There is enormous market opportunity for grid-scale energy storage solutions on both the power supply and demand side, but historically low US natural gas prices appear to represent a headwind moderating widespread energy storage deployment. Importantly, today’s quote comes from a GE representative whose company is a major manufacturer of “fast-reacting turbines,” and others contend… Keep reading →
Using Germany as an example, this article investigates the changing utility business model in the face of rapidly expanding renewable energy sources and other trends that are eating into utility company bottom lines. “A reckoning is at hand, and nowhere is that clearer than in Germany. Even as the country sets records nearly every month… Keep reading →
Big solar is winning. There are tens of millions of rooftops throughout the United States – on homes and businesses alike – where solar power could be saving electricity consumers money and reducing their carbon footprint, all the while avoiding the environmental conflicts that big solar increasingly finds itself enmeshed in. Yet projects over 1… Keep reading →
Some are hopeful electrification of transport will improve the industry’s fortunes The power sector in developed parts of the world is confronting falling customer demand due to energy efficiency gains plus the rising penetration of distributed generation, notably from rooftop solar PVs. The net impact is that customers use less while generating more – becoming… Keep reading →
Cloudy future For some time, computing, data processing and storage have been migrating to the “cloud.” Now, people are talking about the energy cloud, where distributed energy resources (DERs) making use of intelligent devices, storage and a smart grid connect all manner of distributed loads and resources to meet customers’ energy service needs. Future is… Keep reading →
As oil production volumes from the Bakken Shale formation zoomed past 1 million barrels, farmers watched their grain inventories pile up because they have not been able to book rail shipping capacity fast enough. This article highlights shifting commodity production, pricing and transportation dynamics as the US oil output renaissance coincides with record grain production.… Keep reading →
The market for distributed renewable energy (DRE) is rapidly expanding all over the world. This is in large part due to the drop in manufacturing costs for solar and wind technology, along with increased policy incentives, and a high financial return on investment. The levelized cost of generation from wind and solar has significantly decreased… Keep reading →
The changing utility business model has been a major theme in the news and industry circles this year, with many bemoaning that fact that as distributed generation and energy efficiency proliferate, utilities sell less of their product. The trend has even been dramatically called the “utility death spiral.” Scary. But while these are certainly challenges… Keep reading →
The PEM fuel cell maker is reportedly working with Apple on consumer devices. Intelligent Energy revealed its financials in its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange last week — and it turns out that for a brief shining moment in 2012, a profitable fuel cell company did in fact exist. Intelligent Energy had… Keep reading →
ARPA-E has announced $33M in funding under its new REBELS program to support innovative distributed generation technologies. On June 19, 2014, the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced $33M in funding for 13 projects through its new Reliable Electricity Based on Electrochemical Systems (REBELS) program. The new projects will focus on… Keep reading →
