QUICK NEWS, 8-2: OFFSHORE WIND CUTS PRICE; MOLTEN SALTS IN THE SUN; THE CHALLENGES OF MAKING WIND; BREAKTHROUGH TUBES IN SUN DEALS

OFFSHORE WIND CUTS PRICE
AG wrests price cut from Cape Wind; But critics still angry despite 10% reduction
Beth Daley, July 31, 2010 (Boston Globe)

"The developers of the Cape Wind energy project in Nantucket Sound have agreed to reduce the price of its electricity by 10 percent, saving consumers at least $456 million over the 15-year span of a proposed contract with National Grid.

"The deal, negotiated by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, comes amid deepening controversy over the cost of the 130-turbine project planned for the waters off Cape Cod. National Grid signed an agreement in May to purchase 50 percent of Cape Wind’s power at prices more than double the current cost of electricity from fossil fuels — and higher even than other renewable power."

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"The agreement and attorney general’s endorsement is expected to make it easier for the contract to gain approval from the state Department of Public Utilities…The agency’s signoff is critical for the project to get financing…But the deal did not satisfy critics…Both Coakley and some opponents demanded that Cape Wind reveal projected construction costs and how much profit the developers anticipate making. The attorney general’s office did not win [such concessions]…

"Instead of the 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour National Grid and Cape Wind negotiated as a starting price, customers would pay 18.7 cents per kilowatt hour…probably saving homeowners several dollars a year — and businesses much more. The cost per kilowatt is to increase 3.5 percent per year…To ensure that National Grid’s customers will not have to pay for even more Cape Wind power, the agreement also prohibits the utility from buying the other 50 percent of the wind farm’s output…If Cape Wind receives up to $55 million in federal loan guarantees or saves money through a reduction in construction costs, the contract price will be adjusted downward…"

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"National Grid officials said they had driven a hard bargain with Cape Wind [developer Jim Gordon] in the spring, but Coakley’s office was able to provide additional leverage for ratepayers, helped in part by changing market conditions such as falling interest rates since the original contract was struck…Patrick administration officials…said the earlier negotiated price…would save money over time by locking in a price and removing a portion of electricity use from volatile fossil fuel markets, in addition to helping fight global warming…[T]he negotiated price in the original contract would mean a rise of slightly more than $2 in the average residential customer’s monthly bills…Business opponents, including the retail giant Wal-Mart, worried it would translate into steep price increases for stores and warehouses.

"… Ian Bowles, state secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, praised the attorney general’s office for negotiating a lower price…But Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the major lobbying group for businesses in the state, said it was disappointed…The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, complained that Cape Wind developers have not been required to disclose how much profit they expect to make…[and is] concerned about the aesthetics of the wind farm…[as well as its] cost, environmental, and other issues."


MOLTEN SALTS IN THE SUN
Nevada and Sicily Look to Molten Salt for Solar Storage; Solar power, available 24-7? It sounds too good to be true, but some believe it can be done efficiently
Tiffany Kaiser, August 1, 2010 (Daily Tech)

"As a new way to store and release solar energy, U.S. state Nevada and Sicily, Italy will both use molten salt to operate solar thermal plants…Alcazar de San Juan, Spain obtained a molten salt plant in November 2009…[I]n May of this year, the U.S. Department of Energy gave 13 companies $62 million for the development of thermal solar technology, and a few of them are considering the use of molten salt.

"SolarReserve…developed the technology to make this system possible. Large heliostats will be used in the two separate plants in order to reflect sunlight onto pipes that carry a molten salt liquid, which has potassium and sodium nitrates in it. The liquid salt then absorbs the heat from the sunlight in order to make high-pressure steam, which powers the turbine and produces electricity."

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"What makes this technology useful above and beyond other solar thermal plants is that the molten salt holds the heat it absorbs up to 24 sunless hours, which means the plant can use it's heat for an extended amount of time increasing operation hours. Once the molten salt has cooled, it [is] recycled back into the system…restarting the process all over again.

"Nevada's plant, the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, will be a 100-megawatt plant and is expected to generate 480,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually…[It was just approved] by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada…[and] SolarReserve's subsidiary, Tonopah Solar Energy, signed a power of purchase agreement with Nevada Energy that will last 25 years…The plant is expected to create 450 construction jobs, 45 permanent jobs for plant operation and 4,000 indirect jobs for local service providers and suppliers [when completed]…"

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"…Sicily's solar thermal plant, named Archimedes, has already opened…[T]he European energy company Enel [operates the]…5-megawatt plant.

"While both solar thermal plants will use molten salt to power them, Sicily's plant will not work on molten salt alone. The liquid salt will work in "conjunction" with [an existing] gas-powered electricity plant…The molten salt will produce the steam…power turbines in the gas plant and… use gas as a supplement…"


THE CHALLENGES OF MAKING WIND
Warning to Michigan manufacturers: Nothing easy about getting into wind energy
Jeff Engel, July 29, 2010 (The Grand Rapids Press via MLive)

"With more than 8,000 parts in a wind turbine, there are thousands of opportunities for Michigan manufacturers to join the growing market -- but the transition is not quick or easy.

"…[A] business first must understand the market and make sure the company's capabilities match industry needs, said Dan Radomski, co-founder of consulting firm Kinetik Partners, which specializes in wind technology commercialization…"

The opportunity is immense. (click to enlarge)

"A major transition could take six to 24 months with no return on the investment for at least two years, according to Jeff Grabner, director of wind product sales for Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Co. Inc…The Cleveland, Ohio company began making fasteners for wind turbines in 2007…[N]ow 40 percent of its business…[the aggressive shift…[took a lot of] time and capital…

"Some Michigan companies, like Paragon D&E, have been considering the wind industry for a couple years…Others, like Energetx Composites LLC and Burke E. Porter Machinery Co., are among the more than 100 Michigan businesses who already have entered the industry…Kelly Slikkers, Energetx vice president of business development, hopes the wind turbine blade and nacelle maker will be an anchor for the wind industry in Michigan…But demand for wind turbines remains inconsistent…Wind power installations to date this year are well below 2009 levels, America's busiest year to date…"

That's Traverse City, Michigan (click to enlarge)

"…[A] national renewable electricity standard [would] spur demand and attract manufacturing investment…Michigan is one of more than 25 states with a binding standard, requiring utilities to achieve at least 10 percent renewable energy by 2015…The results can be seen in Consumers Energy's plan for 56 wind turbines in Mason County by late 2012 and DTE Energy's announcement this week it's seeking wind turbine suppliers for farms planned by the end of 2014, primarily in Huron County.

"But boosting domestic wind turbine manufacturing would require showing commitment to the industry through long-term federal policy, said Liz Salerno, [Amercian Wind Energy Association (AWEA0] director of industry data and analysis…"


BREAKTHROUGH TUBES IN SUN DEALS
Solyndra Gets Biggest Chunk of SCE’s 250 MW Distributed Solar Project
Susan Kraemer, July 31, 2010 (Clean Technica)

"Solyndra was the very first of the renewable energy companies funded through the…Department of Energy under Secretary Chu…[A] $535 million loan [guarantee]…[allowed Solyndra to] build a factory to make its innovative cylindrical CIGS thin film solar modules. That factory is now due online this fall…

"Now Southern California Edison (SCE) has awarded Solyndra…a bundle of 20-year power purchase agreements to build about 16 MW of rooftop PV systems distributed atop 15 commercial or industrial buildings in Southern California."

Installing a rack of Solyndra tubes. (click to enlarge)

"Solyndra’s subsidiary, Photon Solar will build the Solyndra systems, the largest being a 3 MW array on a commercial or industrial building…Seven of its 15 sites will be a megawatt or more. The start-up just completed their largest array to date, a 704 kW system…The company expects to triple its manufacturing output once the first 250MW of capacity ramps up. It has almost a billion in VC funding for its innovative easy-install tubular CIGS thin film modules.

"SCE is the most renewably-powered of California’s three major utilities, and closest (at 18%) to reaching the first [part of its renewable energy standard (RES)] goal of 20% by 2010…by utilizing distributed rooftop power in multiple small projects, because these can come on line faster – being easier to permit than larger (but more efficient) desert projects…[T]he first of Solyndra/Photon Solar’s 15 mini projects will be online in six months, by January 2011, with the remaining sites plugging in by the end of the each of the subsequent three months."

704 kilowatts, Solyndra's biggest installation so far. (click to enlarge)

"By contrast, utility-scale desert solar projects take so many years and millions of dollars in environmental compliance, that it is uncertain if they are ever going to get permitted…The three utilities are allowed to include contracts to buy distributed renewable power to meet the RES…

"Of all the successful bidders for the 31 solar energy power purchase agreements for the first 50 MW approved with SCE, 26 are rooftop systems for a total of 37 MW. The remaining 23 MW are spread among 5 ground mounted systems. These 50 MW in distributed rooftop solar arrays is the first phase of a 250 MW project for SCE."