QUICK NEWS, 2-17: CHINESE PUT MONEY INTO U.S. WIND; NEVADA UTILITY BUYS GEOTHERMAL; WASTEWATER FOR SOLAR PWR PLANTS; OIL COS WRITE OFF CAP&TRADE

CHINESE PUT MONEY INTO U.S. WIND
A-Power Receives NDRC Approval and Makes Cash Contribution to Texas Wind Farm Project Company
February 16, 2010 (PR Newswire)

"…Shenyang Power Group ("SPG") [subsidiary of fast-growing wind turbine manufacturer and distributed power generation ("DG") systems builder A-Power Energy Generation Systems] has completed the establishment of a project company related to the development of a 600MW wind farm in Texas and has made an initial cash contribution of $36.625 million. In connection with the capital contribution, SPG has received final approval from the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") to proceed with this project.

"…SPG…United States Renewable Energy Group Wind Partners I, LLC…and Cielo Wind Power, LP…[have an agreement] for the purpose of owning, designing, developing, constructing, managing and operating a wind energy power plant to be located in Texas with a total nameplate capacity of 600MW (the "Project")."

Thanks to this project, Chinese money will fund one of those green dots and create U.S. jobs. (click to enlarge)

"The Project is expected to cost in total approximately $1.5 billion, a portion of which is designated for wind turbine purchases…A-Power, the parent company of SPG, has been designated to supply wind turbines to the Project in Texas, and an affiliate of Cielo will develop the project…In addition to the thousands of American jobs that are anticipated will be created throughout the project's 30-year life, a minimum of 70 percent of each turbine will be wholly manufactured in the United States…"

U.S. wind builders. (click to enlarge)

"The United States Renewable Energy Group is a U.S.-based private equity firm that mobilizes and facilitates the participation of international financing and investment in large-scale renewable energy projects within the United States…US-REG is devoted to strengthening America's energy independence, environmental quality, and economic vitality through investments in utility-scale projects in wind, hydro, geothermal, solar, and bioenergy…[to foster] economic development of the U.S. renewable energy industries and [generate] new high paying jobs for Americans…

"Cielo Wind Power, LP is a privately held company that develops, constructs, owns and operates wind power facilities. Based in Austin, Texas, Cielo has developed over 1,150 MWs of wind power facilities and is currently developing wind energy projects in the US power markets of ERCOT, SPP and WECC…[while] taking necessary steps to minimize the impact of wind projects on farming, ranching and natural uses of the land…"


NEVADA UTILITY BUYS GEOTHERMAL
NV Energy plans renewable energy purchase from geothermal plant
Stephanie Tavares, February 11, 2010 (Las Vegas Sun)

"NV Energy will purchase 32 megawatts of renewable energy from a planned Central Nevada geothermal plant…NV Energy signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Clayton Power 1, a subsidiary of Ram Power Corporation.

"Construction on the Clayton Valley Geothermal Project is expected to begin in early 2012 and be completed by 2014. It is one of five geothermal leases that Ram Power has acquired from the Bureau of Land Management in Esmeralda County, where the developer hopes to generate as much as 160 megawatts of electricity…"

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"Geothermal energy is popular with utilities because it is relatively inexpensive compared to other renewable energy resources like wind and solar and because it can reliably produce electricity 24-hours a day indefinitely regardless of weather.

"Nevada is the number two geothermal energy producer in the country, behind California. It has more future geothermal energy in the planning stages than any other state."


WASTEWATER FOR SOLAR PWR PLANTS
Waste not: Mohave Sun Power's solution for water scarcity
Rikki Stanich, 12 February 2010 (CSP Today)

"…[D]uring the stakeholder engagement phase of the [Mohave Sun Power 340MW Arizona concentrating solar power plant] planning procedure… concerns of local citizens and state agencies…[led the company to] the idea of using effluent from a nearby city’s wastewater treatment plant [for cooling]…

"…From an economic, environmental, and operational perspective, the use of wastewater for wet cooling presented a more viable option than that of groundwater extraction or dry cooling…The proposed Hualapai Valley Solar project will be sited on 4000 acres of private land in Mohave County, Arizona. It will use parabolic trough technology and will have thermal storage capacity. The project is scheduled to come online in late-2013…"

Artist's rendering of a parabolic trough solar power plant with thermal storage capability. The Hualapai Valley Solar project will be much bigger. (click to enlarge)

[Greg Bartlett, project director, Hualapai Valley Solar Project/managing director & co-founder, Mohave Sun Power:] "The project uses water for cooling, mirror washing, boiler makeup, potable uses, and other miscellaneous on-site uses, with the vast majority (approximately 90 percent) being used for cooling…Cooling water is used to condense the steam…to complete the steam cycle… [T]o re-use the cooling water, it must be cooled [by evaporation] so that it doesn't continuously increase in temperature…

"Although our project site was selected for its access to adequate, well-documented groundwater, we are pursuing the use of treated wastewater (effluent) as our primary source of cooling water…The city of Kingman is upgrading an existing wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), located approximately 20 miles from our project site…A majority of the output of the plant, the treated wastewater, is currently being evaporated in a large wetland area…"

The facts on power plant water use. (click to enlarge)

[Greg Bartlett, project director, Hualapai Valley Solar Project/managing director & co-founder, Mohave Sun Power:] "We intend to take delivery of the effluent at the boundary of the City's WWTP, and convey the wastewater to our project via a pipeline that we would finance. In addition, we would pay the City for the effluent, adding to the local economic benefits of our project…[T]he City could initially provide as much as 60-75 percent of our cooling water needs…[I]t is possible that we could use effluent for 100 percent of our cooling water needs within the first 5-10 years…The re-use of water…that is currently being evaporated (wasted), really fits into our vision of renewable energy…Public and governmental response has been very positive…

"Dry cooling systems cost more to build, and result in a [7-10%] higher cost to produce electricity…[D]ry cooling systems consume more electricity and make more noise (both a result of multiple, massive cooling fans), and they have more of a visual impact (due to much higher cooling towers…Equally significant, dry cooling produces less electricity for the grid and therefore offsets less greenhouse gas emissions…The re-use of wastewater is not a new concept, and all of the regulatory issues [are settled]…[F]or a solar plant that is best sited in hot, dry, remote areas, it is rare to find a city wastewater treatment plant located close by…This is a testament to our siting efforts…[but there] is no reason that every wet cooled thermal power plant could not use effluent…"


OIL COS WRITE OFF CAP&TRADE
Oil firms drop group lobbying for US climate bill; Oil companies to continue lobbying for climate bill
Timothy Gardner (w/Marguerita Choy), February 16, 2010 (Reuters)

"BP and ConocoPhillips will drop out of a group lobbying for the U.S. climate bill as proposed legislation would hurt the motor fuel and natural gas industries, the companies said…The oil companies and Caterpillar Inc said they will not renew their memberships in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, or U.S. CAP.

"The coalition of companies and moderate environmental groups formed a blueprint early last year outlining what they wanted in U.S. climate rules…The blueprint helped steer climate legislation passed in the House of Representatives last June. But the bill has stalled in the U.S. Senate, amid opposition from oil and coal states, and faces an uncertain future."

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"BP said it still supports the blueprint which called for a cap-and-trade market on emissions blamed for warming the planet, but that the current legislation is plagued with problems that would penalize the petroleum industry…

"President Barack Obama still wants a climate bill to cap emissions and Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman, an independent, are trying to hammer out compromise legislation. They are expected to unveil the bill next month…In a move designed to advance legislation, Obama…announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to help build the first U.S. nuclear power plant in nearly three decades."

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"…U.S. CAP still includes energy heavyweights like Shell Oil Coand Duke Energy, a big power generator, and General Electric Co…But withdrawal of the companies from the group, which now has 28 companies, is another blow to supporters of an energy bill that would limit emissions across all sectors, including the power industry, automobiles and heavy industry and force all of them to partake into a cap-and-trade market…U.S. CAP said it expects U.S. action on climate this year and that it expects to add new members to the group in coming months…

"…But it has lost powerful friends in the oil companies who have complained that the bill would hurt U.S. refineries because they could face much tougher regulation than similar plants in developing countries…Conoco's chairman and chief executive, said in a release that the bill passed in the House and climate proposals in the Senate would hurt the transportation industry… saddle drivers with higher fuel prices…ignores the big role natural gas can play in cutting greenhouse gas emissions…[and] would not create a functioning cap-and-trade market on emissions…"