Solar Power Automobile Conversions

A new law puts Minnesota at the forefront of the renewable energy push.

Thursday, Governor Tim Pawlenty will sign into law a measure renewable resource advocates call “aggressive.”

The law requires all utility companies to be using renewable resources for a quarter of their production by 2025. The only company not required to this is XCel Energy, who will be held to a higher standard of 30 percent by 2020.

States around the nation are reaching for renewable resource solutions. Colorado, for example, put forth a 20 percent by 2020 requirement. Other states, such as New Hampshire, have taken a page from Minnesota’s book to consider the 25 by 25 requirement.

Estimates from 2004 put Minnesota’s power dependency on coal at about 50 percent of production. Only 8 percent of power production in Minnesota came from renewable resources in the same year.

The new bill sets a goal for the state’s power companies to use renewables for at least 10 percent of their production by 2015.

Nationally, advocates are pushing Congress to set goals similar to those here in Minnesota. By promoting solar power, biodiesel and wind farms, those seeking more renewable resources in national energy say utilities across the country could be focused on the 25 by 25 goal.

Ted Turner says he will launch a new business venture to provide clean power solutions. Turner plans to partner with Dome-Tech Solar, a leading solar energy developer, based in Branchburg, New Jersey to create DT Solar, a Turner renewable energy company.

DT Solar will initially focus on providing on-site solar electric power systems for commercial and industrial clients, as well as developing larger, utility-scale solar power plants in the southwestern United States.

"Our future depends on changing the way we use energy," said Turner. “We've got to move away from fossil fuels and develop long-term energy solutions that work. Using clean energy technologies, such as solar power, is the right thing to do, and it represents a tremendous business opportunity.”

The new Turner renewable energy company, DT Solar, will build off of the recent success of Dome-Tech Solar, a fast-growing top-tier provider of commercial and industrial solar power systems. The company plans for immediate expansion into several U.S. markets, including California, which has recently launched a $3 billion, ten-year program to increase the use of solar power in the state.

“We are delighted to partner with a business leader of Ted Turner’s caliber,’’ said Tom Kuster, DT Solar’s CEO. “Ted has a passion for protecting the environment, an incredible vision and a proven ability to build a successful business enterprise. We look forward to working with him to bring clean and renewable energy solutions to a broad spectrum of energy users in the U.S. as well as globally.”

Turner is chairman of the United Nations Foundation, the Turner Foundation, and co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (co-chaired with Senator Sam Nunn). He is also chairman of Turner Enterprises Inc., which oversees Turner’s two million acres of private landholdings in 14 western states, as well as his 40,000-head bison herd. In addition, Turner co-founded the restaurant chain Ted’s Montana Grill. Turner is most known as the visionary behind such cable networks as CNN, TBS, TNT and the Cartoon Network. Turner is the recipient of numerous civic and industry awards and honors, including being named Time Magazine's 1991 Man of the Year.

Dome-Tech Solar develops and builds large-scale solar energy systems for commercial, industrial and institutional clients. It was founded in 2003 and has rapidly grown into one of the nation’s largest developers of on-site solar power generation.

Delmarva Power and state officials are contemplating offshore wind power as a new electric provider in Delaware, the Delaware State News reported."

"We know that the onshore wind resource is really pretty poor, we know that the offshore wind resource is really much better", said Phil Cherry, energy program administrator for the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Delmarva's 59 percent rate increase last year spurred action by the state to prevent further increases.It's very appealing from an environmental point of view, Cherry said. The problem is could you afford to build it in Delaware, and if you could afford it, would the public be accepting of these things off the shore of Delaware?According to legislation Delmarva must get 400 megawatts from instate suppliers.

Three energy companies, NRG, Conectiv, and BluewaterWind, entered bids for a long-term contract with Delmarva Power.NRG, a New Jersey company, proposed building a coal gasification plant, Conectiv Energy in Delaware proposed a 300-watt power plant or a 180-watt plant in the state, and the New Jersey based BluewaterWind proposed installing offshore wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean off the Delaware coast or in the Delaware Bay.We'll hope that we are one of the bidders selected for more detailed analysis, said Jim Lanard, Bluewater spokesman.

More than $70bn of new money was invested globally in clean or renewable energy or clean technology last year, according to a specialist research firm.

This represents a 43 per cent increase on the year before, says Michael Liebreich of New Energy Finance, who estimates there are more than 1,246 private equity funds targeting environmental projects.

Results of a new study show that, under the right policies, utilities can incorporate wind power into their resource portfolio, comprising up to one-fourth of their delivered energy, without sacrificing reliability and with minor costs for absorbing the wind.

The Midwest Wind Integration Study, which was required by the Minnesota legislature in 2005 to evaluate reliability and other impacts of higher levels of wind generation and carried out independently by EnerNex Corporation and WindLogics, found that the total integration cost for up to 25% wind energy delivered to all Minnesota customers is less than one-half cent ($0.0045 cents) per kWh of wind generation.

The 25% penetration level of wind -- equivalent to that provided in the U.S. today by nuclear power (20%), or natural gas and hydropower combined (25%) -- is predicated on operating in the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) service area, control area consolidation (currently underway in MISO), geographic diversity of the wind power, and adequate transmission.

"This study is groundbreaking in its examination of the highest level of wind energy penetration ever undertaken in an authoritative U.S. power system study," said Utility Wind Integration Group (UWIG) Executive Director J. Charles Smith. UWIG brings together utilities that have wind on their systems or are interested in its development. "Denmark and several regions in Europe have already achieved such high levels of wind energy use. What this study provides is insight into how such levels can also be accommodated here in the U.S., and the conclusion is clear: under good system conditions such as those in the MISO service territory, wind energy can be readily integrated into the utility system."

"The study is especially significant both because of the amount of wind involved and the fact that it was sanctioned by the Minnesota legislature," said American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Deputy Policy Director Mike Jacobs. "The Minnesota study shows that, when the wind generation is spread around the state, and MISO markets and operators do what they do best, integration costs are a small concern. Like the studies that have come before, this report shows the relative ease in absorbing the wind -- opening the way for wind energys benefits to be reaped on a large scale for consumers, and for our economy, environment, and energy security."

Beth Soholt, Director of Wind on the Wires, said, "The study is an important piece to achieving a higher level of wind penetration in the Midwest. The robust participation as well as the good results will go a long way in advancing wind power in Minnesota and the region." Wind on the Wires brings together wind developers, environmental organizations, tribal representatives and clean energy advocates to remove bottlenecks in the transmission system and give wind energy equal access to transmission lines.

The Minnesota study is the latest in a series examining how utilities can manage ever-larger amounts of wind power on their systems, and it comes at a time of strong growth for the wind industry. Even though wind provides less than 1% of total U.S. electricity generation today, with 2,700 megawatts (MW) expected to be completed in 2006, wind will be the second-largest source of new power generation (in both new capacity installed and new electricity produced) for the second year in a row.

The study scope included evaluation of reliability and costs associated with increasing wind capacity to 15%, 20% and 25% of Minnesota retail electric energy sales by 2020. The study process included a Technical Review Committee comprised of numerous stakeholders from both the private and public sector: Minnesota utilities subject to the Minnesota Renewable Energy Objective (10% by 2015), MISO, Midwest Reliability Organization/Mid-Continent Area Power Pool, Minnesota Department of Commerce, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Community-Based Energy Development, U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories (Oak Ridge and National Renewable Energy Laboratory), Utility Wind Integration Group, and study contractors EnerNex and WindLogics. In particular, MISO was a key study participant that supplied power system data and technical expertise, as well as ran much of the system modeling.

Crest Energy announced a project proposal to build a tidal power plant and converter in a New Zealand harbor.

The plant, proposed for an area just north of Auckland in the Kaipara Harbour, would have a 200 megawatt capacity with 200 turbines, a DC-AC converter and a land substation. Two 20-mile DC cables will be buried a minimum of 4 feet underneath the harbor floor to reduce risks to the marine life.

Tidal power is predictable, sustainable, silent and invisible -- these advantages need to remain the focus, rather than the eight hours a day when tidal turbines produce little or no power, Anthony Hopkins, director of Crest Energy, Ltd., said in a statement. The application for the project was submitted to the Northland Regional Council last week and the process is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.

The Kaipara Harbour was chosen as the location for the marine turbines because of its length and high volume of water flow. There is also no commercial shipping and Hopkins said that allows the turbines to be placed 16 feet below low tide.

The relatively low labor rates and a commitment to sustainable energy make the idea of placiing marine turbines for power generation in the mouth of a natural harbor not as unrealistic as it might seem n other countries. New Zealand produces over 60 percent of its electricity from renewable energy, primarily from hydroelectric and geothermal sources, Hopkins said.