Budweiser Now Brews US Beer with 100 Per Cent Renewable Electricity

25.01.2018

All Budweiser beers made in the US are now brewed with 100 per cent renewable electricity, the beer brand said today – its first market to complete the shift to green power.

From Spring 2018 all US bottles and cans will sport a new renewable electricity symbol to signal the change, which is part of Budweiser owner AB InBev’s commitment to source 100 per cent renewable electricity across its operations by 2025.

Since the beginning of January Budweiser has sourced power for its US breweries from the 300MW Thunder Ranch Wind Farm in Oklahoma, owned by Enel Green Power.

As more Budweiser markets switch to green power the label will be rolled out worldwide, it said, adding that other brands are welcome to use the logo on their products made using green electricity.

“We know that climate change is an important issue for consumers,” Brian Perkins, global vice president at Budweiser, said. “However, they aren’t sure how their everyday actions can make a difference. The renewable electricity symbol helps consumers make smarter everyday choices that can have a positive, meaningful impact.”

AB InBev is a member of RE100, a group of more than 100 companies committed to 100 per cent green power. Earlier this week The Climate Group – which runs the RE100 campaign – reported significant increases in the proportion of clean energy sourced by its members in 2016-17.

Source: businessgreen.com

IEA Highlights Chile’s Potential As Renewable Energy Behemoth

24.01.2018

Obnovljivi izvori energije — Foto: Pixabay

The International Energy Agency has this week published a new report highlighting the emergence of Chile as one of the world’s growing renewable energy destinations, thanks to second-to-none resources and increasingly forward-looking policies.

In its second in-depth review of Chile’s energy policies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has heaped the praise on the country’s forward momentum, highlighting its emergence as a world-class destination for solar and wind energy developers and the significant institutional and policy reform which has been carried out over the last few years.

Following the long-running reduction of gas supply from Argentina back in 2004 and the 2010 earthquake, Chile’s government has stepped up its policy moves to set itself up as a world-leading clean energy destination. The creation of the Ministry of Energy in 2010, and other recent entities including the Chilean Energy Efficiency Agency and the single National Electricity Co-ordinator (ISO), have helped ferment increased development. The key policy move has been the introduction of Chile’s National Energy Policy 2050 which was adopted in 2015 after an impressively public consultation that sought public input on a range of issues. The resulting policy focuses on four key pillars of energy policy: the quality and security of supply, energy as a driving force for development, environmentally-friendly energy, energy efficiency and energy education. It sets targets for both 2035 and 2050.

In regards to the third point, Chile’s increasing growth requires immediate action. Chile’s total generation capacity has already more than tripled over the past 20 years — growing from around 6,500 MW (megawatts) in 2007 to around 23,000 MW at the end of 2017 — and the government’s business-as-usual scenario predicts that electricity demand will more than double by 2050. As a result, not only does Chile need to focus on renewable energy sources, but it also needs to increase investment in grid infrastructure.

That being said, Chile already boasts an impressive renewable energy mix to match impressive renewable energy targets. Chile aims to source 60% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2035, and 70% by 2050 — big targets, but when put in context they’re well within reach, considering Chile already has renewable energy worth 40% of its mix.

And, as the IEA highlights, Chile is well-placed to meet its targets considering the impressive natural resources available to them. To quote from the report:

“Chile’s energy challenges and opportunities are shaped by the country’s extraordinary geography and resource endowment. Continental Chile is 4 300 km long and only 177 km wide on average, which entails unique challenges for the energy infrastructure. However, the Atacama Desert has the world’s best solar resources. Chile also has the world’s longest national mountain ridge and shoreline, running in parallel, which provides a high potential for wind and hydropower, as well as geothermal and, in the future, ocean energy. “

“By exploiting its vast renewable energy potential, Chile can help reduce electricity prices and dependence on fuel imports — without subsidies,” said Paul Simons, the IEA Deputy Executive Director, who presented the report’s findings on Tuesday. “Renewables and energy efficiency can also help limit carbon emissions and air pollution.”

The wealth of resources are matched by a political drive to sustain renewable energy growth that we don’t necessarily see everywhere, especially from national governments. Global technology cost declines are being matched by enabling policies, such as technology-neutral tenders for electricity supply. “These tenders are both driving investment in green, affordable electricity and increasing competition,” explained Simons. “It’s looking like a win-win.” New policies also support increased investment in renewable energy capacity, and the expanded role of the State in energy planning has served to boost project development — especially in electricity transmission.

Source: cleantechnica.com

UK Offshore Wind Could Hit 30 Gigawatts By 2030s

24.01.2018

A new analysis from Aurora Energy Research which highlights “the new economics of offshore wind” has shown that offshore wind in the United Kingdom could reach up to 30 gigawatts by the 2030s.

European energy analysis firm Aurora Energy Research published a new report this month which concluded that “The volume of offshore wind” in the UK electricity mix “could be materially increased through intelligent market design and regulation.” Aurora also analyzed two policy mechanisms that would allow for greater offshore wind energy penetration — zero subsidy Contracts for Difference contracts and allowing offshore wind to ‘revenue-stack’.

Aurora believes that the UK Government must continue the Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme, which will provide “wholesale market revenue stabilisation” to the offshore wind sector. By 2025, if the CfD scheme is allowed to continue along its current trajectory, Aurora believes that offshore wind costs will have reduced such that CfD bids would effectively require zero subsidy — in other words, “bids will be costneutral and set at the level of the offshore wind ‘capture price’ in the wholesale electricity market, resulting in no net subsidy payments over the 15-year term of the CfD contract.” We’ve already seen zero subsidy offshore wind projects around the world, and it is only a matter of time before offshore wind costs decline far enough that it simply becomes the norm.

The end result of Aurora’s analysis is that, with the right policy measures providing consistent stability for the sector, offshore wind in the UK could eventually reach 30 GW (gigawatts) by the 2030s, up from the 6 GW currently in operational.

“Stabilising future market revenues via Contracts for Difference significantly reduces risks for investors and is critical in attracting financing and supporting further offshore wind build-out, albeit some future price or merchant risk is transferred to the government and ultimately consumers,” explained Hugo Batten, Senior Project Leader at Aurora and author of the report (PDF).

The second policy, allowing offshore wind to ‘revenue-stack’, would help level the playing field through regulatory adjustments which allow offshore wind access to additional revenue streams and ancillary market revenues — much in the same way of dispatchable generation or energy storage. According to Aurora, offshore wind energy has the technical capability to provide a range of balancing and ancillary services to the UK electricity grid — including the ability to rapidly ramp-up and -down electricity generation to help balance demand and supply.

Supporting the development of offshore wind energy to around 30 GW in this way would also have natural additional benefits, such as helping to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 60 g/kW by the late 2030s. It also reduces system costs by around 7% and results in annual savings of around ~£1-2 billion per year by the 2030s. It will also limit offshore wind’s system integration costs (‘cost of intermittency’) to £6-7 per MWh in the 2030s and signal a viable long-term route to market for offshore wind to provide further confidence in the offshore wind industry in GB, helping to secure further investment, jobs and supply chain opportunities.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Corporations Purchased Record 5.4 Gigawatts Of Clean Power In 2017

24.01.2018

Corporations around the world signed a record volume of Power Purchase Agreements in 2017, amounting to 5.4 gigawatts of clean energy by 43 companies across 10 different countries, which is an impressive 25% increase over 2016.

A new comprehensive analysis of corporate clean energy procurement published this week by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) found that corporations signed a record volume of clean energy Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) in 2017, despite increasing political uncertainty and stability in two of the world’s leading markets — the United States and Europe.

The new report from BNEF concludes that 43 corporations across 10 different countries signed 5.4 GW (gigawatts) worth of PPAs, up 25% from 4.3 GW signed in 2016, and the previous record of 4.4 GW in 2015. While the figure might seem small when compared to other clean energy figures we are often accustomed too, it nevertheless represents an important step forward for corporations. Consider that only last week, Nike announced that it had signed an 86 MW (megawatt) PPA with Avangrid Renewables in Texas which, in addition to an undisclosed PPA (again with Avangrid) in the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon, sources 100% clean energy for its North American owned and operated facilities.

In other words, small megawatt-size PPAs go a long way for corporations, and 5.4 GW represents a lot of operations being covered by clean energy. Consider also that, according to BNEF, corporations have now signed contracts to purchase nearly 19 GW worth of clean electricity since 2008 — an amount comparable to the generation capacity of a country like Portugal. Further, 76% of this activity was completed since 2015.

These figures are also heartening considering the growing political uncertainty that plagues the United States and Europe. While the clean energy industry had a friend in the White House when Barack Obama was President, the tables have turned and it now literally has an enemy in Donald Trump. Nevertheless, most of 2017’s activity was in the United States, with 2.8 GW worth of PPAs signed, up 19% from 2016.

Similar uncertainty grips the European market, but the region experienced near-record PPAs with over 1 GW signed. 95% of this volume was centered in the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, which only serves to confirm the uncertainty that is so common in other European countries like the UK, Germany, and France.

“The growth in corporate procurement, despite political and economic barriers, demonstrates the importance of environmental, social and governance issues for companies,” explained Kyle Harrison, a corporate energy strategy analyst for BNEF. “Sustainability and acting sustainably in many instances are even more important, for the largest corporate clean energy buyers around the world, than any savings made on the cost of electricity.”

Looking forward, BNEF expects growth to continue in 2018 and surpass 2017’s record level of PPAs, thanks in part to a consistent level of corporate commitments to rely on renewable electricity, especially those 100% commitments made through the RE100 campaign. Considering that 35 new companies signed on to RE100 in 2017, bringing the total number up to 122, this is likely to be a central driver of clean energy PPAs for many years to come.

Source: cleantechnica.com

India’s Tamil Nadu Plans 500 Megawatt Solar Park

24.01.2018

The south Indian state of Tamil Nadu has announced plans to set up a 500 megawatt solar power park. This will be the first solar power park the state government has planned under the central government’s 40 gigawatt program.

The solar park will be located at Kadaladi. The location was first scouted for a 4,000 megawatt coal-fired power plant. The planned project ran into environmental concerns, with the Ministry of Environment and Forest advising the state not to use sea water from the close by Gulf of Munnar. At least a part of the thermal power plant was to be built in a marine national park, and this was another reason to red flag the power plant.

The state government has now released funds to study the feasibility of setting up the 500 megawatt solar power park at the location. No timeline has been announced yet for auction of this capacity.

This solar park will add to the already 2,000 megawatts of operational and 1,500 megawatts of under-construction solar power capacity in the state.

While several other states have initiated the process of setting up large-scale solar parks under the central government’s scheme, Tamil Nadu has lagged in this regard. It has auctioned some solar power plants and has even signed direct agreements with developers to set up solar power projects, but through a solar power park the cost of generation comes down significantly due to shared infrastructure.

While Tamil Nadu has long been leading Indian states in installed renewable energy capacity, it has not led the way in terms of cheap tariffs. The state has had its share of problems with the transmission network which has failed to keep up the rapidly increasing wind and solar power capacity. The financial conditions of state’s power utility has also failed to instill confidence among prospective project developers taking part in tenders. As a result, the tariff bids for this solar power park are also expected to be at a substantial premium to the current lowest tariff in the country.

Source: cleantechnica.com

China’s EV Charging Point Network Grew 51% In 2017

24.01.2018

Electric car — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The number of public charging points for so-called “new energy vehicles” — that is: plug-in electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, amongst a few others — in China grew by around 51% during 2017, the country’s Industry and Information Technology Minister Miao Wei has revealed (as quoted by the country’s official news agency Xinhua).

To be more specific, the number of public NEV (new energy vehicle) charging points in China grew to 214,000 in 2017 — which means that the country is now home to the largest number of public NEV charging stations in the world (by country).

That said, public charging infrastructure development is still lagging behind demand, if the country’s Industry and Information Technology Minister is to believed (going by comments made recently at an industry forum). And why shouldn’t he be believed? Remember that the Chinese electric car market is now larger than the rest of the world combined. It also has tens of thousands of electric buses on the road — with Shenzhen alone having a 100% fully electric bus fleet of nearly 17,000.

Before moving on, I’ll note here that the issue with the lack of charging infrastructure is exactly why I remain fairly positive about Tesla — in addition to its battery manufacturing advantage, the company’s large and growing Supercharger network is a great advantage over the incumbents.

Moving on, Reuters provides more: “China aims to have about 500,000 public NEV charging points by 2020, the report said. … A total of 777,000 NEVs were sold last year in China, the most anywhere, and the government has said it expects sales and output of NEVs to reach 2 million a year by 2020, according to Xinhua.”

“The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has said it expects NEV sales growth of around 40% this year. NEVs include hybrid and pure battery electric cars.”

In related news, it’s worth a reminder here that China’s government announced back in December that it would be extending its NEV tax rebate program through the end of 2020 — which means that NEV sales growth should remain fairly strong for the foreseeable future, and thus, the need for rapid growth of the charging network will remain strong as well.

Source: cleantechnica.com

China Officially Installed 52.83 Gigawatts Worth Of Solar In 2017

23.01.2018

China’s National Energy Administration published its official solar statistics for 2017 on Monday, revealing that the country had installed a total of 52.83 gigawatts worth of new solar capacity in 2017.

A lot of attention has been given over to watching China’s solar capacity additions in 2017, as the country seemed hell-bent on stupefying analyst expectations. China installed a total of 34.2 GW (gigawatts) of new solar PV capacity in 2016 which was well up on analyst expectations at the time. Looking forward, analysts seemed not to have learned their lesson, with Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) predicting that China would install “more than 30 GW.”

To its credit, BNEF did end up revising its predictions, but only after China had already installed 24.4 GW in the first half of the year, which included as much as 16 or 17 GW in the second quarter alone, 13.5 GW in the month of June, and 10.52 GW in July.

BNEF was close, as China’s National Energy Administration announced its official figures for 2017, which came in at new solar capacity worth 52.83 GW. This brings China’s cumulative solar capacity up to 130.25 GW, around 7.3% of the country’s national power generation capacity. Looking at it another way, Chinese solar increased 53% year-over-year, or 68.7% in absolute terms over 2016.

According to the independent Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory (AECEA), China added a total of 133 GW worth of new power generation capacity in 2017, including 12.8 GW worth of hydro and 45.78 GW worth of thermal power. This means that, for the first time in the country’s history, China installed more clean energy than it did thermal power.

Further, AECEA expects that, when China releases more detailed statistics in the coming days, it will show that the country installed 19 to 20 GW worth of distributed solar, which represents a more than four-fold increase year-over-year.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Abu Dhabi To Launch 350+ Megawatt Solar Tender This Year

23.01.2018

solar-panel-1393880__340 — Photo: Pixabay

This year we may see yet another record low solar power tariff as Abu Dhabi gears up to launch a second tender for a large-scale solar power park.

Officials of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) recently announced that a fresh solar power tender with at least 350 megawatts of capacity will be launched later this year. The authority had floated a tender for a 350 megawatt solar park in 2015. The tender attracted bids from 34 companies and consortiums.

While the planned project was of 350 megawatts of capacity, ADWEA had allowed developers to bid for any capacity they want. Finally, a consortium of JinkoSolar and Marubeni was awarded a contract to develop a 1,177 megawatt solar power project at a record-breaking tariff of ¢2.42/kWh.

ADWEA is believed to have closed $872 million in funding for the project last year. The first phase of the project is expected to be commissioned next year and the order for inverters has been awarded to Ingeteam.

The Middle East has seen several record solar power tariff bids over the last few months and years. The region offers ample solar radiation and land to develop very large-scale solar power projects. The JinkoSolar-Marubeni project will be one of the largest solar power projects developed by a single entity at one location.

Neighboring emirate Dubai is also working on a 5 gigawatt solar power park with over 1.7 gigawatts of capacity awarded. Recently, Saudi Arabia also received a new record-breaking tariff bid of ¢1.79/kWh from a consortium of EDF and Masdar.

Abu Dhabi is already host to one of Asia’s largest concentrated solar thermal power projects — the 100 megawatt Shams 1 project.

Source: cleantechnica.com

NEXTracker Lands 325 Megawatt Tracker Deal At Egypt’s Benban Solar Park

23.01.2018

One of the largest solar power parks globally will have solar trackers supplied by leading tracker supplier NEXTracker.

In a press release, NEXTracker announced that it will supply trackers for 325 megawatts of solar power projects located inside the Benban solar power park in Egypt. The trackers will be supplied to Sterling & Wilson, a global EPC company working on 5 blocks of 65 megawatts of capacity each.

“We’re thrilled that Sterling and Wilson chose NEXTracker to supply our trackers for what’s predicted to be the largest solar facility in the world,” said Dan Shugar, founder and CEO at NEXTracker. “We’ve developed a successful partnership with Sterling and Wilson, having deployed over 400 MW of trackers for their projects in India, and are delighted to be extending that partnership to North Africa.

Benban solar power park has been touted as one of the largest such projects in the world, and certainly the largest in Africa. The park will have 43 different projects with a cumulative installed capacity of 1.6 gigawatts. Some of the leading project developers have bagged rights to develop these projects.

Enel Green, EDF, Access Building Energy, Building Energy Alliance, TAQA Arabia, Cairo Solar, Orascom, Lekela Power, and ACWA Power are some of the developers involved in installation of projects at the park.

Egypt plans to aggressively expand its renewable energy installed capacity as it aims to generate 20% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The government has also launched an attractive feed-in tariff scheme to boost investments in the solar power sector.

Source: cleantechnica.com

WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR ECOHEALTH

23.01.2018

b_ez_svi smo odg 1 — Foto ilustracija: Pixabay

Although EcoHealth is significant for all living beings on the planet, the general public is not yet sufficiently familiar with the concept and term of this multidisciplinary field.

The multiplication of the number of the inhabitants of the Earth over the past hundred years is accompanied by the exponential increase in the influence of a man on the environment. Satisfying everyday human needs requires a huge amount of resources that can not be restored during our lifetime. The effects of these global changes are multiple – temperatures are rising, oceans become more acidic, natural cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus have been substantially altered, almost a third of tropical forests and fifth of coral reefs have been lost, and numerous animal and plant species gradually disappear.

Human impact on the planet is so powerful that we speak more and more often about the new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. But, when impacting on the environment and changing its characteristics, changes are taking place in the opposite direction, as well – the state of the environment has a major impact on the quality of life and the health of the human population. Although the largest number of definitions describing the casual and consequential mechanisms is not entirely homogenous in our language, today we most often call the described multidisciplinary field EcoHealth.

In order to better understand the environmental impacts on health, it is necessary to move the focus, that is most often on individual behaviour, to social environment, the way of life and the satisfaction of physiological needs and to the physically created, artificial environment, consisting of housing, offices, schools, farms and factories, road infrastructure, as well as land use and waste management practices. Factors of the environment that contribute to EcoHealth are complex, but with the pollution analysis, we most often continue to deal with it by approaching in a way that is most common in traditional ecology science.

AIR POLLUTION

Pollutant substances in the air cause numerous negative effects on plant, animal species, and humans, but also on other environmental factors, such as facades of buildings and cultural monuments, where damage, such as corrosion, is caused due to these effects.

Air pollution can first be observed on plants, because morphological changes of colour, the extinction of certain tissues are rapidly showing, due to plant-cell disorders. The effect of air pollution on the human organism is reflected in the appearance of respiratory diseases (asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer) because most of the harmful substances are inhaled.

According to estimates of the World Health Organization, in Serbia due to the influence of air pollution leads to the earlier death of about 5,400 people. Over the past decade, research on the effect of nitrous oxides, sulphur dioxide and ozone on health was carried out in our country, and in 11 industrial cities, particle pollution analysis (PM10) was also carried out, as one of the biggest health threats.

Research has shown that a problem is also an insufficient number of automatic measuring stations of air quality, as well as inadequate use of existing stations.

WATER POLLUTION

A human being, like all other living beings, is supplied with water from the environment, and in the quality of that water, the state of our watercourses and the water supply system is reflected. In drinking water, including bottled, we can expect certain admixtures of harmful substances, which are monitored in accordance with the regulations adopted from the EU Water Framework Directive. If watercourses are loaded with faeces, pathogenic cells and bacteria, viruses and other parasites, they present an epidemiological threat as they cause numerous infections of the skin and digestive tract. In a diverse composition of natural waters, there are also some radioactive minerals, such as radon, which accumulates in underground wells, and pose a threat to the DNA structure of the human body. After continuous exposure to low doses of arsenic, often present in groundwater, headaches and neurological disorders, liver dysfunction, respiratory and reproductive systems may occur. The presence of lead is occasionally a problem in settlements with decrepit water pipes, made precisely from this element.

A large environmental burden is also the untreated wastewater from settlements and industries, which are discharged into rivers since less than 10 percent of wastewater in Serbia is purified. Also, there is a significant deviation in the quality of water supply for urban and rural areas.

SOIL POLLUTION

The soil, as the basis of agricultural production, and thus the survival of the human race represents a significant natural asset that is being restored very slowly.

The main damage to the soil is caused by pollution of soil and air, erosion, salinization, excessive urbanization, and floods. Pollution can result in its degradation, destruction or temporary or complete deactivation of the soil from the function. Desertification is a burning problem caused by the rise in temperature, caused by climate change.

The illicit practice of disposing of waste to wild landfills leads to soil contamination. During the precipitation, pollutants, pesticides, and other widely used chemicals are washed away up to the first layer of groundwater, which are often sources of water supply, which can result in epidemics of diseases caused by the use of contaminated drinking water. The introduction of a systemic change in the soil management is of great importance for Serbia, due to the great potentials for the development of agricultural production.

Marija Nešović

This content was originally published in the eighth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine ECOHEALTH, in November 2017.

1 Gigawatt Solar Power Tender Planned In India’s Maharashtra State

23.01.2018

India’s largest state, in terms of power consumption, is set to float its first major solar power tender this year.

Despite its huge appetite for electricity, the state of Maharashtra has lagged between other Indian states to set up large-scale solar power projects under its state policy. The state has seen some auctions under the central government’s policy.

The state’s generation utility owns 300 megawatts of solar power capacity, while an additional 700 megawatts of capacity is also operational in the state. It is unclear if the 550 megawatts of solar power pumps are also included in this tally.

Maharashtra is possibly looking at solar power due to the sharp decline in cost and various incentives being offered by the central government. The cost of power has long been a politically contentious issue in Maharashtra. With solar power available at less than ₹3.00/kWh (¢4.7/kWh), state utilities will be able to make substantial savings when compared to procuring thermal power.

Several states and government-owned entities that had not actively considered solar power as a major source of power supply have recently been attracted to it due to the rapidly falling tariff bids.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India recently auctioned 750 megawatts of capacity in Rajasthan on behalf of Uttar Pradesh. Indian Railways is also planning to procure electricity from a 1,050 megawatt solar power park in Madhya Pradesh.

The central government has already mandated state governments to procure a set minimum percentage of solar power, but the prospect has become attractive only now due to increased competition and exemption from payment of transmission charges.

The Maharashtra government is reportedly also planning to launch a tender to set up 1,000 megawatts of floating solar power capacity at a reservoir.

Source: cleantechnica.com

RE100: Corporates Scale Up Renewables Use in Spite of Policy Barriers

23.01.2018

The march towards 100 per cent renewable electricity among global corporates continues apace, with the RE100 campaign today reporting significant increases in the proportion of clean energy sourced by its members in 2016-17.

The non-profit initiative, which calls on businesses to commit to sourcing 100 per cent of their electricity from renewables, said its members were now “reshaping the energy market through their global investment decisions and accelerating a zero emissions economy”.

RE100’s annual report shows the proportion of renewable electricity sourced via corporate power purchase agreement (PPAs) – through which companies buy electricity directly from producers at a pre-agreed price – among its global membership grew fourfold in 2016-17.

The quantity of electricity sourced by member companies from onsite generation also increased fifteen-fold through supplied-owned projects and nine-fold through member-owned projects over the course of the year, according to RE100.

An overwhelming 88 per cent of members responding to the report cited the compelling economic case for renewable electricity as the main driver for upping their ambition, with 30 out of 74 reporting that renewables were already either cost competitive or delivering significant savings on their energy bills.

The highest proportion of renewables sourced in 2016 was in the European market, which made up 61 per cent of total renewable energy consumption among RE100 members, with green electricity contracts with suppliers the preferred option among these companies.

Three companies in Europe also achieved their RE100 target in 2016 – Elopak Inc, Marks & Spencer and Sky plc – adding to a list that already included Crédit Agricole and Commerzbank, which both continued to source 100 per cent of their power from renewables last year in France and Germany respectively.

Yet the report shows that PPAs made up just four per cent of European RE100 members’ renewable energy consumption in 2016-17, representing a “missed opportunity for investment in Europe’s energy infrastructure”, according to the report.

Sam Kimmins, head of RE100 at The Climate Group, said policy barriers remained a significant challenge for members in Europe.

“The EU has the potential to unlock the carbon and competitive benefits of PPAs – in a similar way to markets such as the UK, Netherlands and Ireland – all of which are seeing high levels of investment,” he said in a statement. “We urge members of the European Council to ensure there is a supportive policy framework across the whole of the union to enable this investment potential while ensuring the goals of the Paris Agreement are met.”

Meanwhile, several new members have also joined the RE100 initiative. Announced today, French food giant Danone SA is targeting 50 per cent renewable electricity by 2020, rising to 100 per cent by 2030, while UK consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser Group plc – which owns brands such as Durex, Air Wisk and Dettol – is also aiming to be fully powered by renewables by 2030.

In total, it means the initiative now brings together 122 global companies with a collective revenue of over $2.75tr, together representing over 159TWh of demand for renewable electricity, RE100 said.

Source: businessgreen.com

Chinese Technology Helps Cuba Build Largest Wind Farm

22.01.2018

wind-power-plant — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Cuba aims to become one of the more than 100 countries that will meet their energy demands with renewable sources like wind, water or sunlight by 2050, as experts predict.

To reach that goal, Cuba plans to produce around 24 percent of its total energy needs from different renewable sources by 2030.

It is an ambitious target given that as of 2006, the island nation generated only 4.3 percent of its energy from renewable sources.

One of the key projects currently under construction is a vast complex consisting of two wind farms, La Herradura 1 and La Herradura 2, located in the province of Las Tunas, some 600 km east of Havana.

They will generate around 101 Megawatts (MW) of energy that will be fed into the National Electric System.

Behind the complex is Chinese technology, according to Adela Alvarez, an official at Cuba’s Integrated Wind Energy Management company.

Cuban officials chose two Chinese companies to supply the project — Goldwind Science and Technology Co., a global provider of wind turbines over the last three years, and Dongfang Electric Corporation, a firm specializing in renewable energies and high technology.

La Herradura 1 will be equipped with 34 Goldwind wind turbines measuring 65 meters in height with three 37-meter blades, generating 1.5 MW of power distributed in five circuits.

La Herradura 2 will feature 20 Dongfang wind turbines of 2.5 MW each, which will contribute a total of 50 MW to Cuba’s electric grid.

Miguel Casi, an official from Cuba’s Electric Union, said the first wind farm will save Cuba nearly 40,000 tons of fuel a year, and stop nearly 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere.

“We estimate the second wind farm could save 39,000 tons of fuel a year, as well as 127,000 tons of CO2,” Casi said.

The goal is to have at least one circuit operating by the end of this year.

Cuba currently has more than 9,300 windmills and 20 generators distributed in the nation’s four existing wind farms, located in the central province of Ciego de Avila, in the southern Isle of Youth as well as in the northeast province of Holguin, where there are two.

Total installed capacity currently stands at 11.7 MW, which means the Caribbean nation ranks 69th worldwide in wind energy.

Havana will host a forum titled Renewable Energies Cuba 2018, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, to showcase business opportunities in the island nation in the alternative energies sector for potential foreign investors.

So far, more than 50 firms from 13 countries have confirmed their presence, including a large number of Chinese corporations.

Source: xinhuanet.com

China Donates Thousands of Solar Power Generating Systems to Nepal

22.01.2018

China on Sunday donated more than 32,000 solar power generating systems to Nepal to enhance its domestic capacity in combating climate change and to provide electricity to communities that have not had power since an earthquake in 2015.

The donated items included 32,000 sets of household solar power generation systems and 325 sets of solar power generation systems, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Addressing the ceremony, Ram Prasad Lamsal, joint secretary at Nepal’s Ministry of Population and Environment, expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for its support.

“The support provided by China is instrumental to addressing environmental problems and climate change. It will also benefit our people from the perspective of health and saving time,” Lamsal said.

According to the Nepali government, the systems will be distributed by the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) in districts highly impacted by a devastating earthquake in the country in 2015.

AEPC said the districts receiving the donation are Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk, Nuwakot, Dhading and Lamjung where many villages have yet to be connected to the national electricity grid.

Ram Prasad Dhital, executive director at AEPC, told Xinhua that “the larger power generation systems will be used for community schools, health centers and local government offices while the low power systems will be used by households.”

Peng Wei, economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese embassy in Nepal, attended the hand-over ceremony.

The distribution is expected to start soon after completing technical arrangements.

Source: globaltimes.cn

Renewable Energy Helps Michigan

22.01.2018

In 2008, Michigan passed energy legislation that required big utility companies to generate a certain percentage of their electricity from clean, renewable energy.

Fast-forward to 2018: Michigan gets more than 10 percent of our electricity from clean, renewable sources, like wind and solar, and new energy laws that took effect last year put us on track to increase this number to 15 percent by 2021.

In “State needs sound energy regulations,” Jan. 11, Jason Hayes of the Mackinac Center argues lawmakers should dismantle the renewable energy standard without giving a reason. He rightly notes clean energy is market competitive due to advances in technology and declining costs. He is also right that clean energy is here to stay.

We need a renewable energy standard because Michigan’s utilities are regulated monopolies. They might take modest steps toward building more clean energy on their own, but without a requirement, there are incentives which might encourage them to stick with fossil fuels.

Ratepayers need strong policies like the renewable energy standard to ensure big utility companies invest in the lowest cost energy for their customers — and the lowest-cost energy also happens to be the cleanest. A recent analysis by Lazard Investment Bank found that clean, renewable energy, like wind and solar, is now cheaper than coal and even natural gas. That’s without any subsidies.

Despite declining costs for renewable energy, strong renewable energy policies are still necessary to guarantee continued investment. A growing number of large companies are requesting access to 100 percent renewable energy to power their operations. That’s because prices for clean, renewable energy are much more stable than other sources of energy, making it a safe long-term investment.

Source: detroitnews.com

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