ENERGY STORAGE
Oilprice.com: Energy Storage Set To Boom In 2017
Three new storage plants are in the works and they’re unlike anything before. The plants will be completely reliant on lithium ion storage…These plants will reduce the number of blackouts due to power shortage at peak hours and prevent loss of power generated but not used. When it comes to renewables there’s virtually no carbon dioxide emission or risk of spills harming the environment. Electricity generated from renewables will be stored appropriately and reinforce the notion that our power grid really can go green…
Pacific Business News: Major 200-acre solar farm planned for Kauai
The Navy plans to develop a major solar farm and battery energy storage system on nearly 200 acres at the 2,134-acre Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands on the west side of the island of Kauai. The Navy plans to lease up to 181 acres of Department of Defense land to a developer for 40 years for the construction, operation and decommissioning of the project, according to its recently released 194-page draft environmental assessment…
Energy Storage News: California municipal utilities order up to 1MW of ice batteries
The Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), an organisation comprising the municipal utilities of 10 cities and one irrigation district, has ordered a potential 1MW of ice battery storage systems from Ice Energy. The systems, to be installed at customer residences, will help the utilities to tackle the difficult problem of mitigating residential peak demand “in a reliable and cost-effective manner”, Ice Energy CEO Mike Hopkins said…
UTILITIES
LinkedIn: TOU Rates & their Effect on the Value of Solar
…It’s no secret that these proposed changes are not good for the solar value proposition. The “on-peak” period, which has the highest cost of energy, is getting shifted into the evening when solar does not produce. This will erode the ‘value of solar’, in some cases considerably. In other words, when customers are forced to switch to these new proposed TOU rates, the amount of dollar savings their solar system produces will go down…
Las Vegas Sun: NV Energy flips the switch on 50-megawatt solar plant
…The 50-megawatt Boulder Solar II plant, southeast of Las Vegas, reached its commercial operation status, NV Energy announced Monday. Boulder Solar II is the 14th solar energy resource to serve the state and is one of 43 renewable energy projects in Nevada…
B&T: EnergyAustralia Launches Campaign To ‘Light The Way’ To Better Energy use
EnergyAustralia has this week launched a new brand positioning campaign committing to ‘Light the Way’ towards a better energy future for all Australians…The campaign launches with a 60-second TVC, which showcases the power of human ingenuity to create a better energy future. The creative developed with Cummins&Partners, will be rolled out nationally across TV, print, outdoor, digital, social, and throughout the whole customer experience…
POLICY
Greentech Media: Bipartisan Group of Governors to President Trump: Renewable Energy Is an ‘American Success Story’
…A coalition of eight Republican governors and 12 Democratic governors sent a letter to the White House yesterday, asking Trump to “strengthen America’s energy future” by extending government support for offshore wind, R&D, grid modernization and improved permitting for utility-scale renewables. They pointed to the hundreds of thousands of jobs created in their states across the country — from Arkansas to Kansas to California — as evidence that renewables are providing a direct economic boost…
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Times of San Diego: County’s Renewable Energy Plan Moves Forward
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to accept a seven-point Comprehensive Renewable Energy Plan that has been in the works since 2013. The plan will give industries and communities an idea of where renewable energy projects would be best suited, reduce costs and alleviate some of the conflicts between property owners and developers, according to board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob…
EcoWatch: Victory: These Two Cities Just Committed to 100% Renewable Energy
Pueblo, Colorado and Moab, Utah, this week became the 22nd and 23rd cities in the U.S. to commit to transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy. The Pueblo City Council approved Monday a measure committing to power the community entirely with renewable sources of energy like wind and solar by 2035. The vote was immediately followed on Tuesday by the Moab City Council approving a resolution committing Moab to 100 percent renewable energy by 2032…
The Maui News: MECO on track to beat renewable energy goals
Maui Electric Co. is marching toward 100 percent renewable energy for Maui County, and that will come without an undersea interisland cable, utility President Sharon Suzuki told about 75 people during a community discussion Thursday night at the University of Hawaii Maui College…
Greentech Media: US Solar Market Grows 95% in 2016, Smashes Records
In its biggest year to date, the United States solar market nearly doubled its annual record, topping out at 14,626 megawatts of solar PV installed in 2016. This represents a 95 percent increase over the previous record of 7,493 megawatts installed in 2015. GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) previewed this data in advance of their upcoming U.S. Solar Market Insight report, set to be released on March 9…
Fortune: Wind Power Has Crossed a Significant Milestone in America
Wind briefly powered more than 50 percent of electric demand on Sunday, the 14-state Southwest Power Pool (SPP) said, for the first time on any North American power grid… Wind power in the SPP region has grown significantly to over 16,000 MW currently from less than 400 megawatts in the early 2000s and is expected to continue growing. One megawatt can power about 1,000 homes…
IoT
Forbes: How To Prepare Your Company For The Internet Of Things
…A lot of hype surrounds IoT: It will catalyze business process efficiency improvements and create new personalized technology experiences and categories. The 50 billion connections will change the world we currently recognize. Some of these statements will prove true, but in the years to come executives must ensure two things: They must not overestimate the near future and invest too far ahead of IoT technology’s capabilities. They cannot be lulled into inaction by the idea that IoT technology innovations will continue at the same pace for the next decade…
