QUICK NEWS, August 10: CHINA INTROS F-I-T; LA TIMES WRONG ON WIND; DEBT AND NEW ENERGY; HOW CALIF GETS 33%

CHINA INTROS F-I-T
Chinese manufacturers winners under China’s FIT
Jonathan Gifford, 6 August 2011 (PV Magazine)

"…[A]nalyst opinion is that the Chinese tier-one manufacturers stand to gain the most [from the government’s newly announced national photovoltaic feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme]…[It will be funded by the Chinese Government’s Renewable Energy Development Fund (REDF) and] will be applied at two rates. The first will be 1.15 Renminbi per kilowatt hour (rmb/kWh) (US$0.18) that will be paid for projects approved before July 1 and completed by the end of the year. The second rate will be one rmb/kWh (US$.156/kWh)…

"…[D]etails of the Chinese FIT scheme [are not certain but] some analysts immediately revised up their predictions for 2011 installed capacity…However, some photovoltaic market analysts offer a word of caution as to the short-term impact of the FIT announcement…[There is a] decided lack of detail as to project volumes and how they will affect the FIT rates…"

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"Where there genuinely appears to be no doubt is that Chinese tier one manufacturers [such as Yingli, JA Solar, Suntech and Trina] are ideally placed to profit from the Chinese FIT…[T]he Chinese FIT rates may seem meager…[but] high sunlight levels in certain parts of the country, low labor costs for installation…cheap or even free land for power plant sites…[and lower-priced] Chinese made modules …[make] investing in Chinese photovoltaic plants [seem] attractive and profitable under the FIT Scheme…

"…[P]redictions for Chinese installations now stand at around 1.3 GW in 2011, rising to 2.5 GW next year and eventually growing to 5 GW to 10 GW in 2015. These middle term progressions span a very wide range…What is certain and many analysts agree on, is that many parts of the photovoltaic industry are watching China closely."


LA TIMES WRONG ON WIND
Fact check: Los Angeles Times misleads on safety in wind industry
Tom Gray, August 5, 2011 (Into The Wind)

"…[T]he Los Angeles Times published another article…with a variety of misleading allegations [about wind]…[L]ike the ones before it, relied on uninformed speculation by people who oppose wind farms, rather than knowledgeable experts. The biased results show a lack of understanding of how federal and state officials regulate workplace safety, and the strict standards already in place. Nor were all the proactive safety efforts at wind projects recognized…

"Rhetoric: Accidents involving wind turbines have increased in the last decade…Facts: AWEA is not aware of any member of the American public having been harmed by a wind turbine. Training and education are paramount in the wind industry…As the article notes, reported on-the-job accidents involving workers peaked in 2008."

A man doesn't do this work without every provision for his safety and wind's safety record is enviable, having not despoiled any ecosystems or irradiated any oceans. (click to enlarge)

"Rhetoric: ‘One of these days, a turbine's going to fall on someone,’ says a spokesperson for a national anti-wind group…Facts: There are more than 50,000 operating wind turbines in the U.S., and some have been in place for nearly 30 years. None has ever fallen on anyone, and the odds of it happening are minuscule, because one of the factors in siting a wind turbine is setbacks for public safety…

"Rhetoric: Wind turbine accidents have increased over the past decade…Facts: It’s certainly possible that overall accidents have increased in number, but that fact alone does not equal a poor safety record—the industry has been growing rapidly, and the total amount of wind generating capacity operating in the U.S. today is roughly 15 times what it was at the end of the year 2000…The moral is simple: Anti-wind groups are not a reliable source of objective information, and repeating what they say without some serious fact-checking is not going to lead to credible journalism."


DEBT AND NEW ENERGY
U.S. Debt Deal Kills Off Prospects of Renewable-Power Support
Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Christopher Martin, August 5, 2011 (Bloomberg News)

"U.S. government support for renewable energy may plunge from record levels, setting back the use of wind and solar power before they can compete on their own with oil, gas and coal…Direct spending, tax breaks and research funding pushed federal renewable-energy subsidies to [a record] $14.7 billion in 2010 [up from $5.12 billion in 2007]…

"The deal on a debt-limit increase that Congress and President Barack Obama struck to avert a U.S. default would result in at least $2.1 trillion in spending cuts…Additional savings of at least $1.2 trillion would come from enactment of a deficit-reduction bill…"

New Energy was finally getting its due - and then came the debt bill (click to enlarge)

"The Treasury Department has paid out $7.78 billion in grants to developers of wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy under an incentive that was created in the stimulus bill and lapses at the end of the year…Subsidies are expected to decline beginning this year, and will fall 77 percent by 2016…

"…[U]nless Congress approves an extension…[the] production tax credit, used mainly by wind- farm developers, runs out at the end of 2012. The investment tax credit, which goes primarily to solar and geothermal projects, ends in 2016…Other subsidies for energy, which go both to renewable sources and oil and gas, may also be targeted by the congressional debt-reduction panel…"


HOW CALIF GETS 33%
Assessing California's Chances For Meeting Its 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard
Matthew Gray, 4 August 2011 (Solar Industry)

"…Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif., signed into law Senate Bill 2, which increases the statutory renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in California to 33% by the year 2020 - up from a goal of 20% by the year 2010…[The] 20% RPS applied only to large investor-owned utilities (IOUs), community choice aggregators and electric service providers. For the first time, S.B.2 extends the new 33% RPS to cover publicly owned utilities…[providing] additional independent demand for renewable energy…

"The new law also recognizes the ongoing challenge of providing electricity from renewable energy resources at affordable rates. It provides for retail sellers to assemble a balanced portfolio of electricity products from various eligible renewable energy resources, including limited amounts from less expensive out-of-state resources…[but] in the final compliance period - from Dec. 31, 2016, through Dec. 31, 2020 - no less than 75% of procurement shall consist of renewable energy sourced in the state…"

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"California is likely to be the largest consumer of renewables for a long time to come…Can the new standard be met? California's progress toward meeting the prior 20% RPS standard is good evidence that the new 33% standard is attainable…[T]he large investor-owned utilities reported that they served 17.9% of their electricity with RPS-eligible generation in 2010. Thus, California is zeroing in…

"…[T]here is a substantial amount of additional renewable energy capacity - much of it large, utility-scale solar - that has been approved but it is not yet online…If those projects can successfully make their way from approval through development, they will make significant progress toward meeting the new 33% by 2020 standard…But the more aggressive 33% RPS does pose significant challenges for California. It will require a massive amount of additional, new renewable power generation and transmission, requiring substantial investment in new project sites and facilities…Brown says that a 40% standard is within California's grasp…"