QUICK NEWS, 8-11: NEW ENERGY VS. DIRTY ENERGY’S PROP 23; MADE IN U.S.A. WIND; WIND & SUN TOGETHER; HIGH FINANCE FOR CONCENTRATING PV

NEW ENERGY VS DIRTY ENERGY’S PROP 23
Cleantech industry coming out against Prop. 23
Dana Hull, August 10, 2010 (San Jose Mercury News)

"If voters roll back California's landmark climate change bill this November, the state's burgeoning cleantech economy and the jobs it has created will face serious jeopardy…[according to cleantech leaders gathered] at Google's Mountain View campus to talk about the state's leadership in clean energy and to rally opposition to Proposition 23.

"Californians on Nov. 2 will vote on the measure, which is largely funded by two Texas oil companies and would essentially kill AB32, the climate change bill that laid out ambitious plans to reduce the state's carbon emissions."

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"Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, Google 'Green Energy Czar' Bill Weihl, California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols and PG&E Senior Vice President Tom Bottorff held a wide-ranging panel discussion about California's leadership in clean tech and the importance of regulatory certainty."

[Vinod Khosla, New Energy entrepreneur:] "AB32 created markets…Prop. 23 will kill the market and the single largest source of job growth in California in the last two years."

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"…[W]ith hopes for national energy legislation effectively dead in Congress, cleantech business leaders in Silicon Valley are increasingly turning their attention to the battle looming over Proposition 23.

"Oil companies Valero and Tesoro have contributed the bulk of the $4 million raised to date to support the initiative, which would suspend AB 32 until California's unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or less for four consecutive quarters…But opponents of Prop. 23 are raising money as well. Wendy Schmidt, wife of Google CEO Eric Schmidt and president of the Schmidt Foundation, donated $500,000 to the No on 23 campaign in June,…Venture capitalist John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, which has vast cleantech investments, [also] donated $500,000…"


MADE IN U.S.A. WIND
Domestic Content Rising in U.S. Wind Industry
August 10, 2010 (Sustainable Business)

"The U.S. wind industry in 2009 sourced roughly 60% of turbines and components domestically [up from about 50% in 2008], according to the Department of Energy's (DOE) latest Wind Technologies Market Report…

"This year's Report is the first to estimate the amount of equipment imported from other countries. It finds that the growing percentage of domestic manufacturing is the result of U.S. and foreign companies seeking to minimize transportation costs and currency risks."

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"According to the report, 2009 was another record-breaking year for U.S. wind power additions. The 10 gigawatts (GW) of capacity additions represent a $21 billion investment in new wind power projects, and enough capacity to power the equivalent of 2.4 million homes. Wind projects accounted for 39% of all new U.S. electric generating capacity in 2009, and wind energy is now able to deliver 2.5% of the nation's electricity supply…"

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"…Market growth is spurring manufacturing investments in the United States; seven of the ten wind turbine manufacturers with the largest share of the U.S. market in 2009 have manufacturing facilities in the United States, and two of the remaining three have announced plans to open U.S. facilities in the future…

"Financial constraints, electricity prices, and energy demand suggest that 2010 will be a slower year for wind power …[but] the U.S. wind market is likely to be resurgent in 2011 and 2012, as programs funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 mature and financing constraints continue to ease…"


WIND & SUN TOGETHER
North County Energy Project Proposed
Howard Fine, August 10, 2010 (Los Angeles Business Journal)

"An application for a major renewable energy project in the West Antelope Valley was filed [for Los Angeles County]…

"In its application, Element Power US LLC has proposed a combination wind and solar energy project that could generate up to 230 megawatts, or power for up to 70,000 single-family homes."

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"The project would be located on a 2,200-acre parcel Element Power recently purchased from the operators of a horse ranch about 20 miles west of Lancaster and just west of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.

"Element Power’s Wildflower Green Energy Farm is one of an increasing number of renewable power projects in the sun-drenched and windswept western Mojave Desert.
California’s utilities face a strict renewable power mandate that by 2020 they get one-third of their energy from renewable sources…"

The Antelope Valley looking across the Mojave Desert toward the Tehachapi Mountains. (click to enlarge)

"Element Power project manager Nat Parker said the exact mix of wind power and solar photovoltaic cells would be determined after county and local community input and that environmental reviews of the project had yet to be completed. He also said the site is about six miles from an existing electrical substation that could put the generated power on the grid.

"Parker said that the project would bring an additional 300 construction jobs to the Antelope Valley. He added the project could come on line in late 2012 or early 2013."


HIGH FINANCE FOR CONCENTRATING PV
Xcel Energy to Buy Power From Goldman's Solar Plant in Southern Colorado
Christopher Martin, August 9, 2010 (Boomberg News)

"Xcel Energy Inc., the owner of utilities that operate in eight U.S. states, will buy the power from a solar plant in southern Colorado that’s being developed by [Goldman Sachs Group Inc. unit] Cogentrix Energy LLC .

"The 30-megawatt solar field will concentrate the sun’s rays onto photovoltaic panels that generate electricity, providing enough power for about 6,500 homes…"

A CPV concentrating unit. (click to enlarge)

"When completed, the concentrating photovoltaic, or CPV, plant will be the largest of its kind in the world…The technology represents less than 0.5 percent of total installed global solar energy. Cogentrix will use panels designed by…California-based Amonix Inc., which plans to complete a factory near Las Vegas by the end of this year…"

A CPV panel. (click to enlarge)

"Construction will begin early next year and the solar farm should be generating electricity in the second quarter of 2012. Financing for the project, the cost of which wasn’t disclosed, is ‘in the works…’

"Xcel Energy’s Public Service Co. of Colorado, the state’s largest utility, will buy power from the plant [at an undisclosed price] under a 20-year agreement…"