Advanced Energy Perspectives

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Offshore wind turbines are located on bodies of water where there is access to stronger wind resources than are typically available on land. These turbines convert the kinetic energy of the wind to electricity with no greenhouse gas emissions. Generally, these turbines are fixed directly to the sea floor, though technologies are being developed to mount turbines on floating platforms, which will enable deployment in deeper water or farther offshore. In general, because of the higher expense of foundations and installation compared to land-based wind turbines, offshore turbines are sized larger (3 MW to 5 MW, with even larger units in development), which enables greater output per turbine.

A pair of deals in the first weeks of the new year suggest that 2015 may be “The Year of the Yieldco.” Earlier this month, Pattern Energy, a leading independent power company (and AEE Member), closed on a public offering that raised $351 million, close on the heels of a deal last month with Tokyo-based Green Power Investment Corp. for rights to a 1 GW pipeline of development projects in Japan. Sol-Wind Renewable Power, a New York-based company that owns a portfolio of solar generation assets, also recently announced an IPO targeted to raise $174 million. These developments show that what Bloomberg New Energy Finance has called the “emerging phenomenon” of yieldcos is not just emerging - it’s here.

Following last week’s announcement that Apple partnered with First Solar to build new solar to power its headquarters and a huge portion of its California operations, Google announced that it would be lighting up the Googleplex – its Mountain View, CA, headquarters – entirely with wind power.  Google is entering an agreement with NextEra, which owns the Altamont Pass installation, to purchase 50 percent of the wind farm’s power production. The resulting 43MW of capacity will be enough to run the entire Google campus. The deal will also bring the pioneering wind installation of 30 years ago into the modern era of advanced energy.

Ever since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed Clean Power Plan last June, critics have raised concerns that the proposed regulation might jeopardize the reliability of our electricity system. Reliability has become a key policy talking-point, and for good reason: Nobody wants to see the lights go off. Reliable electricity is essential to our daily lives, our economy, our health, and our safety. According to a new report by The Brattle Group prepared for the Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEEI), however, the Clean Power Plan will not come at the expense of reliability. As they continue policy discussions and begin to develop compliance plans, states and system operators should take notice.

Read the full Brattle Group report here.

In the report, The Brattle Group addresses concerns voiced by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) in its Initial Reliability Review (IRR) of the Clean Power Plan, and finds that NERC not only overstated the potential problems, but also ignored key solutions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) plan to regulate carbon emissions is just the latest challenge facing the U.S. electric power system. Technological innovation is disrupting old ways of doing business and accelerating grid modernization. Earlier this year, AEE released Advanced Energy Technologies for Greenhouse Gas Reduction, a report detailing the use, application, and benefits of 40 specific advanced energy technologies and services. This post is one in a series drawn from the technology profiles within that report.

Wind is a free and abundant fuel source. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in wind into electricity. Turbines range in size from under 1 kW for off-grid or residential applications, to 8 MW for the largest units in development for offshore applications.