QUICK NEWS, September 25: BIGGEST ONLAND WIND GOES ONLINE; COLLABORATION TO ADVANCE ENERGY STORAGE; THE REAL COSTS OF ENERGIES REVEALED

BIGGEST ONLAND WIND GOES ONLINE Caithness Shepherds Flat Commences Official Operations; Becomes One of the World's Largest Wind Farms

September 22, 2012 (PR Newswire)

“Caithness Energy announced…its Shepherds Flat Wind Farm is operational and generating up to 845 Megawatts of clean wind energy…”

“Located in northeastern Oregon…the project – one of the world's largest wind farms – will play an important role in harnessing the power of wind energy…The project's output is contracted through 20-year power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison.”

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“…Caithness Shepherds Flat…will eliminate 1.483 million metric tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of taking approximately 260,000 cars off the road…[And it] will enhance Oregon's economy. Producing an estimated 2 billion kWh each year, the Wind Farm will have an annual economic impact of $37 million for the State. Additionally, the project employed over 400 workers during its construction, and will permanently employ 45 workers.

“The Wind Farm resulted from a successful collaboration between the public and private sectors…[Caithness] leveraged the talents and expertise of…GE Energy Financial Services, Google, Tyr Energy, and Sumitomo Corporation of America. The project also enjoys the support of Oregon's elected officials on the federal, state and local levels, and was one of the first clean energy projects to utilize the U.S. Department of Energy's loan guarantee program…”

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COLLABORATION TO ADVANCE ENERGY STORAGE Energy-Storage Companies Partner To Tackle Renewable Energy Integration

21 September 2012 (North American Windpower)

“Energy-storage providers Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. and EnerDel Inc… have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to co-market and cross-sell each other's product portfolios.

“Each company will now be able to offer a much broader line of lithium-ion-based energy-storage systems from individual cells and modules in order to complete systems that offer multiple chemistries and technologies…”

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[Alexander Lee, CEO, Altair Nanotechnologies:] "Electric-grid customers are interested in combining high power and high energy battery systems to solve the challenges of renewable integration and ancillary services…This MOU allows each company to expand its market presence while creating real value for our customers."

“The agreement is effective immediately, and the companies will start representing each other’s products as part of their regular sales efforts in the coming weeks.”

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THE REAL COSTS OF ENERGIES REVEALED 'Hidden Costs' Revealed: Where Does Solar Rank Among Energy Sources?

20 September 2012 (Solar Industry)

“Solar power's detractors frequently describe solar as "secretly" non-environmentally-friendly. They point to the PV module manufacturing process, utility-scale arrays' potential impacts to land and wildlife, and concentrating solar power (CSP) plants' on-site water usage as examples of attributes that negate the environmental benefits of deploying this renewable energy source.

“But when all of the impacts are considered and all the costs are tallied, how does solar compare to other common energy sources? … The Hidden Costs of Electricity: Comparing the Hidden Costs of Power Generation Fuels suggests that the indirect or externalized costs of fossil fuels, nuclear power and biomass still outweigh those of solar power…[D]emands on increasingly scarce water are a major hidden cost of a business-as-usual approach to American electricity generation that needs to be more fully understood…”

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“Solar power, however, did not rank as a prime offender in this critical water-usage category. Rather, nuclear power, coal-fired power, biomass and natural gas (obtained via fracking) were called out as particularly water-intensive energy sources. Open-looped coal-fired power plants, for instance, use between 20,000 and 50,000 gallons/MWh. Although most of the water is reclaimed, it is returned at a higher temperature and lower quality…[W]ind and solar photovoltaic power require little water…[and CSP] requires water for cooling purposes, but new technologies are placing greater emphasis on dry cooling…

“Solar's subsidies and tax incentives, as well as land impacts, are rated as moderate. Although distributed-generation rooftop PV occupies no land, some utility-scale plants have caused concern…”

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