QUICK NEWS, June 23: FEDS BACK SOLAR POWER PLANTS; WIND SLOWS TEXAS WIND BUILDING; NAT GAS WRITES THE RULES; BREAKTHROUGH WAFER MAKER FUNDED

FEDS BACK SOLAR POWER PLANTS
Department of Energy Offers $2 Billion in Conditional Loan Guarantee Commitments for Two California Concentrating Solar Power Plants; Projects Will Create Nearly 1,800 Jobs, Expand CSP Deployment, and Drive Down Cost of Solar Installations
June 14, 2011 (U.S. Department of Energy)

"…[The U.S. Department of Energy made] conditional commitments to provide loan guarantees to support two concentrating solar power (CSP) projects - the Mojave Solar Project (MSP) in San Bernardino County, California, and the Genesis Solar Project, located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Riverside County, California…[A] conditional commitment for a $1.2 billion loan guarantee [will] support the Mojave Solar Project and a conditional commitment for up to a $681.6 million loan guarantee [will] support the Genesis Solar Project…

"…At 250 megawatts (MW) each, the projects' combined capacity will double the nation's currently installed CSP capacity and displace a total of 40 percent of the output from a typical 500MW coal-fired plant. Abengoa Solar Inc., the Mojave Solar project sponsor, estimates that project will create more than 830 construction jobs and 70 operating jobs. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the Genesis Solar project sponsor, estimates that project will create approximately 800 construction jobs and 47 operating jobs…"

Schematic of the technologies backed by DOE (click to enlarge)

"The 250MW Mojave Solar Project will be the first U.S. utility-scale deployment of Abengoa's latest Solar Collector Assembly (SCA), a significant improvement over the prior generation of parabolic trough technology installed in the United States in the 1980s and 90s…[It uses] a lighter, stronger frame designed to hold parabolic mirrors that are easier and less expensive to build and install. The Assembly was originally developed in connection with a DOE award provided by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy…[Its 30% more efficient] heat collection element…[and] advanced mirror technology…permit the collection of the same amount of solar energy from a smaller solar field…[It] will operate without fossil fuel back-up systems…

"The Mojave Solar Project will avoid over 350,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and is anticipated to generate enough electricity to power over 53,000 homes. Power from MSP will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. An estimated eighty percent of total costs, including both capital equipment and labor, are expected to be sourced in the U.S. as MSP will purchase all of the receiver tubes from a facility in New Mexico, the parabolic trough mirrors from a new facility in Arizona and other key equipment from different suppliers in several states across the country."

Abengoa's trough technology (click to enlarge)

"The 250MW Genesis Solar Project will feature proven and scalable parabolic trough solar thermal technology that has been used commercially for more than two decades. The project is expected to avoid over 320,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually and produce enough electricity to power over 48,000 homes. Power from the project will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The lender-applicant, Credit Suisse AG submitted the application under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

"The Department of Energy's… loan guarantee programs support the deployment of commercial [and innovative] technologies…[and] the development of advanced vehicle technologies…[T]otaling over $32 billion to support 32 clean energy projects…[the] 17 generation projects will produce over 27 million megawatt-hours annually, or enough to power over two million homes…[It provided] over $10 billion in loan guarantees to solar generation projects…[including] four of the world's largest solar projects, [as well as] two geothermal projects, the world's largest wind farm and the nation's first new nuclear power plant in three decades…"


WIND SLOWS TEXAS WIND BUILDING
Strong winds slow construction on wind farm
Kevin Welch, June 20, 2011 (Amarillo Globe-News)

"The very resource wind farm developers want to harness is keeping construction workers up in the middle of the night."

Ken Donathan, construction project manager for the Golden Spread Panhandle Wind Ranch, Cielo Wind Services:] "We're not hanging any steel right now. The wind's too strong…If you want to come out at 1 in the morning, then we will be. It hasn't been good for building, but if you had one built ..."

Not the best work to be doing in high winds (click to enlarge)

"The crews working for Wanzek Construction out of South Dakota are on duty from 1 a.m. to 7 p.m. in two shifts. They have erected at least 11 of the 26-story towers built to hold turbines with blades that would reach from one end zone of a football field to the other. Ultimately, there will be 34 turbines with towers 262 feet tall [with a 78.2 megawatt capacity, enough to serve more than 27,000 homes], but construction above ground level is off and on depending on the wind."

[Anthony Perez, wind ranch project manager, Golden Spread Electric Cooperative:] "Twenty-two mph is our cutoff…And if you have gusts, there's some variations, but it's the crane operators' call."

There is plenty of work on the ground, too. (click to enlarge)

"For every day in the month of May and the first 13 days of June, the maximum sustained wind speed measured at the National Weather Service Amarillo office ranged between 22 and 43 mph, except on two days when it was 16 mph…Once the turbines are operational, high winds will be more of a blessing than a problem because they can operate in winds even stronger than those of the past month and a half before reaching the point [52 mph] when they must be taken out of service…

"Work for the approximately 120 crew members…continues while they're grounded. They attach blades to rotors, maintain roads, move cranes, work on wiring in towers and unload turbine parts from trucks…[P]arts for one full turbine [arrive] every day...There's actually more work to do on the ground…[and] about 75 to 80 percent of the work on the project in general is complete…"


NAT GAS WRITES THE RULES
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up…
June 19, 2011 (Natural Gas Watch)

"…[A] couple of stories…from completely different sources…[precipitated] a jaw-dropping sense of astonishment…"

[From New Rules Coming for Pipeline Control Rooms in Occupational Health & Safety:] “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently announced that a new regulation to improve the management of pipeline control rooms will go into effect more than a year earlier than originally planned. The final rule will include procedures to improve training, mitigate fatigue, and clearly define roles and responsibilities for employees in control rooms for DOT-regulated pipelines… U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood...[said the] new regulations will help pipeline operators make critical decisions that could stop a pipeline rupture or leak before it causes harm to people or the environment…"

The U.S. natural gas pipeline system (click to enlarge)

"The very next day…there was a story about] a detailed investigation by Hearst Newspapers…"

[From Pipeline Operators Influence Safety Studies of Regulator in the Albany (NY) Times Union:] “The studies launched by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration helped mold national and state safety rules and inspection procedures for 2.3 million miles of pipelines that carry natural gas and hazardous liquids, some underneath neighborhoods…The Hearst investigation revealed that two-thirds of the 174 safety studies of land-based pipelines…in the last decade were largely funded by pipeline operators or organizations they control. That’s because the agency has required that in most cases, at least half the funding for its pipeline safety research come from outside sources — a policy that the Obama administration is now promising to change…More than half the studies — 89 in total — received funding from five industry trade organizations that conduct research, including three with lobbying arms.”

This is what happens when pipelines aren't safe - and there's one under every neighborhood(click to enlarge)

"The Hearst story goes on to give a devastating account of how natural gas trade industry groups edited pipeline safety study reports to downplay the need for additional regulation and, in some instances, seemingly configured study groups to reach a pre-ordained conclusion that would not reflect unfavorably on the natural gas industry.

"From the Hearst report, one can’t help but think that the natural gas industry — reeling from a series of deadly, high-profile pipeline explosions around the country — had a hand in writing the regulation that LaHood so proudly unveiled..."


BREAKTHROUGH WAFER MAKER FUNDED
1366 Offered $150 Million Conditional Commitment for DOE Loan Guarantee
June 17, 2011 (1366 Technologies)

"…[T]he U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has offered a conditional commitment to [1366 Technologies] for a $150 million loan guarantee. 1366 will use the DOE funds to scale its Direct Wafer manufacturing capabilities in Massachusetts and build a second U.S. manufacturing facility that will produce the basic building block of solar cells – silicon wafers – at a fraction of today’s cost."

[Frank van Mierlo, 1366 Technologies:] “With this loan, 1366 will realize its goal to make solar energy as cheap as coal while helping the U.S. to reclaim a key part of the silicon supply chain and restore the nation’s dominance in photovoltaics.”

click to enlarge

"The loan will play a critical role in the company’s expansion – creating two facilities and hundreds of jobs. The first commercial facility, located in the company’s home state of Massachusetts, is scheduled to be fully operational by 2013 and will produce 20 megawatts per year of capacity, employ 100 people and further New England’s role as a clean energy center. Construction on a second, larger, 1,000 megawatt facility is scheduled to commence in 2013 and create 300 permanent positions. The location of the second U.S. facility has not been decided.

"Since its founding in 2008, 1366 Technologies has raised $46 million from equity investors which has helped the company bring its transformative Direct Wafer technology into production. Direct Wafer technology forms a 156mm multi-crystalline wafer directly from molten silicon…[S]tandard wafer manufacturing…involves a multi-step, batch process of ingot casting, blocking, squaring, and sawing that wastes up to 50% of the high-value silicon…"

click to enlarge

"…Direct Wafer integrates into the existing silicon photovoltaics’ supply chain, providing cost savings to cell customers without added complexity.

"In October 2009, 1366 received a $4 million grant from the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to support the development of the Direct Wafer technology…"