QUICK NEWS, June 20: WIND WILL CHALLENGE BPA; SOLAR PATENTS; MORE AFFORDABLE TRANSMISSION; MILITARY WANTS NEW ENERGY

WIND WILL CHALLENGE BPA
Wind generators to fight Bonneville policy at FERC
Eileen O’Grady (w/Dale Hudson and Lisa Shumaker), June 13, 2011 (Reuters)

"Frustrated owners of wind generation in the U.S. Pacific Northwest have complained to federal regulators about a Bonneville Power Administration policy that curtails their operations in times of low demand and low prices.

"The largest snowpack since 1997 has boosted Northwest river levels and hydro output, complicating growing competition between hydro and wind interests in the region where Bonneville operates the lion's share of the high-voltage power network…Since mid-May, BPA has curtailed wind and other generation most days so it can increase hydropower output to protect salmon and other fish…"

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"But wind generators say the practice of curtailing wind output without compensation is an unfair use of Bonneville's grid, costing generators lost income and discouraging future development of renewable power resources in the region…[The policy is] unduly discriminatory… a coalition of owners of nearly 2,000 megawatts of wind capacity said in a complaint filed…with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

"Transmission contracts allow BPA to cut power output to avoid grid reliability problems…[but not] because the prevailing market price of power is, in Bonneville's opinion, too low…While Bonneville supplies hydro power to replace the curtailed power, wind generators can lose money in other ways, including the value of federal production tax credits (PTCs) and state renewable energy credits (RECs)…Since May 17, BPA has cut 74,100 megawatt-hours of wind generation and nearly 9,600 Mwh of fossil generation…Most of the curtailment occurs in the overnight hours when power demand is low, pushing market prices into negative territory…"

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"Iberdrola is joined in the FERC filing by PacifiCorp, a unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co, the electric unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc; Horizon Wind Energy, a unit of EDP Renewables, Portugal's largest utility; NextEra Energy Co, and Invenergy. [They insist BPA has better economic options, including open transmission access and competitive markets]…

"BPA spokesman Doug Johnson said the agency will continue to work with generators to find other solutions, noting that the redispatch policy implemented in May will expire next spring…Bonneville has said that compensating wind generators for lost PTC and REC income would shift those costs from taxpayers to its customers who don't benefit from the wind resources…High hydro output could continue…through September…"


SOLAR PATENTS
Shine-On Solar Patents 2010 Results
June 9, 2011 (Cleantech Group at Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C.)

"…In 2010 Solar patents were second only to Fuel Cell patents in the Clean Energy area [according to the Shine On Solar edition of the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index (CEPGI)]…Solar Photovoltaic patents spiked in 2010 to a record level of 339 (up 232 %) with third generation solar PV patents topping the other generations of PV technology…

"Applied Materials led the other Solar PV patent owners in 2010 over Sunpower and leaving behind overall PV leader Canon. Fu Zhun Precision Industry and Foxconn Technology Co., Ltd. led solar thermal patent owners. Solar thermal patents were granted to 23 other separate entities with only inventor Pitaya Yangpichit even receiving two and Wal-mart Stores being one of the 22 with one patent…[S]olar technology patents in 2010 built on big gains of the previous year to reach levels over twice that of 2009 and vastly out performed the other non-fuel cell sectors after hitting a record low in the third quarter of 2008…"

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"Solar PV includes the following subsectors…first generation (e.g.,silicon based) PV…second generation (e.g., thin film) PV…third generation (dye-sensitized, quantum dots, nano-modified, organic) PV…PV enhancement (e.g., multi-junction, CPV, anti-reflective coatings)…Enabling technologies (e.g., racking systems, power conversion, heat sinks, bypass diodes, sun tracking)…PV applications (e.g., use of PV technology in a product)…Solar hybrid systems may use both solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies, or one of these solar technologies combined with another type of generation process (wind, hydro, etc.).

"…[G]ranted patents in photovoltaic technology increased dramatically to 339 from 146 in 2009 over the prior year after an increase of 90 in 2009 over 2008. Solar thermal patents were also up 14 patents after only a five patent increase the year before…Solar PV patents jumped to 60 in the first quarter of 2010 and each quarter after that posted an even larger increase. The fourth quarter of 2010 at 10 patents was the biggest result for solar thermal since 11 in the first quarter of 2004…[T]he entire solar technology field closely follows the photovoltaic trends without much pull from the thermal technology trends."

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"…2010 brought a record year for solar thermal direct technology patents with 14 patents, up 10 over 2009. In fact, the direct patents tied indirect patents in the fourth quarter and approached the number of indirect patents for the year which were at 16. Generally speaking, indirect solar technology (e.g., the conversion of thermal energy into mechanical or electrical energy) has consistently seen more patents and thus innovation than its direct counterpart.

"The solar thermal race in 2010 was won by Fu Zhun Precision Industry and Foxconn Technology of China with five solar thermal direct patents in solar air conditioning, vaulting to fourth place overall. Each of the remaining nine solar thermal direct patent grantees in 2010 had one patent each. Foreign entities outnumbered US entities 6 to 4. United Technologies and Walmart (for an air heating system) were the only household names…"


MORE AFFORDABLE TRANSMISSION
New Study Shows Benefits Of Regional Transmission Cost Sharing
14 June 2011 (North American Windpower)

"…An agreement to share costs of regionally beneficial electric transmission projects was adopted by stakeholders in the Midwest and approved by the Federal Energy Regulation Commission in 2010…According to [an Anderson Economic Group (AEG)] study, the expected benefits to Michigan from the proposed projects include…

"…[1] Improved access to electricity in other states, especially those where electricity prices are significantly lower than in Michigan…[2] A strengthened regional economy and a more reliable grid across the region…"

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"…[3] Strengthened demand for Michigan-based manufacturers of wind turbines and other alternative energy components; and…[4] Better access to wind energy from across the region.

"If the cost-allocation plan is significantly modified, unintended consequences may include disproportionate costs shifted to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and other states in the Midwest and delays in improving the grid, including reliability issues…"


MILITARY WANTS NEW ENERGY
Renewable energy sources a priority for military, says report
June 13, 2011 (UPI)

"Military establishments, notorious for wasteful energy practices, are being drawn to renewable energy development as part of efficiency-increasing strategies, Pike Research said in a report…[I]ncreased access to renewable energy was driving planning not only at the Pentagon but at military establishments around the world.

"The findings mean that military agencies in the United States and abroad will invest in new technologies as they embrace renewable sources of energy for peacetime uses and warfare, generating new business in energy and security industries…Renewable energy is…a practical answer to issues arising from scarcity of conventional energy sources, especially in and around battle zones."

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"Renewable energy use can involve a range of media from solar and thermal power, wind to biofuels and synfuels to fuel cells. Each individual military organization may choose to opt for renewable sources most appropriate for its needs but growth in the area is certain over the next 20 years [at the U.S. Department of Defense and military agencies]…

"The various branches of the Pentagon combine to form the single largest consumer of energy in the world -- more than any other public or private entity and greater than more than 100 other nations, said the report…[and] global military agencies' spending on renewable energy technologies will continue to rise rapidly…from $1.8 billion in 2010 to $26.8 billion by 2030…The majority of the spending will be for mobility applications, including portable soldier power as well as land, air and sea vehicles. Energy for running facilities will represent a significant portion of the market…"

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"In the facilities domain, the market opportunity is largest for solar energy, followed by wind power and geothermal..Military agencies are also utilizing microgrids for distributed energy generation that can be ‘islanded’ from the commercial power grid and are ardent adopters of energy efficiency techniques.

"In the mobility domain, much of the focus is on biofuels and synfuels that can serve as replacements for petrofuels for vehicles ranging from tactical vehicles, trucks and tanks to fighter jets and naval vessels. Portable soldier power is also a major priority, and the Pentagon in particular is pursuing a variety of fuel cells and advanced battery technologies in this area…"