 MW of installed capacity. [Electric Light & Power]

Illinois wind farm

¶ Michigan’s overall cost of compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan could be relatively low, according to two recent reports. Under the lowest-cost scenarios, a compliance plan in Michigan was projected to cost even less than a plan that did not factor in any CPP requirements at all. [The Peninsula]

¶ Construction has wrapped up on a $180 million solar farm in Minnesota that is billed as the largest single solar power facility in the Midwest and one of the largest in the US. The North Star Solar project just north of the Twin Cities has over 440,000 solar panels on 1½ square miles of land. It is expected to power more than 20,000 homes. [PennEnergy]

Solar Farm

¶ In a 5-2 decision, judges on Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court cast doubt on the ability of Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission to place limits not explicitly defined in state law on the types of alternative energy generators that qualify for above-market-rate reimbursements for electricity sent back to the grid. [PowerSource]

¶ Customers of electric cooperatives across Georgia can get some benefits of solar energy without rooftop solar panels through a new program, Cooperative Solar. Developed by the electric co-ops and renewable energy provider Green Power EMC, the program gives customers access to power generated by off-site solar facilities. [solarserver.com]

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Science and Technology:

¶ European researchers announced the development of an offshore wind turbine which can be completely assembled and commissioned in controlled harbor conditions before being towed to its offshore location. This process makes the costly and rare heavy-lift vessels currently used in offshore wind projects unnecessary. [CleanTechnica]

ELISA wind turbine

¶ Scientists have accidentally discovered a way to reverse the combustion process, turning carbon dioxide back into the fuel ethanol. Because the materials used are relatively cheap, they believe the process could be used in industrial processes, for example to store excess electricity generated by wind and solar power. [The Independent]

World:

¶ It’s certainly not a law yet, but a Polish newspaper has reported that the Ministry of Energy wants to introduce “low-emissions zones” in cities where only electric vehicles could enter. This would be an obvious solution to the dirty air that is altogether too common in Polish (and other European) cities, dirty air that kills people. [CleanTechnica]

Teslas in Poland

¶ A new study has concluded that moving to wind and solar power would be a cheaper option for the United Kingdom to replace its coal fleet than using biomass electricity generation. Among the costs analyzed are the technology costs, the costs associated with greenhouse gas emissions, and the costs of ensuring a fuel supply. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Scottish government has granted planning consent for Community Wind Power’s 75.5-MW Aikengall 3 wind farm in the south of Scotland. The 19-turbine project Aikengall 3 will generate up to £9.4 million in community benefit, produce enough electricity to power almost 35,000 homes, and provide jobs. [reNews]

Community Wind Power in Scotland

¶ India’s total installed rooftop solar capacity reached 1,020 MW mark this year with 513 MW generation capacity added over the past 12 months. A Bridge to India report, “India Solar Rooftop Map,” shows India  added 513 MW of rooftop solar capacity over the past 12 months, growing at 113% over previous 12 months. [ETEnergyworld.com]

¶ In Scotland, the volume of CO2 emissions displaced by the renewable energy sector has increased by almost 10% in one year, according to the industry group Scottish Renewables. The group said the most recent UK government figures show more than 13 million tonnes of CO2 were displaced by wind, hydro and solar in 2015. [reNews]

Farr wind farm in Scotland (Siemens image)

¶ French utility Engie inaugurated Thassalia, the first marine geothermal power station in France, in Marseille. Thassalia was designed to meet the needs of Marseille’s Euroméditerranée eco-city business centre. The project, costing €35 million ($38.5 million) has an overall heating/cooling capacity of 19 MW. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The Victorian Government has ruled out offering financial incentives to the French owner of Hazelwood power station to stave off the threat of the ageing coal-fired plant’s closure. The speculation has it that Hazelwood could permanently shut as early as March, with the loss of up to 1,000 Latrobe Valley jobs. [ABC Online]

Hazelwood (AAP: Greenpeace)

¶ Some 80% of people in Scotland back onshore wind, with 73% in favor of the sector in the UK as a whole, according to a poll by ComRes for climate charity 10:10. The poll also found that UK people underestimate support for onshore wind, with only 11% thinking that 71% or more people in the UK support the use of the technology. [reNews]

¶ As the western Energy Imbalance Market continues to yield proven benefits, the California Independent System Operator and El Centro Nacional de Control de Energia have announced that the Mexican electric system operator has agreed to explore participation of its Baja California Norte grid in the real-time market. [North American Windpower]

Mexican wind and solar energy (iStock image)

US:

¶ A newly unearthed audio tape gives credence to the idea that the solar amendment on Florida’s November ballot was designed to mislead voters and would “completely negate” future solar power initiatives. The Center for Media and Democracy released a talk with the James Madison Institute, a libertarian think-tank. [WMNF]

¶ A group of energy companies and power plants are challenging New York’s recently approved Clean Energy Standard, which aims to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions in the state by subsidizing financially distressed nuclear power plants, including the FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point plants in Oswego county. [WRVO Public Media]

FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant
(Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of the Governor of New York)

¶ Minnesota Power announced it will close two small coal-fired generators within two years. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission had required Minnesota Power to shut down the two small generators by 2022. But the utility decided to act earlier after analyzing customer needs and industry trends. [Minnesota Public Radio News]

¶ The US opened its first new nuclear power plant in 20 years amid growing uncertainty for the industry and the need for regulatory changes at both the state and federal level. The TVA declared the $4.7 billion Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant open for business, a project that has been decades in the making. [Washington Examiner]

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Science and Technology:

¶ Bristol University, as reported earlier this week, is pioneering a technology which aims to prevent coastal nuclear and coal-fired power plants from being disrupted by swarms of jellyfish. In one case, the 1200-MW Torness Nuclear Power Station was offline for a week because of a swarm of moon jellyfish. [Power Engineering International]

Jellyfish

World:

¶ The latest report into the South Australia blackout by the Australian Energy Market Operator has blown away two of the biggest myths about wind energy that its critics were using as reasons for the state-wide outage. Neither intermittent wind power nor excessive wind speed causing turbines to shut down was a factor. [RenewEconomy]

¶ The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched the second phase of the city’s air quality consultation, which includes proposals to introduce the planned Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) a year earlier than planned, in 2019. The new proposals include a charge on heavily polluting vehicles that enter the city. [CleanTechnica]

London (Photo by barnyz via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND)

¶ Argentina has awarded a total 1.1 GW of renewable energy projects in its first auction round of the RenovAR program. Of this total, 400 MW are of solar electricity projects with a median price of around $59.75/MWh. The winning projects are expected to provide about 2.9% of Argentina’s electricity consumption. [PlanetSave]

¶ In remote rural areas in Africa, electrification through grid extensions is often not viable. The long distances involved and low electricity demand do not justify bringing the national grid to these places. Existing mini-grids based on diesel can be retrofitted to be powered by hybrid sets of renewables. [ESI Africa]

Remote African hydro facility

¶ Flexitricity, the UK’s largest demand response aggregator, has plans to harness the potential of combined heat and power plants to help drive a renewable revolution. There are 2,102 of these plants in the UK, with a total capacity of 19,900 GWh per year, enough to power over more than 4.8 million UK households. [Your Renewable News]

¶ The UN’s world heritage body made an urgent intervention to stop the construction of a coal power station in Bangladesh. A fact-finding mission found that the proposed site of the plant, which is 65 km north of the Sundarbans world heritage area, would expose the downriver forests to pollution and acid rain. [Climate Home]

Sundarbans mangroves, home to a quarter of all Bengal tigers
(Photo: MN Gaurav / Commons)

¶ Global investment in renewables rose to $285.9 billion in 2016, representing a five per cent increase from the previous year. According to United Nations Global Renewable Investment 2016 report released recently, investment in renewables has been running at more than $200 billion per year in the past six years. [Guardian]

US:

¶ Nevada is the latest battleground in a national political fight over whether consumers and businesses should be able to choose where they buy electricity. A November ballot measure backed by Las Vegas casinos and other firms would create a competitive retail power market in which customers could choose their providers. [Nasdaq]

Ivanpah solar plant
(Photo by DiverDave, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ South Burlington, Vermont is planning to put a solar array on top of an old landfill to get renewable energy and financial savings out of a piece of land that cannot be used for much else, officials said Tuesday. It is estimated that the project will save the municipal and school districts $5 million over its lifetime. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶ Wind energy is changing the economy of the Midwest. Wind is the fastest growing source of electricity in the United States, and about 70% of wind power is located in low income counties. Farmers benefit directly from wind turbines to tune of between $7,000 and $10,000 per turbine in annual leasing fees. [OilPrice.com]

Midwest wind farm

¶ A 350-kilowatt, ground-mount photovoltaic solar array, owned by 36 families, has been completed by Renovus Solar in a field near Trumansburg, New York. The owners of panels receive power from New York State Electric & Gas Corp. and a credit on their bill equal to their share of the power generated by the solar farm. [Ithaca Journal]

¶ Airbnb and SolarCity Corp. are partnering to bring more solar power to the home-sharing community. In the collaboration, SolarCity will offer members of the Airbnb community a rebate – up to $1,000 cash back – on all solar panel systems through March 31, 2017. A smaller rebate will continue through the rest of 2017. [Solar Industry]

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Opinion:

¶ “Back candidates to promote renewable energy, repeal anti-environment law” • North Carolina, which was a renewable energy leader, has passed anti-renewable legislation. Voters should back candidates willing to protect the environment, increase energy efficiency, create jobs, and save us all some money. [WRAL.com]

Sun and wind

¶ “How Cuomo’s $7.6 Billion Nuclear Bailout Can Impede Wind and Solar” • Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous, and altogether too expensive. Nuclear power cannot compete economically. To combat climate change what’s needed is really green energy led by solar and wind, which create more jobs, and cost far less. [CounterPunch]

World:

¶ The Yealands Wine Group has put up New Zealand’s largest solar panel installation, reinforcing its claim to be the most sustainable winery in the world. Yealands is now capable of generating 411.12 kW of solar power, which is equivalent to powering 86 New Zealand homes, and will offset 82 tonnes of CO2 emissions. [The Drinks Business]

Yealands winery with 1,314 PV panels on the roof

¶ The Scottish government has given the green light to the 72.6-MW Creag Riabhach wind farm in the Highlands. A total of 22 wind turbines, each of up to 3.3 MW, will be installed on the Altnaharra Estate in Sutherland. The park is expected to produce enough power annually for about 36,000 local households. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd has received an order for a 55-MW class steam turbine for Costa Rica’s state electricity and telecommunications utility. The turbine will be a core component of the Las Pailas II geothermal power plant, which will be built in Guanacaste Province in the northwest region of the country. [SYS-CON Media]

Domo de San Pedro Geothermal Power Plant
(Photo courtesy of Grupo Dragon)

¶ Sundrop Farms has set a task to show that healthy, organic food can be produced everywhere. Their aim is to bust the myth that genetically modified foods, toxic pesticides, and large sums of money are the only solution to the global food crisis. They grow food without using pesticides, fossil fuels or fresh water. [The Green Optimistic]

¶ Energy companies are on the cusp of “an epic battle” with technology companies thanks to the inexorable rise of renewable energy and smart home systems, says Citigroup’s global head of energy strategy. He said the challenge to the conventional oil and gas business “is only going one way,” with market changes. [The Australian Financial Review]

New paradigm, new business plan (AP photo)

¶ France produced the most power from fossil fuels for the month of September in 32 years to help meet demand as nuclear generation dropped. Output from coal and gas plants more than doubled as EDF had to keep reactors offline for inspections to rule out potential anomalies on steam generators at 18 of its 58 units. [Bloomberg]

¶ China’s economy could grow six-fold by 2050 with renewable energy accounting for 69% of national electricity supply if it transforms its energy system and increases efficiency across all sectors. The report “Reinventing Fire: China” claims that CO2 emissions could go 42% below the 2010 level at the same time. [ChinaFile]

Dafancheng Wind Power Plant
(China Photos – Getty Images)

US:

¶ The US government launched the largest ever clean energy plant in Arizona, as part of the White House’s bid to drastically increase solar power on a national level. The 150-MW Mesquite 3 solar array will help power California’s electric grid and will contribute one-third of the energy used on 14 naval bases in the state. [Opposing Views]

¶ Park City, Utah is on the front lines of global warming as it grapples with decreasing snowfall and a shorter winter season that traditionally draws thousands of skiers and snowboarders from around the world. But the mountain community isn’t waiting to act. Park City just committed to 100% renewable energy by the year 2032. [Inhabitat]

Park City (Image via Raffi Asdourian)

¶ The Grain Belt Express Clean Line wind energy project has made significant steps towards getting the final green light from the Missouri Public Service Commission. The PSC gave the go-ahead to finalize a public hearing schedule, which means that a final order on construction of Clean Line could happen as early as next spring. [The Missouri Times]

¶ The debate over siting renewable energy projects has become one of the major policy contrasts between candidates in Vermont’s gubernatorial race. The Republican candidate, Phil Scott, says he would give communities power to stop wind development. Sue Minter, the Democrat, supports wind energy. [Rutland Herald]

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Science and Technology:

¶ The HY4, the world’s first four-seater hydrogen fuel cell
plane, took off for the first time at the Stuttgart airport in Germany. The plane was developed by researchers from the German Aerospace Center with help from Hydrogenics, Pipistrel, H2FLY, the University of Ulm and Stuttgart Airport. [Composites Manufacturing Magazine]

HY4 hydrogen fuel cell aircraft

World:

¶ On October 30, Vancouver will have its second Great Climate Race, which is a 10-km run and 2.5-km walk through Stanley Park to raise funds for renewable energy and a cleaner future. Last week, the Great Climate Race announced that organizations can raise money directly for their projects through its website. [Straight.com]

¶ The first generator at the Norochcholai Coal-fired Power Plant ceased operations after an explosion on October 15, on a pipeline that carries water vapour. After the explosion, a fire had erupted in the third generator. The second unit also ceased operations as a result. The plant is the largest generating station in Sri Lanka. [Newsfirst]

Norochcholai Coal-fired Power Plant

¶ A German battery maker said it has secured €76 million ($85 million) from venture capital investors, including Chinese wind turbine and energy management group Envision, to develop its systems. The start-up, called sonnen, said it plans to use the money to expand in Italy, Australia, the United States and Britain. [Business Insider]

¶ According to the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change report, biomass sourced from whole trees and other large-diameter wood is a high-carbon fuel, increasing carbon emissions compared to coal and natural gas for decades, well beyond timeframes relevant for solving climate change. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

Clearcut forest (Dogwood Alliance photo)

¶ Acciona SA, a Spanish renewable energy developer worldwide, said it’s holding up further work in some states in India because local electric utilities aren’t paying their bills on time. Acciona, with 86 MW of installed wind power in India and another 78 MW under development, is the latest investor to complain on the issue. [Bloomberg]

¶ Tidal energy technology is being tested for the first time in Tasmania. A tidal energy turbine has been installed to investigate and optimize the device’s performance. Researchers from the Australian Maritime College will conduct field experiments with a prototype in partnership with developers MAKO Tidal Turbines. [PACE Today]

Tidal turbine (AMC image)

¶ An opposition candidate’s victory in Niigata Prefecture’s gubernatorial election threw the Abe administration into a state of shock over the possible consequences to its nuclear energy policy and its standing on the national level. Many believe the ruling Abe administration will have to review its energy policy. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) proposed a bill that would offer up to $3,000 a year in pre-tax benefits to people who commute in electric vehicles. The intent behind the proposed “Electric Vehicle Credit Act” is to incentivize the use of electric vehicles by commuters, and thus potentially reducing air pollution emissions. [CleanTechnica]

Looking at a Nissan LEAF
(Image by Cynthia Shahan for CleanTechnica)

¶ With a capacity factor of 51.9%, the 2,000-MW Sandstone Energy facility is equivalent to a 1.15 GW Nuclear Power plant. Over a 25-year lifetime, it will produce 227 billion kWh. At an expected cost of $5 billion, with a 30% federal tax credit, the system can be expected to generate electricity at a cost of 2.8¢/kWh. [Electrek]

¶ According to the Energy Information Administration, roughly 15,000 MW per year, mostly coal, will be retired, with or without new regulations. This is one way to gauge the so-called “war on coal” proposed by the Obama Administration. But in reality those coal plants slated for somewhat premature retirement are old and uncompetitive. [OilPrice.com]

Coal in decline

¶ Community involvement in Hawaii’s goal of 100% renewable electric generation by 2045 has become tougher since Maui Electric Co’s net-metering program closed last October, and the customer-grid supply program hit its 5-MW capacity in June. Experts say now energy storage is “the way forward for the grid.” [Maui News]

¶ The food waste from a local supermarket, restaurant, or catering hall could end up being the fuel that serves a source of renewable energy for New Jersey. That’s the goal of a bill moving through the Legislature, which would require large generators of garbage to separate and recycle food waste with the aim of converting it to energy. [NJ Spotlight]

Food waste for fuel

¶ Natural gas generators are a dominant source of power, especially for peak electricity demand periods in New England, but natural gas supply methods haven’t kept up. As a result, most of the region is vulnerable to volatile electricity prices, said Tom Dunn, CEO of VELCO, which manages transmission lines for utilities. [vtdigger.org]

¶ The forecast for private solar power in Arkansas is cloudy, and may be slow to clear up. Decisions by the Arkansas Public Service Commission could promote solar generation at homes and businesses or even cripple it, advocates say, but the most critical rulings may not come for more than a year. [Arkansas Business Online]

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Opinion:

¶ “In Scotland, ray of hope for future of clean power” • For the first time ever, on August 7, the army of spinning white turbines that has sprouted across the lush countryside generated enough electricity to power all of Scotland. Scotland has joined Portugal, Denmark, and Costa Rica among those that have achieved this goal. [The Columbian]

Wind turbine, on Sanday, in the Orkney Islands
(Photo by hayley green, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ “400 ppm CO2: The Case For Renewable Energy” • Climate change is a ticking time bomb. If left unchecked, it will spare no one. But we can counter it successfully through the renewable energy revolution. And it can start with the single step of spreading climate change education and awareness in our communities. [CounterCurrents.org]

Science and Technology:

¶ Removing carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere to prevent global warming from becoming catastrophic may be a fool’s game amounting to a “moral hazard par excellence,” according to a paper published in the journal Science. No one knows if it will work, and the future is treated as a bet in a high-stakes gamble. [Grist]

San Juan generating station (Photo via WildEarth Guardians)

¶ According to a new study in the journal Science Advances, a geothermal hotspot softened the mantle rock beneath Greenland in a way that ultimately distorted their calculations for ice loss in the Greenland ice sheet. This caused them to underestimate the melting by about 20 gigatons (20 billion metric tons) per year. [Net Newsledger]

World:

¶ The first full week of the Yukon election campaign ended
with the three major parties making promises about renewable energy, and the Yukon Party again warning against the other parties’ plans for a burdensome carbon tax. The leader of the Yukon Party promised a “made-in-Yukon” approach to greenhouse gas emissions. [CBC.ca]

Solar panels at Yukon College (Philippe Morin/CBC)

¶ The Renewable Energy Future Iran, a conference connecting over 150 international and local stakeholders to discuss wind and solar opportunities is taking place in Tehran this month. With the lifting of the sanctions, the country is welcoming foreign financiers and the leading players of the renewable energy sector. [TechRasa]

¶ After introducing stringent penalties in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2015, the Indian government has finally put in place a satellite based monitoring system that will help the nation get rid of illegal mining. They say that the Mining Surveillance System is a fool-proof monitor. [EnergyInfraPost]

Mining in India

¶ After a hiatus spanning several years, commercial-scale renewable energy development in Oman is expected to make headway in 2017 with movement on tendering of the nation’s first large-scale solar project. The tendering process will be overseen by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company. [Zawya]

¶ A joint statement issued after the bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin said that India is working on finding a second site for a Russian-designed nuclear power plant. They are also investigating ways to work together on developing natural gas in the Arctic. [Business Standard]

Nuclear power plant

US:

¶ Many Ohio residents believe the 2016 election has put the country at a crossroads on climate change. They see it almost as a referendum on anything from the state of Ohio’s coal industry to combating western Lake Erie’s algae-plagued water. While both major presidential candidates favor fracking, they differ on most of the rest. [Toledo Blade]

¶ Iowa is seeing heavier rains and more flooding as climate change takes its toll, yet the state has little idea how much it would cost to protect its homes, schools, factories and other infrastructure, let alone how to pay for it. Iowa communities have $1.4 billion in plans for flood protection, but it is not enough. [DesMoinesRegister.com]

Flooding in Iowa (Rachel Mummey / The Register)

¶ If there were some way to utilize all the energy being spent in this year’s Pennsylvania Senate campaign for electric power, everyone’s utility bills might be a lot cheaper. And few issues generate more heat than the energy policies of first-term Republican Pat Toomey and his Democratic rival, Katie McGinty. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

¶ A lot of pieces will have to fall in place, but there’s still hope among those favoring nuclear power that the Clinton nuclear power plant can stay open. The plant faces demand that has slackened, other renewable energy sources have grown. and natural gas prices are still low. But special legislative action might yet save it. [Bloomington Pantagraph]

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World:

¶ Canadian non−hydro renewable power such as wind, solar and biomass grew more than sixfold in the time between 2005 and 2015, rising from 2,360 MW to 15,600 MW. National Electricity Board chief economist Shelley Milutinovic says Canada is now the fourth−largest generator in the world of renewable power. [Huddle Today]

Canadian Wind Farm (Image: The Canadian Press)

¶ Subsidies to reduce the risk of blackouts must focus on energy storage schemes and cutting demand instead of “dirty diesel,” according to a group of MPs in the UK. The Energy and Climate Change Committee said current policy favored diesel generators over smart technology that stores power and reduces demand. [BBC]

¶ More than 150 countries have reached a deal described as “monumental” to phase out gases that are making global warming worse. Hydroflurocarbons (HFCs) are widely used in fridges, air conditioning and aerosol sprays. Delegates meeting in Rwanda accepted a complex amendment to the Montreal Protocol. [BBC]

US Secretary of State John Kerry urging an ambitious deal

¶ The European Union has just approved regulations requiring that an electric car charger be included in every new and renovated home and all apartment buildings starting in 2019. Why is that important? Because charging infrastructure is vital to convincing mainstream buyers to switch to an electric car. [CleanTechnica]

¶ There are plans to limit onshore wind capacity additions in northern Germany, with a new proposal envisaging an annual cap of 902 MW. Germany has already set a limit of 2.8 GW through 2019 to annual wind installations across the country. Additional restrictions relate to limited capacity to carry power to the south. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm. (Author: fantastklywell)

¶ National Grid expects the UK’s winter 2016/17 electricity capacity margin – the headroom between de-rated capacity and peak demand – to be 6.6%. The transmission system operator said the predicted margin has increased from an earlier forecast of 5.5%. Increasing solar capacity is factored into National Grid’s forecasts. [reNews]

¶ Germany utilities moved closer to fixing their financial obligations in dismantling the nation’s nuclear reactors and making safe equipment and fuel that may be radioactive for 100,000 years. A draft law says reactor owners will pay €23.6 billion ($26 billion) into a fund to free them from their nuclear waste liabilities. [Bloomberg]

US:

¶ The launch of a new hydroelectric system in Valdez, Alaska, means another power provider has joined the ranks of utilities that can operate fully on renewable power seasonally. Copper Valley Electric Association’s Allison Creek Hydroelectric Project, allows the utility to avoid using diesel fuel during summer months. [Alaska Dispatch News]

The Allison Creek Hydroelectric Project
(Courtesy Copper Valley Electric)

¶ The Conservation Law Foundation filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil for endangering Massachusetts communities through activities at the Everett petroleum storage terminal. It is the first NGO lawsuit in the nation to take a petroleum company to task for its decades-long campaign to discredit climate science. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Florida Public Service Commission has granted approval to Gulf Power, a US-based electric utility company, to add an additional 94 MW of wind energy from the Kingfisher Wind farm in Oklahoma. The addition will allow the company’s original 178-MW Kingfisher Wind project to produce a 272 MW. [Power Technology]

Gulf Power wind farm (Photo courtesy of Gulf Power)

¶ One of the largest solar projects in Massachusetts is being constructed on the property of a former coal-burning power plant in Holyoke. More than 17,000 solar panels are being installed where the smokestack of the former Mount Tom Power Station once cast its shadow. The nearly 6-MW solar farm should come online in January. [WAMC]

¶ The California Energy Commission and the US Navy have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop renewable energy projects. The partnership will develop three battery and solar projects, and the Navy and Marines will lease 205 new electric vehicles for use at California installations, curbing fossil fuel use. [Utility Dive]

Golden Gate Bridge (Credit: Flickr / Robbie Shade)

¶ The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved Xcel Energy’s 15-year Integrated Resource Plan, with goals to more than double the utility’s renewable energy portfolio in the state and shut down two coal units. Xcel said the PUC supports plans to add 1.4 GW of solar and 1.8 GW of wind power by 2030. [Solar Industry]

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Opinion:

¶ “Canadian Hydro: A Lifeline for Northeastern Clean Energy Goals?” • States in the US Northeast are looking for creative solutions to decarbonize their electricity system and maintain affordable, reliable electricity service. They have renewed interest in an old resource, imported Canadian hydroelectricity. [Greentech Media]

Canadian hydropower

¶ “Fossil Fuels Face More Competition from ‘Green’ Energy” • Bloomberg New Energy Finance found dramatic improvements in wind and solar technology is helping to boost the amount of power generated from each plant. That allowed installations to grow by almost 70% in the last five years even as investment flat lined. [agprofessional.com]

Science and Technology:

¶ Scientists and engineers at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center have made a new world record for plasma pressure in the Alcator C-Mod tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. The researchers said that the plasma, which lasted for two full seconds, achieved 2.05 atmospheres of pressure for the first time. [Energy Business Review]

Interior of the Alcator C-Mod (Photo courtesy of
Bob Mumgaard / Plasma Science and Fusion Center)

World:

¶ The UK government must consider reintroducing auctions for onshore wind if it is to meet 2030 carbon emission reduction targets, according to the Climate Change Committee. No Contract for Difference auction has taken place since 2015 and none are planned for onshore solar and wind, the cheapest renewable technologies. [reNews]

¶ Construction of the Kathu Solar Park in the South African province of Northern Cape began earlier this month with a ground breaking ceremony attended by project shareholders, and various other stakeholders, local officials and guests. The Kathu 100-MW Concentrated Solar Power project uses parabolic trough technology. [Bizcommunity.com]

Kathu site in Northern Cape

¶ ET Energy Fateh Jang is seeking a licence for a 50-MW solar power facility in Punjab costing $61 million. While two years of crashing prices for oil, natural gas, and coal triggered dramatic downsizing in those industries, renewables have been thriving. Clean energy investment broke new records in 2015. [The News International]

¶ The world’s most powerful tidal turbine, developed and built by Scotrenewables Tidal Power Limited, has been installed on its moorings for the first time. The 2-MW SR2000 tidal turbine was towed to the European Marine Energy Centre Orkney site, where it was installed for commissioning and testing. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Tidal turbine (Scotrenewables image)

¶ The first shipment of turbine components for the 175-MW White Rock wind farm in New South Wales has arrived at the Port of Newcastle in Australia. The delivery will consist of eight Goldwind 2.5-MW units, including 59.5-meter blades made by Sinomatech Wind Power Blade Company. It will be completed in 2017. [reNews]

¶ A hybrid renewable energy project in Australia that will include wind, solar and energy storage has been backed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The first phase of Kennedy Energy Park, developed by Australia’s Windlab Ltd and Japan’s Eurus Energy, will consist of 19.2 MW solar, 21.6 MW wind and 2 MW/4 MWh battery storage. [reNews]

Wind and solar power plant in the US.
(Featured Image: welcomia/Shutterstock.com)

US:

¶ Alliant Energy‘s Iowa utility has reached a settlement with customer groups on its proposed new wind project, expanding the Whispering Willow Wind Farm. If approved, will be up to 500 MW, significantly increasing the amount of wind energy that Alliant Energy supplies to customers. [North American Windpower]

¶ Landmark Infrastructure Partners has bought 4000 acres of land in California for $73 million on which Recurrent Energy is developing six solar plants which already have power purchase agreements. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016. [reNews]

California solar power (Recurrent Energy image)

¶ The nation’s first offshore wind farm, which plans to launch commercial operations in November, has received investments from GE Energy Financial Services and the global bank Citi. The companies said they are acquiring some of the ownership of Deepwater Wind’s 30-MW project off Block Island. [Worcester Business Journal]

¶ The 110-MW Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant is the first utility-scale CSP of its kind on American soil, and the developer, California-based energy firm SolarReserve, now says they plan to build 10 more just like it elsewhere in the sunny desert state. The overall project, Sandstone, would power a million US homes. [Inhabitat]

Sandstone rendering (SolarReserve image)

¶ Energy Management Inc’s Cape Wind has dropped a court appeal, another setback in its long-running fight to build a 468-MW wind farm off the US east coast. The developer had asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial court to reverse an Energy Facilities Siting Board decision denying an extension of transmission line permits. [reNews]

¶ In Sterling, Massachusetts, a 2-MW/3.9-MWh lithium ion battery system at a Sterling Municipal Light Department substation will be able to isolate from the main power grid to provide up to 12 days of emergency back-up power to the police department and dispatch center in the event of a power outage. [Worcester Telegram]

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Opinion:

¶ “A price on carbon may be coming soon to the U.S.” • For years, US politicians have debated the question of imposing a price on carbon. The time may finally have come. That might seem hard for most people to understand, given the yearslong, seemingly intractable political deadlock on the issue in the US. But we may be at a tipping point. [Market Watch]

Time for a price on carbon in the US (Shutterstock image)

¶ “Here’s How To Build 100% Clean Renewable Energy In The US Before 2040” • There is a way for us to build our way out of the climate crisis in time to avoid the worst effects of global warming. We save money doing it, and side benefits include cleaner air, cleaner water, less disease, more jobs and a livable climate. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ Germany is inviting both local and Danish solar projects to participate in a 50-MW solar power capacity tender, the first cross-border auction in Europe. The winners will be selected based on the price they offered, regardless of the location of the solar PV park. Only projects no bigger than 10 MW may take part. [SeeNews Renewables]

Solar system in Denmark. Author: Peter Leth.
License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic.

¶ The price of oil will not have much of an impact when it comes to the planet’s transition to new, cleaner, sources of energy, according to the CEO of the Carbon Trust. He argued that oil price, as a single factor, will not make any difference compared to increasing energy efficiency and decreasing costs for solar and wind power. [Yahoo7 News]

¶ According to a preliminary report from the Australian Energy Market Operator, the South Australia blackout began with storm damage to three major transmission lines. After this, wind farms had to disconnect from the energy grid to protect themselves, causing a massive load spike on the interconnector to Victoria. [Mozo.com.au]

Wind farm in South Australia

¶ China’s wind energy developers are flying high, a report shows. The study by Bank of China International is predicting wind power related companies to see profits soar between 25 and 64 per cent in the rest of this year, on the heels of eight newly commissioned ultra-high-voltage power lines across the country. [South China Morning Post]

¶ A report from Queensland says the state can reach a renewable energy target, which the governing Coalition dismisses as expensive and reckless, with little subsidy, and no impact on reliability. At the same time, renewables can reduce costs to consumers, create jobs, add new industries and add to economic growth. [RenewEconomy]

¶ A nuclear and environmental specialist at the University of Oxford, has accused the UK Government of backing the Hinkley nuclear power plant “at almost any price” as a means of “hiding the true costs” of Trident nuclear weapons renewal, concealing the cost of nuclear weapons development within a private venture. [CommonSpace]

Picture courtesy of Auz

¶ A huge 15 GW of embedded power generation capacity is awaiting direct connection to four of the six distribution networks across England, Scotland and Wales, figures gathered by ICIS show. The capacity bypasses the transmission network, depressing demand. It is a mix of renewable, thermal, and storage units. [ICIS]

US:

¶ Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin wants God to help the state’s ailing oil and natural gas industry. Originally targeted at Christians, a new, interfaith version of the “Oilfield Prayer Day” proclamation calls on everyone to thank a deity, declaring that “people of faith acknowledge such natural resources are created by God.” [Huffington Post]

Governor Mary Fallin
(photo by Michael Vadon, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ Northern Power Systems Corp, a next generation renewable energy technology company based in Barre, Vermont, confirms the continued performance of its remote fleet with turbines performing through both Hurricane Matthew in the Caribbean, as well as Typhoon Chaba in the Jeju region of South Korea. [Your Renewable News]

¶ Despite the relatively slow uptake of renewable energy in the United States, replacement of fossil fuels with renewables is starting to have tangible results on emissions. According to the DOE’s Energy Information Administration in the first six months of 2016 fell to the lowest level for any first half of a year since 1991. [pv magazine USA]

Wyoming coal plant (Photo by Greg Goebel from Loveland CO, CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons)

¶ A panel of international wind power experts, in a study designed by the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Erin D. Baker and others, says technology advancements are expected to continue to drive down the cost of wind energy. The survey anticipates cost reductions of 24% to 30% percent by 2030. [The Recorder]

¶ UK infrastructure company John Laing Group plc is investing in a 29.9-MW wind project in New Mexico in its first venture in the US renewable energy sector. The wind farm will feature 13 GE 2.3-116 turbines. It has a 15-year fixed-price power purchase agreement and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017. [SeeNews Renewables]

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Science and Technology:

¶ The electric vehicle wireless charging solutions firm Evatran has revealed that it expects to offer wireless charging systems compatible with 80% of the electric vehicles currently on the roads of North America by the end of 2017, according to recent reports. The receiving coil is attached to the underside of the vehicle. [CleanTechnica]

Image via Plugless

World:

¶ Australia’s national solar PV market appears to be slowly rebounding, with rooftop solar installs in September 2016 reaching 66 MW for the month, their highest level since July 2015. This is led by growth in the commercial market and particularly in South Australia. In Western Australia, growth “continued off a new base.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ UK smart grid outfit Reactive Technologies has successfully demonstrated transmission of data via the National Grid. For the first time, data was sent and received across the electricity network through subtle changes made to the grid frequency by modulating the power consumption of the transmitting devices. [reNews]

T-pylon (National Grid image)

¶ A study from the London School of Economics, examining 34 developed and developing countries for their carbon intensity, has found that low-carbon sectors are outpacing their less-productive, higher carbon-intensive sectors and the general economy in terms of growth, while increasing jobs and skill levels. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Siemens has been awarded a contract for the turbine supply
of the Zadar VI Extension onshore wind project in Croatia. The project will have 13 wind turbines of the type SWT-3.4-108, rated at 3.4 MW each, with a 108-meter rotor. Commissioning of the 44.2-MW facility is set for the summer of 2017. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Onshore wind turbines (Siemens image)

¶ Queensland has three “credible” options to achieve a 50% renewable energy target by 2030, a panel of experts said. A draft report said “significant government policy action” would be needed for Australia’s biggest carbon polluting state to reach the target, but the impact on electricity prices would be “broadly cost neutral.” [The Guardian]

¶ According to leaked plans from the German federal network agency, and published on in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the government has had to halve its original target for expanding its windfarms in the gale-beaten northern flatlands because it cannot extend its power grid quickly enough to the energy-hungry south. [The Guardian]

Windfarm in Germany (Photo: Bloomberg / Getty Images)

¶ At the end of June wind capacity worldwide reached 456,486 MW, which corresponds to 4.7 % of the global electricity demand. In the second half of 2016, an additional 40 GW are expected, for a total to approximately 500 GW. The announcement was made by the World Wind Energy Association in its half-year report. [Sun & Wind Energy]

¶ General Electric plans to buy a maker of wind-turbine blades for $1.65 billion (€1.5 billion), bolstering the renewable-energy business amid growing demand for clean power. The deal for LM Wind Power, based in Denmark, will enhance GE’s ability to serve customers in the wind power markets, the companies said. [Irish Times]

GE wind turbines (Photo: Danny Lawson / PA Wire)

¶ The International Atomic Energy Agency, which oversees United Nations nuclear operations, says a nuclear power plant was successfully hacked three or four years ago. The hackers also made an attempt to steal uranium which could have powered their dirty bombs. The information comes from the agency’s director. [Techworm]

US:

¶ Increased access to solar power will allow 65% of Stanford University’s electricity to come from renewable resources by the end of 2016, according to a Stanford News press release. Solar panels will also be added to 16 more buildings on campus by the end of this year. The university will supply 53% of its own power. [The Stanford Daily]

Solar panels on California grid (Courtesy of Sun Power)

¶ Arizona Public Service said it has become the first utility outside of California to reach 1 GW of solar energy capacity, counting both direct ownership and projects with which it holds power contracts. The figure includes 499 MW of utility-scale projects and 551 MW of rooftop PV, from investments of about $2 billion. [pv magazine USA]

¶ While Uber is currently used mainly as an alternative for taxis, the services it offers could be used in a number of other fashions as well. One example is the way Summit, New Jersey, is now using the service as part of a pilot program that aims to reduce congestion at the parking lots used by the town’s train station. [CleanTechnica]

Summit train station (Photo by Dougtone, CC BY-SA)

¶ Iron Mountain Incorporated, a global leader in storage and information management services, signed a power purchase agreement, under which the company will purchase 10% of the energy produced at the Amazon Wind Farm Texas. The PPA provides enough electricity for 30% of its North American electricity footprint. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Borrego Solar Systems has launched a new division focused on megawatt-scale energy storage solutions, both stand-alone and tied to solar installations. The new storage division will be based in Massachusetts and will serve customers nationally. Borrego will focus on long-duration energy storage for the power grid. [Utility Dive]

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