Obama Admin Changing Coal Royalty Program To Boost Revenue

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/06/obama-admin-changing-coal-royalty-program-boost-revenue?et_cid=5369518&et_rid=45614407&location=top&et_cid=5369518&et_rid=45614407&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.manufacturing.net%2fnews%2f2016%2f06%2fobama-admin-changing-coal-royalty-program-boost-revenue%3fet_cid%3d5369518%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26location%3dtop

BBC News: Viewpoint: Why the US can afford to ignore Canada

Viewpoint: Why the US can afford to ignore Canada

Despite being an important trade and defence partner, the US tends to ignore Canada. But that's paradoxically because the two get along so well, as Jordan Michael Smith writes.

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Puerto Rico rescue bill clears Congress days before debt cliff - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/06/29/senate-poised-to-act-on-puerto-rico-debt-days-before-debt-cliff/?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation

Fwd: Report: Emerging Markets More Attractive than EU, US for Renewable Energy Investment - Renewable Energy World

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Rebecca Nichols" <rvan@tnag.net>
Date: Jun 29, 2016 9:03 PM
Subject: Report: Emerging Markets More Attractive than EU, US for Renewable Energy Investment - Renewable Energy World
To: "Monty Bannerman" <mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com>
Cc:

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/06/report-emerging-markets-more-attractive-than-eu-us-for-renewable-energy-investment.html?cmpid=renewablegeothermal06162016&eid=288620647&bid=1434879

Report: Emerging Markets More Attractive than EU, US for Renewable Energy Investment

June 9, 2016

ByRenewable Energy World Editors 

         

Sponsored By:

Almost without exception, European markets slipped while less mature markets across Latin America, Africaand Asia continued their ascent, revealed the latest edition of the EY Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) report. Emerging markets now represent half of the countries in the 40-strong index, including four African markets featuring in the top 30. Ten years ago only China and India were attractive enough to compete with more developed markets for renewable energy investment.  

The report finds that Chile is one of the first markets to enable economically viable renewables projects to compete directly with all other energy sources. At the same time, Brazil's renewables sector is showing resilience amid an economic downturn and its underdeveloped solar market remains a potentially lucrative lure. Mexico's recent power auctions have opened the door to multi-billion dollar opportunities under a new liberalized energy market.

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Meanwhile, European countries appear to be scaling back their ambitions as they address the challenges of marrying up increasingly mainstream renewables with a legacy of centralized conventional power generation.  

Ben Warren, EY's Global Power & Utilities Corporate Finance Leader and RECAI Chief Editor, said in a press release: 

"Emerging markets are transforming their energy industries at an unprecedented pace. Last year, renewable energy investments in the developing world overtook those in the developed world for the first time. Latin America, in particular, has become something of a litmus test for how quickly markets can grow."

Argentina was the highest-scoring new entrant, the report shows. The transformation of the country's economy and rollout of an ambitious renewables program under its new pro-market government brings it into the index in 19th position, and reinforces how quickly new markets can redirect the focus of developers and investors.

Warren added: "Markets earlier in their renewables journey are benefiting from cheaper and more efficient technologies, lower cost of capital and more reliable resource forecasting. The increasingly global flow of capital proves that investors are becoming more comfortable with new markets. We can expect to see massive deployment of low carbon investment in developing markets."

Lead image credit: Warren Rohner | Flickr

To hear from experts about renewable energy investment opportunities in Africa, register to attendRenewableEnergyWorld.com's upcoming webcast:High-Yield Investment Opportunities in the African Renewable Energy Sector. 

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PV Magazine Mobil: SEIA: Texas will become the 2nd-largest U.S. solar market in the next five years

http://m.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/seia--texas-will-become-the-2nd-largest-us-solar-market-in-the-next-five-years_100025190/

PV Magazine Mobil: IDB finances 54 MW merchant solar project in Chile

http://m.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/idb-finances-54-mw-merchant-solar-project-in-chile_100025175/

Corporations Challenge Utilities to Ramp Up Renewable Energy

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26631?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=June%2022%202016&utm_term=Enewsletter


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Bloomberg: U.S., Mexico, Canada Pledge 50 Percent Clean Power by 2025

From Bloomberg, Jun 27, 2016, 6:21:10 PM

The U.S. and Mexico will commit to joining Canada in boosting their use of wind, solar and other carbon-free sources of electricity, helping North America meet an ambitious goal of generating at least 50 percent of its energy from "clean" sources by 2025.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/29hLBJG

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Bloomberg: Colombian Peso Leads Emerging-Market Drop Amid Brexit Fallout

From Bloomberg, Jun 27, 2016, 4:18:40 PM

The Colombian peso posted the biggest decline amid an emerging-market slump as Britain's decision to exit the European Union roiled markets for a second day, adding to concern about the outlook for the Latin American nation's economy.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/29hEhOn

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Solar Power Is Becoming Cheap Enough To Compete With Fossil Fuels In The Gulf

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/06/solar-power-becoming-cheap-enough-compete-fossil-fuels-gulf?et_cid=5363380&et_rid=45636295&location=top&et_cid=5363380&et_rid=45636295&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.manufacturing.net%2fnews%2f2016%2f06%2fsolar-power-becoming-cheap-enough-compete-fossil-fuels-gulf%3fet_cid%3d5363380%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26location%3dtop

PV Magazine Mobil: Sonnen, NEXTracker named as Array Changing Technologies winners

Power peering emerging.

http://m.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/sonnen--nextracker-named-as-array-changing-technologies-winners_100025116/

PV Magazine Mobil: Southern Company issues $1.2 billion in green bonds

Georgia footprint.

http://m.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/southern-company-issues-12-billion-in-green-bonds_100025135/

German, Mexican state banks sign MOU to promote renewable energy: pv-magazine

http://www.pv-magazine.com/index.php?id=9&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=25149&cHash=40e065bdd5757d204b8ca38a6f31c095#axzz4CW2yWKq4

Utah energy group pursues nuclear power project | Electric Power News | Energy Central

http://www.energycentral.com/news/en/39196337/?utm_source=2016_06_24&utm_medium=eNL&utm_content=import&utm_campaign=WEEKLY_NEWS


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Bloomberg: Pound Plunges to Lowest in More Than 30 Years as Brexit Looms

From Bloomberg, Jun 23, 2016, 11:50:35 PM

The pound is making history as the U.K. looks destined for Brexit.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/2917IEk

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Bloomberg: Oil Glut Is Fading Where You Would Least Expect: Saudi Arabia

From Bloomberg, Jun 23, 2016, 7:01:00 PM

Saudi Arabia, a country nearly synonymous with plentiful crude supplies, is offering one of the strongest signs yet that the glut that has plagued the oil market since 2014 is coming to an end.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/28QoVDr

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BBC News: Colombia and Farc rebels sign historic ceasefire

Should increase foreign investment.

Colombia and Farc rebels sign historic ceasefire

The Colombian government and the Farc rebels have signed a historic ceasefire deal, seen as one of the last steps needed to end decades of conflict.

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Dubai solar price drop points to EPC-driven markets | PV Insider

http://analysis.pv-insider.com/dubai-solar-price-drop-points-epc-driven-markets?utm_campaign=PVI%2022JUN16%20Newsletter%20%28A%2fB%20test%202%29.htm&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elqTrackId=883608a0b5844fe9b5c6f44196243dff&elq=214b80cb9f4f4b3dad0bddd762bc1666&elqaid=19660&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=8674

Bloomberg: Enel Considering Bid for Brazil Utility Eletropaulo, CEO Says

From Bloomberg, Jun 21, 2016, 3:50:18 PM

Enel SpA is considering a bid to acquire AES Corp.'s Sao Paulo utility unit AES Eletropaulo.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/28NbSDq

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Bloomberg: SunPower to Boost Sales as Parent Total Expands in Renewables

From Bloomberg, Jun 21, 2016, 6:17:14 PM

SunPower Corp. will be able to offer new products to homeowners, businesses and utilities as its majority owner, Total SA, continues to consolidate its clean-energy units, said SunPower Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/28NwE6f

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Breaking: EV and Battery Builder Tesla Offers to Acquire PV Leader SolarCity For ~$2.5 Billion | Greentech Media

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/EV-and-Battery-Builder-Tesla-Offers-to-Acquire-PV-Leader-SolarCity-For-2?utm_source=breakingnews&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=breakingnews

Fwd: Week in Review: Canada’s solar bond sale, Siemens-Gamesa conjoin, wind stirs in Russia

Monty Bannerman
ArcStar Energy
+1 646.402.5076
www.arcstarenergy.com

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Subject: Week in Review: Canada's solar bond sale, Siemens-Gamesa conjoin, wind stirs in Russia
To: mbannerman@tnag.net

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Canada's solar bond sale, Siemens-Gamesa conjoin, wind stirs in Russia By Ben Vickers, Bloomberg New Energy Finance This week, a bond to fund Canada's largest solar-power project, located on aboriginal land in Ontario, proved a magic combination for investors who scooped up the new green debt. The C$613 million ($475 million) of notes maturing in 2035 with a 3.926 percent coupon to finance the Grand Renewable Solar Project represent Canada's largest solar-bond sale, according to data compiled by BNEF. They were bought by institutional investors, said Gail Prins Visser of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd., a partner in the project with Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corp. This deal comes as solar-power projects expand globally, with as much as 15 gigawatts of new installations expected in North America alone this year, said Carter Driscoll, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. Total world clean-energy capacity is estimated to be more than 830 gigawatts. See BNEF's 2016 New Energy Outlook here. Solar-power debt can be "extremely attractive" for investors, especially when compared to sovereign debt of similar maturity, Driscoll said, because of the long-term power-purchase agreements that typically provide 20 years of guaranteed revenue from electricity production. "People are desperate for yield," he said. About $27.8 billion in green bonds have been issued globally this year, compared with $35.7 billion in all of 2015, according to data on credited issuance compiled by Bloomberg. BNEF, which forecasts a record $55.8 billion for this year, gives its roundup of 2015 issues here. Indeed, green bonds may grow exponentially in the next few years into a $1 trillion conduit for global climate investments after 2020, according to Citigroup Inc. banker Michael Eckhart. Green bonds "will grow very rapidly once the market framework matures, growing first into hundreds of billions post-2020 and then eventually into a trillion-dollar market," said Eckhart, who helped write the initial voluntary rules that evolved into the Green Bond Principles and will attend the GBP group's annual meeting in London on July 16. Meanwhile, the latest mechanism designed to support solar power around the world is proving wildly successful in squeezing down the cost of energy. And it's also creating new challenges, and hazards, for the renewable-energy industry. From India to Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, authorities are moving away from making fixed subsidy payments for clean energy and toward a system of auctions. The new system forces companies to compete for contracts to sell electricity and has resulted in offers to supply photovoltaic power at record-low rates this year. Bigger markets including Germany and Japan will start the practice next year. Governments shifted toward auctions to rein in the uncontrolled booms that came everywhere that traditional subsidies were tried. While the new mechanism has produced a bonanza of contracts for well-capitalized developers, industry executives are concerned that many of the projects won't make money or get built, endangering company finances and national green targets. "You don't want to end up in a situation where companies go bust and you have a non-sustainable way of setting the right price level in the industry," said Samuel Leupold, vice president of Denmark's biggest utility Dong Energy A/S. Auctions typically have developers bidding down the price at which they're willing to sell power from their planned projects. The lowest bids win long-term contracts to sell energy at that price, and the companies can then move forward with building the plants. In March, a unit of top Italian utility Enel SpA agreed to sell solar in Mexico for $35.50 a megawatt-hour. And in May, Masdar Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. and Abdul Latif Jameel of Saudi Arabia bid for a photovoltaic project in the United Arab Emirates that set a global record with offers to supply solar power for as little as $29.90 a megawatt-hour. Fortum OYJ won recent auctions in India, pushing a sharp drop in prices there. As utilities come under pressure from the rise of renewables, they are reconsidering their business models and corporate structures. Last week South Korea said it plans to list the shares of eight state-run energy companies as part of a plan to reform the public sector. The companies to be listed include five power generation units of Korea Electric Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Gas Technology. Stakes of 20 percent to 30 percent will be offered, with the government retaining at least 51 percent of the companies. The government said it will list the shares from 2017, depending on the state of equity markets. BNEF gives its view on the reforms here. Korea's energy market reform announcement follows recent similar actions in China and Japan. If these reforms are successful, over the next decade, the power sector across Northeast Asia is set to move away from reliance on few vertically integrated energy suppliers to more competitive markets, according to BNEF. In a similar vein, a committee of U.K. lawmakers recommended that National Grid Plc should lose its role of managing the nation's power network and be replaced by an independent operator. The company should be stripped of its grid manager status amid concerns over conflicts of interest with its division that owns international power cables, the Energy and Climate Change Committee said in a report June 17. How the network is managed is coming under increasing scrutiny as the U.K. is set for record-low supply margins next winter, prompting National Grid to keep backup capacity on standby. Among the top deals this past week, Vestas Wind Systems A/S struck what may become its biggest – with a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co. The news lifted the Danish manufacturer's shares the most in more than four months. The preliminary agreement was made with MidAmerican Energy Co. to supply 2 gigawatts of turbines to the Wind XI project in Iowa, according to a statement. The $3.6 billion project is still pending approval with the Iowa Utilities Board. The deal includes supplying and commissioning the turbines and a five-year service period, which could be extended to 10 years. Vestas would supply 1,000 of its V110-2.0 wind turbines, and the transaction could be valued at $1.6 billion, according to BNEF. Still in turbines, consolidation is back on the cards after Siemens AG and Gamesa Corp. Tecnologica SA agreed to combine their wind-turbine manufacturing businesses, creating a company that will be one of the largest in the industry. Europe's largest engineering company will own 59 percent of the capital of the new business, Gamesa said June 17. Gamesa, based in Zamudio, Spain, gets 41 percent and a 1 billion-euro ($1.1 billion) cash payment of 3.75 euros a share from Siemens. That represents 26 percent of Gamesa's share price on Jan. 28 before the two disclosed their negotiations. Together, the two would have about 69 gigawatts of turbines installed worldwide, putting them in a position to surpass Vestas and General Electric Co. Elsewhere, Russian nuclear energy producer Rosatom Corp. plans to spend 83 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) building wind-power generation in Russia. Read the reaction of BNEF analysts here. The investment will go to wind parks generating 610 megawatts by the end of 2020, Kirill Komarov, first deputy chief executive officer for global business development, said in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The company will recalibrate existing plants to manufacture equipment for wind turbines, he said. Small-scale energy storage costs to fall ~75% by 2040 (US$/Wh) The price for residential energy storage systems is currently around $1.2/Wh and less than $1/Wh for commercial systems. BNEF expects these costs to fall roughly 75 percent by 2040 to less than $0.28/Wh and $0.22/Wh respectively, as detailed in BNEF's New Energy Outlook 2016. Rising electric vehicle sales will help drive down battery pack costs as will greater availability and competitiveness of storage-enabled inverters. The falling cost of residential energy storage will mean that batteries become increasingly important, but BNEF does not expect complete grid defection to be an option for any but the most hardcore adopters.   Enel to add storage to 'more and more' wind and solar The number of battery storage projects set up to supplement variable wind and solar generation is "already growing faster than people expected" and will accelerate as costs come down, according to Enel, the Italy-based utility. Riccardo Amoroso, head of innovation and sustainability for Enel Green Power, which is one of the world's largest renewable energy investors, said in an interview that the company aims to put storage, over time, on "more and more" of its on-grid wind and solar projects. Amoroso, speaking to Clean Energy & Carbon Brief, said that such on-grid applications for batteries would enable renewables "to better dispatch electricity to the grid, and to provide ancillary services." Storage would also develop in two other areas, he said. One would be in micro-grids with wind, solar and diesel generators in emerging markets, and the other would be in conjunction with small-scale and rooftop solar. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, in its long-term forecast to 2040, published on 13 June, predicted that this third category, of behind-the-meter energy storage, will grow exponentially. Capacity will increase from just 400MWh worldwide now, to nearly 760GWh by 2040, on the back of $250bn of investment, BNEF said. Riccardo Amoroso, head of innovation and sustainability for Enel Green Power, spoke to Angus McCrone of Bloomberg New Energy Finance about the future of energy storage, at Enel's headquarters in Rome. The following is an extract from the weekly Bloomberg Clean Energy and Carbon Brief. Q: What do you see as the outlook for energy storage as a complement to variable renewable generation sources? A: Wind and solar costs are going down and they are winning tenders, beating oil and gas on cost. The one issue they have is intermittency. Storage bridges the intermittency issue. I see three pillars of the development of storage in the next few years. The first is on-grid applications. On more and more Enel's wind and solar projects that are on-grid, as costs come down, the aim is to put storage in. This will enable them to better dispatch electricity to the grid, and to provide ancillary services. The second is off-grid applications: renewable energy sources, typically solar, coupled with storage to provide a micro-grid. The typical one is a combination of solar, storage and a diesel genset because, given current storage costs, you are not better off sizing the system using just storage. So about 10 percent of the energy is provided by diesel generation. The third is retail. On-grid, small-scale renewable power plants, mostly solar. If it is rooftop solar, then put the battery storage in the basement to use better the electricity you generate, maximize your self-consumption and minimise how many kilowatts you need to be available from the grid. Q: What is Enel doing in terms of investing in battery storage projects? A: We are working to develop a number of pilot projects to understand the business models and the different technologies. Different countries have their own rules on net metering, grid connection limits and so on. When we have done that, we will be ready to mass-deploy. Now, we have five storage projects in operation, and five more in construction. With the two utility-scale plants in Italy — one of 2MW and 2MWh and linked to a wind farm, and the other of 1MW and 2MWh and linked to a solar plant — the feedback is that they work very well... BNEF services | Contact BNEF | Unsubscribe Copyright © 2007-2016 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All rights reserved. This email has been sent to you by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a division of Bloomberg Finance L.P. Please feel free to forward it to colleagues interested in renewable energy and energy technologies, provided it is complete and identifies Bloomberg New Energy Finance as the source. Bloomberg New Energy Finance does not purchase data from or to third parties. If you have received this from a colleague and would like to receive your own personal copy each week, please contact sales.bnef@bloomberg.net Please send any queries/comments to the Week in Review editor, and make sure you send us your own financial transactions in renewable energy and energy technology sector: editor.bnef@bloomberg.net. This service is derived from selected public sources. 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PV Magazine Mobil: Overheating and incompatible plug connectors

http://m.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/overheating-and-incompatible-plug-connectors_100025082/

Terrorism in the Age of the Market State | Stratfor

https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/terrorism-age-market-state?utm_campaign=LL_Content_Digest&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=30758104&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_qT981aLpHqFIyAl3M-90yIWc7WcAFqBGnjC7bruEMsxas66hnHf68AW6AZsTpJh-g1kN926uv6gR8fOzZOAqW8Rxt-g&_hsmi=30758104

SunEdison takes on $300 million in DIP financing: pv-magazine

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/sunedison-takes-on-300-million-in-new-financing_100024994/#axzz4BTed4pss


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Burnt out, incompatible connectors: pv-magazine

Why small things, typically overlooked when price is the primary focus, can become very large things.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/burnt-out--incompatible-connectors_100024992/#axzz4Bqmh1LHm

PV Magazine Mobil: North American solar investors concerned about H2 oversupply

See strongest US manufacturing competitors.

http://m.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/north-american-solar-investors-concerned-about-h2-oversupply_100024886/

Bloomberg: Earth's Heat Extends Unprecedented Streak of Shattered Records

From Bloomberg, Jun 16, 2016, 11:44:41 AM

It's no longer a question of whether 2016 will be the hottest on record, but by how much.

To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/1S78SuR

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Canadian Solar Investing $23 Million in Brazil Panel Factory - Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-16/canadian-solar-investing-23-million-in-brazil-panel-factory?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PHOTON+Newsletter+-+International+edition+from+June+17%2C+2016+&newsletter=PHOTON+Newsletter+-+International+edition+from+June+17%2C+2016+

Nebraska Utility To Close Nation's Smallest Nuclear Plant

Check out the annual operating costs and the plant closure costs for a small US nuclear plant.

http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2016/06/nebraska-utility-close-nations-smallest-nuclear-plant?et_cid=5345361&et_rid=45614407&location=top&et_cid=5345361&et_rid=45614407&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.manufacturing.net%2fnews%2f2016%2f06%2fnebraska-utility-close-nations-smallest-nuclear-plant%3fet_cid%3d5345361%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26location%3dtop

Fwd: Superconductive Cross-Country Transmission Would Boost Renewables - Renewable Energy World

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rebecca Nichols <rvan@tnag.net>
Date: Thursday, June 16, 2016
Subject: Superconductive Cross-Country Transmission Would Boost Renewables - Renewable Energy World
To: Monty Bannerman <mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com>

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/06/superconductive-cross-country-transmission-would-boost-renewables.html?cmpid=renewablestorage06162016&eid=288620647&bid=1434889

Superconductive Cross-Country Transmission Would Boost Renewables

June 13, 2016

ByOwen Reynolds 

         

Sponsored By:

The intermittent nature of renewable generation is one of the largest hurdles impeding the industry's growth. Though increasingly cost effective, renewables often produce power when consumers don't need it. Whileenergy storage may be a realistic solution in the future, better grid interconnectivity and efficient cross-country power lines may prove a more immediate solution.

Imagine that electric transmission didn't lose power over long distances. We could seamlessly transfer power from one side of the continent to the other. Afternoon solar energy in the Southwest could fulfill energy needs at dinner time on the East Coast while evening wind power in the East would fulfill the same need for West Coast diners.  Superconductive lines—or even DC transmission—may prove one way there.

The Issue—Production vs. Consumption

Solar energy produces electricity during the middle of the day, when energy use is relatively flat. It then drops off just as us consumers increase demand between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. On the other hand, wind generally picks up in the evening. So renewable energy's timing doesn't fit commercial needs well, nor those of industrial customers, which need complete consistency throughout all shifts.

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Huawei FusionSolar Day successfully held in Thailand

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Despite a host of caveats to this simplified explanation, the point is that renewables don't always produce when we need these resources the most. The "duck curve," pervasive in renewable heavy regions, such as California, shows how solar energy mitigates dependence on conventional energy in the middle of the day. However, the earlier the sun sets, the more likely fossil-fuel resources (usually natural gas) will be called upon to compensate—illustrated below as "increased ramp."

Source: California ISO

Extremely efficient production of renewables overlaying inflexible base load power during low demand can even result in negative prices. Grid operators are contractually obliged to pay for base load power once it's running, so most of this generation can't be taken offline to accommodate upticks in load, forcing supply above demand, and causing prices to drop.

Current Solutions

Energy storage has been tapped as the most reliable way to align renewable generation with demand across time. From a renewable generator's perspective, it helps maintain the value of the electricity created during a time when it has little market value to a time when it has greater market value.

Traditional batteries and pumped hydroelectric storage have been the front-runners in this attempt at temporal arbitrage. However, sand and salt caverns are being tapped while flux capacitors—as imagined in Back to the Future—are being vetted for commercialization among other experimental tools.

Transmission Solutions

As an alternative or a supplement to energy storage, why not take advantage of the four time zones of the Continental U.S. to help align renewable generation with demand?

While a single location has a static renewable energy production profile, connecting the entire country would allow low-cost generation to reach high-cost markets on the opposite end of the country—both tempering price spikes and eliminating negative prices. Peak solar production in the West could serve evening demand three hours ahead on the East Coast. Meanwhile, early evening wind energy produced on the East Coast could serve peak evening demand three hours behind on the West Coast.

There is some precedent for such long distance cross-market transmission. In Texas, new Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission lines now connect wind resources in West Texas with markets to the East in Houston, Austin and Dallas. On a grander scale, the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Energy released a long awaited West-wide Energy Corridor study this May, signaling potential first steps towards connecting disparate generation to load centers in Western states. However, current transmission lines, largely made of aluminum, lose energy over long distances because of imperfect conductivity, or resistance, on the line.

Superconductive Transmission

Every material can be cooled below what is known as its critical temperature, a point below which the material has no resistance. This is usually towards absolute zero, or -273.15 degrees Celsius, and is considered superconductive. Certain materials hit that critical temperature and become superconductive in slightly warmer conditions.

These obscure materials are known as high-temperature superconductors—though high temperature is a relative term in physics. In 1986, an IBM physicist found that cuprate-perovskite ceramic materials reach a critical point at -183 degrees Celsius. This was the first material identified as superconductive above the very convenient temperature of liquid nitrogen, a relatively cheap and abundant coolant. Consequently, these physicists were able to create stable materials with near-perfect electric conductors.

Superconductive lines do still lose a small amount of electricity. Curiously, that loss is largely independent of load on the line, unlike conventional counterparts, which means the more voltage the merrier. The more important inefficiency is that the lines still need to be kept at almost two hundred degrees below zero Celsius. Cooling thousands of miles with liquid nitrogen across plains, mountains and deserts is no small task.

Despite the hurdles, commercial tests with superconductive lines are underway. In April 2014, French cable specialist Nexans switched on a one-kilometer superconductive line connecting two substations in Essen, Germany. Known as AmpaCity, the project replaces a traditional 100 kV transmission line with a 10 kV superconductive line and is designed to study the cost-effectiveness of technology. It is the first superconductive grid integration and moves nearly five times as much energy as conventional transmission lines of the same size with hardly any losses.

Source: Nexans

Something similar can be done with DC transmission lines, which have lower line losses over great distances. However, the conversion equipment from AC to DC or vice versa is expensive — though cross-country electricity transmission would have one source (or generation) and one sink (load center), so only convertors at the beginning and the end are needed. There are dozens of major commercial applications for this technology, including across Eastern North America and in California.

Either superconductive or DC lines would occupy much less space, and could largely be strung along the same rights of ways as existing transmission. However, the complicated division and inconsistent market rules of interstate grid operators present perhaps a greater hurdle. The U.S. is covered with a patchwork of large, stateless regional transmission organizations (RTO), independent system operators (ISO), and traditional state-based jurisdictions. The seams between these markets—the series of interconnections between them—are anything but fluid.

Investments in transmission infrastructure crossing from one market to another is complicated and largely unprecedented. The CREZ line in Texas was built within one RTO-like entity, Texas's ERCOT. However, getting investments from shareholders and buy-in from ratepayers for a multitude of generation companies across RTOs would require serious political capital.

The fact remains that renewable output and consumer demand need to be aligned with greater economic efficiency. That link can be made over time through energy storage, or over physical distances via superconductive lines or DC transmission. Whatever technologies are ultimately deemed most effective by market dynamics and regulatory facilitation, there is a sincere need to bridge this gap between energy supply and demand. The quicker and more efficiently that gap can be filled, the more feasible mass renewable energy becomes.

The opinions and views offered here are those of the author and not those of the United States, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, individual Commissioners or members of the Commission staff.

Lead image credit: Katy Warner | Flickr

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Monty Bannerman
ArcStar Energy
+1 646.402.5076
www.arcstarenergy.com

Fwd: Energy Tax Law Alert: IRS Expands Safe Harbor for Transfers of Property to Transmission Providers

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stoel Rives LLP <stoel_rives@stoel.com>
Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Subject: Energy Tax Law Alert: IRS Expands Safe Harbor for Transfers of Property to Transmission Providers
To: "Bannerman, Monty" <mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com>

Click here for a mobile-friendly version: http://www.stoel.com/alerts/EnergyTax_June2016.html
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Legal News Alert from the Stoel Rives Energy Development Team Energy Tax Law Alert: IRS Expands Safe Harbor for Transfers of Property to Transmission Providers June 14, 2016 The IRS on June 10 issued Notice 2016-36, which expands a safe harbor allowing certain transfers of property to regulated public utilities to be treated as nontaxable contributions of capital to a corporation, rather than as taxable contributions in aid of construction ("CIACs"). This expanded safe harbor is intended to modernize the rules in a way that will promote efficiency throughout the grid and the development and interconnection of renewable energy resources. The new safe harbor will protect some renewable energy producers from being required to make gross-up payments to transmission providers in connection with required system upgrades. Under prior guidance, originally issued in 1988 and updated in 1990 and 2001, a transfer of an intertie or other property to a regulated public utility by an owner of a facility qualified as a non-taxable contribution to the capital of the utility only if the transfer was made exclusively in connection with the sale of electricity by the facility to the utility pursuant to a long-term power purchase contract or a long-term interconnection agreement between the generator and the utility. The safe harbor did not apply to a transfer of property by a generator to a utility if the generator did not sell power to that utility or did not enter into a long-term interconnection agreement with that utility. The IRS confirmed in a private letter ruling issued earlier this year that the safe harbor did not apply to a transfer of an intertie by a generator to the owner of a distribution system if the generator was not selling electricity to the owner of the distribution system (see our May 11, 2016 alert). As such, the owner of the distribution system recognized taxable income in an amount equal to the fair market value of the intertie. The expanded safe harbor removes the requirement that the transfer of property be made exclusively in connection with the sale of electricity by the generator to the utility pursuant to a long-term power purchase contract or a long-term interconnection agreement between the generator and the utility. According to the IRS, this will bring the CIAC rules more in line with the realities of the marketplace, in which generators are more often required to provide network upgrades to utilities that are not purchasers of the generator's power and that are not providing interconnection services to the generator. The new safe harbor also makes clear that transfers of batteries and other storage devices to utilities to help manage grid frequency can qualify as nontaxable contributions to capital. The expansion of the safe harbor is welcome news to many renewable energy producers who otherwise may have been required to make tax gross-up payments in connection with network upgrades. If you have any questions regarding the Notice or related matters, please contact one of the attorneys listed below: Greg Jenner at (202) 398-1794 or greg.jenner@stoel.com Kevin Pearson at (503) 294-9622 or kevin.pearson@stoel.com Adam Schurle at (612) 373-8814 or adam.schurle@stoel.com  If you currently subscribe to Stoel Rives legal updates, click here to update your contact information and preferences. To join the Stoel Rives mailing list and ensure direct delivery of future alerts, click here to subscribe.

Stoel Rives LLP | (800) 88-STOEL (887-8635) | www.stoel.com Alaska | California | Idaho | Minnesota | Oregon | Utah | Washington | Washington, D.C.

This is a publication of Stoel Rives LLP for the benefit and information of clients and friends. This bulletin is not legal advice or a legal opinion on specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for informational purposes only. Copyright 2016 Stoel Rives LLP. View this and other Legal Updates on the web at: http://www.stoel.com/resources.aspx?show=3. This communication may be considered attorney advertising under the rules of some states. Information found in our electronic publications and on www.stoel.com is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice nor a solicitation of legal business. No attorney-client relationship attaches as a result of any exchange of information, including emails that are sent from or to the firm. Please do not send us confidential information or sensitive materials. Unsolicited information sent to Stoel Rives by persons who are not clients of the firm is not subject to any duty of confidentiality on the part of the firm. Furthermore, prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This email was sent from the offices of Stoel Rives located at 900 SW Fifth Avenue, Suite 2600, Portland, OR 97204. This email was sent to mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com. To unsubscribe, send an email to unsubscribe@stoel.com.

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Monty Bannerman
ArcStar Energy
+1 646.402.5076
www.arcstarenergy.com