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Posted on Wed, 02/22/2012 - 11:43 PM by Bryan Nisperos
viewed 83 times
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) will procure 300 megawatts of renewable energy from two new projects, one wind and one solar, allowing it move closer to meeting California’s renewable portfolio standard, which requires utilities to source 33 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2020. The larger portion of the new contracts, 200 megawatts, will come from the Mount Signal Solar project in Imperial Valley, Calif. The utility signed a 25-year power-purchase agreement with an 8minutenergy renewables subsidiary and AES Solar. The first 100 megawatts of the project is expected to come online in the middle of 2013 with the rest coming online later in the year. “The Mount Signal project will be carried over the Sunrise Power link that’s [being completed this year],” said SDG&E spokesperson Art Larson. The remaining 100 megawatts will come through wind. That’s through the 189-megawatt Manzana Wind farm in the Tehachapi region near Rosamond, Calif., according to the company. “That project is under a 20-year power-purchase agreement.” The Manzana project will be completed this year,” Larson said. It’s part of a big jump for the company, a Sempra Energy subsidiary, which catapulted from having just 11.9 percent of renewables in its generation portfolio in 2010. “In 2011, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric represented more than 20 percent of the power provided to our 1.4 million electric customers,” said James Avery, senior vice president of power supply for SDG&E, in a release. “We signed 17 renewable energy contracts in 2011,” said Larson. “It was a real robust signing program last year, and there’s a lot of renewables coming available now.” By July of last year, the company had signed 1.2 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation to its portfolio, some of which was online already. The utility also is a leader in distributed generation. “Rooftop solar produces more than 125 megawatts of distributed generation that feeds directly into our grid,” Larson said. In all, it has rooftop solar on more than 16,000 rooftops in its service area. It’s adding in more distributed generation by installing 100 megawatts of PV at existing SDG&E property and purchasing power from small independent producers between 1 megawatt and 5 megawatts in size. MORE NEWS FROM CLEAN ENERGY AUTHORITYSolar stocks likely to remain at record lowsWith fundamental issues in the solar industry, including oversupply and consolidation, solar stocks are likely to remain at record lows through the end of 2012 and into 2013. New solar curriculum teaches students about renewable energyOne Million Lights recently teamed up with SunPower to bring a different kind of solar illumination to the world. Commerce Dept. imposes preliminary tariffs on Chinese PV manufacturersIn the trade complaint against Chinese silicon photovoltaic manufacturers the other shoe dropped today and it was louder than the soft thud of the first shoe. The U.S. Commerce Department preliminarily found that Chinese solar PV manufacturers were guilty of dumping PV cells and modules in the U.S. and impose preliminary anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese-based PV manufacturers. Enphase brings the AC/PV roadshow to DenverEnphase, a manufacturer of microinverters for solar photovoltaics is making a lot of noise and on the heels of a successful initial public offering, the company has launched the Enphase Roadshow. Through the roadshow the company is traveling across the country to show off its microinverters and associated technologies that allow each PV module in an array to produce to its maximum ability. The roadshow made a two-day stop in Denver at the World Renewable Energy Forum to show off its latest. DOE Secretary sees bright future for solarYesterday Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Dr. Steven Chu discussed why he got involved in renewable energy and how solar and wind are becoming cost competitive with natural gas—which is currently cheaper than coal in the U.S. He also warned of the U.S. losing ground in terms of manufacturing jobs, unless Congress takes action to continue to support renewable energy. Chu made his remarks at Wednesday’s World Renewable Energy Forum keynote address. RELATED SOLAR NEWSSolarWorld States Anti-Dumping Duties Against ‘Big China Solar’ a Step Toward Restoring Industry CompetitionApple to Power 3 Data Centers with 100 Percent Renewable EnergyGreenpeace advocates gathered outside of Apple's Cupertino headquarters early this week dressed as iPhones and iPods, declaring their outrage about the company's lack of clean energy use. They projected social media messages from supporters on the side of the building:Solar Industry Reacts to Anti-Dumping RulingThe US has imposed higher-than-expected tariffs of around 31% on Chinese PV imports, drawing support from some US manufacturers and sharp criticism from Chinese officials and companies. In its preliminary ruling May 17, the US Commerce Department issued anti-dumping duties of 31.14% on imports of solar cells and panels from Suntech, 31.22% from Trina Solar, 31.18 percent from other companies that had requested but not received individual duty determinations and 249.96 percent from all other Chinese producers, including those controlled by the Chinese government. NREL Director Named Chair of National Science BoardDan Arvizu, director of the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has been elected Chairman of the National Science Board. The 25-member body advises the president and Congress on science and engineering issues, and is the policy-setting and budget-approving body for the National Science Foundation. With an annual budget of $6.9 billion, the foundation funds about 20% of all federally supported basic scientific research at U.S. colleges and universities. Arvizu will serve a two-year term as chairman. Are IT Data Centers Emerging as a 'Killer App' for Green Power? Part 1Last month, Greenpeace launched a series of coordinated protests at Amazon, Apple and Microsoft locations to draw attention to the companies’ use of GHG intensive fuels in powering their data centers. The protests were a follow up to their recently released report, “How Clean is Your Cloud,” which criticized the companies foSOLAR ENERGY ARTICLES
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