Can electricity market rules deliver technical innovation, environmental pollution reductions, and social benefits – while reducing the cost of electricity? Those are some of the rather ambitious aims of New York State’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” policy package. The Brooklyn-Queens Demand Management Program will be the first attempt to put their ambitions to the test. […]
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Storing Power as Liquid Air
A novel 5MW/15MWh liquid air energy storage system is nearing completion at a landfill waste site near the city of Manchester, England. The demonstration system will be connected to the UK grid to provide balancing services. The system takes waste heat from the jacket around GE Jenbacher landfill gas engines and uses that waste heat […]
Reaching the Power of High Altitude Winds
A 16-meter long helium-filled cylinder will rotate creating considerable lift force. A ground-based winch-generator will convert the lift force into electricity. Once the cylinder has reached its maximum height, its rotation is stopped and the module descends to its starting position. During trials in April 2015, the airborne module will fly below 500m of height […]
Small Hydro Project to Deliver Major Benefits
For a total investment of £315,000, the Harlaw Hydro Reservoir scheme at Balerno, East of Edinburgh, is expected to generate more than £50,000 per year. Once the scheme has paid for itself (in less than 7 years), that annual revenue will be available for village improvement schemes for a further 13 years. The scheme will […]
Bringing a Renewable Energy Project from Concept to Commercial Operation
Do you want to erect a wind turbine? Cover a storehouse roof with photovoltaic modules? Or perhaps you want to get the old village waterwheel turning again and generating electricity. What do you need to consider? Where do you start on a project like that? The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has published “A Framework for […]
U.S. Offshore Wind Turbines Now a Near-Certainty
The installation of more than 100 wind turbines off the coast of the United States is now a near certainty. The first power is expected to flow from the turbines during 2013. Cape Wind Associates plan to build 130 wind turbines with a generation capacity of 420 MW near the island of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, […]
Argentina’s Wind Power Balancing Act
Argentinians have been purchasing fossil fuels for electricity generation at prices that are well in excess of the cost of wind power. The country has massive wind power potential. The problem has been accessing the capital needed to exploit that potential. The China Development Bank Corporation has agreed to provide Grupo Isolux Corsan SA project […]
The Fight Against Climate Change Must be Obama’s Legacy
On Tuesday last week the earth breathed a sigh of relief as Barack Obama was re-elected as President of the USA. Although the popular vote – if not the final electoral college result – was close in America; the overwhelming majority of the rest of the World was supporting Obama. A BBC poll in 21 […]
Sunlabob: A Laos Solar Supplier Building Energy Markets in the Poorest Countries
Sunlabob, a commercial solar lighting supplier based in Laos, is using public sector contracts to reach the poorest in Liberia and other markets at the base of the economic pyramid. This cannot be a simple commercial proposition, says Sunlabob Director Andy Schroeter. The poorest cannot cover the capital costs. Liberia’s destroyed electricity infrastructure Liberia had […]
South Africa Renewable Energy Program is Under Way
Round 1 of the renewable energy development program (REIPP)in South Africa is finally under way. The government will sign final agreements with 28 project developers in the next few days. They plan to build 1.4 GW of generation capacity and invest US$5.4 billion. The government has also announced plans for a major extension of the […]
