b

Indian wind farm developers face troubling delays in getting projects built

India has drawn global attention since it started awarding wind power projects at record-low tariffs, spurring optimism that renewable energy could supplant the nation’s abundant coal resources in electricity generation.




b

Hawaiian Electric Companies achieve 27 percent renewable energy in 2018 despite loss of geothermal

In late February, Hawaiian Electric Companies announced that they have achieved a consolidated 27 percent renewable portfolio standard in 2018, even with the loss of Hawaii Island’s geothermal resource for most of the year following the Kilauea volcanic eruption. Hawaii has a goal of reaching 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.




b

China’s renewable energy installed capacity grew 12 percent across all sources in 2018

As of the end of 2018, China’s renewable energy installation capacity had reached 728 GW, an increase of 12 percent from a year earlier, according to statistics released by China’s National Energy Administration. This breaks down into 352 GW (up 2.5 percent) for hydro, 184 GW (up 12.4 percent) for wind, 174 GW (up 34 percent) for photovoltaic (PV) and 17.8 GW (up 20.7 percent) for biomass. Renewable energy accounted for 38.3 percent of the country’s total installed power capacity, a rise of 1.7 percentage points.




b

New Hampshire considers options for buying renewable energy for state

New Hampshire is preparing to follow the lead of other New England states and create a system for procuring renewable energy on behalf of residents.




b

What if the US-Mexico border wall was an energy corridor that could pay for itself?

Instead of a wall, build a first-of-its-kind energy park that spans the 1,954 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico to bring energy, water, jobs and border security to the region.




b

New report shows Baltic States ahead of western EU counterparts in renewable energy targets

Findings in a recently published European Union report showed that the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia make up over 30 percent of the EU countries that have already met their 2020 renewable energy targets.




b

Trump said to again seek deep cuts in renewable energy funding

The Trump administration is again seeking severe cuts to the U.S. Energy Department division charged with renewable energy and energy efficiency research, according to a department official familiar with the plan.




b

Indian government to declare large hydropower projects a renewable energy source

The Indian government’s Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved measures to promote the hydropower sector that include declaring large hydropower projects to be part of the non-solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO).




b

UK in deal to unlock offshore wind boom and green jobs

Offshore wind is set to provide more than 30 per cent of UK electricity by 2030 after the government today launched a landmark deal with the renewables industry.




b

Opinion: Puerto Rico's energy future is renewable

When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, it cut short nearly 3,000 lives, displaced thousands of families, and subjected the commonwealth to the longest energy blackout in U.S. history. This tragedy invited a new vision for Puerto Rico’s battered electric grid, and I hoped that a central tenet of the rebuilding effort would be an aggressive move toward safe, abundant and resilient clean energy.




b

San Francisco mulls creating its own 100 percent renewables-focused utility from PG&E wreckage

What happens when a famously left-leaning city dives into the buttoned-down business of electric utilities? San Francisco may soon find out.




b

New Mexico Governor Grisham signs law requiring 100 percent renewable energy by 2045

On Friday, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the state’s groundbreaking Energy Transition Act (ETA) into law, meaning that by 2045, the state should be fully powered by clean, carbon-free electricity.




b

Phasing out coal in Denmark via bioenergy-based CHP

Denmark in many ways is the poster child for the generation mix of the future. It led the way for decades in wind generation. It has continued to set ever-more ambitious targets for renewable penetration. And it has shown in the real world how to make a grid work that includes a heavy presence of renewable assets. Along the way, though, it has faced many challenges.




b

Survey reveals offshore wind failing to embrace digitalisation

The offshore wind market in the is lagging behind other areas of the energy sector when it comes to embracing – and understanding – the potential of digital technologies.




b

Tucson Electric Power hires EDF to build its largest wind farm to date

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is building a 247-MW wind farm that will help the company more than double its use of renewable energy by 2021. The company hired EDF Renewables North America to construct it in a Build and Transfer Agreement (BTA) worth approximately $370 million.




b

Idaho Power sets goal for 100-percent clean energy by 2045; signs record-low solar PPA

Idaho Power unveiled a goal Tuesday to provide 100-percent clean energy by 2045 on the heels of an announcement that it will purchase 120-MW of solar energy through a PPA with Jackpot Holdings at a price of less than US $0.022 cents per kWh.




b

Marine energy textbook released

A new textbook on offshore renewable energy has been released by M. Reza Hashemi with the University of Rhode Island, in collaboration with Simon Neill with Bangor University in Wales, the United Kingdom.




b

Can this online startup change how companies buy renewable power?

It was a milestone deal, not for its size but for the number of parties. In January, five big companies, each with differing energy requirements and renewable strategies, agreed to pool their investment and collectively purchase 42.5 megawatts from a North Carolina solar project.




b

Germany generated more than 50 percent of electricity from renewables in March

In a first for the country, Germany generated 54.5 percent of electricity from renewable energy in March 2019. This is according to data collected by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.




b

Multi-millions of dollars available for wind, solar energy research

Over the past week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced multiple funding opportunities to renewable energy research including $130M for early-stage solar and $28M for wind. Further, the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium announced up to $7M in funding for offshore wind.





b

UK power grid to be 'zero-carbon-capable' says operator

Two years after Britain had its first coal-free day since the Industrial Revolution, the nation’s network operator is readying itself for life without any fossil fuels.




b

A 'Green New Deal' for Central America would present business opportunities for renewable power generators

Recently there has been a great deal of interest in a ‘Green New Deal’ for the United States. It is seen as a way to solve pressing environmental, employment and economic problems with a single comprehensive plan. Modeled on Roosevelt’s New Deal, which created jobs, invested in large infrastructure projects, and pulled the US out of the Great Depression, the Green New Deal is a modern version of that program, but with green energy investments, 21st century job training, and deficit reduction as the key components.





b

Three ways utilities can partner with smart renewable cities to deliver on their objectives

Cities and renewable electricity have, respectively, become the habitat and energy of choice globally. The two are increasingly inseparable. Urbanization and electrification trends have turned cities and the grid into leading platforms for human activity, presenting unique opportunities for today’s utilities to partner with municipalities to achieve their smart city goals.




b

Get ‘renewable therapy’ during next week’s Solar Education Week

The Redford Center, a California-based non-profit co-founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his son, James, announced that every morning, from April 15-22, 2019, the organization will post an episode a day of "Renewable Therapy for Climate Anxiety," a conversational mini-series featuring Filmmaker, James Redford, and Matthew Nordan, clean energy investor and managing partner at MNL Partners. In each two-minute installment, the pair explores questions that nag environmentalists when it comes to renewable energy. Watch the first episode below.




b

Vermont utility launches vision for 100 percent renewable energy by 2030

This weekend at its “Earth Day Every Day Fair,” Green Mountain Power announced an energy vision to have a 100 percent carbon free energy supply by 2025 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. The utility said the move is among the most aggressive carbon targets for a utility of GMP’s size in the country.




b

Three strategies for building solar and wind energy systems on potentially contaminated lands

Building solar and wind energy projects on potentially contaminated lands can be a golden opportunity, both effective and cost-effective, for developers. The 120-acre Reilly Tar & Chemical Corporation Superfund site was recently redeveloped with a utility-scale solar farm and is a prime example of the reuse potential inherent in thousands of Superfund sites, brownfields, retired power plants, and landfills.




b

Mayor: PG&E assets are ‘great’ opportunity to bring clean energy to San Francisco

San Francisco Mayor London Breed wants to use PG&E Corp.’s bankruptcy to take over some of the company’s assets for the city’s power needs, a move that would shake up California’s largest utility and remake the state’s energy landscape.




b

The world’s longest wind turbine blade rolled off the assembly line last week

Last week, LM Wind Power said it had successfully manufactured the world’s first wind turbine blade to surpass 100 meters in length.




b

GE expanding Turkish wind turbine blade factory; hiring 300 workers

This week LM Wind Power, a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, announced its plan to recruit 300 additional employees at its wind turbine blade manufacturing site in Bergama, Turkey.




b

Ball Corporation plans 100 percent renewable push; purchases 388 MW of wind and solar

This week global energy and infrastructure group, Eversheds Sutherland, announced that it helped Ball Corporation secure two virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) – one wind and one solar – for a total of 388 MW of new renewable energy. According to Ball, these agreements will allow the company to power 100 percent of its corporate, packaging and aerospace operations electricity load in North America with renewable energy by the end of 2021.




b

Siemens Gamesa to supply 43 wind turbines to Canadian project

With more than 3,000 MW installed in Canada, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy is the market leader by cumulative installed capacity




b

The biggest US market for tiny wind farms isn't the breeziest

Turns out the best place to install a small turbine in the U.S. isn’t the Plains, where winds blow the strongest, but the Northeast where the incentives are better.




b

Clean energy engineering experts share blueprints for zero-emission buildings

Buildings account for nearly four-tenths of U.S. energy consumption through heating, cooling and other electricity use, according to the Energy Information Administration. And if that energy comes from fossil fuels, it releases more greenhouse gases that drive human-caused climate change.





b

Climate experts tell UK to set zero carbon target for 2050

Developing carbon capture and storage technology and low-carbon hydrogen is “a necessity not an option” for the UK to achieve a net zero carbon economy by 2050.





b

Northeast planned offshore wind farms already bringing economic growth to the region

Even though there is only one small existing offshore wind farm in the Northeast, the 30-MW Block Island wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, two announcements this week highlight the growing economic importance of the region's burgeoning offshore wind industry.




b

In Illinois, storage is among the next hurdles for renewables expansion

ComEd sees a significant role for energy storage on Illinois’ electric grid as the state works toward realizing its ambitious renewable goals.





b

Siemens to spin off gas and power business

Global energy powerhouse Siemens is to undergo a fundamental transformation by spinning off its gas and power divisions into a new entity which will also comprise its stake in windpower firm Siemens Gamesa.





b

Washington becomes fifth state in the US to aim for 100 percent clean energy

This week in Seattle, Washington, Senate Bill 5116 was signed into law in by Governor Jay Inslee after passing the state legislature earlier this month. This bill cuts out coal power by 2025 and requires an equitable transition to 100 percent clean electricity for the entire state by 2045.




b

Enel joins Boston’s Greentown Labs to scout for clean energy startups

This week, Enel S.p.A. announced the opening of its newest Innovation Hub in Boston at Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech startup incubator in the United States. The Hub will provide Enel, one of the world’s leading power companies, access to Greentown Labs’ startup community and innovation expertise.




b

Hydrogen: key to a zero-carbon future, or a costly distraction?

The U.K.’s push for a low-carbon economy has some notable successes, but the hardest part of the battle has barely started.




b

EU corporates want renewable energy but bureaucracy and regulations are holding them back

This week energy developer BayWa r.e. published its Energy Report 2019, which surveyed 1,200 European corporations about their attitudes toward renewable energy.




b

Offshore wind will need bigger boats. Much bigger boats

How do you install a wind turbine almost the size of the Chrysler building in the open ocean? Just get a boat with deck space larger than a football field and a crane that can lift the weight of 1,100 Chevy Suburban SUVs.




b

Former Massachusetts coal plant to be transformed into clean energy center

This week, diversified real estate acquisition and development firm Commercial Development Company and transmission developer Anbaric said they plan to build a renewable energy center at Brayton Point Commerce Center in Somerset, Massachusetts. The site is the former home of the Brayton Point Coal Plant, the cooling towers for which were demolished two weeks ago. (video of demolition at the end of article at this link).