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- Beaufort Court, a zero-emissions headquarters for wind energy developer Renewable Energy Systems, has won awards from the British Council of Offices and the Royal Institute of British Architects for refurbishing the historic building and providing space heating from solar thermal collectors and underground seasonal heat storage, as well as a borehole cooling system and a solar PV array and wind turbine next to the M25 highway. The site is self-sufficient in energy and sells surplus green power to the grid, and the hybrid PV system is the first of its kind in the world.
- The Canadian Wind Energy Association and the Ontario Waterpower Association are promoting creation of a Renewable Energy Secretariat in the province of Ontario that would “articulate and institutionalize” the government’s commitment to green power. The recommendation would overcome the “many barriers and/or additional costs” facing the deployment of renewables under the current policy environment, and could “act as a champion and a watchdog, working within government to create a positive climate for investment, and monitoring policy initiatives that may have unintended consequences for renewable energy.” Government needs to be “proactive in ensuring that policies throughout government align with the government’s objective of increasing the supply of renewable energy,” and a properly-resourced Renewable Energy Secretariat “will pay enormous dividends for the province’s ratepayers by reducing policy barriers, increasing renewable energy supply and reducing its cost.”
- The renewable energy industry in Vermont says the state must do more to promote green power development. Members of Renewable Energy Vermont say the state was not considered when a Spanish turbine manufacturer decided to build a new plant in Pennsylvania.
- The environmental group Greenpeace says the provincial government in British Columbia considers coal to be a clean energy source. The recent BC Power Summit was designed to discuss implementation of the province’s new energy policy, and the agenda listed coal under the section entitled ‘clean & green energy’ but made no mention of wind or solar. “The BC government is so focussed on oil development and coal generation, it doesn’t even know what constitutes renewable energy,” say officials.
- The mayor of London, England, Ken Livingstone, has appointed Allan Jones to lead the city’s bid promote renewable energy. In his role previous role at Woking Borough Council, Jones installed 10% of Britain’s solar PV and has been tasked to implement the municipal energy strategy to generate 665 GWh of electricity and 280 GWh of heat, from 40,000 renewable energy projects by 2010.
- Proponents of a renewable energy initiative in Colorado claim that the state’s largest electric utility, Xcel Energy, is violating campaign finance laws by sending pamphlets opposing the measure in customers' bills. Coloradans for Clean Energy has already filed one complaint in connection with Amendment 37, which would require large utilities to source 10% of their electricity from renewables by 2015. Supporters have raised US$865,607 to promote the plan and opponents have raised $1.1 million to defeat it.
- The largest municipal utility in Canada has created the position of Chief Conservation Officer to promote renewables and to reduce overall energy use by 5% by 2007. Toronto Hydro is active in renewables with its joint-ownership of North America's first urban wind turbine at the downtown Exhibition Place and its recent installation of the largest solar PV system in the city.
- Honeywell and the California municipality of Cathedral City have signed a US$2.7 million energy savings performance contract that will reduce the city's annual operating costs by 33%. The project includes a solar PV canopy on the roof of the civic parking garage and involves a rebate of $1 million from the State of California. The 1,600 PV panels will reduce CO2 emissions by 514 tons each year and the rebate pays some of the $2.7 million total cost.
- The University of Waterloo in Ontario has received Cdn$4.4 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to create a Centre for Advanced Photovoltaic Devices & Systems that will provide a comprehensive infrastructure facility for developing affordable technologies for PV energy and to develop PV technologies that offer a cost-competitive alternative to fossil-fuel based technologies. “Being an environment-friendly technology alone cannot warrant photovoltaics being accepted as a viable alternative to conventional energy sources," say officials. "Therefore, bringing down the cost of photovoltaics is of paramount importance." Project collaborators include the University of Toronto, McMaster University, York University, University of Saskatchewan, Concordia University, University of Western Ontario and Simon Fraser University.
- A P2 million (ca $US36000) solar electrification project will start soon in a remote barangay in the Philippine region of Maguindanao that is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Alliance for Mindanao for Grid Renewable Energy (AMORE). The project will start this month to offer solar power to local residents for P1000 (ca $US20) for capital costs and a membership fee of P100 (ca $US2) per family as maintenance for the solar array that will be constructed in the community.
- Xantrex Technology will supply industrial solar PV inverters for commercial and industrial installations by PowerLight of California. The companies have signed a multi-year supplier agreement, following their partnership for the past decade. Xantrex credits PowerLight's support for the success of its 225 kW three-phase PV inverters.
- The standards association in Canada has published a Technical Information Letter to provide a certification program for solar domestic hot water systems. The TIL will form the basis for a certification program until CSA publishes an updated standard next year. CSA now will focus on an installation standard for solar DHW.
- A 5 MW wind turbine developed by REpower has installed its rotor in preparation for commissioning the largest turbine in the world by the end of this year. The rotor diameter is 126 m and weighs 120 tonne.
- U.S. environmentalists say senator Hillary Clinton helped to defeat an amendment proposed by senator John Warner, that was designed to block development of offshore windfarms until a federal process is established.
- Renewable Energy Systems of Britain has sold its 26 MW Glens of Foudland windfarm to Centrica Renewable Energy in Aberdeenshire. The completed facility will include 20 turbines of 1.3 MW each when it is completed next summer, displacing the emission of 60,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
- Gaoth Tec Teo of Ireland has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan and Cyclics of the U.S. to develop thermoplastic composite turbine blades for large-scale windfarms around the world. The use of resin will allow 19 tonne blades to be recyclable at the end of their useful life.
- Omaha Public Power District will purchase 10 MW of electricity from a windfarm being built by Nebraska Public Power District, trebling the amount of green power for OPPD but still accounting for only 0.5% of its total capacity. The utility decided to buy into the windfarm because the state will waive its law that requires utilities to use the least-costly source of generation, for small experimental projects that serve the public good. The wind power will cost OPPD 3.4¢/kWh compared with 3¢ for conventional power.
- A company in Texas has signed contracts with two U.S. aboriginal tribes in California to develop the first windfarm to sell power to the SDG&E utility. Superior Renewable Energy says it will erect 38 turbines by 2006 on the Campo and Ewiiaapaayp reservations in a US$80 million project that would create the country’s largest windfarm on Indian land.
- The Cdn$100 million Summerview windfarm has started commercial operation near Calgary, Alberta, with 38 Vestas wind turbines of 1.8 MW capacity. The facility is operated by TransAlta, which now has a portfolio of 314 MW of green power including 151 MW of wind and 163 MW of geothermal energy in California.
- Horizon Organic of Colorado, a major U.S. manufacturer of certified organic foods, will purchase wind power to replace the electricity used in its operations. A related company, White Wave, the country's largest manufacturer of soyfoods, became the largest company to purchase wind energy credits for 100% of its needs last year and now purchases 25,000 MWh of green power.
- Municipal council near Adelaide, Australia, has denied an application from Origin Energy to build the Kemmiss Hill windfarm. The 15 turbines would have a negative impact on the area's visual amenity and character, the council decided.
- The TidEl system will represent UK innovation at a pavilion at World Expo 2005 to be held in Japan. SMD Hydrovision in Newcastle upon Tyne is developing the TidEl as a tidal stream generator that uses a mooring arrangement to restrain a submerged buoyant turbine. A 1 MW offshore prototype will be developed by next year.
- Rentricity has received funding from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund to develop its ‘Flow-to-Wire’ system that recovers energy from within a water utility's pressurized water piping systems. The system will have an average capacity of 35 kW to generate 307,000 kWh per year at each installation.
- The government of Germany will lend Euro 22 million to Pakistan to develop a hydroelectric project.
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