Sempra Generation announced the company's power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric for the 150 MW Mesquite Solar 1 power plant has been approved. PG&E is to purchase power generated at the solar power plant to be built in Arizona (USA) for a period of 20 years. Once completed, Mesquite Solar 1 will be able to generate enough electrical energy to supply about 50,000 average homes annually.
Northland Power Income Fund announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its 54 MW Mont Miller wind farm, located near Murdochville, Quebec (Canada), to NextEra Energy Canada. The wind farm was completed and entered commercial operation in 2005. All power generated at the wind farm is sold to Hydro-Québec through a long-term power purchase agreement, expiring in 2026.
SunPower Corporation announced the inauguration of the company's solar cell fabrication facility which is being built in Malaysia, through a joint venture with AU Optonics Corporation. The new facility will have 1.4 GW of annual production capacity. It is located in Melaka, south of the country's capital Kuala Lumpur.
What's regarded as the largest wind power project in the world, the Jiuquan wind power complex in the Gansu Province, has passed a significant milestone. The first phase of the project has been completed, with the successful installation of 3500 wind turbines, totalling in 5.16 GW of capacity. Currently, this phase of the project is generating about 1.15 GW of power.
What could technologies like offshore wind and offshore oil and gas have in common? They both require a certain offshore area of exploitation. Even though wind takes care of business well above the ocean's surface, while oil and gas emerge from the bottom, hundreds of feet below the surface, there just isn't enough room for both technologies in one exploitation area. Which technology has the greater right, though? This is the topic of a potential legal action contemplated by the British oil industry, in order to defend its exploration interests in the North Sea, which happens to also be one of the prime areas for offshore wind development.
One of the 700 MW Francis turbines installed at the Three Gorges power plant.
The largest hydropower plant in the world, the Three Gorges Dam, is experiencing a maximum capacity load for the first time ever in the project's history. The main phase of the project was completed in 2006, and features a total of 18.2 GW of installed capacity (26 700 MW hydroturbines). It spans the Yangtze River in the Hubei Province in China. Construction is still going on at the site, eventually bringing another six generators and increasing capacity to 22.5 GW, and ship locks to increase the river's shipping capacity.
Puerto Rico will soon be getting a 4.5 MW solar PV park, featuring 20,000 solar panels, in the Cerillos area of the city of Ponce. The solar power plant is being developed by Windmar Renewable Energy, a state owned renewable energy development company. Once completed, the solar power plant will be the largest of its kind in Latin America. Completion is scheduled for late 2010.
RenewableUK has published the final draft of the document dealing with standards for training and safety regulations for working at large heights involved in the offshore wind energy industry. The document has been developed in collaboration with key industry representatives such as training providers, original equipment manufacturers, construction and supply partners, developers, and other stakeholders in the business. The document gives an outline of the basic safety training and knowledge required by RenewableUK for everyone involved in activities around offshore wind turbine installations.
Working at Height & Rescue Training Wind Turbines, as the document is called, is now available at the RenewableUK site. It doesn't contain hundreds of standards, but rather focuses on key areas and gives guidelines that were agreed upon to be reasonable. RenewableUK recommends training for all workers to be involved in offshore wind construction, through a RenewableUK approved training provider. Individuals that complete the training courses will be issued certificates, and recorded as RenewableUK approved. The certificate will be valid for two years, from the date of training completion.
Of course, none of this is official yet, since the document has to be ratified by RenewableUK's Health and Safety Strategy Group.
[source: RenewableUK, via: New Energy Focus]
The American Wing Energy Association (AwEA) announced the formation of the Offshore Wind Development Coallition (OffshoreWindDC), which represents a group of founding associations, institutions, and companies – AWEA, Apex Wind, Cape Wind, Deepwater Wind, Fishermen’s Energy, NRG Bluewater Wind, OffshoreMW, and Seawind Renewable. The new coallition's headquarters will be in Washington DC. The main focus of the organization will be advocacy and promotion of wind energy.
OffshoreWindDC will expand ongoing activities done by AWEA, which is currently working on securing long-term tax policy for offshore wind energy projects, and on shortening the permitting timeline for projects.
[source: AWEA]
Spain is now officially ahead of the US, previously numero uno in terms of installed solar power capacity with 422 MW. Spain now has 432 MW of solar capacity, following the commissioning of La Florida solar power plant with 50 MW of installed capacity. The power plant uses parabolic trough technology. The plant is located in the western part of Spain, at Alvarado, Badajoz.
Spain is the leader in solar power generation technology, with some provinces having as much as 70% of their power generation from renewables sources, namely solar, such as the norther Navarra region.
Even though this represents a nice achievement, it may be significant to say that the total solar power output of Spain or the US, as the largest solar power generators, is still at the level of a single average nuclear power plant. We need more, and luckily more solar power is coming in the future.
[source: Guardian]
