News

Greentech Media // Apr 24, 2013

Investment in renewables is expected to triple due to the plunge in wind and solar power, paving way for renewables to account for half of all generation capacity by 2030.  Bloomberg New Energy Finance recently reported that annual spending on clean-energy projects may rise to $630 billion at the end of the next decade from $190 billion last year.

The Swiss engineering company ABB agreed on Monday to acquire Power-One, the number two global PV inverter company, for $1 billion.  The purchase will place ABB as the number-two global supplier of inverters and position them as a close competitor to inverter market leader SMA.

GigaOM // Apr 22, 2013

Interviews with 40 Executives Show Support for Policy Stability, R&D Support, Incentives that Phase Out, and a Level Competitive Playing FieldCreate market certainty by making rules and regulations stable, predictable and transparent, in order to encourage investment.Create a level playing field by providing advanced energy access to benefits provided to traditional energy and avoiding preferential treatment for particular technology solutions.Support innovation in a portfolio approach by increasing federal funding for research and development and using that funding to assist the widest array of technological possibilities.Limit the duration of incentive support in order to let competitive markets determine what technologies will be viable in the long run.Craft policies around broad problems rather than prescribe narrow solutions, in order to let innovation and competition in the marketplace surface the best answers.R&D Funding: Nearly every executive interviewed supports the Federal Government’s involvement in research and development in advanced energy, especially if done through independent agencies in support of a wide range of firms at varying scales. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) were cited as the best existing models, with DARPA exhibiting the added benefit of linking product development to an established defense procurement market.Tax Policy: Tax credits are seen as a powerful tool to incentivize but should sunset in a well-structured and clearly defined manner. For example, the renewable electricity production tax credit (PTC) has generally been extended in one- or two-year increments over a number of years, resulting in boom and bust cycles. It would be better for this mechanism to be extended for a fixed number of years and then phased out in a well-structured and clearly defined manner. Similarly, tax incentives that currently create preferential treatment for conventional energy technologies should either sunset or be widely offered to advanced energy generation technologies. The Master Limited Partnership (MLP) ownership structure, now available only to certain conventional energy facilities, is one that many executives say should be available to advanced energy technologies as well.Demand Creation: Government policy can help bring new technologies to scale by stimulating market demand in a variety of ways. For example, many executives view a national version of the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) currently in 29 states as a potential means to create market demand. They also believe that any federal RPS needs to be technology neutral, meaning it should not privilege one advanced energy technology over another, especially considering regional variation in renewable resources. The executives also cite both Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) as stimulating private investment. But they strongly prefer the CAFE approach, which allows vehicle manufactures to determine the best means of raising fuel economy, over the RFS, which requires production of specific biofuels.  Be targeted to driving innovation.Sunset or update automatically when market-based objectives are achieved.Provide stability and certainty for businesses and investors.Be technology neutral to support all forms of advanced energy.

America's first enhanced geothermal system (EGS) has come online. The project, based in New Hampshire, is producing 1.2 megawatts to an existing power plant. ORMAT, the company behind the project, has been developing the project since 2002. The industry has been in search of advanced geothermal technology that would allow for safe and cost-effective production of energy. ORMAT has developed "game-changing" technology with this project. Renewable Energy World explains:

Solar energy installations accounted for 100 percent of new power capacity in March, and advanced energy represented all new energy installations in Q1 2013,  according to a new report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission . Natural gas and wind are leading the year with 1,145 megawatts and 1,431 respectively. Overall, advanced energy installations have accounted for more than 78% of new power generation. Download the report  here .

Advises Lawmakers to Transition from Current Patchwork to Technology-Neutral Provisions that Provide Stability, Phase Out Incentives Based on Market CriteriaBe targeted: limit incentives to where innovation is needed to build a more secure, clean and affordable energy future. Rather than providing permanent support to mature technologies that already have significant market penetration, the federal government’s role should be limited to driving innovation and commercializing the next generation of technologies that promise public benefits such as enhancing energy security through fuel diversity and grid modernization, providing cleaner energy that better protects public health, and reducing energy costs for consumers and businesses.Sunset automatically when market-based objectives are achieved. No company or technology should be entitled to permanent subsidies. When left in place too long, tax incentives distort price and market signals and ultimately create barriers to entry for new technologies. Tax incentives should remain in place only long enough to achieve a measurable, market-based objective that represents a point at which emerging technologies have reached sufficient maturity to stand on their own.Provide stability and certainty for businesses and investors. Rules that change frequently or unpredictably are disruptive to markets and harmful to the businesses, investors, and consumers participating in them. The life of many current credits is determined by expiration dates that are short-term, arbitrary in nature, and unrelated to market conditions. When credits are allowed to lapse, or renewed at the eleventh hour – and extended to the next short-term, arbitrary deadline – the result is a cycle of boom and bust. Using meaningful performance metrics tied to maturity in the marketplace, rather than calendar deadlines, to sunset a tax benefit would provide certainty to investors, focus businesses on bringing their technologies to scale and down the cost curve, and allow market dynamics to drive business success.Be technology neutral. Many of today’s energy tax policies were written with one sector in mind, even favoring a single technology. Such an approach distorts market signals and puts the weight of the government behind investment decisions. This is inefficient and it imposes unnecessary risk on taxpayers. In addition, this approach can inadvertently freeze out next- generation technologies. Energy tax benefits should be applied as broadly as possible to stimulate innovation across technologies, including those that have not yet emerged.

Wind energy had a huge year in 2012, representing 42 percent of all new electricity megawatts installed, according to a new industry report from AWEA. Wind energy represents a $25 billion investment of private capital for projects in the U.S. alone. Overall, total installation of wind power in the United States has surpassed 60 gigawatts. Texas and California led the industry in installations: Texas installed 1,826 megawatts and California installed 1,656 megawatts of wind in 2012. Bloomberg quotes AWEA's Chief Economist, Elizabeth Salerno:

Maryland's Governor O'Malley signed the state's first ever offshore wind measure passed through the legislature earlier this year. Graham Richard, CEO of AEE, released the following statement: