Renewable Energy Focus
North American Windpower - Sep 19 The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a measure that instructs the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to chart a path to 100 percent clean energy in the city. According to a news release from the bill’s co-author, Councilman Mike Bonin, the vote makes Los Angeles the largest city in the country to explore a 100 percent clean energy mandate. With this vote, LADWP will now convene a collaborative working group to identify investments and priorities for making the transition to renewable energy, says the Sierra Club, which adds that the department will have 90 days to deliver a timeline for the study.
Greentech Media - Sep 21 2016 is slated to be the biggest year ever for solar installations in the U.S., even though more than 2 gigawatts' worth of utility-scale solar projects have been pushed into next year. Utility-scale solar PV will make up nearly two-thirds of total PV installations for this year, according to a new GTM Research report. The extension of the federal Investment Tax Credit at the end of 2015 provided some much-needed certainty for the solar industry, as well as some breathing room for utility-scale solar projects that developers were rushing to complete before the expiration. The increase in solar installations for 2016 and 2017 is significant. The nearly 2.5 gigawatts of utility-scale solar that will be pushed into 2017 equates to roughly half the amount of all the utility solar installed in 2015. The spillover effect prompted GTM Research to revise its 2016 solar installation forecast to 14.5 gigawatts, down from about 18 gigawatts before the ITC extension was passed.
Bloomberg - Sep 20 SunPower Corp. is using drones, computer software, and other technology that can cut the cost of its solar farms by as much as 30 percent, Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner said Tuesday in an interview. The San Jose-based company announced a suite of new tools including solar trackers and robotic cleaners that will help it reduce design and labor expenses in a market that has become increasingly competitive as a manufacturing glut has driven down panel costs, Werner said. “We are in a transition period in the solar industry where the strongest companies are going to separate themselves from the rest of the pack,” he said in a phone interview. SunPower is also partnering with the University of California at Davis to develop large-scale solar plants that can be installed on agricultural land, Werner said.
CNBC - Sep 20 Apple has strengthened its commitment to using completely renewable energy and joined RE100, a worldwide renewable energy initiative made up of some of the planet's biggest companies. In a news release, the company said that it would collaborate with RE100 to "drive clean energy into the manufacturing supply chain." Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives, also announced this week that Apple had finished building a 50-megawatt solar farm in Arizona, which is set to supply renewable energy to Apple's "global command data center" in Mesa. Bank of America and Amalgamated Bank also joined RE100 on Monday.
Utility Dive - Sep 20 Local mayors and nuclear energy supporters are among the parties challenging Pacific Gas & Electric's plan to close the 2,240-megawatt Diablo Canyon nuclear plant and replace it with a combination of renewables and efficiency. Six mayors of cities in San Luis Obispo County, where the plant is located, filed with regulators last week, asking them to deny the plan due to inadequate planning for its impacts on surrounding communities. They also asked for a third party to review long-term affects of the closure and for PG&E to disclose nuclear waste plans for the site. Nuclear backers, including the nonprofit Environmental Progress, also filed for rejection of the plan, arguing PG&E used "false" cost data to substantiate its case and that closing the plant will raise carbon emissions. PG&E officials say there is "no basis" for those claims.
Solar Industry Magazine - Sep 21 Nebraska-based independent power producer Tenaska has announced that its 150-megawatt Tenaska Imperial Solar Energy Center West project, located in Imperial Valley, is now fully operational. The facility supplies power to San Diego Gas & Electric Co. under a 25-year agreement and represents Tenaska’s second large-scale solar project to go online. Construction of the new project began in November 2014 and was managed by contractor First Solar Inc., which will also serve as the long-term plant operator.
Energy Matters - Sep 20 Tesla has been selected to provide a 20-megawatt energy storage system at Southern California Edison’s Mira Loma substation. Tesla says that when completed, the installation will be the largest lithium ion battery storage project in the world. The utility scale solution will be operational by the end of the year, according to Tesla.
reNEWS - Sep 21
SunPower Corp. has agreed to sell its 49 percent stake in the 102-megawatt Henrietta solar farm in California’s San Luis Valley to 8point3 Energy Partners for $134 million. 8point3 said the acquisition is expected to generate about $10.9 million in annual cash distributions. Southern Company owns the remaining 51 percent of the project, which has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric. Henrietta is expected to start operating in October.
Disclosure: Allen Matkins has represented SunPower in the development and financing of the Henrietta project including the transaction with 8point3 Energy Partners discussed in this article.
Microgrid Knowledge - Sep 20 A North American consortium plans to build a $12.4 million multi-utility microgrid project, designed to show how microgrids save money and help integrate renewables with advanced software. Utilities Emera Maine, Nova Scotia Power, and Toronto Hydro will team up on the project with San Francisco-based Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Opus One Solutions, Smarter Grid Solutions, and the Center for Urban Energy at Ryerson University. The utilities plan to demonstrate various microgrid capabilities at projects in Maine and Eastern Canada.
