The Decommissioning and Abandonment Summit (March 22-23)

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The Decommissioning and Abandonment Summit (March 22-23) is now in its 4th successive year and is the only forum that will review latest industry experience to reduce costs, improve safety & mitigate risk on all future decommissioning projects.

Over 800 senior decommissioning decision makers will be in attendance to network, do business and exchange the latest industry updates: This year, it is guaranteed to deliver info on:

*Permitting & Regulations: Receive an update on the latest permitting challenges to streamline project planning, ensuring regulatory compliance to save time and money
*Operator Case Studies: Hear the latest project assessments from major & independent operators as they share lessons learned from their most challenging projects to date to benefit your future approaches
*Decommissioning Cost Analysis: Understand best practice cost estimation for decommissioning based on expert experience to ensure accurate budgeting and forecasting on your next project
*Plugging and Abandonment Standards: Discover the latest well P&A techniques and technologies to ensure your projects are executed cost effectively, safely and permanently
*Facility Decommissioning: Benefit from a comprehensive assessment of facility decommissioning approaches, utilizing the latest project experience to maximise safety and reduce costs

National Geographic Alternative Energy

Making Way For Bigger Turbines

New Hampshire, USA -- They stand as looming testaments to innovation, growing ever more prominent and powerful. Yet for much of 2011, wind installations remained somewhat obscured, eclipsed by the media storm surrounding the solar industry.

The truth of the matter is, however, that the wind industry bounced back from a disappointing 2010 with a surge in both installations and sales. The wind industry quietly and methodically continues to forge ahead, and today it dominates the renewable energy landscape in new installations.

Through October (the most recent numbers available by press time), the wind industry placidly posted three strong quarters behind a steady drop in prices and the realization that Congress may not extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) past its December 2012 expiration date. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), through the first three quarters of 2011, the wind industry installed 29 wind farms larger in total capacity than the biggest solar project installed during that same period.

With the wind industry eager to continue its momentum with or without the PTC, two things are clear: turbines must get bigger and engineers must work to drive down costs. It’s a proven formula that’s paying dividends beyond the traditional stronghold of the Midwest, as the technology becomes a bigger part of the landscape in places like New York, Massachusetts and Maine.

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1.1 Million Jobs Achieved In Europe

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You can just hear the naysayers claiming “It could never be done. There never could be one million green jobs.” Like many new things that do materialize eventually, it has come true.

According to information released by EuroObserv’ER, approximately 1.1 million people living in Europe have jobs in renewable energy. Yes, renewable energy, not coal, not oil, not fracking for natural gas.

Curiously, although this achievement is a tremendous accomplishment both in terms of clean energy production and in helping people learn new skills in an emerging industry while paying them, it doesn’t seem to have garnered much press, at least in the United States.

The report actually only used jobs data from 2010, so it is possible if they do another analysis to include the more recent numbers there could be even more jobs documented. The top renewable energy employers in Europe were biomass (273,000), solar photovoltaics (268,110), and wind (253,145). Next were biogas (52,810) and solar thermal (49,845) with ground source heat pumps, waste-to-energy, small hydro, and geothermal filling in the remainder.

One trend that points to the possibility there were even more renewable energy jobs added in 2011 is the fact nearly 70 percent of Europe’s new electricity capacity came from solar and wind power. An expanding clean energy industry obviously can translate into more jobs.

Another significant fact is the growth of over one million jobs in renewable energy took place during a very challenging economic period. If there had not been a global recession, the expansion might have been greater. So for the future, when there is economic growth and stabilization, the emerging renewable energy industry in Europe may experience another uptick in installations and in new jobs.

Perhaps one reason we in the U.S. don’t hear so much about clean energy successes in Europe, is that our own green jobs growth, which was claimed could have been up to five million during the 2008 campaign, has been far less with only about 225,000 resulting from government programs.




Contact me Tradd Duggan Milehighsolar@hotmail.com whether to Network, or for possible Business opportunities with your company.

Xcel Sets World Record With 55.6% Wind Energy Penetration

Colorado Energy Strikes Again
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November 29, 2011

Wind power has faced skepticism for many years (though most of it has come from, or been funded by, competing energy sources) on grounds that its variability cannot be accommodated on utility systems.

Xcel sets world record with 55.6% wind energy penetration
Minneapolis-based utility Xcel Energy set a world record early on the morning of Oct. 6, with 55.6 percent of the electricity on its Public Service of Colorado (PSCo) system between the hours of 4 and 5 a.m. coming from wind power, according to the Denver Post.

The Post's Mark Jaffe quoted AWEA's Manager of Transmission Policy, Michael Goggin, as saying that the previous record of 53 percent was achieved in Spain in 2009. According to the article, "Improved wind farm forecasting, energy trading and grid operating improvements are allowing more wind power to be used, Xcel executives said."

Wind power has faced skepticism for many years (though most of it has come from, or been funded by, competing energy sources) on grounds that its variability cannot be accommodated on utility systems. This is an odd claim, since utilities must already balance the amount of electricity they supply with frequent variations in customer demand, both throughout a typical day and from season to season during the year. Records like the one set by Xcel show just how little basis there is for the assertion that wind turbines cannot be integrated with other energy sources. To quote the Post's Jaffe, "Xcel's experience shows that greater penetration of wind power is possible and the lights will stay on."


Tom Gray, www.awea.org

California Approves Solar Contract Despite High Cost

California Approves Solar Contract Despite High Cost
By Ucilia Wang, Contributor


Tweet Share California, USA -- Should consumers pay for more for renewable energy in order to promote certain technology type? That's an interesting question raised by California regulators on Thursday, when they approved what they acknowledged to be a pricy contract for Abengoa Solar to sell power to Pacific Gas & Electric.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted 4-1 to approve the 25-year contract, which will allow Abengoa to build the 280-megawatt solar farm called Mojave Solar in southern California. The company already has secured construction permits from state and federal regulators, as well as a $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to help pay up to 80 percent of the project’s cost.

The commission staff recommended against approving the contract, saying it was way too expensive. Utilities can recoup the cost of buying renewable energy by raising rates. Contract price and terms are confidential, however, so it’s difficult to compare all those contracts that the three big utilities have signed over the years. Commissioner Mike Florio, who casted the lone “no” vote, said during the meeting that the contract will cost $1.25 billion over 25 years.

But commissioners who voted for the contract said price shouldn’t be the only deciding factor. They said the technology Abengoa will be using can produce power more consistently than, say, solar panels, and that consistency is valuable even if it isn’t reflected in the contract price. They also suggested that the state has a responsibility to support a variety of renewable energy technologies.

Abengoa plans to install rows of curved mirrors that will concentrate and direct the sunlight to create steam, which will then be piped to run a turbine to produce electricity. It’s not alone in using concentrating solar power or CSP (solar thermal) to generate power; other developers such as BrightSource Energy and SolarReserve are doing something similar.

“It’s worthwhile to spend a little more on projects like the Mojave Solar so the (state’s) renewable portfolio doesn’t rely heavily on a single technology. In other words it’ll be more balanced,” said Michael Peevey, the commission president who led the effort to approve the Mojave Solar contract.

California has had a renewable energy mandate for nearly a decade now, and the most recent change requires utilities to get 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The state mandate doesn’t say utilities have to choose solar or any type of solar technology. The eligible types of renewable energy include wind, geothermal and ocean power.

One of the commission’s responsibilities is to make sure the price of a renewable energy contract is reasonable and won’t saddle consumers will a big rate hike.

But several commissioners also believe that California should support different technologies. They noted that most of the recent proposed projects use solar photovoltaics (PV) instead. The price of solar panels has fallen more than 50 percent in the past few years, and an oversupply problem has caused many solar companies to close factories or even file bankruptcies. Energy Conversion Devices announced this week that it would suspend manufacturing all together and furlough 400 workers, and it plans to lay off 500 people by the end of this year.

20% Renewable Energy By 2020