California Clean Energy Mandate Comes at Utilities' Expense
California’s ambitious push for clean energy will be a tough lift for utilities and potentially their bondholders.
Understanding Low-Cost, Long-Duration Energy Storage Technology: A Primer
Energy storage has become an everyday element of grid planning and energy network management – driven by technology advances, proven benefits, and steadily falling prices. As storage goes mainstream, it’s no longer unusual to see deployments in the tens of MWh. Although about 95 percent of operational storage in the U.S. is in the form of pumped hydro, which can store massive amounts of energy cheaply for days, virtually all of the remaining storage resources are lithium-ion batteries.
Indian Solar Tariff Questions Answered: Will They Delay Modi's Goals?
India has imposed duties on imports of solar equipment from China and Malaysia lasting two years. The aim is to kick-start a domestic industry that’s failed to take off in the face of ever-cheaper imports of solar cells and modules. China accounted for 89 percent of imports in the last financial year. The protectionist move risks setting back India’s climate change commitments by slowing the buildup of renewable energy capacity, even as prices for solar power in the world’s second-most populous nation fall to record lows.
US Production, Consumption of Non-Hydro Renewables Hit Record High in 1H 2018
Non-hydro renewable energy sources (i.e., biofuels, biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) set new U.S. records for both production and consumption in the first half of 2018, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of data just released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
World Bank Offers $1 Billion for Batteries in Emerging Markets
The World Bank Group committed $1 billion to finance battery-storage systems in developing and middle-income countries, and expects its participation to attract another $4 billion in backing from investors as well as public and private funds.
For Now, at Least, the World Isn’t Making Enough Batteries
Evidence of the battery-powered era is all around us. Electric vehicles are cruising down our freeways. Household appliances thrum with stored solar energy that was until recently a daytime-only power source. Governments from California to China and South Korea—even Donald Trump’s Washington—have taken steps that will make battery power more ubiquitous.
Trump's FERC Pick Could Tip Balance in Favor of Coal Bailout
U.S. President Donald Trump tapped Energy Department staffer Bernard McNamee to join the nation’s top energy regulator, potentially smoothing the path for a brewing bailout of money-losing coal and nuclear plants.
U.S. Department of Energy To Bring $40B Cash to POWER-GEN International
After wallowing in limbo for the first part of 2018 awaiting re-authorization, the Loan Program Office (LPO) at the Department of Energy is back in business with about $40 billion burning a hole in its proverbial pocket. Mike Reed, Director and Chief Engineer of the Technical and Project Management Division of the LPO and his team are planning to hit POWER-GEN 2018 in Orlando, Florida in December to identify people and projects that might need financing.
IRENA Conducting Survey of Gender and Renewable Energy
The International Renewable Energy Agency is conducting a survey to gather quantitative and qualitative insights into the current status of women’s participation in the renewable energy sector.
From the Clean Power Plan to ACE: Why Not Much Has Changed