GE’s energy investment arm has more than doubled its global solar power investment commitments since early 2011. The company recently reached $1.4 billion in cumulative solar investment, and has enabled nearly $5 billion in solar project value.
“We continue to seek to invest in the best solar power projects – with solid partners, power contracts and proven technology,” says Kevin Walsh, Managing Director and leader of power and renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services. Keep reading →
Since 2007, Duke Energy has invested more than $2.5 billion to build wind and solar farms across the U.S. – http://bit.ly/Ayyfns DukeEnergy
IEA will acknowledge coming of age of renewable #energy sector with annual report which analyzes market http://bit.ly/zS4eRk IEA
Saudi Aramco sponsors and participates in the First Renewable Energy Conference at KFUPM http://bit.ly/xnSQCo Saudi_Aramco
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), stung by a federal regulatory ruling regarding its treatment of Northwest wind power producers, is proposing new measures-including splitting the cost for lost revenue-to mollify the wind producers when an overabundance of hydroelectric power leads BPA to curtail the wind turbines in the region.
BPA sells power from dozens of federal hydro projects in the Northwest, and it controls most of the transmission lines in the region. Federal regulators in December said BPA acted unfairly in shutting off wind power in spring 2011 when a big snowmelt gave it more electricity than it said it needed. BPA’s action was opposed by wind generators, led by Portland, Oregon-based Iberdrola Renewables, many of whom lost federal production tax credits and state renewable energy certificates when their turbines were shut down and who worried that BPA’s policy could set a precedent that would stifle future support for the industry in the region. Keep reading →
The US wind industry, seeking to prolong its decade-long construction boom, wants renewable energy subsidies added to any deal between Congress and the White House that extends a payroll tax cut through the rest of this year.
“This is our best chance to get this done,” says John Purcell, a vice president at Leeco Steel, a Chicago-area company that makes the steel used in wind-turbine towers. “It’s today, it’s this payroll tax cut bill.” Keep reading →
Nancy Floyd is the founder and managing director at Nth Power, a venture capital firm established specifically to invest in clean energy startups.
Solar, energy efficiency, smart grid and advanced transportation all feature in Nth Power’s portfolio. Keep reading →
The wind energy industry was abuzz last week with the release of a map from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory showing the extent of wind resources in the US.
The map represents the result of the first comprehensive update of potential wind power resources since the early 1990s, with the important addition of new technology and scale in the wind sector making the potential even greater. Keep reading →
In his third state of the Union speech, President Obama kept energy as “pillar” of economic recovery and made natural gas the pivot point.
While endorsing an “all of the above” energy strategy, he added little new from the policies of the last three years, and no real surprises. Keep reading →
New England’s policies supporting building increased renewable generation is underpinning pressure to invest in new transmission infrastructure in the region, with advocates for new power lines saying the projects will boost employment and alleviate existing high regional electricity costs.
Each of the six states in the New England region has “some form” of renewable energy portfolio standard, the organizers of the New England Clean Energy Transmission Summit held this week in Boston, said. Those state policies align with federal policies that enable strategic planning and cost-allocation of new transmission ensuring renewable generation access to power markets. Keep reading →
