Tag Archives: landfill solar

The Global Energy Map Is Changing Faster Than You Think

By Enrique Dans, Contributor, Forbes

Renewable energy is already the cheapest and most logical way to produce energy without the need for subsidies. By introducing hydroelectric and geothermal energy into the equation, in addition to solar and wind energy, Costa Rica has already managed to go for 300 days in a row without burning fossil fuels to generate electricity. Portugal has managed four days with only renewable energy, the UK, a thousand hours without burning coal, while US states like Colorado are staggered at the cost competitiveness of renewables, even adding a diverse range of storage infrastructure. Within renewable energies, solar stands out for its increasingly lower costs. The goal of generating 100% of the world’s energy from renewable processes is becoming more feasible and cheaper every day. Read more here.

100% RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS & RESOURCES

Politics not technology: what must change for the world to go 100% renewable by 2050, Power Technology
La Crosse Passes 100% Renewable Energy Resolution, Solar Industry
According to the Sierra Club, La Crosse joins Eau Claire, Madison, Middleton and Monona as the fifth Wisconsin city to adopt this goal.
Overcoming Barriers To 100% Clean Energy, Part One: The Electricity Distribution Network, Forbes

MORE RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS

The game-changing spark Iowa’s solar industry needs could be in Louisa County, The Gazette
Why rural Iowa needs empowering, by Sandy Ehrig, economic development administrator for the Iowa Farm Bureau, The Gazette
Catholic Charities to build D.C.’s largest solar array, National Catholic Reporter
Georgia commissioners, all Republicans, increase solar power, cut coal, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
National Grid Acquires Renewables Developer Geronimo Energy, Greentech Media
The $100 million deal adds to the list of U.S. renewables developers bought recently by European energy groups.
How does solar on capped landfills work? Solar Power guest post written by Eric Millard, chief commercial officer, CS Energy
Utilities Bid to Own Rooftop Solar Even As They Oppose It, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
What most Americans are looking for in a new home: solar panels, Fast Company
After California passed first-of-its kind legislation mandating solar panels on all homes built starting in 2020, a new poll finds that people across the country want to see that policy go national.
Wind power costs have plummeted. How can they fall even further?, Into the Wind, AWEA Blog

OPPD sells out of shares for Community Solar program

By Sydnie Holzfaster, Fox42

In less than two months OPPD sold out of their shares to provide renewable energy to their customers through the Community Solar program. Sunday the environmental group Green Bellevue welcomed Cliff Mesner of Mesner Development Company and Tricia McKnight from OPPD to talk about community solar programs across Nebraska. McKnight said OPPD sold over 8,400 shares for renewable energy. The program will pull solar energy from OPPD future solar farm in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska later this year . . . Don Preister, Bellevue city councilman for the fifth ward, said the concept of a solar share program isn’t new. He has been working to bring a solar share program to Bellevue for the last eight years. Read more here.

To be placed on OPPD’s community solar waiting list, call customer care at 402-536-4131.

Bellevue’s Proposed Landfill Solar Project – Previously Posted

Creighton University Technology Students Complete Community Solar Feasibility Study, Nebraskans for Solar
Old landfill eyed as solar farm, Bellevue Leader
Students tie solar farm to Offutt needs, Omaha World-Herald

Given the dramatic decrease in solar energy’s costs over the past several years since Bellevue’s landfill solar project was first proposed, it would be good to see an up-to-date analysis of the project’s levelized costs through a twenty-year power purchase agreement.

About Power Purchase Agreements

Solar Power Purchase Agreements, Solar Energy Industries Association
A solar power purchase agreement (PPA) is a financial agreement where a developer arranges for the design, permitting, financing and installation of a solar energy system on a customer’s property at little to no cost.
Power purchase agreements, by Jason Kuiper, The Wire, OPPD Blog
Currently, OPPD utilizes PPAs for the output of five wind farms: Grande Prairie, Prairie Breeze, Flatware, Petersburg, as well as Sholes, which is under construction. Also, OPPD has signed power sales agreements with NPPD for the partial output of five other wind farms. Those farms are Ainsworth, Broken Bow 1, Broken Bow 2, Crofton Bluffs and Elkhorn Ridge. The normal term of OPPD’s PPAs is 20 years. The new community solar project near Fort Calhoun is under a PPA, with NextEra Energy Resources.

About N-Solar

Sol Systems News Release
With a long history of serving Nebraska communities, Mesner Development assembled a team of solar energy experts, including GenPro Energy Solutions for site development and construction and Sol Systems for project development and power purchase agreements. To date, the companies comprising N-Solar have developed, constructed, or financed a combined 17.6 megawatts of solar electric generating capacity across Nebraska.

Top Photo by N-Solar: Central City’s 499-kW Municipal Solar System

NPPD’s SunWise Community Solar

Request Community Solar: If you are an NPPD customer and would like to request community solar for your community, click here to submit the SunWise Community Solar Interest Form.

Illinois is set to become the Midwest’s solar power leader

By Karen Graham, Digital Journal

Illinois is experiencing a boom in solar energy projects stemming from the state’s Future Energy Jobs Act, a 2016 law that sets a target of getting 25 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2025 . . . At the end of the 2nd quarter of 2018, Illinois ranked 34th, up from 43rd in 2017 in solar capacity. The state has only 97.84 MW of installed solar power. Rankings and installed solar capacity are about to change for the better, so much so that Illinois could end up being the Midwest’s leader in solar energy in a matter of a few years. Read more here.

Future Energy Jobs Act

Photo: Shedd Acquarium in Chicago. The 265-kilowatt solar project is a highlight in itself—it is the largest installation at any cultural institution in Illinois—but it’s only the first step of Shedd’s plan to cut energy usage in half by 2020.

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

A Solar Garden Is Coming To Minneapolis, CBS Minnesota
Instead of dirt, this solar garden will be built over Ramp A near Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. Timothy Denherder-Thomas helped make it official on Monday, announcing plans from his company, Cooperative Energy Futures. It’s similar to the project atop Shiloh Temple in North Minneapolis.
Photo: Shiloh Temple in North Minneapolis
YouTube Video: Just Solar: The Shiloh Story
Landfill solar panels to cover 95 percent of Maine town’s electricity needs, Bangor Daily News
San Diego Is Ditching Their Power Company For A 100% Clean Energy Alternative, Green Matters
San Diego Zoo Adds Storage to its Energy Menagerie, Microgrid Knowledge
UC makes bold commitment to 100 percent clean electricity, University of California News
Salt River Project, DOE’s NREL team up to assess value of distributed energy storage, Utility Dive
Arkansas farmers see benefits of going solar, KATV Little Rock

NATIONAL NEWS

Renewable Energy Is Growing Faster Than Many Experts Expected, Governing
It’s leading an increasing number of state and local governments to commit to 100 percent clean energy goals. Photo: National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)
US on pace for record coal retirements in 2018, IEEFA finds, Utility Dive
Whatever happened to Jimmy Carter’s solar panels: The sequel, Treehugger
Making Energy Transmission Charges Fair To Solar Generators: A #CleanTechnica Q&A With Doug Karpa, Policy Director Of Clean Coalition. One of the problems with the existing rate design is that it overlooks the positive contribution of local distribution-connected solar generation and energy storage.
Three ways utilities can better engage low-income customers, Utility Dive Opinion by Patty Durand, President & CEO of the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative
Bifacial Gains: How much will bifacial modules add to solar tracker value? We are about to find out, Solar Builder

ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES

Special coverage of energy storage markets & technology, courtesy of pv magazine, by Christian Roselund. PV Magazine brings you a special edition devoted to the fast-growing energy storage space, including a look at its thornier challenges.

Click image to download and save the PDF.

Clean Energy Group has redesigned their Resilient Power Toolkit to make it easier to locate the resources you need to understand resilient power system technologies, their economics, and how to approach developing a new resilient solar+storage project.

“We’re always refining our toolbox of resources and making new additions, like our recent permitting and interconnection guide and a storage guide for homeowners from Solar United Neighbors. If you know of useful resources missing from our toolkit or are looking for something you can’t find, send us an email.” – Seth Mullendore, Vice President, Project Director: seth@cleanegroup.org

Potential Model for Nebraska: Onsite in North Providence, Rhode Island’s solar powered landfill – with PHOTOS

By John Weaver, PV Magazine USA

The most important picture, below, of the entire site is the landfill gas vent – rerouted because this solar power plant is built atop the collected refuse of humanity. Much ado was made of the “barren land” made use of by the solar project – especially noted, by every single politician, how the town was now making money from a site that was costing North Providence money. The win-win-win cliche was definitely in the air.

Read the entire article and view more photos here.

Nebraska Brownfields: FAQs

ALSO PUBLISHED BY PV MAGAZINE

100 MW of desert solar moving from developer to investor
E. Shaw Renewable Investments has acquired an under-construction 100 MW solar power project being built by First Solar in Kern County, California, which will feature the large-format Series 6 module.
NV Energy looking for another 350 MW of large-scale renewables
The utility is expanding upon its procurement of 1 GW of solar with a new RFP for RPS-compliant renewables, which can include projects with integrated energy storage.
The race for battery manufacturing capacity: Ultra-fast charging potential
In this op-ed StoreDot Founder and CEO Dr. Doron Myersdorf discusses the current battery manufacturing landscape, the next steps the industry could take, and the potential behind new technologies.
Make your job count: Take the Solar Jobs Census survey
In this op-ed for pv magazine, Solar Foundation’s Andrea Luecke explains why it is so important that all of us participate in the Solar Jobs Census.

CORPORATE PURCHASING

Corporate Renewable Energy Deals Smash Records in 2018, Greentech Media
According to the latest figures from Business Renewables Center, a membership program at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), corporate buyers in the U.S. have purchased a total of 4.81 gigawatts of renewable energy so far this year — and the figure is expected to top 5 gigawatts by December. The total number of commercial and industrial renewable energy deals will be even higher, as RMI’s numbers refer only to contracts for large, off-site renewable energy projects.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Flickr Photo: River City Parking Ramp in St. Paul, Minnesota

Regulators to decide: Does Minnesota need natural gas to transition to renewable energy?
Minnesota Public Radio
Customers, clean energy groups unite against Minnesota natural gas plant, Midwest Energy News
Concern about costs, push for more renewables fuels utility’s possible exit from Tri-State, Denver Post. A western Colorado utility has voted to change its articles of incorporation in a move board members believe should provide the means to buy out its contract with Tri-State, an energy supplier under fire for what critics say is too much dependence on fossil fuels.
Tri-States’ Service Territories Include Nebraska
Related: The Rocky Mountain Institute released a report in September arguing that Tri-State could save more than $600 million through 2030 if it upped its use of renewable energy.
Black Hills Energy launches two solar projects in southeastern Colorado, Denver Post
Company says it’s on pace to meet state’s renewable energy standard by 2020. Black Hills Energy serves 1.25 million customers in eight states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. It is part of Black Hills Corp., based in Rapid City, S.D.
Report: DOE coal, nuclear bailout on hold at White House, Utility Dive
If The U.S. Goes Green, It Can Avoid Economic Hardship And Prevent At-Risk Nations From Going Dark, Forbes

COMMUNITY SOLAR NEWS

DeKalb County solar energy project count up to 32, Daily Chronicle
Cities Urged To Maximize Benefits Of Community Solar, Smart & Resilient Cities
Utility unveils Community Solar program, Daily Energy Insider
Ameren Missouri recently announced the launch of its Community Solar program, a clean energy option for residential and small business customers who do not have the space for solar panels. Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years and the company’s electric rates are among the lowest in the nation.
What a New Order Means for Community Solar and Storage in Massachusetts, Greentech Media
A new bill credit mechanism gives Massachusetts community solar developers valuable certainty about how to structure savings in near-term contracts.

NEW STUDY

Deloitte sees renewable energy in the fast lane, PV Magazine International
Solar PV and wind energy are now evolving from established to the preferred energy sources, according to a recent Deloitte study analyzing the global renewable energy market. In addition to the price-parity factor, Deloitte experts claim increasing improvements in storage technologies will make the integration of renewables easier.

COFFEE POWER

Dunkin’ Donuts tiny house runs on coffee power, CBS News
More than mere mortals run on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Case in point is a transportable tiny home that’s powered by a biofuel blend using 80 percent coffee oil extracted from spent Dunkin’ coffee grounds.

Solar industry unveils campaign to streamline solar permitting

SEIA News Release Posted On PV Magazine USA

As Solar Power International kicks off in California, the U.S. solar industry is taking a major step toward alleviating one of the biggest hurdles to installing solar on homes and businesses – cumbersome and inconsistent permitting and inspection processes.

With the support of industry leaders, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and The Solar Foundation today are unveiling the Solar Automated Permit Processing (SolarAPP) initiative, which will streamline permitting and slash the cost of solar installations.
Read more here.

Photo: Bob and Gina’s solar-powered home in Lincoln. Installed by SWT Energy.

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

Plans move ahead for solar-powered, mixed-income Ann Arbor community, Michigan Live

“It would be the most innovative project probably easily within the state,” said County Commission Chairman Andy LaBarre. “It’s something I look at not just as good policy but as a great thing to do.”

Solar and energy storage win big in Indiana, PV Magazine
Solar power delivered low bids to Indiana’s second-largest electric utility in July, now it looks like the utility will be retiring at least 1.35 GW of coal by 2023 plus another 400 MW by 2028. The coal will be replaced by 1 GW of solar and solar+storage, 150 MW of wind, 125 MW of demand side management and buying 50 MW from the MISO marketplace in 2023, with another 500 MW of solar, solar+storage by 2028.
Philadelphia program aims to lower costs and barriers to rooftop solar, Energy News Network
A solar group buying program in Philadelphia is helping to lower costs and change perceptions about rooftop solar in the city. Solarize Philly, an 18-month initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge, is aimed at expanding access to solar. So far it’s completed 168 projects accounting for about 800 kilowatts of capacity.

100% RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS

TetraPak Adds Solar Array to Headquarters in Texas, Energy Manager Today: Tetra Pak plans to install a new solar array at the company’s US and Canada headquarters in Denton, Texas. Once up and running, the array will produce 1,027,638 kWh annually, according to the global food processing and packaging solutions company. As a member of RE100, Tetra Pak aims to use only renewable electricity across all global operations by 2030. Currently global company gets half its electricity supply from renewables. Tetra Pak has more than 23,000 employees based in over 80 countries working on food processing and packaging.

Local solar at the heart of Cleveland’s 100% renewable energy goal, PV Magazine
The Midwestern city is looking to put community solar on vacant and contaminated land and making it easier for residents and business to go solar, as well as employing community choice aggregation.

ADDITIONAL NEWS ON SMART LAND USE FOR SOLAR DEVELOPMENT
Unprecedented landfill solar project completed in Maryland, PV Magazine
An 18 MW project developed by BQ Energy has turned otherwise unusable land into enough generation to power 12% of the city of Annapolis.

INTERVIEWS
The Wright Way, Windpower Monthly
Having joined the company as an intern, MidAmerican CEO Adam Wright combines in-depth experience of the business with the competitiveness of a former professional NFL player as the utility works to deliver on its 100% renewable energy promise. The 100% renewables benchmark will be met — even exceeded — when the company’s $922-million 591MW Wind XII project is completed in late 2020 or 2021. It is subject to approval by the Iowa Utilities Board. Photo: Adam Wright, left, interviewed by AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan at Windpower 2018, YouTube.

The Death Of The Gasmobile: EV Charging As A Service
CleanTechnica sat down for a phone interview with Enel’s Alberto Piglia. For those of you new to Enel, the company’s ventures as a sustainable energy provider are on high profile display in the US, with its massive 320-megawatt Rattlesnake wind farm in Nebraska.
Mr. Piglia is head of e-mobility services for Enel X, the wing of Enel tasked with marrying digital solutions to zero emission driving. Think cloud-based services and you’re on the right track . . . The EV charging market has been heating up in the US, too, so brace yourself. Enel X is casting its eye on the US and other EV charging markets beyond Italy (if all this is beginning to sound familiar, keep your eye on the company eMotorWerks, which was acquired by Enel just last fall).

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Con Ed Buying $1.54B Renewable Energy Portfolio From Sempra Energy, North American Windpower
The assets in the sale include the Broken Bow II wind farm in Nebraska.

Photo: NPPD Wind Generation

Despite Tariffs, Utility Solar Is Picking Up Steam, Greentech Media
New data from Wood Mackenzie shows a surge in project procurement in 2018.
URI ocean engineer: Sound from wind farm operations having no effect on environment,
University of Rhode Island News. The researcher is James H. Miller, University of Rhode Island professor of ocean engineering. Miller’s acoustic monitoring of the wind farm is part of an effort by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to understand the impact of wind turbine construction and operations on the environment so future wind farms can be planned appropriately. The Bureau has funded Miller — through Nebraska-based engineering consultants HDR Inc. — to evaluate the sound from wind farm construction and operations at other locations along the East Coast.
If you build it, they will buy it: sPower refinances $499 million of wind and solar, PV Magazine. The independent power producer has closed on a $499 million, investment grade, private placement financing representing approximately 650 MW of utility-scale wind and solar power projects.

CLIMATE ACTION NEWS

Exclusive: Exxon, Chevron join global industry climate group, Axios. Some of America’s most powerful U.S.-based oil companies — ExxonMobil, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum — are joining a global consortium of oil and gas producers seeking to address climate change, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The companies are the first U.S.-based members of the group, called the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative. This is one of the strongest signs yet of how America’s biggest oil companies, under pressure from investors and lawsuits, are joining most other U.S. corporations in working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite President Trump reversing America’s course on the matter.