Wind Power Surpasses Hydro Power

An article in UtilityDive led me to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing that in 2016, the installed capacity of wind energy surpassed the installed capacity of hydroelectric energy for the first time. That milestone resonates with me as someone who has followed the growth of renewable energy for decades and was always depressed, early on, at how much of our renewable capacity was from hydroelectricity rather than solar or wind. But those days are now officially over.

Interestingly, for 2017, hydroelectric sources will still produce more actual electricity than wind generation.

Given the hydro fleet's historically higher capacity factors compared with wind and the expected strong hydrological conditions on the West Coast this year, such as the recent heavy rainfall in California and the Pacific Northwest, hydro generation in 2017 will likely still be higher than wind generation even with anticipated continuing additions of new wind capacity throughout the year.

Link:  U.S. wind generating capacity surpasses hydro capacity at the end of 2016

Telsa Powers Kuai

According to a story from Voice of America, Elong Musk is going to help the Hawaiian island of Kuai to reach a major, renewable-energy milestone: using solar power to provide night time electricity.

In the biggest project since it acquired the solar cell giant SolarCity, the Tesla company will build a 13-megawatt solar farm on the island of Kauai, covering more than 44 acres (18 hectares). The solar cells will charge a 53-megawatt hour battery station able to provide most of the island's power at night.

Link: Solar Energy Station to Power Hawaiian Island

California's Glass was Half-Full Last Friday

Jeremy Deaton at Vox has the update on Calfornia's progress on solar electricity generation.

Around midday on Friday, demand reached around 29 Gigawatts (GW), while solar was providing nearly 14 GW of generation — some 9 GW from utility-scale arrays and another 5 GW or so from rooftops and parking lot canopies around the state.

Deaton rightly celebrates the achievement, but then goes on to cover some of the challenges California faces in creating a solar economy.

Link: California just hit an incredible solar power milestone

Scotland Advancing in World Renewable Energy Markets

The transition to renewable energy is going to drive the world economy for decades to come. If Trump was halfway serious about revitalizing American manufacturing, he'd be going all in on this. But as it is, countries like Germany and China, and now even Scotland, are pulling ahead of us.

The Aberdeen (Scotland) Evening Express has the story.

“The stretching targets set in Scotland have meant our home-grown green energy industry has developed skills which are in demand on every inhabited continent, bringing investment and income to Scotland from across the world. Countries like Japan, Canada and Chile have seen the lead we’ve built up in wave and tidal energy and now employ Scottish organisations to advise them on developing their own marine energy resources."

Link: Scotland’s ‘renewable energy expertise’ in demand worldwide, says new research

Wave Energy Project in Ghana

Bianca Britton at CNN.com has the story on a new wave energy project off the coast of Ghana.

The thing I like about wave energy, speaking as a Californian, is that it is much less intermittent than solar or wind, and thus can provide much more reliable, 24-hour energy.

The advantages of wave power, the company argues, is that their machines do not emit pollution, waves are more predictable than other renewable sources and despite the original set up being costly, the running and maintenance costs are low.

Link: Could waves become the next big renewable energy source?

California Net Metering Cap Kicks In

Everyone is trying to minimize this, but the net metering cap is just another attempt by Pacific Gas & Electric to slow down the pace of the solar transition. Not good.

In January, the California Public Utilities Commission approved new net metering rules to keep retail rate remuneration for energy exported to the grid, but added the connection fee and a non-bypassable monthly charge ranging from $0.02/kWh to 0.03/kWh, in addition to time-of-use rates. Those rates are up for review in 2019.

Link: PG&E hits California net metering cap

Priming the Pump of Renewable Energy Financing

My own opinionse on how to finance the renewable energy transition tend towards things like nationalizing the electrical utilities and then using the utility income to finance the change.

But for people hung up on market mechanisms, here is a story from Jan Ellen Spiegel at InsideClimate News about Connecticut's Green Bank and its mission to secure private financing for the transition.

"Your goal is to get people into the real market where they can operate without government support or subsidy," said Esty, who is no longer commissioner. He believes industry, not government, should pick technologies. "The key role of government was to de-risk the flow of funds into clean energy."

Link: Does Connecticut's Green Bank Hold the Secret to the Future of Clean Energy?