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SFCE Aug 25
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Ergon Energy to tender for 150MW of renewable energy for Queensland grid
Aug 25, 2015 | PV Tech
By Tom Kenning
Australian utility Ergon Energy is launching a tender for 150MW of renewable energy projects for its regional grid in Queensland, an Australian state which up till now has been largely devoid of large-scale renewable projects despite strong solar resources. -
Australia: ACT government aims for 100% renewable energy by 2025
Aug 24, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Giles Parkinson
The government of the Australian Capital Territory is going where the federal politicians who march the corridors of Parliament House in the national capital fear to tread – to reach 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025. The target was unveiled by ACT chief minister Andrew Barr at the ACT Labor Party conference on Saturday. -
China lawmakers discuss new pollution bill, coal cap clause expected
Aug 25, 2015 | Reuters
By David Stanway and Kathy Chen
Chinese legislators are considering a new air pollution law that could give the state new powers to punish negligent local authorities and industrial enterprises and provide a legal mandate to impose caps on coal consumption. Amendments to China's 15-year old Air Pollution Law are expected to be approved this week by the National People's... -
Obama unveils ‘robust’ solar support framework
Aug 25, 2015 | PV Tech
By Liam Stoker
US President Barack Obama announced a number of new support mechanisms in an attempt to continue to stimulate the US solar market. The measures, intended to build on the nationwide Clean Energy Plan unveiled last month, form what the White House has labelled a “robust set of executive actions and private... -
This is what Obama just unveiled to boost solar
Aug 24, 2015 | Fortune
By Katie Fehrenbacher
The president is pushing a clean energy loan guarantee program, which helped electric car success story Tesla, but also failed solar company, Solyndra. President Obama just announced a series of initiatives to encourage solar and other green technologies, as he tries to spur development of cleaner power sources. -
Obama Opens Loans to Distributed Energy, Home Financing
Aug 25, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
In a series of actions announced Aug. 24, the White House is opening up $10 billion of existing loan guarantees for so-called distributed energy projects and is allowing federal home loans to be used in conjunction with residential energy-efficiency financing.
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Ergon Energy to tender for 150MW of renewable energy for Queensland grid
Aug 25, 2015 | PV Tech
By Tom Kenning
Australian utility Ergon Energy is launching a tender for 150MW of renewable energy projects for its regional grid in Queensland, an Australian state which up till now has been largely devoid of large-scale renewable projects despite strong solar resources.
The firm will take on new solar, wind and hydro power opportunities in the state.
This week, Ergon will be calling for detailed submissions from companies that have a “solid reputation in the renewable energy space” and can help the company meet its target. Ergon is also looking to partner on new renewable energy projects.
Among other renewable projects, Ergon already supports the 400kW Fraser Coast Solar Farm.
The news comes shortly after PV developer SunEdison said it was partnering with Solar Choice in order to co-develop the 2GW Bulli Creek Solar Farm in south-west Queensland, which is likely to be the largest solar farm in the world once developed.
Minister for energy Mark Bailey said Ergon Energy’s entry into the renewables sector in Queensland will also significantly increase construction job numbers and employment in ongoing maintenance.
Bailey said: “This is the beginning of the large-scale renewable energy agenda of the Palaszczuk Government. This simply would not be happening if Ergon Energy was being privatised as planned by the previous LNP government. Our focus on public ownership and strong commitments on renewable energy gives confidence to Ergon to take this forward."
Ergon Energy chief executive Ian McLeod said: “Renewable energy sources including rooftop solar are already contributing over 10% of the electricity for our main grid and we expect that growth to continue."
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Australia: ACT government aims for 100% renewable energy by 2025
Aug 24, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Giles Parkinson
The government of the Australian Capital Territory is going where the federal politicians who march the corridors of Parliament House in the national capital fear to tread – to reach 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025.
The target was unveiled by ACT chief minister Andrew Barr at the ACT Labor Party conference on Saturday. The ACT already had a 90 per cent renewable energy target by 2020, but decided to go the "whole hog" by 2025 to show leadership in the climate and clean energy debate that has been lacking at the federal level.
"Canberra can and should be a beacon for everyone who realises the world must act decisively now to stave off a future of catastrophic climate change," Barr told the conference on Saturday.
The ACT is able to do this because it has no domestic fossil fuel industry – apart from federal lobbyists – within its territory, therefore little organised resistance to wind and solar projects.
Its target compares to federal Labor’s ambition to have 50 per cent renewables for the whole country by 2030. The Federal Coalition says 23.5 per cent renewables – its target for 2020 – is "more than enough."
The states are already showing more ambition. Tasmania is virtually at 100 per cent renewables, South Australia has a 50 per cent renewable energy target for 2025 which it will meet well before then, and Queensland also has a 50 per cent renewable energy target. On Friday, Victoria announced plans to support the construction of wind turbines and rooftop solar to reboot its flagging renewables sector.
The ACT has already commissioned three wind farms totaling 200MW and three solar farms totaling 44MW that will take it to 60 per cent renewables by 2017, including rooftop solar.
A further 200MW of wind capacity and 50MW of next generation solar capacity (with storage) will take it to 90 per cent by 2020.
Energy minister Simon Corbell says an assessment will then be made on what will be needed to reach 100 per cent, depending on demand forecasts and growth of rooftop solar and energy efficiency, and further opportunities in large scale renewables.
Corbell says the intention is to provide the equivalent of 100 per cent of the territory’s electricity needs through renewable energy, not to become independent of the grid.
"We see this as much an economic development strategy as much as an environment strategy. That is what you hear when you travel overseas, from UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres, to the IEA (International Energy Agency), they recognise the economic opportunities."
He pointed to the investment in tertiary eduction, corporate headquarters, operational centres and skills training. Neoen which is building the Hornsdale wind farm in South Australia, is investing $7.5 million into the local TAFE, while Windlab, which is building one wind farm and will manage another, will grow its corporate HQ to 80 staff from 20 staff.
Link: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/australia--act-government-aims-for-100-renewable-energy-by-2025_100020718/#axzz3jiCfkZX1
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China lawmakers discuss new pollution bill, coal cap clause expected
Aug 25, 2015 | Reuters
By David Stanway and Kathy Chen
Chinese legislators are considering a new air pollution law that could give the state new powers to punish negligent local authorities and industrial enterprises and provide a legal mandate to impose caps on coal consumption.
Amendments to China's 15-year old Air Pollution Law are expected to be approved this week by the National People's Congress, the country's parliament, and will make local governments directly responsible for failing to meet air quality targets.
China's ruling Communist Party has acknowledged the damage that decades of untrammeled economic growth have done to the country's skies, rivers and soil, and it is now trying to equip its environmental inspection offices with greater powers and more resources to tackle persistent polluters and the local governments that protect them.
"Local governments will become responsible to assess and meet standards by a certain time," said Tonny Xie, director of the Clean Air Alliance of China, which has been involved in consultations on the law.
"Previously, there was one sentence in the law about 'making plans' to treat air pollution, rather than 'achieving plans'."
A 31-page draft includes sections on controlling pollution from coal combustion and will provide a legal basis for the establishment of consumption caps and restrictions on low-grade imports, but legislators continue to debate the precise details.
"We have been lobbying for the inclusion of a specific timeline for coal consumption to peak, but this won't be included," said a source with an environmental group involved in consultations.
Coal, China's biggest source of air pollution, accounts for around two thirds of total primary energy use.
According to a notice on Tuesday from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, legislators are still deliberating on whether to include clauses banning the direct combustion of low-grade coal as well as new fuel oil standards.
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The draft law gives the central government the ability to suspend local authority powers to approve new projects if they fail to meet pollution targets. It bans firms from temporarily switching off polluting equipment during inspections and outlaws other behavior designed to distort emission readings.
It also includes provisions to limit pollution from industry and automobiles, though legislators have already excised a clause allowing local governments to set their own restrictions on car use, official news agency Xinhua said.
China's new Environmental Protection Law, which came into force at the beginning of this year, put an end to the "maximum fine" system that allowed firms to pollute with impunity once they had paid a limited penalty. It also puts them at risk of criminal punishments should they continue to break rules.
According to the environment ministry, concentrations of hazardous breathable particles known as PM2.5 fell 17.1 percent in the first half to 58 micrograms per cubic meter, but China doesn't expect to meet the state standard of 35 micrograms until 2030.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/25/us-china-pollution-idUSKCN0QU0KK20150825
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Obama unveils ‘robust’ solar support framework
Aug 25, 2015 | PV Tech
By Liam Stoker
US President Barack Obama announced a number of new support mechanisms in an attempt to continue to stimulate the US solar market.
The measures, intended to build on the nationwide Clean Energy Plan unveiled last month, form what the White House has labelled a “robust set of executive actions and private sector commitments” to accelerate residential uptake of solar systems.
An inter-agency task force comprising the Executive Office of the President, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and others will collaborate with US states and community organisations to “identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency” and “scale up the deployment of renewable energy in low and moderate-income communities”.
An additional US$1 billion is to be made available in loan guarantees, which will allow individual states to access financing for distributed energy projects, while it will also now be made easier for homeowners to access financing for clean energy technologies under the Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programme.
A new US Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Energy joint programme will be launched to increase borrowing power for solar installations.
Meanwhile the Department of Defence, which late last week announced a 210MW solar project to help power 14 naval installations in the country, has launched a privatised housing solar challenge and engaged with four companies to provide solar power to houses on 40 military bases in the US.
The four companies – engineering giant Balfour Beatty, installer Corvia, and military housing firms Lincoln Military Housing and United Communities – have committed to installing 233MW of solar on US military facilities.
R&D projects will also be supported with a US$24 million fund allocated towards 11 projects in the country aiming to increase panel efficiency including some currently under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester and Palo Alto Research Center.
Local governments, utilities and businesses will also be encouraged to support increased solar deployment, targeting energy efficiency measures in 300,000 low-income households with an additional US$220 million in funding.
President Obama unveiled the measures at Senator Harry Reid’s National Clean Energy summit in Las Vegas, commenting that the US solar industry now employs twice as many US citizens than its coal industry.
“For decades we’ve been told that it doesn’t make economic sense to switch to renewable energy. Today, that’s no longer true,” he said.
With the Obama Administration soon to enter its final year, the US President has been unveiling a host of renewable energy measures as he looks to leave a lasting climate legacy. On top of the Clean Power Plan, which has set a target of increasing the amount of energy the US derives from renewable to 28% by 2030, the White House also unveiled a $4 billion investment package for clean energy technologies in June.
Link: http://www.pv-tech.org/news/obama_unveils_robust_solar_support_framework_1289
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This is what Obama just unveiled to boost solar
Aug 24, 2015 | Fortune
By Katie Fehrenbacher
The president is pushing a clean energy loan guarantee program, which helped electric car success story Tesla, but also failed solar company, Solyndra.
President Obama just announced a series of initiatives to encourage solar and other green technologies, as he tries to spur development of cleaner power sources.
The push will involve more than $1 billion in government funds to back new clean energy and energy efficiency projects along with funding research and development of new energy technologies.
While the individual actions are small, Obama’s overarching plan and public pitch shows his growing attention to both clean energy, as well as initiatives to fight climate change. In his final term in office, Obama is now focused on a legacy committed to climate change, and recently finalized a highly controversial plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power industry.
Obama formally unveiled the plan Monday afternoon in Las Vegas at a clean energy-focused conference sponsored by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). The White House released details about the address earlier in the day.
The Energy Department will oversee many of the new initiatives including another $1 billion for its loan program that has previously been both lauded and vilified. The agency previously gave loans to electric car company Tesla and the large solar farm Ivanpah, but also to failed solar panel maker Solyndra, which created a political firestorm with Republicans who criticized the administration for wasting taxpayer money on a flimsy business.
Technicians working on solar panelsPhoto by Sam Diephuis—Blend Images Getty Images/Blend Images RM
The loan program has made $30 billion in total commitments over the years to get new nuclear, solar and wind projects built, or new green technologies from big companies like Nissan or smaller companies like Tesla. Many of the very large solar panel projects built in the deserts of California and Nevada made use of these loans.
At the same time, the Energy Department clarified that the loan program can now be used to fund “distributed energy” projects, which are decentralized technologies like roof top solar panels, batteries in buildings or connected to the power grid, or adding computing intelligence to the grid. Much of the clean energy projects that have historically used the loans have been large “centralized” energy projects, which involve a utility buying and distributing the energy to its customers.
In addition to the new funding for the loan program, the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program — which gives small grants to high-risk potentially disruptive energy technologies — has announced a new $24 million in funding for 11 high-performance new solar power projects. A good chunk of the funding will be allocated to projects at universities, like at MIT, but startup Semprius also scored funding for a new type of solar tech.
The President’s other actions include looking at how financing from Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs can be used in new ways for clean energy. PACE financing is offered by states to building owners to support the upfront investment required for energy efficiency upgrades (like new insulation) or, more recently, a solar panel system.
Obama will also approve a transmission line for a large 485 megawatt solar farm that is supposed to be built in Riverside County, Calif. and could provide enough energy for 145,000 homes. One of the biggest delays for large solar and wind projects in the U.S. is the long approval process it takes to build out new transmission lines that can bring the clean energy from remote regions to the cities that will use the power.
We’ll bring you more details from Obama’s talk at 8 pm ET in Las Vegas.
Link: http://fortune.com/2015/08/24/obama-clean-energy-plan/
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Obama Opens Loans to Distributed Energy, Home Financing
Aug 25, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
In a series of actions announced Aug. 24, the White House is opening up $10 billion of existing loan guarantees for so-called distributed energy projects and is allowing federal home loans to be used in conjunction with residential energy-efficiency financing.
The White House announcements were tied to the Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas where President Barack Obama planned to discuss federal efforts focused on distributed energy generation projects, including rooftop solar, energy storage, smart grid technology and methane capture for oil and gas wells.
The Energy Department specifically is opening up its current loan guarantee solicitations, totaling more than $10 billion, to include distributed energy projects.
According to DOE, distributed energy consists of “small-scale and modular devices” to provide electricity, and sometimes thermal energy, in locations close to consumers. They include fossil and renewable energy technologies such as solar power, wind turbines, reciprocating engines, fuel cells and combustion and steam turbines; energy storage devices; and combined heat and power systems.
The agency is providing an additional $1 billion in loan guarantees through its current solicitations split equally between its Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects and its Advanced Fossil Energy Projects, explained via supplemental guidance documents.
In an Aug. 24 White House media call, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz noted that these loan programs aim to “help address market barriers for widespread deployment of these technologies.”
In a related action, Moniz said at the Clean Energy Summit that the administration remains strongly committed to advancing technologies that capture and store carbon dioxide from power plants (see related story).
$24 Million for Innovative Solar
The Obama administration also announced that its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program is allocating $24 million to 11 projects in seven states to develop innovative solar technologies.
The program, dubbed Micro-scale Optimized Solar-cell Arrays with Integrated Concentration (MOSAIC), aims to double the amount of energy each solar array can produce from the sun, while reducing the costs and space to generate solar energy.
Moniz said the MOSAIC program is “an example of the kind of innovation that we are stimulating through our ARPA-E program. And then, these are the kinds of technologies that can be picked up in the loan program for the deployment of distributed energy.”
Home Energy Improvement Loans
The Federal Housing Administration also announced Aug. 24 that it will soon allow borrowers to use single-family FHA financing for properties with existing Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans to make energy-efficiency improvements.
PACE loans enable homeowners to borrow money to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy home improvements. They allow the owners to repay the loan over time through their property taxes.
The FHA plans to release a single-family FHA guidance in the coming months that will provide guidelines under which people who are purchasing or refinancing properties, or modifying loans with existing PACE loans, will be eligible for FHA-insured financing, according to an FHA preliminary statement on the intended guidance.
“Historically, properties with PACE loans weren't allowed to do business with FHA,” Julian Castro, secretary of housing and urban development, said in the White House media call. “Today, I'm proud to announce that we're working to change that.”
Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade association representing 1,000 member companies, said he was pleased with the administration's actions to make it easier to make energy efficiency investments, such as installing rooftop solar panels, on properties.
“These actions by the Administration clear the way for communities to generate their own power, and stabilize the local grid, by providing a simple financing mechanism for homes and businesses to go solar,” he said in an Aug. 24 statement. “Today's announcement cuts through red tape and provides much-needed clarity to developers ready to build out solar projects in underserved areas.”
HUD, DOE Home Energy Partnership
Separately, the Obama administration announced a partnership between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Energy Department that will incorporate the DOE's Home Energy Score into the FHA's Energy Efficient Home program.
The FHA will provide flexible underwriting to recognize utility savings that are created from DOE's Home Energy Score Program, which helps home owners estimate their energy use through a score of 1 to 10, where a score of 10 would indicate excellent home energy performance.
In the partnership program, home buyers or home owners who want to receive an FHA-insured purchase or refinance a mortgage for a single family home will be eligible to increase their income qualifying ratio by 2 percent above the standard single family FHA limit if they obtain a Home Energy Score of 6 or higher, FHA explained in the Aug. 24 statement.
Philip Henderson, the Natural Resources Defense Council's senior financial policy specialist, noted the importance of the two FHA initiatives in helping owners become more energy-efficient while saving money down the line.
“The initiatives will help homeowners finance energy-efficiency and solar improvements,” he said in a statement. “It might sound too good to be true, but doing so can reduce utility expenses, improve property value, reduce pollution from power plants, and make better mortgage loans.”
Solar Transmission Line Approved
Additionally, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced that the Bureau of Land Management approved the Blythe Mesa solar project's transmission line that will bring a 485-megawatt photovoltaic facility online in Riverside County, Calif. The project will produce enough renewable energy for more than 145,000 homes.
Link (subscription needed): http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=74732339&vname=dennotallissues&fn=74732339&jd=74732339
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