U.S. Wind Energy Blasts Forward With New $9 Million Offshore Lease

 
Some energy analysts are optimistic that renewables will continue to surge under the Donald Trump administration, with or without help from the Clean Power Plan. Part of that cheerful outlook is due to huge renewable energy buys already in the pipeline.
These projects will be difficult if not impossible to reverse. A case in point is the latest news from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which just announced a $9 million winning bid in auction for more than 122,000 acres of offshore wind energy development in the waters of North Carolina, at Kitty Hawk.

More American offshore wind energy

The U.S. has been a bit slow to join the global offshore wind market. But the long, relatively shallow Atlantic coastline is a tantalizing prize for renewable energy stakeholders.
According to one study, there is enough wind potential off the Atlantic coast to power every city on the eastern seaboard.
The industry made a significant step toward development in 2010, when the Barack Obama administration organized a lease program for Atlantic offshore wind energy under the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Several Republican governors of states on the eastern seaboard took steps to block offshore wind development, which slowed things down. But Rhode Island finally broke the logjam. Last fall, the tiny state flipped the switch on America’s very first offshore wind farm.
Next up could be New York state, where Norway’s Statoil recently won the rights to develop an 80,000-acre site for offshore wind.
BOEM held an auction for two wind areas off the New Jersey shore in 2015. But without a strong advocate in state leadership, those projects may stall out.
So far, New Jerseys’s Board of Public Utilities has failed to take critical rule-making steps to prepare for the sale of the electricity generated by the proposed wind farm. Another offshore wind project in the state is also near collapse, which some locals attribute to policies under Gov. Chris Christie, despite support from the Obama administration.
In a rather tragic twist, the New York wind area is located within sight of the New Jersey shore. Once the New York wind farm is up and running, New Jersey residents will get a nice view of those turbines spinning on the horizon.

North Carolina wind on the rise

North Carolina has emerged as a clean power leader among southeastern states, partly because it is the only state in that region to establish renewable energy requirements.
Those rules took effect in 2007. They continued to propel renewable energy development in the state even after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory won the election in 2012, though offshore wind development spun its wheels. The prospects for offshore wind look better now that the state is under new leadership.
In the latest news, BOEM capped a five-year planning effort by announcing that the lease for North Carolina’s Kitty Hawk wind area was provisionally granted to the company Avangrid Renewables.
The potential generating capacity of the wind area is an impressive 1,486 megawatts, according to estimates from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which can power around 500,000 homes. Avangrid will determine the actual size of the wind farm.
source: http://www.triplepundit.com

First Solar begins operation of 250 MW Moapa Southern Paiute solar PV project north of Las Vegas

On March 17^th, 2017, First Solar, Inc. (Tempe, AZ, US) and the Moapa Band of Paiutes joined Sen. Dean Heller, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada State Energy Office Director Angela Dykema, Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, executives from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and other community and energy industry leaders to celebrate the commissioning of the Moapa Southern Paiute solar PV project.

The 250 MWac Moapa Southern Paiute solar photovoltaic (PV) project is capable of generating enough clean energy to power an estimated 111,000 homes.

Located on the Moapa River Indian reservation approximately 30 miles north of Las Vegas, this facility is the first-ever utility-scale solar PV plant on tribal land and has a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with LADWP to bring clean, renewable energy to Los Angeles residents.

“I’m proud to see the day has finally arrived to commission the Moapa Southern Paiute Solar Project,” said United States Senator Dean Heller.

“The tribe is truly embarking on a new journey while serving as a trendsetter with this venture. This project is the first and largest utility-scale solar plant on tribal lands. Nevada is no stranger to successful solar projects, and this is another great example of that.”

“There is no doubt renewable energy is the way of the future for energy sustainability, and Nevada has the unparalleled natural resources to be a national leader in investment and development of clean energy technology and job creation,” added Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.

For the Moapa Band of Paiutes, this solar energy project has proven to be an ideal economic development opportunity, providing lease revenues over the lifetime of the project and about 115 construction jobs for tribal members and other Native Americans, while also preserving their land and cultural heritage.

The Moapa Southern Paiute solar project, constructed and operated by First Solar, features more than 3.2 million advanced First Solar thin film photovoltaic (PV) panels. This equates to more than 25 million square feet of solar panels, or enough to cover more than 450 NFL football fields. The energy will serve LADWP under a 25-year PPA.

source: http://www.solarserver.com

Volkswagen targets Bay Area in $2B electric-vehicle infrastructure investment

San Jose and San Francisco stand to gain hundreds of high-speed electric vehicle charging stations as part of Volkswagen’s $2 billion settlement related to false emissions test results.

The German automaker earlier this week released its plan to disburse the funds, which were part of a court settlement with the California Air Resources Board and Environmental Protection Agency. The company was penalized last June after it sold half a million 2.0-liter diesel vehicles rigged with software to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. The company is required to spend $800 million of the total settlement in California alone, according to Elektrek.

VW formed a subsidiary, Electrify America LLC, to handle the investment, construction and maintenance of electric vehicle charging stations in both San Francisco and San Jose. Each metro will receive 350 or more fast-charging stations at locations that include multi‐family homes, workplaces, commercial/retail establishments and at municipal lots/garages.

The company plans to install both 150 kW and 320 kW DC fast chargers with at least five chargers per station. The chargers will not be proprietary to VW.

Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento are among about a dozen additional metros slated to receive charging stations from the company. Additional metro areas will be targeted in future investment cycles, Volkswagen said.

“Charging stations will be located first in the areas with the highest anticipated ZEV demand; this is based on the forecast penetration rates of ZEVs in each region and the estimated gap between the supply and demand of charging infrastructure in those regions,” the company wrote it its plan. “In aggregate, the Electrify America first cycle investment will aim to establish a network of approximately 2000‐3000 non‐proprietary chargers across 400+ individual stations.”

Outside of major metro areas, VW plans to build a "high-speed, cross-country" network of more than 200 fast-charging stations for electric cars, according to Bloomberg. VW also agreed to promote the adoption of zero-emission vehicles with a “brand-neutral” ad campaign.

Volkswagen Group of America Chief Operating Officer Mark McNabb will give up his current role to serve as CEO of Electrify America, per the company. The subsidiary will be based in Reston, Virginia.

The settlement won’t be completely punitive for VW as it sets up infrastructure for the future of electric vehicles. The company already has one electric car on the market in the U.S., the e-Golf, and hopes to sell 3 million electric vehicles worldwide by 2025, per Bloomberg. The company also expects to introduce of 20 new electric models by 2020.

VW's plan comes as Tesla seeks to raise $1 billion in capital to scale production of its Model 3 , a less expensive car than its previous models that's already seen high consumer demand via pre-orders. One analyst has predicted that for Tesla's electric vehicles to be competitive with gas-powered cars, it would need to spend between $2 billion and $8 billion to build out a network of about 30,000 charging stations across the U.S.

source:http://www.bizjournals.com/

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Google finds most Asheville rooftops OK for solar panels

 

The number of Asheville rooftops that could serve as a source of solar energy – Google puts that number at more than 20,000 based on satellite imagery and other data – could generate 442 megawatts of power, according to data released by Google last month as part of Project Sunroof.
The Duke Energy coal plant in Asheville has a capacity of about 376 megawatts, while the planned natural gas plant slated to replace it in 2020 will generate up to 560 megawatts.
The Google data, a national effort called Project Sunroof, provides both a bird’s eye view of the citywide data and also allows homeowners to check their own addresses, where the tool estimates the hours of usable sunlight per year, square feet available for solar panels and expected cost savings over 20 years.
It estimates that 66 percent of Asheville roofs could be viable for solar panels.
“If their methodology is good, it’s incredible to see this kind of capacity in a city like Asheville,” said Julie Mayfield, co-director of area environmental group MountainTrue.
While the installation of solar panels on every viable roof isn’t pragmatic, the information suggests that 630 roofs have a solar capacity of 50 kilowatts to one megawatt.
One megawatt of solar energy can power 164 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
“There are some big roofs out there that could get you a big bang for the buck and that are owned probably by governments or institutions that might have more capacity to install solar rather than [homeowners,]” Mayfield said. “It also shows we have a lot of flat roofs that are easier to work on and could provide a lot of capacity.”
In a paper released in December, one directed to policymakers, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that rooftop solar panels could generate up to 40 percent of energy the United States consumes.
It was a number that was surprising, said lead author Pieter Gagnon, an engineering analyst of solar policy and technoeconomics with the agency.
“It was significantly larger than previous numbers that had been floating around,” he said. “The last time there was a good effort on this was in 2008. There’s more buildings now, there’s been technological advancements – you can generate more power from the same sized roof – and with better data we were able to make a more accurate characterization and it turns out our earlier estimates were somewhat conservative. There’s actually more than we thought
source: http://www.citizen-times.com

LONGi Green Energy Technology's revenue nearly doubled in 2016

The monocrystalline ingot, wafer and module manufacturer LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd.'s (Xi'an, China) published its 2016 earnings report last week.

The financial results show that the company posted RMB11.531 billion (USD1.67 billion) in revenue, an increase of 93.89% from 2015, and net profit of RMB1.547 billion (USD 224 million), a significant increase of 197.36% from the year before.

Earnings per share stood at RMB 0.86 (USD 0.12), an increase of 177.42%. The weighted average return on net assets after deductions (WARA) was 21.15%, an increase of 9.18 percentage points, and the consolidated gross profit margin was 27.48%, an increase of 7.11 percentage points from the previous year.

“LONGi's noticeable improvement in performance is due to the company's successful effort in breaking free from traditional business model of relying solely on solar wafer, and adding module business to drive revenue growth”, the company notes.

Capacity expansion for solar cell and module business

Last year, solar module sales reached RMB5.7 billion (USD826 million). The module business gross margin of 27.2% is far higher than that of the solar cell and polycrystalline silicon businesses, and is closing in on the 28.16% margin for wafer business.

LONGi continues capacity expansions for the solar cell and module business. A few projects are already under way: a 500MW solar cell and module fab in India, a vertically integrated ingot/wafer/cell/module facility in Kuching, Malaysia, including 500MW cell and module, and 2GW cell and module manufacturing lines in Taizhou. In February 2017, Bloomberg New Energy Finance included LONGi Solar (formerly Lerri Solar) in its Tier 1 module supplier list.

LONGi anticipates to deliver 4.5GW of solar cells and modules this year

LONGi Solar president Li Wenxue commented, "By the end of last year, our monocrystalline module production capacity had reached 5GW, and the target for the end of this year is 6.5GW. LONGi anticipates to deliver 4.5GW of solar cell and module this year. While we will continue to expand our customer base and increase revenue, LONGi strives to maintain reasonable profit margin that will enable us to grow healthy and consistently. We are committed to the continuous improvement of our products and the enhancement of our technology, as we rely on product performance and quality to attract new customers and add value to our business." 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

JA Solar 2016 results: 5.2 GW shipped, net revenue increased

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Beijing, China) on March 16th, 2017 announced its unaudited financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31st, 2016.

JA Solar’s total 2016 shipments were 5.2 gigawatts (GW), consisting of 4,606.6 MW of PV modules and module tolling and 313.8 MW of solar cells and cell tolling to external customers, and 245.8 MW of modules to the Company’s downstream projects.

External Shipments represented an increase of 24.9% from 3.9 GW in fiscal year 2015.

Net revenue was RMB 15.7 billion (USD 2.3 billion), compared to net revenue of RMB 13.5 billion (USD 1.9 billion) in fiscal year 2015. Gross margin was 14.6%, compared to 17.0% in fiscal year 2015.

Net income was RMB 719.6 million (USD 103.6 million), compared to RMB 614.5 million (USD 88.5 million) in fiscal year 2015.

 “While the overall market environment remained challenging, we delivered solid Q4 operating results, topping off a strong 2016 for us, comments Baofang Jin, Chairman and CEO of JA Solar.

“We achieved our 2016 financial and operating goals with revenue and external shipments growing 16% and 25%, respectively.”

1.4 GW shipped in Q4, 2016

JA Solar’s total Q4, 2016 shipments were 1,416.2 megawatts (MW), consisting of 1,353.0 MW of PV modules and 58.9 MW of solar cells to external customers, and 4.3 MW of modules to the Company’s downstream projects.  External shipments were up 5.5% y/y and up 13.8% sequentially.

2017 full year shipments are expected to be in the range of 6.0 to 6.5 GW

For the first quarter of 2017, the Company expects total solar cell and PV module shipments to be in the range of 1,200 to 1,300 MW, essentially all being external shipments.

Full year 2017 shipments are expected to be in the range of 6.0 to 6.5 GW, including 200 to 250 MW of module shipments to the Company’s downstream projects. 

Manufacturing capacity expansion

As of December 31st, 2016, the Company had an annual wafer manufacturing capacity of 2.5 GW, solar cell capacity of 5.5 GW, and PV module capacity of 5.5 GW.

JA Solar expects to further expand its annual manufacturing capacity to 3.0 GW for wafers, 7.0 GW for cells, and 6.0 GW for modules by the end of 2017. 

source: http://www.solarserver.com

Atlantis Resources set to launch new tidal power business in France

 Atlantis Resources set to launch new tidal power business in France
Having successfully established the initial phase United Kingdom's first major tidal power project Atlantis Resources Ltd (LON:ARL) is setting sights across the channel, in the French market. France has Europe's second largest tidal power market, according to Atlantis, and the company is now preparing to get involved. Tim Cornelius, Atlantis chief executive, said: "France is an exciting new market for commercial scale tidal power project development which is set for enormous growth over the next few years. "As a leading developer of tidal power projects, we want to be part of the success of the marine energy industry in France." Atlantis has teamed up with Nantes headquartered marine engineer INNOSEA which is presently advising how the British company can build a plan to enter the supply chain for manufacture, assembly and distribution of the Atlantis AR1500 tidal turbines (as well as the innovative foundations and associated transportation and logistics developed in the installation of the MyGen project, offshore Scotland). Atlantis highlights 'supply chain potential' in a number of French regions namely Brittany, Normandy, Aquitaine, Pays-de-la-Loire, and Hauts-de-France. INNOSEA, which has a directory of more than 350 organisations relevant to marine energy, is currently assessing local partners for civil engineering works, composite, steel or concrete fabrication, turbine assembly, testing and commissioning and component manufacture. Additionally, Atlantis says it has immediate aspirations to develop the first tidal array sites in French waters. "We want to make material progress during 2017 with respect to project identification. From our perspective, deployment of generating assets is possible in one to two years' time," Cornelius said. "The AR1500 turbine system is already producing commercial scale power in Scotland and our project teams are the most experienced in the world. "Atlantis has already commenced working with INNOSEA in the United Kingdom on the delivery of MeyGen Phase 1B, a multi- turbine array to be located adjacent to Phase 1A the in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth in northern Scotland." Hakim Mouslim, chief executive of INNOSEA Marine Engineering, added: "Atlantis tidal turbine systems are leading the tidal industry right now.
source:www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk