QUICK NEWS, 12-21: HUGE CALIF SOLAR POWER APPROVED; IOWA BUYS ARKANSAS TURBINES; WHAT 1603 WILL DO FOR NEW ENERGY; NEW ENERGY IN THE NEW SOUTH

HUGE CALIF SOLAR POWER APPROVED
Palen Solar Power Project Achieves License from California Energy Commission; Construction of Solar Trust of America’s 500 MW Facility Will Create 1,100 Local Jobs
December 15, 2010 (Solar Trust)

"Solar Trust of America, LLC…subsidiary, Solar Millennium, LLC, has secured a final decision from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for its 500 Megawatt (MW) Palen Solar Power Project…Located in Riverside County, California, the Palen Solar Power Project facility will house two power plants each generating 250 MW of nominal capacity. Together these plants will provide enough electricity to power up to 150,000 homes each year…

"…[The project will] advance the State’s renewable energy goals… and provide an annual economic impact of approximately $270 million during the construction period…"

The Palen solar power plant will use Solar Millenium's trough technology (click to enlarge)

"Construction is expected to create approximately 1,100 direct jobs in Southern California, thousands of indirect supply chain jobs in related industries throughout the United States, and 130 long-term operational and maintenance jobs at the facility itself once it is completed.

"The Palen Solar Power Project is expected to remove approximately one-half megaton of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which will provide a substantial environmental benefit. It will also employ dry-cooling technology which will enable it to use approximately 90 percent less water than comparable wet-cooled facilities…"

The Solar Millenium solar power plant technology can incorporate energy storage (click to enlarge)

"For the Palen Solar Power Project, Solar Millennium, LLC has also applied to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for a 5,200 -acre Right-of Way (ROW)…where Solar Trust of America is constructing the 1,000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project, the world’s largest solar thermal power plant. Pending BLM’s decision on the ROW Grant Application, expected in Spring 2011, the Palen project will add to Solar Trust of America’s California portfolio of approved solar thermal projects totaling 1,500 MW…

"Solar thermal power plants generate electricity by converting solar radiation into heat energy. In a parabolic trough power plant, trough-shaped mirrors concentrate the solar radiation onto a pipe in the focal line of the collector. Its absorption heats a fluid medium in the pipe, and generates steam in the power block through a heat exchanger. As in conventional power plants, the steam powers a turbine to generate electricity. By integrating thermal storage, electricity can be supplied on demand, even after sunset…"


IOWA BUYS ARKANSAS TURBINES
Nordex USA wins 41 MW order for Iowa wind farm
15 December 2010 (Nordex)

"Nordex USA announced…an order with wind farm developer RPM Access for a 41 Megawatt wind farm in Delaware County Iowa…Nordex’ new manufacturing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas will produce the turbines. The contract includes a 10-year premium service contract, as well as the delivery, installation, commissioning and testing of 17 Nordex N100 turbines.

"The Elk Wind Farm is Nordex’ first project with RPM Access, and represents the second order Nordex has received since dedicating its plant in October. The project strengthens a growing local workforce in Arkansas that has reached over 70 new hires already, with the potential of increasing to 700 over the next four years, in accordance with the market…"

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"Elk Wind is a construction-ready project slated for completion in October 2011. RPM Access will own and operate the wind farm, and Central Iowa Power Cooperative will purchase the power via a 20-year power purchase agreement. Based in West Des Moines, RPM Access has initiated the development of six operating wind projects in Iowa, representing 370 Megawatts, over the past 10 years and has a robust project pipeline…"

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"Iowa is the second largest generator of wind energy in the US, producing nearly 20% of its electricity from wind with over 3,500 Megawatts installed. Iowa has been able to significantly reorder its energy portfolio by way of forward-thinking public policies, including a requirement that utilities offer the opportunity to purchase green energy to their customers.

"Nordex has both completed and planned installations in several states, including Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Maryland, Colorado and now Iowa. Currently, Nordex’ largest US order to date – 150 Megawatts/60 turbines – is being installed at BP Wind Energy’s Cedar Creek wind farm in Colorado."


WHAT 1603 WILL DO FOR NEW ENERGY
Analyzing The Tax Bill's Implications On Solar Project Finance
Keith Martin, 14 December 2010 (Solar Today)

"The bill language…includes a one-year extension in the deadline to start construction of new renewable energy projects to qualify for U.S.Treasury cash grants. The grants are 30% of the project cost…The bill also would allow a 100% depreciation bonus on new equipment placed in service after Sept. 8, 2010, through the end of next year. However, the bonus could be claimed only if the taxpayer was not committed on or before 2008 under a binding contract to invest in the project. The bonus is a timing benefit. Instead of depreciating a project over the normal depreciation period, the entire cost could be deducted in the year the project goes into service.

"The cash grant…[changes] dates in the existing program…[and is not] a tax-refund program. Owners of new renewable energy projects that are completed in 2009, 2010 or 2011, or that start construction in those three years and are completed by a deadline, would qualify for cash grants…The deadlines to complete construction will not change. They remain the end of 2012 for wind farms, 2016 for solar and fuel cell projects and 2013 for other renewables."

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"Because of the way the cash-grant extension is drafted, developers that complete projects in 2011 would not have to worry about whether their projects started construction before 2009. This relieves a concern that some geothermal developers have that might have started construction of projects before 2009 but will not complete them until after 2010…

"…The 100% depreciation bonus is equivalent to an additional 5.2% investment tax credit on a wind farm or solar project - if a developer can use it. Many developers are expected to have a hard time converting the bonus into cash in the tax-equity market. Some developers are also concerned that the bonus could reduce overall tax capacity in the market."

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"A number of other provisions in the bill will affect the project finance market…[1]The measure opens the door to place additional facilities for making "refined coal" in service and qualify for 10 years of tax credits on the output…Facilities put into service by December 2011 would now qualify for tax credits…[2] The bill would extend income and excise tax credits for ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel and alternative fuels at the existing rates, and the tariff on ethanol imports at the U.S. border at the existing level, through December 2011…

"…[3] Projects on Native American reservations would qualify for faster depreciation…three-year instead of five-year depreciation for wind farms and solar projects…[if] completed by December 2011…[4] The bill would authorize another $3.5 billion in additional ‘new markets tax credits’ in 2010 and 2011 each as an inducement to make loans or equity investments in projects in census tracts with lower-than-average family incomes or with poverty rates of at least 20%…[5] The bill would give utilities more time through December 2011 to shed transmission assets to independent transmission companies or regional transmission organizations and spread the tax on any gain over eight years."


NEW ENERGY IN THE NEW SOUTH
Report: Policies to Spur Renewable Energy Can Lower Energy Costs
December 19, 2010 (Media Newswire)

"The South could pay less for its electricity in 20 years than is currently projected if strong public policies are enacted to spur renewable energy production and use, according to a report released today by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University…Renewable Energy in the South builds on a short policy brief released last summer and provides an in-depth assessment of the scope of renewable energy resources in the South and their economic impacts on electricity rates and utility bills in the region.

"Skeptics of renewable energy production often cite the South as lacking renewable resources. However, the new report confirms that the right mix of public policies could drive the region to produce as much as 30 percent—up from less than 4 percent—of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Wind, biomass, hydro power and customer-owned renewables stand out as cost savers and are detailed for both utility-scale and customer-owned renewable, based on their cost-competitiveness."

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[Etan Gumerman, Duke University, co-lead researcher:] “While the South enjoys some of the lowest electricity rates in the country, there is resistance to developing new technologies that seem much more costly than coal based electricity…In reality, that’s not the case.”

"…[R]esearchers found that if supportive policies and tax incentives are implemented or extended, total regional energy costs would be 7 percent less by 2030 than they are projected to be if policies do not change. If no new policies are adopted, the EIA predicts the average electricity rates in the South will rise from the current 7.9 cents to 9.7 cents per kilowatt hour in 2030 – a 23 percent increase. The study finds that with a mix of policies designed to promote renewable energy, rates would rise to only 9 cents per kilowatt hour in 2030, saving electricity users in the region $23 billion a year."

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"The report examines the economic impact of a number of renewable energy policies, including expanded research funding and tax incentives…and the enactment of a national Renewable Electricity Standard ( RES ). In addition to considering the potential for large-scale energy producers to generate renewable energy, the report finds that end-users, such as households equipped with solar panels and industry with the ability to recycle waste heat, could generate a significant amount of the South’s renewable electricity."

[Dr. Marilyn Brown, Georgia Institute of Technology, co-lead author:] “This study takes a unique approach by considering both traditional, utility-scale renewable power production as well as renewable systems owned by consumers…Our analysis shows that renewable energy could be a real economic boon to the Southern states, but only if elected officials, and consumers, take action to unlock the region’s renewable energy potential.”