OpenHydro, a DCNS company, and its Canadian partner Emera Inc. have formally launched a new joint venture business, called Cape Sharp Tidal. The objective of the new venture is to deploy a fully grid connected 4MW tidal array in the Bay of Fundy in 2015.

According to the partners, this project has the potential to be one of the world’s first multi-megawatt arrays of interconnected tidal turbines, providing energy to more than 1,000 customers in Nova Scotia. 

As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, Federal agencies on October 31 released their plans for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts.

Over the past year, the Energy Department achieved a number of significant successes in its efforts to promote clean energy, reduce waste and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Among them:

• The Department of Energy (DoE) added 33 buildings to its green building portfolio, for a total of 101 buildings that meet the federal guiding principles for high performance and sustainable buildings, representing a 49% increase over FY 2012 performance.
• The DoE reduced fleet petroleum use by 8% from FY 2012, a 16% cumulative reduction from the FY 2005 baseline, placing the Department on track to meet its goal of a 30% cumulative reduction by FY 2020.
• This past June, the DoE completed construction of an 11.5 MW wind farm at its Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, making the five-turbine wind farm the largest federally owned wind farm in the United States.

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Created in 2007 for and by the PV sector, PV CYCLE is the only take-back scheme to offer dedicated PV waste management and compliance solutions. With its comprehensive network of hundreds of collection points, specialized waste transporters, and certified PV module recyclers, PV CYCLE has steadily increased its collection figures from an initial 80 tonnes in the first year of operations to 10,053 tonnes today.

“Having collected such significant amounts of PV module waste, PV CYCLE has demonstrated its ability to treat large quantities of waste anywhere in Europe”, said Olmina Della Monica, operations and treatment manager Europe at PV CYCLE, the PV CYCLE, the PV-focused waste management and compliance provider in Europe.

Originally a voluntary initiative, today the take-back and appropriate disposal of discarded post-production PV modules is mandatory in the European market. Since the European Waste Electronic and Electric Equipment (WEEE) Directive was amended in 2012, PV modules fall under the waste management requirements.

“Since 2010, our collection and recycling achievements have consistently exceeded the EU targets set in the 2012 WEEE Directive,” said Jan Clyncke, managing director at PV CYCLE. “PV waste will significantly increase in the coming years, and it is important to show that PV CYCLE is ready to meet the challenges ahead.”

By the end of October 2014, PV CYCLE had made collections in 20 different European countries with an infrastructure of 350 collection points.

SunPower Corporation has announced plans to own and operate a solar panel manufacturing facility in Cape Town, South Africa, in response to the growing demand for solar in that region. Here, SunPower will manufacture its high-efficiency SunPower E20/440 Solar Panels, with the expectation to produce up to 160 MW annually. This facility will also house SunPower’s engineering, procurement and construction offices, as well as its operations management operations.

«SunPower has a significant presence in the South African solar market, including two large power plants built this year and another one that will begin construction soon,” said Marty Neese, SunPower COO. “By manufacturing our high-efficiency solar panels at this new facility, we will not only help the local economy,¹ but continue to deliver clean, renewable energy to this region.”

Earlier this year, SunPower completed construction of two ground-mounted solar projects totaling 33-MW located near Douglas in the Northern Cape Town province.  Additionally, SunPower has been appointed as the preferred EPC and OM contractor for an 86-MWdc project in the round three Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program by the MULILO-TOTAL consortium.

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The most popular articles on Renewable Energy Focus.com last week were as follows:

Alevo to transform energy storage by combining battery tech with smart data analysis

US Department of Energy allocates $53 mllion to drive solar power Innovation

UK expands hydrogen transport with car deliveries, first supermarket dispenser
 

The Solar Trade Association is set to revise its influential ‘10 Commitments’ on solar farms to support the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s push for greater levels of local ownership of solar farms.

A new  Voluntary Agreement, published earlier today, will further expand public ownership and investment into the large-scale solar sector which works to ensure solar farms contribute to sustainable farming and boosting wildlife. Community ownership will further enhance the positive contribution solar will make to the British countryside by enabling people to benefit financially from investment in their local solar farms.¹

The draft amended Commitment, due to be discussed by members this month, reads as follows: «We will engage with the community in advance of submitting a planning application and, where commercially viable and where there is a local appetite, we will innovate in investment opportunities for local communities in their local solar farms including partnerships with local authorities.»

Leonie Greene, head of external affairs at the Solar Trade Association, said the group’s members are already pioneering successful ways for the public and local authorities to invest in local solar farms. The primary goal of the Voluntary Agreement, he noted, is to accelerate innovation with local ownership and investment across the renewables sector. «Our aim is to find real win-wins for the industry and communities that will ultimately enable the UK to accelerate the deployment of clean power,» Greene explained.

The Voluntary Agreement released by DECC today will mean that solar developers will explore models of community ownership where there are legally constituted community energy groups and where it is commercially viable to do so — and to generally offer local ownership and investment options to communities including direct bond offers and partnerships with local authorities.²

Membership feedback

STA member Toddington Harper, CEO of Big60Million (who have delivered the first Climate Bond community investment scheme in the UK which greatly exceeded its £4m bond target for Willersey solar farm said), had this to say about the agreement: «To truly deliver a solar energy revolution in the UK, it’s critical that the technology has widespread support from local communities closest to projects. We are delighted that the Government is helping to drive forward community ownership schemes because sharing the financial, environmental social benefits of solar projects with local communities will lead to solar energy becoming even more popular»

Other STA members agreed. «Empowering communities to take control of their energy needs is critical if we are to move away from our current centralised model of energy generation, work towards a more sustainable energy future and improve the UK’s energy independence,» said Susannah Wood, chief marketing officer of Solarcentury, which delivered a 2.4MW solar energy co-op scheme in Hampshire for West Solent Solar Cooperative.(The farm is owned by around 500 investors, many of them from the local community.) «We look forward to working with more energy cooperatives to bring solar to local communities,» Wood explained. 

While the Solar Trade Assocation by and large supports the spirit and policy objectives of the Voluntary Framework, the group stresses that some elements still need to be addressed. As STA’s Greene explains: “Forming direct financial relationships with communities is exciting, but there are still important unknowns on the costs of some of these approaches. Returns in solar are lower than other technologies and the solar industry alone is being forced into smaller schemes, meaning potentially disproportionately higher costs for pursuing this agenda. The solar industry and DECC will, therefore, need to watch the emerging evidence-base particularly closely to identify successful approaches.”

The DECC’s Voluntary Agreement (Shared Ownership Taskfore Report) is available online.

REFERENCES

1. Solar, the most popular [2] and empowering energy technology, is owned by over half a million homes, and 2,000 community schemes, including schools.

2. It is recognised that other forms of ownership may emerge during what will be a period of innovation. It is also recognised that ownership and investment will be possible and desirable for some communities whereas other tried and tested approaches, such as locally reduced electricity bills, will be more suited to others. The renewables industry has a particularly strong track record of innovative engagement with local communities and this agenda expands its outreach toolbox.
 

ABB has successfully commissioned a power solution that will control the flow of power and enhance grid stability in the state of Michigan.¹ The technology provides dynamic voltage support, thereby increasing regional grid reliability while enabling integration of additional wind generation.

The high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) Light station has been commissioned on schedule and handed over to the customer, American Transmission Co. (ATC).

“The Mackinac station is the world’s first HVDC back-to-back system for transmission using voltage source converter technology,» claims Hans-Peter Faessler, head of the grid systems business within ABB’s Power Systems division. «This is a milestone demonstrating how ABB can help customers achieve efficient grid control and stabilization.”

ABB designed, supplied and installed the 200 MW, back-to-back HVDC Light station in upper Michigan. An HVDC back-to-back system comprises two HVDC converters connected directly to each other, without any DC transmission line, making it possible to fully control the power transfer through the connection.

The voltage and reactive power control features of the system enable the integration of additional wind energy and stabilization of the network. Its ‘black-start’ capability allows for fast network restoration using power from the other end of the system in the case of a power outage.

REFERENCES

1. ABB’s low-loss and eco-efficient HVDC Light technology controls the power flow between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan

In support President Obama’s Climate Action Plan — and to further spur widespread deployment of safe, reliable, and cost effective solar energy for all Americans — this funding is specifically aimed at supporting projects that enable low-cost, flexible and reliable solutions that successfully integrate solar PV power plants and energy storage. The funding opportunity will tackle the challenge of creating cost-effective and reliable distributed PV and energy storage solutions to help overcome the challenges associated with increased amounts of renewables.