Renewable Energy News

BC Hydro announced a total of 47 British Columbia renewable energy projects, including 36 hydro projects, remain under consideration for power purchases under its 2008 Clean Power Call.

Demand for solar energy could be down as much as 17% on the year for 2009. This is the stark reality the industry is facing as it slowly emerges from the recession that has caused demand for energy across the world to drop for the first time in a half-century. While this may put a damper on power industry growth in the short-term, long-term energy demand worldwide is expected to double by 2050 and with concerns about climate change on the rise, the prospects for the solar power industry remain bright.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has just published a report that highlights the growing problem of wind energy curtailment, which occurs when wind plants are required to or choose to reduce their generation output.

Solargiga Energy has been granted a tender for 13.5-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power generation pilot project under the Golden Sun Program to be implemented by the Chinese government, following the company's developing a 300-kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic pilot project in Jinzhou.

Enbridge Inc. and Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc. (RES Canada) have entered into an agreement to develop a 99-megawatt (MW) wind energy project near Chatham, Ontario in which Enbridge will have a majority interest. The total investment in the project by both parties is approximately CAN $285 million.

Etrion Corporation and SunPower Corp. announced an agreement to build four solar power plants, totaling 4 megawatts, in the Puglia region of southern Italy. SunPower will design and construct the plants, and provide operations and maintenance services.

A detailed analysis of the business case for power generators, transmitters and local distribution companies following the introduction and enactment of Ontario's Green Energy Act, finds the act has the potential to create significant value.

SunEdison has completed the installation and commissioning of a solar energy system using the Enphase Microinverter System at one of their New Jersey power plants. This site represents the first Enphase installation with SunEdison and the latest commercial installation using the Enphase Microinverter System.

The City of Santa Clara and Ameresco unveiled a new landfill gas-to-energy project at the city's closed municipal landfill.

Critigen, a global technology consultancy for critical infrastructure, today announced its entry into the market as a privately held company. Recently divested from CH2M HILL's 62-year, $6.4 billion engineering business, the independent company emerges with deep domain expertise combined with the entrepreneurial ability to proactively apply technology-based approaches, new insights and visionary thinking that modernizes every sector of the growing critical infrastructure market.

Cavico Corp. and its joint venture partners have won a 540 billion dong (US$30.2 million) contract from VRG-Dak Nong to build the 28.4-MW Dak Sin hydroelectric project on the Dong Nai River in Vietnam.

SolarTech (www.solartech.org) convenes an industry wide competition to develop online permitting solutions that will reduce time and eliminate the redundant paperwork associated with the permitting of solar systems. This work is in-line with the consortium's goal to reduce permitting cycle time by 50% by 2011. SolarTech issued a software interoperability standard at the Solar Power International conference in Anaheim last month for different programs to exchange data using the same protocols.

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) today announced that a 46.2-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system has been completed and is successfully operating at the Stamford, Conn., headquarters of JB Moving Services Inc. (JB Moving). The solar array, mounted on the roof of the company's storage facility, consists of 220 solar panels and is expected to supply approximately 55 percent of the facility's required electricity. The installation was supported with a grant from CCEF's On-Site Renewable Distributed Generation Program.

The government of Ethiopia said it will build 10 hydroelectric projects over the next decade at a cost of US $10 billion, according to Nazret.com, an online news service in Ethiopia.

Seattle-based HydroVolts, a developer of in-stream hydrokinetic turbines, won the National Sustainability Award at this year's Cleantech Open (CTO), a business competition for startup companies specializing in clean technologies.

AltaGas Income Trust confirmed this wee that its Bear Mountain Wind Park is now fully commissioned and connected to the British Columbia power grid. The Park has satisfied the conditions of Commercial Operation Date (COD) and will now receive the firm price under the 25-year energy purchase agreement (EPA) with BC Hydro.

American Superconductor Corporation has received a follow-on order for US $10 million worth of wind turbine core electrical components from China's CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Research Institute Co. Ltd. (CSR-ZELRI). CSR-ZELRI will use the components in the 1.65 megawatt (MW) wind turbines designed by AMSC's wholly owned AMSC Windtec subsidiary.

Mitsubishi Electric has completed a 2.9-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic installation for Coop's new CNNA-Prato logistic center in Prato, Italy. Of the 15,710 lead-free solder PV modules used for the 2,906-kilowatt (kW) system, 15,650 modules have been installed on the warehouse roof, covering a surface of 21,000 square meters, equivalent to 5 soccer fields.

REpower USA Corp., a subsidiary of REpower Systems AG, has signed a contract with the U.S. project developer Heritage Sustainable Energy LLC to supply nine 2-megawatt (MW) class MM92 wind turbines with a total output of 18.45 MW.

Magnetek Inc. announced the introduction of their E-Force Solar Inverter for grid-tied photovoltaic systems. The E-Force Solar is specifically designed for commercial and utility-scale solar applications such as big box retailers, office buildings, industrial facilities, and ground-mount installations.