Orlando, Florida —

Renewable energy stakeholders are well aware that clean energy is slowly but steadily transforming the energy landscape and that message couldn’t have been more clear at the recently concluded Power-Gen International, the largest show for the traditional power generation industry. Since all forms of power generation are represented at the show through the four co-located conferences, PennWell calls the second week in December «Power Generation Week.»

The show starts with tech tours and in 2014 there were four renewable-energy related tours, including one to the Orlando Utility Commission’s Community Solar Garden, a 400-kW solar installation that provides power for 39 subscribers and the Harvest Power Energy Garden, featuring an Anaerobic Digester that makes biogas for combined heat and power.  

During Power Generation Week, we also celebrated the Projects, Papers and Woman of the Year. The renewable energy Project of the Year is Ivanpah, which is the largest CSP plant in the world at nearly 400 megawatts.  The Power-Gen Woman of the year is Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power. 

REWNA conference sessions, which began on Tuesday, cover five tracks, all of which are key to renewable energy development: Large-scale Renewables; Utility Integration; Distributed Energy Resources; Hybrid Solutions; and Renewables in the Developing World.  Solar PV, microgrids, energy storage, utility business models, fossil fuels and renewables working together, and how to finance all of the above were hot topics at the show. 

The mega-session that concludes the conference featured a panel discussion about the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which seeks to reduce carbon 30 percent by 2030 over 2005 levels. Play the video below to see more highlights from Power Generation Week 2014. We hope to see you next year in Las Vegas.