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How Cities Can Save the Planet
Sep 30, 2015 | Politico
By Eric Garcetti
We live in an increasingly Pacific Rim-focused world and an undeniably urban age. The United States and China are not only the two leading world powers in economic and political terms, they are the biggest carbon emitters on the planet. -
Shell CEO: Solar Energy To Be Backbone Of World’s Energy System
Sep 30, 2015 | CleanTechnica
By James Ayre
Solar energy will comprise the backbone of the world’s energy system in years to come, according to the CEO of Shell (yes, that Shell), Ben van Beurden. -
Utility-Scale Solar Reaches Cost Parity With Natural Gas Throughout America
Oct 1, 2015 | Greentech Media
By Katherine Tweed
The cost of installing utility-scale solar has fallen considerably in recent years, from more than $6 per watt in 2009 to about $3 per watt in 2014. That has resulted in a boom in the sector, which is 31 times bigger than it was a decade ago. -
SolarCity maintains grip on US residential solar, says GTM report
Sep 30, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Ian Clover
GTM Research's U.S. PV Leaderboard finds SolarCity installed 34% of all residential array in the first half of the year, followed by Vivint at 12%; SolarCity also cornered 34% of the market in 2014. -
India: PM Modi calls on states for proactive solar push
Oct 1, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Ian Clover
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has challenged the leaders of the nation’s 17 states to ensure the development progress of solar projects is a number one priority. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has challenged the leaders of the nation’s 17 states to ensure the development progress of solar projects is a number one priority.
Industry News
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How Cities Can Save the Planet
Sep 30, 2015 | Politico
By Eric Garcetti
We live in an increasingly Pacific Rim-focused world and an undeniably urban age. The United States and China are not only the two leading world powers in economic and political terms, they are the biggest carbon emitters on the planet.
Last week, we saw two major events underscore this reality, and our urgent need for cooperative action — President Xi Jinping made history by announcing China’s upcoming cap-and-trade program and Pope Francis focused the attention of the world on climate change at the United Nations. In the buildup to those two events something else happened here in Los Angeles — we hosted the first-ever U.S.-China Climate Leaders Summit.
The two-day gathering was about not just climate talks, but climate action. We brought together mayors from across the United States and China — along with governors, provincial leaders and national government officials — to make firm, ambitious commitments to hit emissions targets. These agreements not only meet the goals laid out in the historic U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change — they surpass them.
These accomplishments demonstrate the importance of relationships between nations and municipalities in the fight against climate change, and underscore how they must take complementary actions to tackle this critical threat to our planet. Simply put, it is vital for nations across the world to lead and set broad goals, with global leaders using their bully pulpits to set bold targets and take unprecedented action on an international scale.
This is especially important in the lead-up to the U.N. Climate Summit in Paris, where we will have an opportunity to again make history. But once the ink is dry, and the international agreements have been signed, the work turns to cities and states. It is there that promises turn into tangible, specific progress.
For the first time in human history, cities house more than 50 percent of the world’s population. We create 80 percent of global gross domestic product and are responsible for 70 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.
While some may be daunted by the scale of these challenges, I think they actually furnish a unique opportunity to effect meaningful change. As mayors, it is our mandate to create more livable cities, but it is our calling to build a more livable world.
After all, municipalities and localities pull the levers of transportation, energy, land use and development — all of which can be used as tools to promote sustainability. That means we can chart a clear course toward greener public transit, less reliance on coal and greater energy conservation. Then, we can actually deliver on it.
The United States and China represent over 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which means the cities in our two countries are ground zero in the fight against climate change. And if we’re successful, we will be able to improve quality of life for nearly half the world’s population.
We take that responsibility seriously — which is why, on the summit’s opening day, leaders on both sides of the Pacific signed the U.S.-China Climate Leaders Declaration. That agreement reaches toward a more sustainable future, through verifiable actions and expanded bilateral cooperation.
In China, cities are answering their national call to action through the Alliance of Peaking Pioneer Cities (APPC). This landmark coalition of 11 Chinese localities has agreed to peak emissions ahead of China’s national goal year of 2030, with some — including Beijing and Guangzhou — committing as early as 2020.
At 25 percent of China’s urban total, the APPC represents 1.2 gigatons of annual carbon dioxide emissions — roughly equal to the total yearly emissions of Brazil or Japan. This is a monumental step forward.
In the United States, mayors are coming together in similar fashion — setting targets ahead of our national goals and identifying steps to get there.
It’s happening in Los Angeles, America’s gateway to China and the Pacific Rim. There was a time when my city’s smog-choked skies exemplified America’s clean air crisis. Now, in less than a generation, we have cut pollutants in our air by 66 percent despite growing our population by 1 million people.
And most recently, in April, we laid out one of the most ambitious sustainable city plans of any city in America. Through that effort, we have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050. We’re also working to achieve zero waste and cut water imports in half by 2025. This is exciting progress for a city that is already on its way to having the largest pure electric vehicle fleet in the nation and that will be off coal within 10 years.
This kind of progress on sustainability is happening across America. In Houston, a city recognized as the oil and gas capital of the world, Mayor Annise Parker has led an effort to become the largest municipal purchaser of renewable power in the nation. As she does, the mayor is also retrofitting the city’s 165,000 streetlights to energy-efficient LEDs.
Mayor Greg Stanton successfully persuaded voters in Phoenix to approve 42 new miles of light rail and expanded bus access. And in Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed an agreement to get 35 percent of all government energy from wind power.
But to realize national goals, we need more than regional solutions alone.
Cities, states and provinces must come together in order to amplify their impact. That starts by translating best practices from one city to another. Thanks to the U.S.-China Climate Leaders Summit, that’s going to happen increasingly, in a bilateral way — but it’s equally important that we share what works at home.
That’s why, along with Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia and Mayor Parker of Houston, we have assembled 31 U.S. mayors — representing over 22 million people — to work together under the Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda. Through that agenda, most participating cities have set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
Through this U.S. mayor-to-mayor climate action agenda, cities are tackling some of our toughest problems together, reducing emissions collectively and sharing our successes along the way. A similar domestic initiative has launched in Canada, where Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson created the 21-member Canadian Big City Mayors Climate Change Action resolution.
Globally, C40 cities are working together on strategies to address climate change, and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Compact of Mayors has been signed by over 150 mayors worldwide — representing more than 230 million citizens. As a member of the C40 global steering committee, I know how important it is for mayors to show global leadership.
When Presidents Barack Obama and Xi came together to make their historic accord last year, it was a hinge of history: a moment in time when we could say that two nations stepped up not to point fingers, not ask questions, but to commit to world-changing directives. As national leaders, they have asked cities and states to take the torch and carry it forward — to build on their work, to be even more ambitious, and to specify our actions.
At the U.S.-China Climate Leaders Summit, we answered that call to action with bold commitments to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. But our work is far from done, and when international leaders act at the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Paris, cities will stand ready to turn those promises into progress.
Eric Garcetti is the Mayor of Los Angeles. He co-founded the Mayors’ National Climate Action Agenda and is a member of the C40 Global Steering Committee.
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Shell CEO: Solar Energy To Be Backbone Of World’s Energy System
Sep 30, 2015 | CleanTechnica
By James Ayre
Solar energy will comprise the backbone of the world’s energy system in years to come, according to the CEO of Shell (yes, that Shell), Ben van Beurden.
The exact words used by Van Beurden were that he has “no hesitation to predict that in years to come solar will be the dominant backbone of our energy system, certainly of the electricity system.” Considering that these words were from the CEO of one of the largest oil companies in the world, one would assume that he has good reasons for saying what he did.
Notably, this matches well some energy forecasts put out by Shell a couple of years ago.
The very interesting remarks came during an interview that the Shell CEO gave to BBC Radio 4. During the interview he also restated his opinion, though, that global energy demand will somehow double within the next few decades, and that fossil fuel use will continue to rise for several more decades — something that I’m extremely skeptical of. So perhaps we should take his comments with an extra grain of salt.
Commenting on oil exploration in the Arctic by the company, and criticism over that, Van Beurden, commented: “It is a very, very volatile business in terms of supply and demand. The oil price responds to very small mismatches between supply and demand.”
Interestingly, he also stated, when asked when he thought oil prices would “recover,” that the “honest answer to that is I don’t know.”
Considering that current oil prices don’t allow for expensive Arctic drilling and exploration, it looks like that part of the company’s business will be on hold for the time being. You can count me as skeptical, though, that most Arctic fossil fuel reserves won’t end up being extracted over the longer term — there seems likely to be a fair amount conflict over that issue, as well, with many Arctic countries already forming themselves into blocs with the intent to exert greater influence in the region than would otherwise be possible.
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Utility-Scale Solar Reaches Cost Parity With Natural Gas Throughout America
Oct 1, 2015 | Greentech Media
By Katherine Tweed
The cost of installing utility-scale solar has fallen considerably in recent years, from more than $6 per watt in 2009 to about $3 per watt in 2014. That has resulted in a boom in the sector, which is 31 times bigger than it was a decade ago.
Power-purchase agreement (PPA) prices are also continuing their downward trend, according to the third annual report on utility-scale solar from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
With the rush to get projects done before the cut to the federal Investment Tax Credit, levelized PPA prices have come down as low as $40 per megawatt-hour in the Southwest. At that price, PV compares to just the fuel costs for natural-gas plants. These numbers match what GTM Research has found as well.
Although the Southwest has the lowest prices, $50 to $75 per megawatt-hour is the new norm across the country, according to GTM Research. Boulder’s PPA with SunPower, for example, came in at $46 per megawatt-hour and Austin Energy’s most recent solar project came in at under $50 per megawatt-hour.
Falling prices have also opened up some markets to avoided-cost contracts, where solar is cheaper than a utility’s avoided costs to generate electricity elsewhere. In states like Utah and North Carolina, avoided-cost contracts are bringing in various solar contracts.
“This recent onslaught of applications for avoided-cost contracts has prompted the utilities involved and their state utility regulators to re-evaluate these contracts and the utilities’ PURPA requirements," reads the Berkeley lab study.
The rush to build utility-scale solar projects (defined as larger than 5 megawatts by Berkeley Lab) ahead of the ITC cliff is intense. Going into 2015, there were more than 44 gigawatts of capacity in the production queue.
“Even if only a modest fraction of the solar capacity in these queues meets that deadline, it will still mean an unprecedented amount of new construction in 2015 and 2016,” the study authors wrote. By the end of last year, there were about 8 gigawatts of utility-scale capacity in total.
For concentrated solar power, however, the era of new project construction may be over. Although the data set is small for CSP (six projects), “CSP prices do not seem to have declined over time to any notable extent, in stark contrast to the median PV prices included in the figure,” the Berkeley Lab report states. Also, while operations and maintenance costs for solar PV plants have generally declined, the one CSP plant in the study’s sample had rising O&M costs.
In the booming market of utility-scale solar PV, California and the Southwest still reign. They will account for about 60 percent of the scheduled capacity additions at the end of 2014, down from 80 percent at the end of 2013. Not all of this will be built, however, and GTM Research has projected about 27 gigawatts through 2016.
Even with a nearly 80 percent decrease in installations from 2016 to 2017, “the post-2016 outlook is not as bleak as we once thought,” said Colin Smith, solar market analyst with GTM Research.
“With the loss of the ITC, we expect to see a rise in PPA prices. But as the installation cost of utility PV continues to fall, we expect to see PPA prices start to return to 2015-2016 levels in 2019," he said.
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SolarCity maintains grip on US residential solar, says GTM report
Sep 30, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Ian Clover
GTM Research's U.S. PV Leaderboard finds SolarCity installed 34% of all residential array in the first half of the year, followed by Vivint at 12%; SolarCity also cornered 34% of the market in 2014.
The growth of the U.S. residential solar sector is being increasingly nurtured by just five leading installers, with Elon Musk-backed SolarCity out in front, supplying 34% of the market in the first half of the year.
The latest U.S. PV Leaderboard Q3 2015 from GTM Research has found that the same five solar companies have claimed the bulk of the market for the past three quarters, competing amongst themselves to increase market share.
In 2014 SolarCity also claimed 34% of the market share, and the company’s consolidation in 2015 is no mean feat considering the strides made by its nearest competitors – Vivint Solar and Sunrun – this year.
According to the Leaderboard, Vivint has accounted for 12% of all residential installations in the U.S. so far this year, with Sunrun following in third place on 3%. NRG Home Solar and Sungevity are fourth and fifth respectively, each with around a 2% market share.
In July, Vivint Solar was acquired for $2.2 billion via a definitive merger agreement with SunEdison and its yieldco vehicle, TerraForm Power. This deal saw TerraForm assume control of Vivint’s 530 MW of installed solar PV capacity.
That same month, Sunrun published the terms of its $309 million IPO, launched on the back of a solid 2014 in which the company tripled its revenues. SolarCity, far from resting on its laurels, has been equally – if not more – proactive in ensuring it continues to evolve with the market, completing its fourth securitization in August and rolling out a suite of complementary services to support its initial solar leasing program.
A victim of all this jostling for market share has been Sungevity, which slipped from third place in 2014 to fifth spot in the midway point of this year. Sungevity has been outsourcing its financing to focus mainly on sales, said GTM Research senior solar analyst Nicole Litvak, whereas Sunrun and NRG Home Solar have both acquired installers to become partially vertically integrated.
"Thus far, these market share trends indicate that vertical integration is the best way to scale quickly in residential solar," said Litvak.
The report also forecasts the U.S. residential solar market to exceed 2 GW of installed capacity this year.
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India: PM Modi calls on states for proactive solar push
Oct 1, 2015 | PV Magazine
By Ian Clover
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has challenged the leaders of the nation’s 17 states to ensure the development progress of solar projects is a number one priority.
Chairing the sixth interaction through PRAGATI – the ICT-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation – Modi used the platform to reaffirm the govenrment’s goal to install 100 GW of solar PV capacity by 2022.
Afterwards, the PM tweeted: "Solar energy is very vital for India’s energy security" and a statement from his office was promptly issued, reiterating the need for states to work "proactively towards creating conducive policy framework to enable [the] speedy implementation of solar power projects".
Modi’s prompting stems from a concern at government level that there have been undue delays in securing permits for developers, leading to some would-be solar projects being abandoned.
There have also been seeds of discontent sowed among some of India’s local solar developers concerned by the ability of foreign solar firms to undercut them at the auction process for solar projects.
Modi has stated publicly that the solar sector is keen on attracting up to $100 billion in foreign investment, but the appearance of companies such as SkyPower and SunEdison in the Indian market has set – according to some developers – an unrealistically low price bar.
"The tariffs that are coming, we find them quite challenging now," the CFO of Mumbai’s CLP India Pvt Samir Ashta told Bloomberg. "We will look to enter the market, but at these tariffs it’s a challenge."
Canada’s SkyPower Global in July was able to corner half of a 300 MW tender offered in Madhya Pradesh with winning bids of $0.08/kWh, and then in August followed up that coup with a further winning bid of ~$0.08/kWh for 200 MW of solar projects in Telangana.
According to BNEF’s lead solar analyst Jenny Chase, these winning bids are not "wildly out of whack", but do represent the dichotomy between what global players can bid for in India, and what can feasibly be secured by local developers.
SunEdison Asia Pacific president Pashupathy Gopalan rejected the criticism that foreign suppliers are offering bids that are unrealistically low, telling Bloomberg that "we’ll not bid aggressively just for the sake of winning. We need to make money."
In seeking to avoid the boom and bust cycle experienced in the solar markets of the U.K. and Germany, India has chosen to attract developers via the auction process – an approach that promises greater stability but is not without its drawbacks. "We’ll always over-tender projects because it is a given that 10-15% of capacity will never get built," Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary at the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), explained to Bloomberg.
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