on

PNM plans early retirement of coal plant with massive addition of solar + storage

On July 1, Public Service of New Mexico filed a plan with regulators in the state for how it plans to get to a 100 percent emission-free power by 2040. The utility reviewed four scenarios, all of which involved the early retirement of the San Juan Coal Plant, to arrive at its recommended path forward.




on

Air conditioning is the world's next big threat

The vast majority of Americans have air conditioning but in Germany almost nobody does. At least not yet.




on

The number of public charging stations for EVs in China surges 50.5% in May

According to data recently released by the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Association, the number of public charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) owned and operated by its members totaled 401,000 units as of May 2019, of which 229,000 were AC charging stations, 171,000 were DC and 500 AC/DC were integrated, representing a year on year increase of 50.5 percent and 9,658 units from the previous month. Between June 2018 and May 2019, the number of public charging stations for EVs showed an average monthly increase of some 11,205 units.




on

Educating today’s utilities about tomorrow’s innovations

Last week in San Antonio, Texas, about 150 DISTRIBUTECH stakeholders convened to discuss industry trends, best practices for marketing and sales in the utility industry and set the educational agenda for the 2020 event.




on

Dominion Energy begins construction on Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project

Dominion Energy has begun construction on the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, which will feature two 6-MW wind turbines and power about 3,000 homes.




on

Hanergy to deliver 400 MW of solar to Democratic Republic of Congo

Chinese solar company Hanergy Thin Film Power Group has won a deal to build the first solar PV plants in the Democratic Republic of Congo.




on

EON switches all U.K. customers to 100% renewable power

EON SE is now supplying all of its 3.3 million residential customers in Britain with 100% renewable electricity, the first of the U.K.’s “Big Six” utilities to do so.




on

AI-powered storage company enters Northeast market with “front-of-the-meter” solution

This week artificial intelligence (AI)-driven energy storage services provider Stem said that it had formed a partnership with New York-based private equity company Syncarpha Capital to build 28.2 megawatt-hours (MWh) of large-scale storage projects co-sited with solar in Massachusetts.




on

POWERGEN India 2020 to support energy transition in India

Clarion Energy & iTEN Media announce the launch of POWERGEN India 2020 co-located with Indian Utility Week & DISTRIBUTECH India




on

Utility partners with climate experts on new carbon emission goals

Community stakeholders and climate experts from the University of Arizona are helping Tucson Electric Power to build an energy portfolio that supports reliable, affordable and increasingly sustainable service over the next 15 years.





on

Long-term financing for solar is possible and critical for supporting continued industry growth

Installed solar capacity in the United States exceeded 10 GW for the third year in a row in 2018, and the pace of growth is expected to continue. The first quarter of 2019 was the strongest in the history of the U.S. solar market, according to a recent report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. Yet inefficient and costly project financing inhibits many solar developers from tapping into the market’s true potential.




on

Ontario Power Generation announces plans to rebuild century-old Calabogie Generating Station

Plans are under way to rebuild one of Ontario Power Generation’s oldest hydroelectric generating stations, which was damaged by a tornado in 2018. Constructed in 1917, the 5-MW Calabogie Generating Station has produced renewable, low-cost electricity on the Madawaska River for decades.




on

National Grid purchases wind and solar developer, Geronimo Energy

Yesterday, National Grid, through its competitive non-regulated unit National Grid Ventures (NGV), completed its $100 million acquisition of Geronimo Energy - a wind and solar developer in North America. The deal, which was announced on March 7th, 2019, has now satisfied all regulatory requirements and closing conditions.




on

Stay chilled: Lessons for district cooling from the Gulf Cooperation Council

Global demand for air-conditioning is projected to triple over the next 30 years, as the planet warms and urban populations grow, particularly in emerging markets. Meeting that demand will call for significant investments in new cooling infrastructure and the electrical generating capacity necessary to power it. Although traditional cooling technologies are expected to become more efficient in coming years, countries will need to plan for these additional loads, which will be expensive. Emerging markets can also make use of district cooling, an approach that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which consists of six Middle Eastern countries — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman — have successfully adopted.




on

Turkeler and RT Enerji choose supplier for five onshore wind farms in Turkey

Turkeler and RT Enerji have chosen GE Renewable Energy to supply equipment for five onshore wind farms being built in Turkey.




on

HydroVision International kicks off in Portland, Ore., U.S.

The HydroVision International event is now under way in the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, with more than 3,000 hydropower professionals from around the world coming together for four days of learning and networking.




on

Farmers Irrigation District hydropower facility offers sustainable solution to a growing challenge

On Monday, July 22, about 30 HydroVision attendees visited the beautiful Hood River Valley outside of Portland, Oregon to tour in-conduit hydropower projects and learn how modernizing irrigation districts is a sustainable solution to help combat a changing climate.




on

Envisioning the future of hydropower: What do you see?

On Tuesday, July 23 at the HydroVision International keynote, Vice President Marla Barnes asked the audience to close their eyes and envision their next vacation. “Are you sitting on a beach? Are you packing your family into the car for a wild adventure? What do you see,” she asked.




on

GE Renewable Energy announces two hydropower services contracts in the US

GE Renewable Energy announced at HydroVision that it has signed two hydropower contracts in the U.S. one for FirstLight’s Northfield Mountain project and one for PG&E’s Caribou One hydropower station.




on

Lincoln Clean Energy: Texas' Lockett Wind project commercially operational

The Lockett Wind farm in Wilbarger has the potential to generate more than 700,000 MWh of renewable energy per year, enough to power the equivalent of 70,000 homes. 




on

Glendale Water & Power to repower Grayson power plant with solar plus storage

Last week, California’s Glendale Water & Power (GWP) received approval from the Glendale City Council to move forward with a plan to repower the aging Grayson Power Plant with a combination of renewable energy resources, energy storage and a limited amount of thermal generation.




on

Utility device and data management technologies revenue could exceed $22 billion by 2027edit

A new report from Navigant Research released this week says that revenue from device and data management technologies could grow from approximately $14.8 billion in 2018 to more than $22.1 billion in 2027 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6%.




on

In Michigan, Consumers sees strong interest in charging station rebates

Consumers Energy says it’s happy with the launch of its electric vehicle charging station program and open to expanding the three-year, $10 million pilot.




on

Energy storage sites provide unique wholesale market participation

ENGIE Storage has announced it will supply and operate a 19 MW/38 MWh portfolio of six energy storage sites that will contribute to the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program and participate in ISO-New England wholesale markets.




on

Digitalisation and the transformation of the energy value chain

Digitalisation is one of the biggest enablers of the global transition to clean energy. From intelligent asset management, to Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things. Find out how digitalisation is transforming the management, operation and maintenance of renewable energy assets, and driving a more efficient renewable world.





on

NY governor announces $1.1 billion project to extend life of Niagara Power Project

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that the New York Power Authority is launching a 15-year modernization and digitization program to significantly extend the operating life of the Niagara Power Project.




on

Fabric-based solar cells on the horizon

New textile-based solar cells developed by Fraunhofer researchers, semitrailers could soon be producing the electricity needed to power cooling systems or other onboard equipment. In short, textile-based solar cells could soon be adding a whole new dimension to photovoltaics, complementing the use of conventional silicon-based solar cells.




on

How the tech giants are fueling a solar revolution

From the way we shop to the way we socialize, the internet affects nearly everything we do these days. This dramatic change in our way of life has been fueled by a handful of large tech companies, companies that are increasingly going all in on solar.




on

Dominion plans $33 million battery storage pilot

Dominion executives said in an interview this week that battery storage has the potential to improve the resiliency of the electrical grid




on

A modern Cinderella story: California’s record on wholesale distributed generation leaves much room for improvement

California, long a progressive leader on renewable energy and climate change mitigation, has neglected a key market segment for renewable energy: the “community-scale,” or “wholesale distributed generation” (DG), market. This market segment is defined as projects below 20 megawatts that connect to the distribution grid and export power to the grid for sale.




on

The hydrocarbon era’s spectacular end

Dustin Yellin, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based artist whose intricate 3D photomontages adorn the likes of New York’s Lincoln Center, wants to draw your gaze to climate change. Not in a subtle way, either. He plans to stand an oil supertanker on its end in the ground—a structure soaring 1,000 feet into the air.




on

Forecast shows continued decline for coal

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its Short Term Energy Outlook for 2019 and we have summarized the key highlights for you below.




on

Sunverge raises $11 million for utility distributed energy resource controls

The round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund with participation from Equinor Energy Ventures and Evergy Ventures





on

In battle to break up utilities, Arizona steps to the front line

Of all the efforts to break up utility monopolies in the U.S., the one unfolding in Arizona may be the most important to watch.




on

BNEF says corporate energy market is strong

Coming on the heels of Gap’s announced 90-MW PPA with Enel Green Power, BloombergNEF released its 2H 2019 corporate energy market outlook in which it said that corporations signed contracts to purchase 8.6 GW of clean energy in 2019 through July, up from 7.2 GW at the same time last year.




on

U.S. announces changes to implementing regulations of the Endangered Species Act

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has unveiled changes to the implementing regulations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that Interior says is “designed to increase transparency and effectiveness and bring the administration of the Act into the 21st century.”




on

On the brink of blackouts, Texas makes case for power plant boom

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.




on

Who will benefit from the surge in behind-the-meter battery installations?

The electric utility industry has been buffeted by two recent trends that threaten to upend the profitability, and in some cases the future viability of, those companies that are slow to adapt to a new, rapidly changing landscape. Specifically, in the past decade, the industry has had to grapple with both waning demand and the growth of distributed energy generation.




on

London finds no easy answers after once-in-a-decade blackout

When two U.K. power plants shut down almost simultaneously in London’s first major blackout for a decade, it triggered a storm of questions about how to avoid another failure.




on

Net zero carbon emissions ‘impossible’ without hydrogen says UK energy alliance

The UK’s North West Hydrogen Alliance (NWHA) is calling for government investment in hydrogen projects to meet ambitious carbon reductions targets in Britain.




on

ARENA to provide $40 million funding for South Australia’s first pumped hydro plant

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), on behalf of the Australian government, has announced up to $40 million in funding towards the deployment of a pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) project in South Australia.




on

The energy transition is underway: 10 charts tell the story

The renewable energy transition promises to reduce carbon emissions, but it’s happening at different speeds around the world. Read on for some key insights from BloombergNEF’s New Energy Outlook 2019, which provides a detailed road map to the future.




on

Norwegian battery startup with $4.5B plan has vision for Nordic hub

Freyr AS, a startup planning to build one of Europe’s first battery gigafactories in Norway, has a bigger vision for the region: a “Nordic Battery Belt.”




on

University of Notre Dame breaks ground on 2.5-MW hydroelectric generation facility

The University of Notre Dame and South Bend’s Venues Parks & Arts have broken ground on a 2.5-MW hydroelectric generation facility at an existing city-owned dam on the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend, Ind.





on

Largest Cherokee County wind farm now under construction

After a 23-year wind farm construction hiatus, work on a 2nd Cherokee County wind farm has begun. Developed by San Diego based EDF Renewables, the 200-megawatt (MW) Glaciers Edge Wind Project north of Marcus is scheduled to be on line by the end of 2019.




on

DOE: U.S. onshore wind projects achieving record capacity, employment

The U.S. land-based wind industry installed 7,588 MW of capacity last year, bringing the overall utility-scale total to more than 96 GW.