renewables

Report: Renewables, Energy Efficiency in New England Will Replace the Need for Gas Pipelines

A report that examines statements about rolling blackouts made by regional grid operator ISO-New England, shows that sustained growth of renewables, and not more gas, will boost reliability of New England’s electric power system.




renewables

How Renewables Lead to a World of Peak Energy

It can be hard to get your head around just how much energy the world uses. Expressed in terms of oil, it was equivalent to almost 14 billion metric tons of the stuff in 2017. That’s like burning through all of Russia’s proved reserves in the space of 12 months, which is, in technical terms, a lot.




renewables

IRENA: Egypt Could Meet Up to 53 Percent of Electricity Demand with Renewables

Egypt has the potential to meet up to 53 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, according to a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The Egypt Renewable Energy Outlook, released in Cairo last week in the presence of Egyptian government officials and regional decision makers, found that pursuing higher shares of renewable energy could reduce the country’s energy bill by up to $900 million annually in 2030.




renewables

Surprised by Cheap Clean Energy, Coal Stalwart Adds Renewables

Marubeni Corp., the Japanese trading house for whom coal makes up about a quarter of its power generation, never expected renewable energy prices to plunge as much as they have.




renewables

Renewables Beat Coal in Germany Power Mix for First Time

Renewable energy muscled out coal to become Germany’s biggest source of electricity for the first time last year, helped by a surge in solar panel installations and coal-plant closures.




renewables

Bloomberg Opinion: PG&E Reneging On Renewables PPAs Makes No Sense

Utilities and renewable-energy advocates have long had a complicated relationship. Yet the prospect of PG&E Corp. tipping into bankruptcy by the end of January has sent shivers through the solar-and-wind sector.




renewables

California municipal utility will phase out three natural gas power plants in favor of renewables

This week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that rather than investing in the Haynes, Harbor and Scattergood natural gas power plants to meet the requirements of a 2010 law related to a practice known as once through cooling, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will phase them out in favor of renewable energy.







renewables

Norway Utility Plans to Invest as Much as $8.1 Billion in Renewables

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.




renewables

India Renewables Boom Aided by International Funds

India said cheaper credit along with foreign investment will help the world’s third-largest polluter fund an ambitious renewable energy program that would build green power plants faster than China.




renewables

Investors Spent a Record $2 Trillion on Renewables, Report Says

Investors have spent more than $2 trillion on clean-energy plants in the past decade and last year added more renewable capacity than ever before.




renewables

Brazil to Offer Ambitious Climate Plan With More Renewables

Brazil will increase the use of renewable energy, target zero net deforestation and push for low-carbon agriculture as part of its climate proposal, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said in an interview.




renewables

Nordic Renewables Boom Set to Exceed Wind Energy Target

Sweden and Norway will probably exceed a joint target for renewable energy production by the end of the decade, industry consultant Nena AS said.




renewables

EU Raises Concern That UK, France Won't Meet Renewables Goal

The European Commission raised concern that the U.K. and France may not meet their 2020 renewable energy targets, saying the two countries should examine whether they’re doing enough to reach the goals.




renewables

German Utility's Race for Renewables Seen as Too Little, Too Late

RWE AG, the German utility whose coal-fired plants make it Europe’s largest carbon emitter, officially started the company’s largest renewables project on Thursday: a wind farm in Liverpool Bay off Britain’s coast.




renewables

Renewables to Beat Fossil Fuels With $3.7 Trillion Solar Boom

Renewable energy will draw almost two-thirds of the spending on new power plants over the next 25 years, dwarfing spending on fossil fuels, as plunging costs make solar the first choice for consumers and the poorest nations.




renewables

Hydroelectric power, other renewables emphasized at G20 summit

A meeting of Group of Twenty energy ministers in Istanbul earlier this month affirmed a collective belief in renewable energy -- including hydroelectric power -- amongst the major economies that constitute the international forum.




renewables

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.




renewables

Italy needs energy storage to shore up 40 GW of renewables coming online in next decade

Italy must more than double its capacity to store electricity if it wants to slash pollution from burning fossil fuels, the head of the nation’s power transmission network said.




renewables

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.





renewables

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.




renewables

Advocates want next phase of ComEd microgrid powered by renewables

Stakeholders including clean energy and community groups are watching closely as ComEd begins the second phase of a microgrid pilot project in Chicago.





renewables

India's largest coal-fired power producer appoints renewables head to speed transition

State-run NTPC Ltd., India’s largest coal-fired power producer, is appointing a new head of its renewables team to speed up its expansion into clean energy, according to a company official with knowledge of the plan.




renewables

Natural Gas beat coal in the US. Will renewables and storage beat gas?

In April 2019, in the heart of coal country, Indiana regulators rejected a proposal by its electric and gas utility, Vectren, to replace baseload coal plants with a new $900 million, 850 megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired power plant. Regulators were concerned that with the dramatic decline in the cost of renewable energy, maturation of energy storage and rapidly changing customer demand, such a major gas plant investment could become a stranded, uneconomic asset in the future. Regulators are now pushing Vectren to consider more decentralized, lower-carbon resources such as wind, solar and storage that would offer greater resource diversity, flexibility and cost effectiveness.




renewables

Bernie Sanders’ ‘Green New Deal’ aims to have renewables power homes by 2030

Bernie Sanders wants renewable energy to power U.S. homes and vehicles by 2030 -- and he wants to do it by enlisting the federal government in building and running new solar, wind and geothermal electricity projects.




renewables

Too Conservative? EIA Projects Renewables to be 16-27 Percent of US Electricity Supply by 2040

Today, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its renewable electricity generation projections as part of its "Annual Energy Outlook — 2014" (AEO2014).




renewables

Why New Nuclear Technology Hurts the Case for Renewables

Does nuclear energy deserve a seat at the table alongside renewable energy technologies in weaning us off of fossil fuels and transitioning into a cleaner energy world? A new report published yesterday suggests not only will newer small modular reactor (SMR) technology be at least as expensive as larger reactors, it won't fit the needs of a more flexible grid system, and its development will siphon away funding from the truly renewable energy options that need it.




renewables

Scotland Rejects Independence, But Concerns Linger for a Renewables Future

Scotland’s decision to vote no to independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has elicited a collective sigh of relief from energy sector players. Those companies with significant investments in Scottish renewable energy assets had understandably been anxious over the uncertainty that an independent Scotland would engender, for example potentially changing the rules on support measures for renewable energy investment north of the border.





renewables

Japan Should Continue Its Road Towards Renewables

The power sector crisis in Japan has entered a new stage. The recent refusal of Japanese utilities to grant grid access to new renewable energy projects should not be seen as a failure of Japan’s renewable energy policy, but as a consequential and necessary phase to extend Japan’s technological leadership into the power sector.




renewables

Energy Efficiency and Renewables Are Lowest Risk/Cost Investments for Utilities

A new report by utility and finance experts contains positive news for the environment, our air and our (and our utilities’) pocketbooks — the economics of electric power resources have made zero-emissions energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies the most financially attractive options to meet the nation’s future energy demands.




renewables

German Fossil Fuel Giant Jumps on Renewables Bandwagon

Germany’s biggest utility E.ON — long a pillar of the country’s fossil fuel and nuclear industry — dropped a bombshell on Europe’s business world with the announcement that the multinational was exiting the conventional energy market in favor of a new business model based on renewables, intelligent grid systems, energy management and other services. Indeed, the company seems finally to have drawn the logical consequences from the Energiewende, Germany’s renewable energy transition, after years of resisting the ambitious transformation of the nation’s energy supply.




renewables

India Plans Renewables Splurge, But Will Not Commit to Carbon Plan

India, the world’s third-largest polluter, will spend at least $100 billion on climate-related projects but isn’t ready to follow China and the U.S., the top two emitters, in promising to limit its fossil-fuel emissions.






renewables

Will Lower Oil Prices Dampen the Mining Industry’s Appetite for Renewables?

For many mining companies, the rallying cry for investigating solar or wind energy options has been that the price of oil and other conventional fuels is too high — and will almost certainly rise over time. Now, though, with oil prices having taken a dramatic nosedive, this argument no longer packs quite the same punch that it once did.




renewables

India Renewables Boom Aided by International Funds

India said cheaper credit along with foreign investment will help the world’s third-largest polluter fund an ambitious renewable energy program that would build green power plants faster than China.




renewables

From the Fossil-Fuel Center of the World, A Call for Renewables and Energy Efficiency

In a must-read report released this week on fast-changing energy markets, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi signals a once-in-a-lifetime opening for investors in Middle Eastern renewables and energy efficiency.




renewables

Listen Up: Can We Get To 100 Percent Renewables?

We've made great progress with renewable energy — but from an almost zero base we still have a long way to go. Fortunately, the path is clear. California is already over 12 percent with a combination of hydroelectric, wind and solar (unfortunately not much hydro this year). Getting to 50 percent only requires the deployment of existing technology. But can we get to 100 percent?




renewables

Brazil to Offer Ambitious Climate Plan With More Renewables

Brazil will increase the use of renewable energy, target zero net deforestation and push for low-carbon agriculture as part of its climate proposal, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said in an interview.




renewables

The New Normal? Renewables, Efficiency, And “Too Much Electricity”

Just over a decade ago, the state of California faced serious concerns about whether its utilities could generate and/or buy enough power to assure that the world’s seventh-largest economy could keep the lights on. The infamous California energy crisis, which affected several other western states as well, was a complex tangle of poorly structured deregulation, significant market manipulation (remember Enron?), and other causes. Along with rolling blackouts, California endured an official state of emergency that lasted 34 months, led to the recall and replacement of Gov. Gray Davis, and cost the state and its ratepayers billions of dollars — a cautionary tale for all states of electricity supply unable to meet demand.




renewables

Bloomberg Opinion: PG&E Reneging On Renewables PPAs Makes No Sense

Utilities and renewable-energy advocates have long had a complicated relationship. Yet the prospect of PG&E Corp. tipping into bankruptcy by the end of January has sent shivers through the solar-and-wind sector.




renewables

Sempra Renewables Selling Wind and Energy Storage Assets to AEP for $1.05B

Sempra Renewables jointly owns all of part of seven wind farms and one battery installation in seven states. 




renewables

California municipal utility will phase out three natural gas power plants in favor of renewables

This week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that rather than investing in the Haynes, Harbor and Scattergood natural gas power plants to meet the requirements of a 2010 law related to a practice known as once through cooling, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will phase them out in favor of renewable energy.