QUICK NEWS, February 23: MORE ON APPLE’S iCAR; BIG HAWAII WIND FROM NEXTERA; BIG CALIFORNIA SOLAR FROM KAISER

MORE ON APPLE’S iCAR Report: Apple aims to launch electric car by 2020

February 22, 2015 (Fox News)

“…Sources familiar with [Apple’s unannounced electric car project said the company is moving forward with an aggressive plan to develop a battery-powered car to compete with Tesla, General Motors, Nissan, and other established automakers in the electric car segment. Production on a car could reportedly kick off in five years…[T]he tech company has been luring engineers from other outfits in the automotive sector, including Tesla, and has been in contact with a manufacturer capable of producing vehicles on a contract basis…[E]lectric car battery-maker A123 Systems, has reportedly gone as far as filing a lawsuit to try to stop Apple from poaching its staff… A123 Systems is owned by Wanxiang Group, the parent company of Fisker Automotive, which [is revamping] its Karma plug-in hybrid sedan…Apple is already heavily invested in the automotive sector with its Siri Eyes Free and Apple Car Play software platforms, which allow its mobile devices to work with a variety of in-car infotainment systems…[It competes with Google’s] Android Auto system…Analysts have estimated that Fisker and Tesla each spent about $1.5 billion to develop the Karma and Model S, respectively, and Apple is currently sitting on a cash reserve of $178 billion. That's more than enough to buy Tesla outright six times over, or GM, Ford and Chrysler combined at their current market capitalization, let alone develop its own car from scratch…” click here for more

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BIG HAWAII WIND FROM NEXTERA NextEra Energy plans to build Hawaii's largest wind farm on Maui

Duane Shimogawa, February 20, 2015 (Pacific Business News)

“…[NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, plans to build, own, and operate] the largest wind energy farm in Hawaii on the southern coast of Maui…The more than 120-megawatt [Kahikinui Wind project would be built on about 500 acres of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands at the Kahikinui homestead on the southern slopes of Haleakala leased for 35 years. NextEra] said that it would benefit Hawaii to develop up to 200 megawatts of additional wind or solar capacity on Maui…NextEra also is one of the companies looking to build an undersea cable that would connect the electric grids on Oahu and Maui…First Wind owns the biggest wind farm in Hawaii, the 69-megawatt Kawailoa Wind project on Oahu's North Shore [and three other wind farms]…Sempra U.S. Gas & Power owns one wind farm in Hawaii…California's Champlin Hawaii Holdings LLC has plans to build a $90 million, 24-megawatt wind farm near the Kahuku Wind project on Oahu's North Shore…” click here for more

photo by Denise Tomey Redmond (click to enlarge)

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BIG CALIFORNIA SOLAR FROM KAISER Kaiser to buy solar power from Riverside County project

Sammy Roth, February 19, 2015 (The Desert Sun)

"…[Health care giant Kaiser Permanente will] buy 110 megawatts of power from NextEra Energy Resources' Blythe solar project…NextEra can now start construction on the stalled Blythe project, which is expected to employ nearly 500 people at the height of construction and should come online by the end of 2016, just in time to secure a 30 percent tax credit…Kaiser committed in 2012 to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent below 2008 levels by 2020, and it now expects to meet that goal three years ahead of schedule…Federal officials approved the 485-megawatt, 4,000-acre Blythe project in August, but NextEra didn't start construction right away because it hadn't found a buyer for the electricity the project would generate. Now that Kaiser has signed [a 20 year, $25 million contract], NextEra will start building…At least half a dozen [other] large-scale projects proposed for [the eastern California Mojave Desert] have stalled or slowed…hamstrung by an inability to secure power-purchase agreements with utilities. As California's major utilities have gotten closer to meeting the state's 33 percent renewable energy mandate, they've had less incentive to sign contracts…That could change if California lawmakers adopt a 50 percent renewable energy mandate…" click here for more

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