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SFCE 8/10

Industry News

GE creates $1 billion energy startup, 200 new jobs
Oct 8, 2015 | PV Tech
By Becky Beetz

Headed by Maryrose Sylvester, who previously led GE Lighting, Current will integrate GE’s LED, solar, energy storage and electric vehicle businesses with its Predix platform – a cloud-based platform, which enables industrial-scale analytics – to provide customers, including hospitals, universities, retail stores and cities, with more profitable energy solutions.
China will add 5.3 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power-generating capacity in 2015
Oct 8, 2015 | People's Daily Online

China's National Energy Administration recently issued a notification which confirmed that China will add 5.3 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power-generating capacity to its 2015 construction plan. New energy 'demonstration cities' and green power 'demonstration counties' that have favourable constructions conditions for photovoltaic power stations are being given permission to build new photovoltaic power stations, Xinhua reported.
Compromise and opposition on road to Germany’s renewable energy
Oct 8, 2015 | FT
By Jeevan Vasagar

From the wind turbines that dot the plains of northern Germany to the solar panels speckling the roofs of Bavarian farmers, the shift to renewable energy has transformed the German landscape. It has reverberated through the economy too, squeezing the profits of traditional utilities and prompting complaints from industry over high electricity prices.
California's ambitious renewable energy bill signed into law
Oct 8, 2015 | Reuters
By Olga Grigoryants

Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed into law a bill requiring California to produce half its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, a goal he said was key to combating global climate change. "A decarbonized future is the reason we're here," Brown said at a signing ceremony in Los Angeles. "What we're doing here is very important, especially for low-income families." The bill also requires a doubling of energy efficiency in buildings by 2030.
Solar-panel installer goes into administration, costing 1,000 jobs
Oct 7, 2015 | The Guardian
By Terry Macalister

Almost 1,000 jobs were lost on Wednesday night as one of the UK’s leading solar- panel installers went into administration, blaming government changes in energy policy for its downfall. The Mark Group said it had been to bring in insolvency specialists because it was unviable due to ongoing losses at the Leicester-based business. So far the administrator, Deloitte, has made 939 redundancies, but a further 200 jobs are at risk unless a buyer can be found. “The turnaround plan, which was already under way, focuses on solar PV, but the government’s recent policy announcements mean this is no longer viable,” said a statement from the company. The company was only recently sold by a much larger US firm, SunEdison, which has a separate operation in Britain that is also under threat. The company said it could not confirm that dozens of jobs were being cut at its London offices, but admitted that 15% of its global staff were being cut back for a variety of reasons.
Climate financing momentum builds
Oct 7, 2015 | OECD

Public and private finance mobilised by developed countries for climate action in developing countries reached USD 62 billion in 2014, up from USD 52 billion in 2013 and making an average of USD 57 billion annually over the 2013-14 period, according to a new OECD study in collaboration with Climate Policy Initiative (CPI).

Industry News

GE creates $1 billion energy startup, 200 new jobs

Oct 8, 2015 | PV Tech

By Becky Beetz

Headed by Maryrose Sylvester, who previously led GE Lighting, Current will integrate GE’s LED, solar, energy storage and electric vehicle businesses with its Predix platform – a cloud-based platform, which enables industrial-scale analytics – to provide customers, including hospitals, universities, retail stores and cities, with more profitable energy solutions.
Specifically, GE says the startup will "bring to market a holistic energy-as-a-service offering absent from industry today that includes sensor-enabled hardware, software, fulfillment, product management and financing solutions."
The statement continued, "Through Predix, GE will analyze energy consumption and provide customers with data around patterns and needs along with recommendations to increase efficiency – from reducing power levels, to generating power on site to creating new revenue streams for customers through the use of sensors and networked systems in buildings. These advanced solutions will help customers save an estimated 10-20% on their energy bills, and help utility partners better manage their distributed load."
Boldly stating that it will "transform" the energy sector, Current is backed by GE’s balance sheet and financing. GE will invest more than $1 billion in revenues in Current. The goal is to increase this to $5 billion by 2020. Up to 200 jobs are set to be created in the software, outcomes selling and energy product management sectors over the next few years. Operations are already said to have begun. Headquartered in Boston, Current also has a presence in Silicon valley.
"The creation of a new company within GE reinforces our commitment to take energy to the next level, focusing on custom outcomes for our Commercial & Industrial customers, municipalities and utility partners, and delivering a platform that can be upgraded as technology advancements are made," stated Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE.
Customers, including Walgreens, Hilton Worldwide and JPMorgan Chase are piloting Current’s new service.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/ge-creates-1-billion-energy-startup--200-new-jobs-_100021454/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#axzz3nxquWiqn

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China will add 5.3 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power-generating capacity in 2015

Oct 8, 2015 | People's Daily Online

China's National Energy Administration recently issued a notification which confirmedthat China will add 5.3 million kilowatts of photovoltaic power-generating capacity to its2015 construction plan. New energy 'demonstration cities' and green power'demonstration counties' that have favourable constructions conditions for photovoltaicpower stations are being given permission to build new photovoltaic power stations,Xinhua reported.
The notification was issued based on the construction and operating conditions ofphotovoltaic power stations around the country in the first half of this year. Someprovinces and autonomous regions, including Inner Mongolia, Hebei and Xinjiang, areallowed to add more photovoltaic power-generating capacity.
According to the notification, construction on the approved photovoltaic power stationprojects should begin in 2015 and be completed and integrated with the national grid byJune 30, 2016.
According to the National Energy Administration, China’s original 2015 construction planfor photovoltaic power-generating capacity was 17.8 million kilowatt.

http://en.people.cn/n/2015/1008/c98649-8959185.html

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Compromise and opposition on road to Germany’s renewable energy

Oct 8, 2015 | FT

By Jeevan Vasagar

From the wind turbines that dot the plains of northern Germany to the solar panels speckling the roofs of Bavarian farmers, the shift to renewable energy has transformed the German landscape.
It has reverberated through the economy too, squeezing the profits of traditional utilities and prompting complaints from industry over high electricity prices.
In June, the utility Eon shut down its Grafenrheinfeld nuclear plant seven months ahead of schedule, marking a milestone in Germany’s transition from nuclear power. The closure of Grafenrheinfeld, serving the manufacturing heartland of southern Germany, underlined the country’s phasing out of nuclear energy and the simultaneous growth of renewables that have taken up the slack.
Proponents of the Energiewende say the success of the shift has defied the sceptics. Patrick Graichen, executive director of Agora Energiewende, a Berlin-based think-tank, says: “We will probably reach 30 per cent [of electricity generation from renewables] this year, compared with where we were 15 years ago — which was 6 per cent.
Three challenges remain. While the use of nuclear power is shrinking, the country remains heavily dependent on lignite and coal, which generated 26 per cent and 18 per cent respectively of German electricity output last year.
Angela Merkel’s government is under pressure to curb the use of coal and lignite to meet its target of a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by the end of the decade from 1990s levels.
But Germany abandoned plans to raise emissions charges for older coal-fired power stations in July, in the face of an outcry from the power sector. Instead, 2.7 gigawatts of lignite-fired plants will be placed into a reserve from 2017 and then closed after four years.
Gas-fired plants, which produce CO2 in lower quantities than burning coal, have struggled to compete with cheaper coal at a time when carbon allowances are at rock bottom prices. In March, Eon filed to close two gas-fired plants in Irsching, Bavaria, because there was no prospect of operating them at a profit.
The carbon-intensity of Germany’s energy mix needs political commitment to resolve, according to analysts.
“We will probably go down a path similar to what we did on phasing out [hard] coal mining,” says Dr Graichen. We had a long debate . . . which resulted in the Kohle-Kompromiss.”
Germany’s “coal compromise”of 1997, was an agreement between the government, business and the mining union under which subsidies were gradually cut and pits closed, with finance provided to retrain miners.
A second challenge is to build the power lines needed to transfer wind power from the north to industrial regions in the south. While public support for the shift to clean energy is high, there is determined opposition to the perceived blight of power cables and pylons straddling the country.
Henrich Quick, head of asset management at 50 Hertz, the transmission grid operator in northern and eastern Germany, says: “Renewable power development in Germany is so quick that we can’t build the required grid to integrate and transmit it at the same speed.
“You can build a wind farm in three to four years. Getting permission for an overhead line takes 10 years.”
Horst Seehofer, the premier of Bavaria, has questioned the need for power transmission lines to his state. He has suggested that as nuclear plants are phased out, gas-fired power stations could take up the burden instead.
However, Germany’s vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, warns that this could lead to a split power market in Germany, with higher prices for Bavaria.
There is also the challenge of managing the reform of financing for the renewables industry. By 2017, Germany is due to shift from feed-in tariffs to a competitive tender process to determine the level of funding for clean energy.
The feed-in tariffs, financed through a levy on customers’ bills, have ensured that renewables have expanded swiftly. The state-guaranteed income has encouraged a range of renewable energy producers, with community wind farms and small investors playing a leading role.
Under the auction system, the government wants to curb costs and bring a market element to the financing of renewable energy.
A pilot auction was held this year, to supply 150MW of photovoltaic energy. This was “oversubscribed several times over” according to the German economics ministry, which said there had also been a broad range of bidders — an indication that citizens’ participation in the Energiewende could be maintained even after the switch to an auction system.
Fifteen years after Germany embarked on its radical plan to rewire Europe’s biggest economy, the path ahead remains as thorny as ever.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/6a254194-47e9-11e5-af2f-4d6e0e5eda22.html#axzz3nx17EF3R

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California's ambitious renewable energy bill signed into law

Oct 8, 2015 | Reuters

By Olga Grigoryants

Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed into law a bill requiring California to produce half its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, a goal he said was key to combating global climate change.
"A decarbonized future is the reason we're here," Brown said at a signing ceremony in Los Angeles. "What we're doing here is very important, especially for low-income families."
The bill also requires a doubling of energy efficiency in buildings by 2030.
Environmentalists cheered the move even though language to cut petroleum use by 50 percent over 15 years was stripped from the bill after objections from the oil industry and some lawmakers.
"I'm disappointed that we don't have the petroleum piece," bill author Senator Kevin de Leon said after the signing. "But two measures dealing with the energy efficiency and renewable energy are far-reaching and the most advanced in the world."
Environmentalists also expressed disappointment that the bill did not require a cut in gasoline and diesel use in the most-populous U.S. state.
"There's no question that increasing the amount of power California gets from renewable sources is good for our state," said Rebecca Claassen, Santa Barbara County organizer at Food & Water Watch. "But cutting emissions and increasing clean energy use only gets us part of the way," she said.
Ann Notthoff of the Natural Resources Defense Council called the oil industry's campaign against the provision "deplorable," but vowed to fight on.
"Despite Big Oil's smokescreen, one thing is clear: California's leadership and communities across the state are more committed than ever to reduce our dependence on petroleum and eliminate its devastating impacts on the health and well-being of Californians," she said in a blog post.
Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, said the oil industry will keep working with Brown and others on strategies to protect the environment and the economy.
"We also take great pride in knowing that Californians consume the cleanest gasoline and diesel worldwide," she said.
A separate bill, which would have mandated an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from 1990 levels, was also pulled near the end of the legislative session but is expected to be reintroduced next year.
In late September, the state's Air Resources Board readopted its controversial low carbon fuel standard program, requiring a 10 percent reduction in carbon intensity of transportation fuels burned in the state, a victory for environmentalists.
(Additional reporting by Rory Carroll and Sharon Bernstein; editing by Richard Chang, G Crosse and David Gregorio)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/08/us-california-energy-law-idUSKCN0S129M20151008

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Solar-panel installer goes into administration, costing 1,000 jobs

Oct 7, 2015 | The Guardian

By Terry Macalister

Almost 1,000 jobs were lost on Wednesday night as one of the UK’s leading solar- panel installers went into administration, blaming government changes in energy policy for its downfall. The Mark Group said it had been to bring in insolvency specialists because it was unviable due to ongoing losses at the Leicester-based business. So far the administrator, Deloitte, has made 939 redundancies, but a further 200 jobs are at risk unless a buyer can be found.
“The turnaround plan, which was already under way, focuses on solar PV, but the government’s recent policy announcements mean this is no longer viable,” said a statement from the company.
The company was only recently sold by a much larger US firm, SunEdison, which has a separate operation in Britain that is also under threat. The company said it could not confirm that dozens of jobs were being cut at its London offices, but admitted that 15% of its global staff were being cut back for a variety of reasons.
Mark Babcock, vice-president of SunEdison’s residential and commercial business unit in Europe, said: “Given the latest changes and proposed changes to the feed-in tariff [subsidy regime], it is difficult to see this [Britain] as a viable market going forward.”
SunEdison had originally bought the Mark Group in July because the British group had moved heavily into the insulation market only to see business collapse due to various government policy changes. The American group planned to switch the Mark Group expertise and staff out of insulation and into solar, only to find that ministers were starting to reduce subsidies in that sector, too.
The renewable-energy industry has now called on the government to rethink its entire approach to energy policy following the latest threats to the sector.
Dave Sowden, chief executive of the Sustainable Energy Association, said: “This is disastrous news for the thousand or so employees that have left Mark Group buildings today to tell their families they no longer have a job, and could easily have been avoided if the government had paid attention to clear signals about the need to instil confidence in the market. Ministers were warned long before the election of a confidence problem in the sector due to lack of clarity on policy and frankly could have easily prevented this.
“Energy measures in buildings are by far the most cost-effective way of meeting our energy policy objectives, and the best way for the energy sector to help deliver George Osborne’s long term economic plan. The government’s rhetoric on meeting climate-change targets, on placing energy efficiency at the heart of energy policy, and the effusive support given by ministers for solar today feels hollow and empty.”
The loss of faith by SunEdison and the Mark collapse came just hours after David Cameron boasted at the Conservative party annual conference that the country has received “more foreign investment flooding into our country than anywhere else in Europe” . But earlier in the week, the energy minister, Andrea Leadsom, was reported to have privately said during a debate on the fringes of the conference that the cuts to renewable subsidies had harmed investor confidence.
Since the Conservatives won the election, there have been a raft of changes, including the end of subsidies for onshore wind power. The government has justified the moves on the grounds that these new technologies can now stand on their own feet without the past levels of subsidies.
A new report on Wednesday from Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that the price of solar and other renewables is falling fast, while fossil fuel costs are going up. New onshore windfarms are now the cheapest way for a power company to produce electricity in Britain, it argued. Costs have dropped to £55 per megawatt-hour, compared with the current costs of about £75 for constructing coal or gas-fired plants, its analysis found.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “Our priority is now to move towards a low-carbon economy whilst ensuring subsidies are used where they are needed most, to provide the best value for money for hardworking bill payers.”

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/07/solar-panel-installer-goes-into-administration-costing-1000-jobs

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Climate financing momentum builds

Oct 7, 2015 | OECD

7/10/2015 - Public and private finance mobilised by developed countries for climate action in developing countries reached USD 62 billion in 2014, up from USD 52 billion in 2013 and making an average of USD 57 billion annually over the 2013-14 period, according to a new OECD study in collaboration with Climate Policy Initiative (CPI).
Climate Finance in 2013-14 and the USD 100 billion goal provides a robust, up-to-date estimate of public and private climate finance mobilised by developed countries towards their UNFCCC 2010 Cancun commitment, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, to jointly mobilise USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries to tackle and adapt to climate change.
“Our estimates paint an encouraging picture of progress. Developed country mobilised climate finance in 2014 is estimated to total USD 62 billion a year. We are about halfway in terms of time and more than halfway there in terms of finance, but clearly there is still some way to go,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, presenting the estimate in Lima ahead of a ministerial climate financing meeting.
The estimate of climate finance was prepared at the request of the Peruvian and French governments in the context of their responsibilities as the current and incoming presidencies of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP). Climate finance flows are an important element of the negotiations in the lead up to COP21 in Paris, where countries are expected to finalise a new universal agreement on responses to climate change beyond 2020.
The report provides a preliminary aggregate estimate of public and mobilised private climate finance in 2013 and 2014. It provides an objective picture of climate flows based on data specially provided by countries and financial institutions. Finance relating to coal projects was excluded from this aggregate estimate.
The OECD’s estimate comprises public money provided by donor governments through various instruments and institutions, including non-concessional loans. It also includes private funding for climate-related projects that have been directly mobilised by developed country public financial interventions. There is an acknowledgement of the important role played by capacity building and policy related interventions as well as enabling environments, although it is an outstanding challenge to account for these in quantitative terms.
Public finance, either bilateral or multilateral, accounted for more than 70% of the flows during 2013-14, while mobilised private finance made up more than 25% and export credits the remainder. Over three-quarters of total estimated climate finance was to support mitigation activities, with about one sixth going to support adaptation and a small share targeting both.

Released in advance of COP21 to increase transparency about progress towards the USD 100 billion goal, the report builds on other recent international efforts to improve the tracking of climate finance, including by the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance. The lessons learned from conducting this exercise may be helpful in informing efforts to further improve the transparency and comprehensiveness of climate finance measuring, tracking and reporting. The OECD stands ready to support such efforts.
You can download the report here. For further information, please contact Catherine Bremer in Paris (+33 1 45 24 80 97) or Lawrence Speer in Lima (mobile +33 601 496891) from the OECD Media Office.
Read more on climate finance
More on OECD input to COP21

http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/climate-financing-momentum-builds.htm

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