Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Fwd: Brazil readies itself for upcoming hydroelectric power auctions - HydroWorld
Brazil readies itself for upcoming hydroelectric power auctions
Brazilian power planning agency Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica (EPE) has qualified 64 small hydropower projects for a reserve energy auction set to take place later this week.
HydroWorld.com reported in August that the auction could include concessions for more than 130 plants, though EPE now says the sale will include 47 projects up to 30 MW in capacity, and 17 more up to 1 MW in capacity.
A statement from power regulator Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica (Aneel) set a US$77 per MWh cap for what will be 30-year deals.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian government hope to net more than $3.3 billion later this year by selling operating licenses to three large hydroelectric plants in an auction later this year.
Included in the sale are the 1.7-GW Sao Simao, 408-MW Miranda and 380-MW Volta Grande -- all of which are currently operated by Cemig. The utility decided not to renew the licenses due to new terms designed to cut consumer tariffs.
The government has not yet scheduled a specific date for the auction, but said it will happen in the second half of 2017.
For more news from Brazil, visit here.
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Fwd: Costa Rica inaugurates 305.5-MW Reventazon hydropower plant - HydroWorld
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rebecca Nichols <rvan@tnag.net>
Date: Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Subject: Costa Rica inaugurates 305.5-MW Reventazon hydropower plant - HydroWorld
To: Monty Bannerman <mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com>
Costa Rica inaugurates 305.5-MW Reventazon hydropower plant
Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis, on Sept. 16, inaugurated the US$1.4 billion 305.5-MW Reventazon hydroelectric plant on the Reventazon River, located in the Limon province of Costa Rica.
Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Costa Rica's state-owned electric and telecommunications utility, will operate the facility that includes a 130-meter-tall dam, a 6.9-square-km reservoir and a 4.2 km diversion between the dam and powerhouse. The powerhouse contains five turbine-generators.
Abengoa of Spain and Siemens of Germany received a contract in 2014 to equip and construct a substation for the project. In addition, Andritz Hydro Gmbh was contracted in 2012 to provide four Francis turbines, auxiliary generators, control systems, and balance of plant. Sistemas de Potencia received a contract that year to provide a main bridge crane.
The Inter-American Development Bank approved $200 million in financing for Reventazon in October 2012 and a $670 million loan for the project in May.
Work on the plant began in 2010 and ICE describes it as Central America's second-largest infrastructure work after the Panama Canal.
Costa Rica receives about 80% of its energy from hydroelectric plants and the Reventazon project is expected to power 525,000 homes, providing electricity to roughly one-third of the country's population.
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Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
Fwd: Energy Department Launches Better Communities Alliance to Ignite Clean Energy Action in Cities and Counties Nationwide
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy <eere@service.govdelivery.com>
Date: Monday, September 26, 2016
Subject: Energy Department Launches Better Communities Alliance to Ignite Clean Energy Action in Cities and Counties Nationwide
To: mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com
| Breaking news announcing EERE's accomplishments, research initiatives, funding opportunities, and more. View the Web version. |
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| This email was sent to mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy · 1000 Independence Ave., SW · Washington DC 20585 |
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Friday, September 23, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Bloomberg: Trump Seen Shaving 11 Percent Off U.S. Gas Demand for Power
Bloomberg - Trump Seen Shaving 11 Percent Off U.S. Gas Demand for Power http://bloom.bg/2dek0PQ
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Dubai set to hit record-low Middle East CSP price on its first project | CSP Today
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Fwd: IEA says worldwide investment in renewables, including hydropower, nearly US$290 billion in 2015 - HydroWorld
IEA says worldwide investment in renewables, including hydropower, nearly US$290 billion in 2015
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday released its inaugural annual analysis on energy investments around the world, the World Energy Investment 2016. The report enumerates investment in global energy systems and indicates investment fell by 8% in 2015. The report's executive summary said there was a drop in fossil fuel spending and "continued robust investment in renewables, electricity networks and energy efficiency."
Total investment in the energy sector reached US$1.8 trillion in 2015, down from $2 trillion in 2014.
Renewables investment, primarily in wind, solar PV andhydropower was almost $290 billion.
"We see a broad shift of spending toward cleaner energy, often as a result of government policies," said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
With energy supply spending of $315 billion, China was once again the world's largest energy investor last year thanks to robust efforts in building up low-carbon generation and electricity networks, as well as implementing energy efficiency policies.
In the U.S., investment in energy supply declined to about $280 billion in 2015, falling nearly $75 billion, due to low oil prices and cost deflation, representing half of the total decline in global energy spending.
The Middle East and Russia emerged as the most resilient regions to spending cuts, thanks respectively to lower production costs and currency movements. As a result, national oil companies accounted for 44% of overall upstream investments, an all-time high.
Renewable energy investments of $313 billion accounted for nearly one-fifth of total energy spending in 2015, establishing renewables as the largest source of power investment. While spending on renewable power capacity was flat between 2011 and 2015, electricity generation from the new capacity rose by one-third, reflecting the steep cost declines in wind turbines and solar PV. The investment in renewable power capacity in 2015 generates more than enough to cover global electricity demand growth.
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Solar Power International 2016: Five key takeaways: pv-magazine
Breaking: World record low price entered for solar plant in Abu Dhabi: pv-magazine
Monday, September 19, 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Fwd: U.S. solar power market adds more than 2 GW in Q2 2016
From: "rebecca nichols" <rvannichols20@gmail.com>
Date: Sep 17, 2016 12:01 AM
Subject: U.S. solar power market adds more than 2 GW in Q2 2016
To: "Monty Bannerman" <mbannerman@arcstarenergy.com>
Cc:
| From: rvan@tnag.net Sent: September 13, 2016 3:25 PM Subject: U.S. solar power market adds more than 2 GW in Q2 2016 |
U.S. solar power market adds more than 2 GW in Q2 2016
Growing 43 percent year over year, the U.S. saw 2,051 megawatts (MW) of solar power photovoltaic (PV) installed in the second quarter of 2016. According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association's (SEIA) latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report, this marks the eleventh consecutive quarter in which more than a gigawatt (GW) of PV was installed.
"We're seeing the beginning of an unprecedented wave of growth that will occur throughout the remainder of 2016, specifically within the utility PV segment," said Cory Honeyman, GTM Research associate director of U.S. solar research. "With more than 10 gigawatts of utility PV currently under construction, the second half of this year and the first half of 2017 are on track to continue breaking records for solar capacity additions."
According to the report, utility-scale solar installations accounted for 53 percent of all installed PV in the first half of this year. With an additional 7.8 GW under construction, more solar capacity is expected to come online in the second half of this year than has ever come online in a single year.
The residential market segment hit a major milestone earlier this year – one million residential rooftop installations. The report notes that California's solar market has experienced a bit of a slowdown, but other state markets, including Utah and Texas, have helped pick up the slack. Residential PV installations grew 1 percent over the first quarter of the year and 29 percent annually.
"Solar works in all 50 states and this report proves that what many would consider non-traditional markets are now firmly a part of the clean energy movement," said Tom Kimbis, SEIA's interim president. "While it took us 40 years to hit 1 million U.S. solar installations, we're expected to hit 2 million within the next two years. That record-breaking growth is made possible by solar's cost-competitiveness and the vast benefits it provides consumers, our nation's economy and environment."
California exceeded expectations in the non-residential market segment where it represented an unprecedented 50 percent of the segment's installations for the quarter. The non-residential market experienced some constraints in the second quarter of the year due to expiring incentives in the Northeast and growing net-metering debates nationwide. According to the report, the U.S. non-residential market segment grew 5 percent over the first quarter and 50 percent year-over-year.
The second half of 2016 will benefit from emerging project types and growing support of solar by states and utilities.
GTM research notes that by 2021, more than 30 states in the U.S. will add more than 100 MW of annual capacity, with 20 of those states becoming home to more than 1 GW of total operating solar PV.
Key findings:
- The U.S. installed 2,051 MWdc of solar PV in Q2 2016, a 43 percent increase over Q2 2015.
- In the first half of 2016, solar accounted for 26 percent of all new electric generating capacity brought on-line in the U.S.
- Installing 650 MWdc, residential PV grew only slightly over Q1 2016, but had its largest quarter ever while growing 29 percent year over year
- California accounted for 42 percent of rooftop PV installations in Q2 – its lowest share since Q4 2012 – as markets in states such as Utah and Texas begin to account for larger shares of the residential segment.
- While only seven states added more than 25 MW of rooftop PV in 1H2015, 11 states added more than 25 MW in 1H2016, continuing a trend of geographic demand diffusion
- Despite adding less than 10 MW in Q2, community solar is expected to add 100 MW in 2016
- More than a gigawatt of utility-scale solar was installed for the third consecutive quarter as that segment continues to build out more than 7.8 GWdc of additional projects expected to come online in 2016.
- Solar prices continue to drop across all market segments. Collectively, solar prices are 18 percent lower than they were in 2015 and 63 percent lower than they were 5 years ago.
- GTM Research forecasts that 13.9 GWdc of new PV installations will come on-line in 2016, up 85 percent over 2015. Utility PV is expected to drive the majority of demand, accounting for over 70 percent of new capacity.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Bloomberg: Deutsche Bank Says U.S. Asks $14 Billion to End Mortgage Probe
Deutsche Bank AG was asked by the U.S. Justice Department to pay in the range of $14 billion to settle a probe into the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities, the bank said in a statement.
To read the entire article, go to http://bloom.bg/2cMBZfm
Sent from the Bloomberg iPad application. Download the free application at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bloomberg-for-ipad/id364304764?mt=8
Sent from my iPad
FW: News: Minister Phillips Announces 5,000 MW of Alberta Renewables by 2030
From: CanSIA [mailto:info@cansia.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of CanSIA
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2016 11:59 AM
To: pfitzgerald@arcstarenergy.com
Subject: News: Minister Phillips Announces 5,000 MW of Renewables by 2030
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