India, the world’s third-largest energy consumer, is cutting solar-power costs to a record by forcing project developers into auctions, helping avoid the spiraling renewable-energy subsidies that have hurt Europe.
The lowest bid in India’s latest national auction on Dec. 2 came from Solairedirect SA, France’s second-largest producer, which offered to sell photovoltaic electricity at 7,490 rupees ($147) a megawatt-hour. That’s 38 percent below the average price set in a December 2010 auction and about 30 percent cheaper than the global average for solar projects.
Governments in Europe including Germany and Spain, the world’s largest solar-panel markets, this year cut above-market rates paid to all plant operators that led to ballooning costs amid an escalating debt crisis. India is staying ahead in driving down costs by forcing companies to compete on price.
“Astonishingly competitive pricing in the latest auction,” Anand Mahindra, managing director of Mahindra Group, whose solar unit won two of the 28 contracts awarded for the solar plants, said in a Twitter feed that was confirmed by his spokeswoman Roma Balwani. “The sun appears to be shining on India’s solar power program.”
Globally, power project developers on average demand to be paid $208 per megawatt-hour to build a solar plant, $78 for a wind farm and $76 for a coal plant, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance levelized cost of energy analysis.
The auction’s results for $700 million of projects shows the price of solar power in India is closing in on the cost of coal-fired generation faster than expected as photovoltaic equipment costs plunge, said Mohit Anand, senior consultant at Bridge to India Pvt., a New Delhi-based advisory firm.
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Showing posts with label wind power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wind power. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Renewable Energy Investment Surpasses Fossil Fuels for 1st Time!!!
Renewable energy is surpassing fossil fuels for the first time in new power-plant investments, shaking off setbacks from the financial crisis and an impasse at the United Nations global warming talks.
Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar- and wind-power plants led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal.
"The progress of renewables has been nothing short of remarkable," United Nations Environment Program Executive Secretary Achim Steiner said in an interview. "You have record investment in the midst of an economic and financial crisis."
The findings indicate the world is shifting toward consuming more renewable energy even without a global agreement on limiting greenhouse gases. Delegates from more than 190 nations converge in Durban, South Africa, on Nov. 28 to discuss new measures for limiting emissions damaging the climate.
The renewables boom, spurred by about $66 billion of subsidies last year, intensified competition between wind- turbine and solar-panel manufacturers, gutting margins from the biggest producers led by Vestas Wind Systems A/S and First Solar Inc. The 95-member WilderHill New Energy Index of renewable- energy stocks has tumbled 40 percent this year, steeper than the 14 percent drop in the MSCI World Index.
Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar- and wind-power plants led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal.
"The progress of renewables has been nothing short of remarkable," United Nations Environment Program Executive Secretary Achim Steiner said in an interview. "You have record investment in the midst of an economic and financial crisis."
The findings indicate the world is shifting toward consuming more renewable energy even without a global agreement on limiting greenhouse gases. Delegates from more than 190 nations converge in Durban, South Africa, on Nov. 28 to discuss new measures for limiting emissions damaging the climate.
The renewables boom, spurred by about $66 billion of subsidies last year, intensified competition between wind- turbine and solar-panel manufacturers, gutting margins from the biggest producers led by Vestas Wind Systems A/S and First Solar Inc. The 95-member WilderHill New Energy Index of renewable- energy stocks has tumbled 40 percent this year, steeper than the 14 percent drop in the MSCI World Index.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Dream, Learning, Knowledge, Action
Founded in 2006, General Compression was launched with a vision of creating Dispatchable Wind to integrate low-cost bulk storage with wind farms to eliminate the issues of intermittent renewable power generation. General Compression has made patent-pending advancements in the fields of isothermal compression and expansion to provide utility-scale storage for both renewable and conventional electricity sources.
General Compression (GC) is a project development company enabled by proprietary technology. Dispatchable Wind is firm, cost-competitive energy available on demand for any curve and time scale. Their projects are designed to set clean, domestic wind power on a path to become the dominant electric power generation source in the United States and abroad.
To be cost-effective for utility-scale operations, efficiency is crucial. In 2009 GC landed a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Energy Dept., enabling the company to test a critical refinement of their air- compression technology. “That [money] gave us a significant boost, going from ‘this looks like it is working,’ to ‘this is definitely working and it’s bankable,’” says Ingersoll, now chief executive officer and co-founder of the 40-employee General Compression in Newton, Mass.
This is just the kind of creative transformational-energy research the DOE is trying to support through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). First funded in 2009, the 21-employee agency is a critical part of the Obama Administration’s response to the specter of a tripling in global energy demand by 2025. Explicitly modeled on the Pentagon’s counterpart, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E functions as a funding agency that supports the most promising breakthrough-research proposals coming out of universities, corporations, and nonprofits, as well as from its network of 17 national labs. The grants target early stage technology, nurturing proof-of-concept units into pilot stages and later, into demonstration projects backed by venture capital.
General Compression may not need further help from Uncle Sam. In early June the company closed a $54.5 million round led by Northwater Capital Management in Toronto. That’s helping to launch a pilot project in Texas undertaken with ConocoPhilipps (COP), which is also an investor. US Renewables Group, Duke Energy (DUK), and Serious Change are also partners. The pilot will start at 2MW, the output of the average wind turbine -- enough to power 200 homes at peak demand -- but should be able to go up to 1,000MW, the power of two conventional coal-fired power plants, says Ingersoll.
General Compression (GC) is a project development company enabled by proprietary technology. Dispatchable Wind is firm, cost-competitive energy available on demand for any curve and time scale. Their projects are designed to set clean, domestic wind power on a path to become the dominant electric power generation source in the United States and abroad.
To be cost-effective for utility-scale operations, efficiency is crucial. In 2009 GC landed a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Energy Dept., enabling the company to test a critical refinement of their air- compression technology. “That [money] gave us a significant boost, going from ‘this looks like it is working,’ to ‘this is definitely working and it’s bankable,’” says Ingersoll, now chief executive officer and co-founder of the 40-employee General Compression in Newton, Mass.
This is just the kind of creative transformational-energy research the DOE is trying to support through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). First funded in 2009, the 21-employee agency is a critical part of the Obama Administration’s response to the specter of a tripling in global energy demand by 2025. Explicitly modeled on the Pentagon’s counterpart, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E functions as a funding agency that supports the most promising breakthrough-research proposals coming out of universities, corporations, and nonprofits, as well as from its network of 17 national labs. The grants target early stage technology, nurturing proof-of-concept units into pilot stages and later, into demonstration projects backed by venture capital.
General Compression may not need further help from Uncle Sam. In early June the company closed a $54.5 million round led by Northwater Capital Management in Toronto. That’s helping to launch a pilot project in Texas undertaken with ConocoPhilipps (COP), which is also an investor. US Renewables Group, Duke Energy (DUK), and Serious Change are also partners. The pilot will start at 2MW, the output of the average wind turbine -- enough to power 200 homes at peak demand -- but should be able to go up to 1,000MW, the power of two conventional coal-fired power plants, says Ingersoll.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Oh Governor Brown how about that offshore wind power?
Based on a 5 MW wind turbine on a 264 foot tower with wind speed cutoff of 15.66 mph at water depths up to 660 feet, 112% of California's electricity needs could be provided with offshore wind energy alone!!!
A significant amount of offshore wind energy potential does exist in California, with 330 TWh developable annually in all waters. The vast majority (86%) of California’s offshore wind resource exists in deep waters (160-660 feet). And guess what? The feedstock is always priced the same = zero.
What is mindboggling is that instead of California having enabling legislation; we have a study going on. That would be government speak for let’s put it off to a committee or better yet the next administration!!!
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory atmospheric scientists are working with a Norwegian company (SWAY) to possibly leverage that wind as a valuable energy source.
LLNL has signed a memorandum of understanding with SWAY, a renewable energy company that has developed floating towers for wind turbines located in deep water. Though California has not yet approved offshore wind turbines, SWAY will launch a 1/5 scale prototype of the technology off the coast of Norway during June 10 to demonstrate how the system could work in the Pacific Ocean.
Towers for offshore wind turbines typically sit 0-30 meters deep in the water and are anchored to the ocean floor. Based on technology that was originally used for deep-sea oil drilling, SWAY has developed a system to generate more offshore power by locating turbine towers deeper in the ocean – at depths from 60-400 meters. The turbines would sit on top of the floating, tethered tower.
"California has an abundance of deep water wind resources, so this is an opportunity for the state," said Nalu Kaahaaina, LLNL's Low-Carbon Energy Program leader. "This technology is clean, reliable and even more consistent than traditional onshore wind turbines."
Power generation from offshore wind turbines is significantly higher than onshore wind turbines.
"We have offshore wind resources in California and the wind is blowing all the time," said Roger Aines, LLNL's Carbon Fuel Cycle Program leader. "If SWAY has success in Norway, the technology could be useful in California."
Now my wonder as to why the study since Siemens and Vestas are the leaders in offshore wind.
Siemens and Vestas are the leading turbine suppliers for offshore wind power. Dong Energy, Vattenfall and E.on are the leading offshore operators. There are about 4 GW of offshore wind power capacity operational, mainly in Northern Europe. According to BTM Consult, more than 16 GW of additional capacity will be installed before the end of 2014 and the United Kingdom and Germany will become the two leading markets. Offshore wind power capacity is expected to reach a total of 75 GW worldwide by 2020, with significant contributions from China and the United States.
Offshore turbines require different types of bases for stability, according to the depth of water. To date a number of different solutions exist:
• A monopile (single column) base, six meters in diameter, is used in waters up to 100 feet deep.
• Gravity Base Structures, for use at exposed sites in water 65- 264 feet deep.
• Tripod piled structures, in water 65-264 feet deep.
• Tripod suction caisson structures, in water 65-264 feet deep.
• Conventional steel jacket structures, as used in the oil and gas industry, in water 65-264 feet deep.
• Floating wind turbines are being developed for deeper water.
Some of those old oil platforms on California’s coast might go to new use?
Offshore wind energy costs of under 6 cents per kWh. Capital costs are around 30-50% higher than onshore, due to larger machine size, subsea cable for tie-in (up to 25 miles offshore) and the costs of transporting and installing at sea. This is partially offset by higher energy yields – with capacity factors at 45%. If the wind systems are mass-produced, their capital costs will drop, which will reduce the cost of electricity to 3 or 4-cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).
Pretty cool!!!
A significant amount of offshore wind energy potential does exist in California, with 330 TWh developable annually in all waters. The vast majority (86%) of California’s offshore wind resource exists in deep waters (160-660 feet). And guess what? The feedstock is always priced the same = zero.
What is mindboggling is that instead of California having enabling legislation; we have a study going on. That would be government speak for let’s put it off to a committee or better yet the next administration!!!
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory atmospheric scientists are working with a Norwegian company (SWAY) to possibly leverage that wind as a valuable energy source.
LLNL has signed a memorandum of understanding with SWAY, a renewable energy company that has developed floating towers for wind turbines located in deep water. Though California has not yet approved offshore wind turbines, SWAY will launch a 1/5 scale prototype of the technology off the coast of Norway during June 10 to demonstrate how the system could work in the Pacific Ocean.
Towers for offshore wind turbines typically sit 0-30 meters deep in the water and are anchored to the ocean floor. Based on technology that was originally used for deep-sea oil drilling, SWAY has developed a system to generate more offshore power by locating turbine towers deeper in the ocean – at depths from 60-400 meters. The turbines would sit on top of the floating, tethered tower.
"California has an abundance of deep water wind resources, so this is an opportunity for the state," said Nalu Kaahaaina, LLNL's Low-Carbon Energy Program leader. "This technology is clean, reliable and even more consistent than traditional onshore wind turbines."
Power generation from offshore wind turbines is significantly higher than onshore wind turbines.
"We have offshore wind resources in California and the wind is blowing all the time," said Roger Aines, LLNL's Carbon Fuel Cycle Program leader. "If SWAY has success in Norway, the technology could be useful in California."
Now my wonder as to why the study since Siemens and Vestas are the leaders in offshore wind.
Siemens and Vestas are the leading turbine suppliers for offshore wind power. Dong Energy, Vattenfall and E.on are the leading offshore operators. There are about 4 GW of offshore wind power capacity operational, mainly in Northern Europe. According to BTM Consult, more than 16 GW of additional capacity will be installed before the end of 2014 and the United Kingdom and Germany will become the two leading markets. Offshore wind power capacity is expected to reach a total of 75 GW worldwide by 2020, with significant contributions from China and the United States.
Offshore turbines require different types of bases for stability, according to the depth of water. To date a number of different solutions exist:
• A monopile (single column) base, six meters in diameter, is used in waters up to 100 feet deep.
• Gravity Base Structures, for use at exposed sites in water 65- 264 feet deep.
• Tripod piled structures, in water 65-264 feet deep.
• Tripod suction caisson structures, in water 65-264 feet deep.
• Conventional steel jacket structures, as used in the oil and gas industry, in water 65-264 feet deep.
• Floating wind turbines are being developed for deeper water.
Some of those old oil platforms on California’s coast might go to new use?
Offshore wind energy costs of under 6 cents per kWh. Capital costs are around 30-50% higher than onshore, due to larger machine size, subsea cable for tie-in (up to 25 miles offshore) and the costs of transporting and installing at sea. This is partially offset by higher energy yields – with capacity factors at 45%. If the wind systems are mass-produced, their capital costs will drop, which will reduce the cost of electricity to 3 or 4-cents per kilowatt hour (kWh).
Pretty cool!!!
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