Earlier this week SIMEC ZEN Energy announced details of the first of many planned renewable energy projects for South Australia. The Cultana Solar Farm, a 280-MW solar power plant expected to generate 600 GW-hours of energy annually in Australia’s sunny climate is expected to begin construction in early 2019 according to details in a press release.

The Spanish government is exploring ways to persuade investors to finance a 100 billion-euro ($116 billion) transformation of its energy system as it tries to move beyond past policy mistakes that led to widespread losses and lawsuits.

An untimely resignation has given one Kentucky Republican a second shot at saving coal.

A decade ago, Maine regulators faced dueling proposals to meet projected load growth north of Portland: upgrade a long-distance transmission line to carry more power, or strategically install batteries and distributed generation.

Crowdfunding has become a popular tool for people and organizations to use to test out their new ideas for green products while securing funds to begin operations. The most well-known crowdfunding websites, Kickstarter and Indiegogo, have helped a significant amount of projects in renewable energy and sustainability get off the ground, projects that have been the focus of previous installments in my ongoing articles series about crowdfunding in energy.

2018 was another defining year for the lithium supply chain as the global population continued to make remarkable strides towards the implementation of clean energy and transportation. Although the clean energy and transportation industries are only in their early days, it has become apparent that renewables and electrification of transportation are an irreversible trend, one that has begun to disrupt many established industries.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google said it would invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to expand its data center infrastructure in the Netherlands.

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%.

UK company BAE Systems has been selected as preferred tenderer for the SEA 5000 program to deliver the Australian Government’s nine Future Frigates for the Royal Australian Navy.

British Columbia plans to proceed with construction of the Site C hydroelectric dam on the Peace River in the Canadian province’s northeast.

Statkraft AS, Norway’s state-owned power company, said it plans to plow as much as 60 billion kroner ($8.1 billion) into renewable energy around the world in the coming years after the government boosted its funding.

Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.

The Obama administration is proposing a $4 billion fund to reward states that exceed cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, and wants Congress to back steeper royalty rates for oil, gas and coal extraction from public land.

Scientists and economists including BP Plc’s former chief executive officer, John Browne, are inviting governments to join a $150 billion program that aims to make clean energy cheaper than coal.

Uruguay hopes to generate as much as 38 percent of its power from wind by the end of 2017, up from about 13 percent now, cementing Uruguay’s position as South America’s top wind-energy user, according to Gonzalo Casaravilla, chairman of the state- owned electric utility UTE.

Long-frustrated wind and solar developers in Australia can now get to work on more than A$14 billion ($11 billion) in projects after a new renewable energy target passed parliament.

India's Union Cabinet has approved cost revisions for its intergovernmental agreement with the Royal Government of Bhutan to implement the 1,200-MW Punatsangchhu-1 hydroelectric project on Bhutan's Punatsangchhu River.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is funding the Ireland division of U.S.-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. (ORPC) to identify feasible tidal energy sites in the coastal waters of County Donegal. 

JSW Energy Ltd., based in Mumbai, India, is refinancing about US$1.1 billion via a 5:25 financial structure for its hydropower-related debt following the purchase of two hydroelectric projects in November 2014 from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.  

JSW Energy Ltd., based in Mumbai, India, is refinancing about US$1.1 billion via a 5:25 financial structure for its hydropower-related debt following the purchase of two hydroelectric projects in November 2014 from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.  

According to the Federal Register, potential power is presently unutilized at the 800-kW East powerhouse and proposed 700-kW West powerhouse for the Potsdam hydroelectric project on the Raquette River in Lancaster County, New York. The proposed West powerhouse received a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission exemption from licensing in 1981.  

Hearings on a pair of bills held by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this week could potentially lead to an expansion of hydroelectric power in Alaska.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed bipartisan hydroelectric power regulatory improvement provisions as part of the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015, potentially helping to expedite the project approval process.

The US$1.6 billion Northern Pass transmission line that could tap into 1,096 MW from Canada’s largest hydropower producer, HydroQuebec, was approved Dec. 7, by a 6-0 vote of New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee [SEC].
 

The New Development Bank (NDB), which has an authorized capital of US$100 billion, could provide additional opportunities to fund development of new hydroelectric projects.
 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed a memorandum agreement with the Southeastern Power Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority and Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, Inc., to perform a variety of work at Corps hydropower projects.

On July 18, Empresa Publica de Producao de Electricidade (PRODEL) Project Manager, Celso Pontes, announced phase one at the 40-MW Matala hydroelectric project is complete and the detailed design of the second phase is now being prepared.
 

Zambia and Zimbabwe have appointed the African Development Bank (AfDB) as lead financial adviser for the construction of the 2,400-MW Batoka Gorge hydropower project, according to Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) Chief Executive Officer, Munyaradzi Munodawafa.
 

Power Africa and Trade Africa Coordinator, Andrew Herscowitz, announced on Feb. 14 during the Abuja Electricity Distribution Co.’s two-day Distribution Company Workshop in Abuja, Nigeria, that the U.S. will invest US$1billion in the country through the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

Only time will tell whether this is right, but EV adoption is clearly rising both on the individual and fleet fronts. Utilities such as Southern California Edison and Ameren, among many others, are working to build EV charging infrastructure and align power distribution in a way to handle it.

New research shows that small run-of-river (ROR) hydropower projects can provide just as much baseload stability as reservoir-based hydropower plants while being highly responsive to real-time grid and market changes. This means that as the U.S. seeks to expand renewable energy sources without compromising reliability, one option is more flexible (and profitable) hydropower that doesn’t involve dams.

Hook up your RV at a North Carolina campground or charge your boat at a marina, and you’ll pay for the electricity you consume. Plug in your electric car at a charging station, and you’ll pay for the time you spend at the outlet.

The viability of electric vehicles depends in part on a manufacturing plant in eastern Australia, where gleaming white cabinets the size of large refrigerators are loaded onto shipping crates. They’re among the most advanced car chargers available, promising to deliver a full tank of juice in minutes.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees an end to the gloom for solar manufacturers as demand in China stabilizes and free-falling panel prices bottom out.

Energy generation and consumption is rapidly transforming into a decentralized, decarbonized, and digitized model due to a number of market forces. The declining costs of solar energy systems, as well as the increasing price of energy from the grid has led to grid parity. This has caused PV proliferation to accelerate to such an extent that in the past five years alone, PV installed capacity has increased by 300%. Simultaneously, the EV market is also on the rise and is expected to reach the electrification tipping point by 2030. This is due to support from governments trying to limit the effects of climate change, thus leading to automotive manufactures transitioning their fleets from standard petrol- and diesel-powered cars to EVs. As a result of the acceleration of both of these markets, EV charging has created demand patterns causing an even steeper and faster ramp-up in the evenings than the PV duck curve. , This is causing the grid’s balancing act to be increasingly complex. In order to support this new energy dynamic, advanced management software is required to ensure grid stabilization and to unlock the value of these energy resources.

Global infrastructure services firm AECOM said that Shell Retail has hired it to deliver ultrafast electrical vehicle (EV) chargers across the Netherlands. A total of 200 fast chargers – under the brand name Shell Recharge - will be available at Shell forecourts (filling stations).

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%.

Presentation by Jason Fullerton of ACI Technologies, Inc.

Presentation by Reza Ghaffarian, Ph.D. of NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Tesla Motors Inc.’s plan to build what co-founder Elon Musk bills as the world’s largest battery factory could shake up the power industry and trigger a bidding contest between states eager for the 6,500 jobs the $5 billion investment could create.

Most talk of "energy efficiency" and “sustainability” is insidious or naïve, or even misdirected. We all should switch off the lights when we leave a room, use efficient, gas-fired tankless water heaters (even when they are uneconomical), and work in LEED certified buildings. Intelligent thermostats — Nest, for instance — may regulate our air-conditioning to assure comfort while generating savings, and shaving “peak” load on the electricity grid. Using LED lamps and star rated appliances is admirable too. These solutions and behaviors, while praiseworthy, are beside the point; we should rather favor “supply action” before demand response.

Talks between Germany and Norway about how to boost the trading of electricity from renewable sources are being held up by concerns that the power cable running under the North Sea won’t ever make money.

Solar Wind Energy Tower Inc. won approval from an Arizona city to develop a $1.5 billion project that would use ambient desert heat to create a draft to generate electricity, in a concrete colossus that would be the tallest structure in North America.

China is considering providing as much as 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) in government funding to build more charging facilities and spur demand for electric vehicles, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Four energy companies are proposing an $8 billion renewable energy project that would supply Los Angeles with more than twice the power generated by the Hoover Dam.

U.S. electricity markets face years of higher prices as clean-air regulations shut more coal-fired power plants than earlier forecast, cutting supply and forcing producers to rely more on natural gas.

President Barack Obama will pledge $3 billion to a United Nations climate-change fund that’s intended to help poor nations boost renewable energy and counter the ill effects of global warming.

The news about the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to limit carbon pollution from existing power plants just got even better: the proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) can save the power industry and its customers — us — as much as $2 to $4 billion in 2020 and $6 to 9 billion in 2030, while cleaning our air and modernizing the electricity sector.

Clean energy investments in India increased to $7.9 billion last year and are expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015.

Iberdrola SA, Spain’s largest electricity company, agreed to buy UIL Holdings Corp. in a deal valued at about $3 billion in cash and shares to create a U.S. utility with about 3.1 million customers.