QUICK NEWS, August 13: WIND MARCHES ON, BUT TO WHERE?; SUN IN THE STATES; $7 BIL FROM DEFENSE FOR NEW ENERGY

WIND MARCHES ON, BUT TO WHERE? Wind Hits 50 Gigawatts in the US; Harry Reid (D-NV), Department of the Interior, AWAEA tout wind capacity milestone, renewables advances at Clean Energy Summit

Herman K. Trabish, August 8, 2012 Greentech Media)

“…U.S. wind’s installed capacity [has] reached 50,000 megawatts…[representing] the generating power of 44 coal plants or eleven nuclear plants…Fifty megawatts of wind can power almost 13 million American homes, conserve an estimated 30 billion gallons of water compared to thermal generation, and avoid as much carbon dioxide as taking 14 million cars off the road…

“…Nevada’s first wind installation on public land, Pattern Energy’s 151.8 megawatt Spring Valley Wind Project…was one of the 2012 installations that took the U.S. wind industry past the 50 gigawatt milepost…[Others were] Enel Green Power North America’s 148.8-megawatt Rocky Ridge project in Oklahoma, Utah Associated Municipal Power’s 57.6-megawatt Horse Butte project in Idaho and First Wind’s Kaheawa Wind II project in Hawaii…[65 percent of the Spring Valley project’s turbines were] domestically manufactured…”

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“…[The wind industy] built 5,000 megawatts in its first twenty-three years but leapt in capacity to ten gigawatts when its production tax credit (PTC), which expires at the end of 2012, was kept in place from 2003 to 2006. Wind then grew to 25 gigawatts by 2008 and doubled in the last four years…But with the failure of Congress to extend the PTC into 2013…layoffs have begun and wind supply chain facilities are shifting to serve other industries.

“Because of the twelve-month to eighteen-month lead time for the building of a wind project, industry watchers and analysts expect the coming year to see a plunge in installations even if, as [insiders predict], the Senate finally extends the PTC before the end of this year…”

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SUN IN THE STATES The Evolving Solar PV Landscape: The Changes That Lie Ahead

Christine Beadle, 2 August 2012 (Solar Industry)

“…During 2011, installed PV capacity reached the 2 GW level, with 880 MW allocated to the commercial sector and 760 MW to the utility segment…[despite challenges]…Over the next few years, utility-scale PV installations in the U.S. are set to grow substantially…[O]ver 24 GW of these projects are currently in the planning stages…

“It is likely that federal and state policies will ultimately dictate which locations are targeted most by PV developers. Although every state in the U.S. now boasts some level of commercial or utility PV capacity, California and New Jersey continue to dominate PV projects installed in the U.S…[but] over the period from 2010 to 2015…California’s share may decline to below 30%.”

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“Another interesting trend is that nearly 30% of all planned or installed PV projects in the U.S. now fall into the 1 MW to 5 MW category. In North Carolina, the PV landscape has been changing recently from PV installations at the 1 MW level to include several larger planned projects at the 5 MW level…[although] megawatt-scale PV…installations have recently been met with opposition from the general public, local councils or environmental groups…

“PV market segmentation remains highly diverse across the U.S…Although ground-mounted PV installations hold most of the capacity in the U.S, rooftop installations still account for almost half of the planned or installed U.S. PV projects…Large retailers are making significant commitments…[and] in areas where suitable locations for PV projects may be more difficult to find, new options are appearing…[such as] floating PV arrays…portable arrays…Building-integrated options…[and those on] capped landfills…”

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$7 BIL FROM DEFENSE FOR NEW ENERGY White House to seek $7B in green energy contracts for military

Zack Colman, August 7, 2012

“The White House…is inviting contract proposals from green energy firms to boost the Army’s use of renewable energy…[$7 billion will go to] the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spend on locally-generated biomass, geothermal, solar or wind energy for up to 30 years…[The] White House-led push to green the armed forces [comes] over GOP opposition, which claims the efforts are a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“The Defense Department has set ambitious targets, aiming for renewable sources to account for 25 percent of its energy by 2025, with the Army working toward getting 1 gigawatt of power from green sources by that year…Heather Zichal, the White House deputy assistant for energy and climate change…said alternative energy will reduce costs and enhance national security.”

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“Republicans, however, have pressed the White House and military to abandon some alternative energy programs. They say the efforts cost too much with budget sequestration threatening to slash the defense budget by $492 billion over 10 years…[Zichal] said the president was fully behind the push and believed the military’s turn toward alternative energy was “operationally necessary, financially prudent and mission critical.”

“…[The Navy recently demonstrated] its “Great Green Fleet” aircraft carrier strike group…[which] tested a fuel that combined a $26-per-gallon biofuel with conventional petroleum…[T]he Army, along with the Interior Department, announced it would integrate green energy electricity sources such as wind and solar at military installations…”

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