The Wall Street Journal has returned attention to the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, the $2.2 billion Department of Energy-backed concentrating solar power plant whose slow start became the subject of some controversy after a Breaking Energy story last fall. The Journal reported that “15 months after starting up, the California plant is producing just 40… Keep reading →
U.S. renewable power continued to grow in 2014, with preliminary federal data showing almost exactly half of the year’s new installed capacity coming from renewable sources. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reported on Thursday that 15,384 megawatts of new generation went into service in 2014, and 49.9 percent of that came from wind, solar and… Keep reading →
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System had a good November, and by the end of the month the controversial “power tower” plant in the Mojave Desert had topped 400,000 megawatt-hours of electricity generation since beginning operation in January 2014. New data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that the three ISEGS units pumped out… Keep reading →
Whether scorched birds are a major issue at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California is a matter of dispute. But the “power tower” solar plant and its owners – NRG Energy, Google and BrightSource Energy – might have an even more fundamental problem on their hands: generating adequate electricity. The Mojave Desert plant,… Keep reading →
Integrating renewables into the oil and gas industry has become more common especially as the industry turns to production from heavy crude. Outside of the United States, natural gas is not cheap and abundant and so the oil industry’s reliance on power generated from natural gas places limitation on growth. GlassPoint, a company with solar… Keep reading →
In our recent interview with Solar Reserve CEO Kevin Smith, he filled us in on the company’s global ambitions, but was particularly proud of the Crescent Dunes concentrated solar power (CSP) project currently being constructed in the Nevada desert. This is the second video in a two-part series that provides an up-close look at the… Keep reading →
BLM has issued a land order to segregate federal lands from new mining claims for solar energy development across six western states. On July 5, 2013, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved a Public Land Order that withdraws 303,900 acres of federal land identified for solar energy development from new mining claims for 20… Keep reading →
