Australia installed another 71MW of small scale rooftop solar (systems under 100kW) in April, extending its record start to the year as households and business continued to respond to high electricity prices, easing solar module prices and the rapid falls in battery storage.
It’s no secret that solar PV is now the cheapest form of new-build utility-scale power generation around, but we’re not far from the point when it will also be cheaper that incumbent fossil fuel generators.
Florida has many faces. One face strives to support clean energy and jobs being lit by the sun. In spite of the fact that a group of people cast their votes in this swing state toward a tragically absurd direction (choosing a political leader who is ecologically unaware, deaf, and blind), the state continues to move towards renewable growth — solar in particular. The Palm Beach Post reported that a bill to implement the constitutional amendment designed to expand the use of solar and other renewable energy devices is ready to go to Governor Rick Scott. It is now delivered to the governor’s desk. Time to act swiftly, governor.
Origin Energy has set a stunning new benchmark for renewable energy off-take deals in Australia – and sounded the alarm for energy incumbents – after committing to a long-term power purchase agreement of below $60/MWh for the 530MW Stockyard Hill Wind Farm in Victoria.
As governments are focusing increasingly on industrial growth strategies, offshore wind is becoming a double win for policymakers, says Ray Thompson, Head of Business Development at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
The Dakota Access pipeline has already had its first oil spill during testing prior to beginning full operations. No one would know about it except for a news story by one intrepid local reporter.
The question of scale economies in solar has been both a technological and an economic one. As mentioned before, the contention in the late 2000s was that concentrating solar thermal power plant technology would outstrip solar photovoltaics (PV) because the latter was marginally more efficient (at the point of generation) and could incorporate energy storage.
Spanish wind energy giant Gamesa, in its last quarter as an independent company, reported stellar performance for the first quarter of 2017, with revenues increasing by 45% and sales totaling nearly 1,500 megawatts.
2017 could be a big year for the development of microgrids in remote and non-electrified regions and countries, with storage companies and technology behemoths leading the way on installing and investing in storage micro-grids and solar for regional and island countries and communities.
A new research note from MAKE Consulting has confirmed what many have said before, the record low prices being awarded at renewable energy auctions across the world throughout 2016 and 2017 are indicative of the increasing competitiveness of renewable energy technologies globally.
