GE Sees Solar Cheaper Than Fossil Power in Five Years
By Brian Wingfield - May 26, 2011 Solar power may be cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels and nuclear reactors within three to five years because of innovations, said Mark M. Little, the global research director for General Electric Co. (GE)
“If we can get solar at 15 cents a kilowatt-hour or lower, which I’m hopeful that we will do, you’re going to have a lot of people that are going to want to have solar at home,” Little said yesterday in an interview in Bloomberg’s Washington office. The 2009 average U.S. retail rate per kilowatt-hour for electricity ranges from 6.1 cents in Wyoming to 18.1 cents in Connecticut, according to Energy Information Administration data released in April.
GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, announced in April that it had boosted the efficiency of thin-film solar panels to a record 12.8 percent. Improving efficiency, or the amount of sunlight converted to electricity, would help reduce the costs without relying on subsidies.
The thin-film panels will be manufactured at a plant that GE intends to open in 2013. The company said in April that the factory will have about 400 employees and make enough panels each year to power about 80,000 homes.
Solar-panel makers from Arizona to Shanghai are expanding factories to add more cost savings that analysts say will sustain the industry’s expansion. Installations may increase by as much as 50 percent in 2011, worth about $140 billion, as cheaper panels and thin film make developers less dependent on government subsidies, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast.
Solar Costs Dive
The cost of solar cells, the main component in standard panels, has fallen 21 percent so far this year, and the cost of solar power is now about the same as the rate utilities charge for conventional power in the sunniest parts of California, Italy and Turkey, the London-based research company said.
Most solar panels use silicon-based photovoltaic cells to transform sunlight into electricity. The thin-film versions, made of glass or other material coated with cadmium telluride or copper indium gallium selenide alloys, account for about 15 percent of the $28 billion in worldwide solar-panel sales.
First Solar Inc. (FSLR), based in Tempe, Arizona, is the world’s largest producer of thin-film panels, with $2.6 billion in yearly revenue.
Smart Grid
Little also said the U.S. transition to a full smart grid will take “many, many years” to develop.
A complete smart grid would consist of millions of next- generation meters installed in businesses and homes, appliances that adjust their energy use when prices change, and advanced software to help utilities control electricity flows, he said.
“I think it’s going to be a long time before we can realize the full potential of the smart grid,” he said. “But it is coming.”
GE this year plans to introduce the “Nucleus,” a device that will let consumers track their household electricity use with personal computers and smart phones. The company also is investing in its appliance and lighting unit, including $432 million for U.S. refrigeration and design centers announced in October.
Utilities need to have incentives to put in place devices that save energy, and Congress needs to provide greater certainty on tax policy surrounding renewable energy, Little said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Wingfield in Washington at bwingfield3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net
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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Goldman Unit Gets $90.6 Million Loan Guarantee for Colorado Solar Farm
Goldman Unit Gets $90.6 Million Loan Guarantee for Colorado Solar Farm
By Andrew Herndon and Brian Wingfield - May 10, 2011 Cogentrix Energy LLC, a unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), received a $90.6 million conditional loan guarantee from the U.S. Energy Department to build a solar plant in Colorado.
The 30-megawatt Alamosa Solar Generating Project will use concentrating photovoltaic technology that focuses the sun’s rays to increase output, according to a statement today from the Energy Department.
The concentrating solar plant near the city of Alamosa will have optical equipment and multijunction solar cells from Amonix Inc. that boost conversion efficiency to about 40 percent, or nearly double that of conventional photovoltaic panels, the agency said. It will also use a dual-axis tracking system to follow the sun’s movement throughout the day and maximize power production.
Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) utility, will purchase all of the generated electricity, which is expected to be enough to power more than 6,500 homes.
Cogentrix operates 17 power plants in the U.S. and one in Turkey, fueled mainly by natural gas and coal. It expanded into solar with the February 2009 purchase of two solar-thermal facilities in Daggett, California, that have 43 megawatts of capacity.
The Energy Department’s loan guarantee program has committed more than $7.5 billion in loan guarantees for solar energy projects.
To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at aherndon2@bloomberg.net; Brian Wingfield in Washington at bwingfield3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net
.
By Andrew Herndon and Brian Wingfield - May 10, 2011 Cogentrix Energy LLC, a unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), received a $90.6 million conditional loan guarantee from the U.S. Energy Department to build a solar plant in Colorado.
The 30-megawatt Alamosa Solar Generating Project will use concentrating photovoltaic technology that focuses the sun’s rays to increase output, according to a statement today from the Energy Department.
The concentrating solar plant near the city of Alamosa will have optical equipment and multijunction solar cells from Amonix Inc. that boost conversion efficiency to about 40 percent, or nearly double that of conventional photovoltaic panels, the agency said. It will also use a dual-axis tracking system to follow the sun’s movement throughout the day and maximize power production.
Public Service Co. of Colorado, an Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) utility, will purchase all of the generated electricity, which is expected to be enough to power more than 6,500 homes.
Cogentrix operates 17 power plants in the U.S. and one in Turkey, fueled mainly by natural gas and coal. It expanded into solar with the February 2009 purchase of two solar-thermal facilities in Daggett, California, that have 43 megawatts of capacity.
The Energy Department’s loan guarantee program has committed more than $7.5 billion in loan guarantees for solar energy projects.
To contact the reporters on this story: Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at aherndon2@bloomberg.net; Brian Wingfield in Washington at bwingfield3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net
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Monday, May 16, 2011
Xcel exceeding renewable energy goals in Colorado
Xcel exceeding renewable energy goals in Colorado
Chris Meehan
May 15, 2011
Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) is adding in more than enough wind and solar power in Colorado to meet current requirements under the state’s renewable energy portfolio law. Under the law, Xcel and other investor-owned utilities must source 30 percent of its electric from renewable resources by 2020.
The company said today (May 13) that it was filing its 2012 Renewable Energy Standard Compliance Plan with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. In a press release the company said the filing shows that Xcel Energy is well ahead of targets to meet the renewable energy standard. The plan was not available for review at the time of writing but will be available via the commission’s Website, according to Xcel. “We won’t post it online until they have it,” said Xcel spokesperson Michelle Aguayo.
The filing is a 10-year outlook of how Xcel plans to comply with the renewable portfolio standard. It also seeks approval for its plans in the next two years, according to Aguayo.
Among other things, Xcel will double the amount, in terms of megawatts, of customer-sited or distributed generation, according to Aguayo. Under law, Xcel is required to source 3 percent of its renewable energy from such systems.
To exceed the requirement, Xcel will add-in 30 megawatts of customer-sited generation for each of the next two years through its Solar*Rewards program. “The 30 megawatts is double the amount of customer-sited electricity above what is needed to meet minimum compliance with the renewable energy standard,” the company said in a press release.
In the filing the company is proposing a plan to balance its Renewable Energy Standard Adjustment (RESA) fund. RESA is a 2 percent fee assessed on customers’ electric bill to fund renewable energy development in Colorado. But under the way the program is currently administered the utility has spent more on renewable energy than covered under RESA.
Xcel also is seeking to diversify its portfolio of renewable generation. “We’re going to continue to invest in Solar Rewards but we’ll look balance the portfolio with other renewable sources,” Aguayo said.
Chris Meehan
May 15, 2011
Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) is adding in more than enough wind and solar power in Colorado to meet current requirements under the state’s renewable energy portfolio law. Under the law, Xcel and other investor-owned utilities must source 30 percent of its electric from renewable resources by 2020.
The company said today (May 13) that it was filing its 2012 Renewable Energy Standard Compliance Plan with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. In a press release the company said the filing shows that Xcel Energy is well ahead of targets to meet the renewable energy standard. The plan was not available for review at the time of writing but will be available via the commission’s Website, according to Xcel. “We won’t post it online until they have it,” said Xcel spokesperson Michelle Aguayo.
The filing is a 10-year outlook of how Xcel plans to comply with the renewable portfolio standard. It also seeks approval for its plans in the next two years, according to Aguayo.
Among other things, Xcel will double the amount, in terms of megawatts, of customer-sited or distributed generation, according to Aguayo. Under law, Xcel is required to source 3 percent of its renewable energy from such systems.
To exceed the requirement, Xcel will add-in 30 megawatts of customer-sited generation for each of the next two years through its Solar*Rewards program. “The 30 megawatts is double the amount of customer-sited electricity above what is needed to meet minimum compliance with the renewable energy standard,” the company said in a press release.
In the filing the company is proposing a plan to balance its Renewable Energy Standard Adjustment (RESA) fund. RESA is a 2 percent fee assessed on customers’ electric bill to fund renewable energy development in Colorado. But under the way the program is currently administered the utility has spent more on renewable energy than covered under RESA.
Xcel also is seeking to diversify its portfolio of renewable generation. “We’re going to continue to invest in Solar Rewards but we’ll look balance the portfolio with other renewable sources,” Aguayo said.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Xcel says it’s close to meeting Colorado target for renewable energy
Xcel says it’s close to meeting Colorado target for renewable energy
Denver Business Journal - by Cathy Proctor
Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 2:13pm MDT
Related:Environment, Energy
Xcel Energy Inc. believes it will substantially meet Colorado's year-old mandate of having 30 percent of its electricity come from renewable sources by the middle of 2012, eight years ahead of the 2020 deadline.
And that could mean a slowing of Xcel’s rush to build large wind and solar farms in the state, or buy power from such farms, in order to meet the mandate.
“It will probably put a damper on wind project development activity in Colorado, but probably not a complete stop because Colorado has a good wind resource,” said Steve Dayney, CEO of REpower USA Corp., a German wind turbine manufacturer which has its U.S. headquarters in Denver.
Minneapolis-based Xcel (NYSE: XEL) — Colorado’s largest utility, serving 1.3 million customers in the state — may still add renewable energy resources to its power portfolio in the form of new wind or solar power farms in the years ahead.
But such additions will be driven by questions of cost-effectiveness, or new rules made by Congress or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to curb carbon dioxide emissions, and not by the need to hit a state-mandated target, said Robin Kittel, Xcel’s director of regulatory and policy analysis.
“We have what we need for renewable resources, but we’re not in a static world,” Kittel said. “If Congress was to enact carbon legislation, or the EPA to exercise its authority to regulate carbon, it becomes a larger picture than just a compliance picture with a state goal.
“Also, there are supply-and-demand components — such as if there’s an oversupply of wind turbines in the marketplace, or solar panels, such that the cost of the systems are very cost-effective. It’s too dynamic out there to call it one way or another,” she said.
On Friday, Xcel will file a “Renewable Energy Standard Compliance Plan” with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The proposal will detail how Xcel plans to meet the state’s 30 percent standard during the next 10 years. The utility will ask approval only for actions its planning in 2012 and 2013.
That plan will detail Xcel’s progress toward meeting the 30 percent mandate. And it could signal a slowdown in its effort to support more wind and solar development projects here.
“There may be projects under development [whose power] will be sold into other regions. But the big fish in this pond, in Colorado, is Public Service Company [Xcel’s Colorado arm],” REpower’s Dayney said.
Or, state officials could look at raising the 30 percent standard, said Ron Lehr, a Denver-based consultant for the American Wind Energy Association, based in Washington, D.C.
“If they think they’re done at 30 percent, then it’s time to go to 40 percent,” Lehr said. “It’s a minimum standard, you’re encouraged by law to go beyond the standard.”
Xcel has built, or bought power, from several wind and solar farms in Colorado in recent years.
At the end of 2010, Colorado had 1,252 megawatts of wind power in operation, up from 32 megawatts in 2000. All but 60 megawatts of the 1,252 total are used by Xcel and its customers.
Two more wind farms, each with 250 megawatts of capacity, will start operations this year — with all the power going to Xcel, according to Craig Cox, the executive director of Interwest Energy Alliance, based in Lakewood, which represents wind energy companies.
“I’ve been very pleased with Xcel’s proactivity in renewable energy development,” Cox said. “Xcel is one of the leading renewable energy utilities. I believe they can and should continue to do more.”
Xcel also gets 27.2 megawatts of solar power from two existing solar plants in the San Luis Valley. The company will buy power from two additional large-scale solar power plants — each generating 30 megawatts — that will start operation by the middle of 2012.
And its Solar*Rewards rebate program has paid $178 million in rebates, through the end of 2010, to help pay for 75.9 megawatts of smaller solar power systems perched on residential rooftops or a customer’s property, according to the utility.
Colorado’s renewable energy standard mandates that Xcel get 30 percent of the power it sells to customers from renewable energy sources — such as wind or solar farms — by 2020.
The law, signed by then-Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010, measures progress toward the standard by the amount of “Renewable Energy Credits” or RECs the utility owns and spreads the RECs across three categories.
One REC corresponds to one megawatt of power generated from renewable energy for an hour. The law also adds a 0.25 credit for each REC generated in Colorado.
The 30 percent mandate means that in 2020, when Xcel expects to sell about 32.3 million megawatt-hours of power, Xcel will need to have:
• 8.7 million RECs in the first, biggest category — called “non-distributed generation,” which translates into large wind farms, Kittel said.
“We have more RECs than what we need for compliance in the non-distributed generation bucket,” she said.
That’s because Xcel can “bank” extra RECs — RECs the company owns over and above incremental targets leading up to the 30 percent by 2020 mandate — for up to five years and dip into the account as needed, she said.
• Xcel also needs 485,000 RECs in a second bucket, called “wholesale distributed generation,” or wind or solar farms generating 30 megawatts of power or less, Kittel said.
Xcel expects to have that amount of RECs by the middle of 2012, Kittel said.
A 30-megawatt solar power plant, built by Iberdrola Renewables Inc. in the San Luis Valley, is expected to start operation by the end of 2011. A second 30-megawatt power plant, built in the valley by Cogentrix Energy LLC, based in Charlotte, N.C., is expected to start operations by the middle of 2012. Xcel has signed contracts to buy all the power produced by the two solar plants.
• Xcel also needs another 485,000 RECs in a third bucket, called “retail distributed generation,” or solar power systems perched on rooftops or on a customer’s property.
Xcel believes it will be compliance for this category in the “near future,” Kittel said.
The utility expects it will need to acquire more RECs in the third category, via rebates for small-scale solar power systems through the Solar*Rewards program, for a few years. But Kittel said she didn’t know how long that would be.
“We’ll still need more in the long run but we don’t know how much,” Kittel said.
As for a 2 percent charge on each customer’s monthly bill, a charge intended to help pay for renewable energy resources, Kittel said that’s not likely to disappear quickly.
Xcel will file its next long-range resource plan, its forecast of energy needs and the power plants needed to satisfy that demand, in October.
And Xcel had advanced about $51.4 million into the renewable energy fund — over and above what the 2 percent charge collected from customers — as of January in order to pay for renewable energy. The company will be repaid that money via the 2 percent charge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denver Business Journal - by Cathy Proctor
Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 2:13pm MDT
Related:Environment, Energy
Xcel Energy Inc. believes it will substantially meet Colorado's year-old mandate of having 30 percent of its electricity come from renewable sources by the middle of 2012, eight years ahead of the 2020 deadline.
And that could mean a slowing of Xcel’s rush to build large wind and solar farms in the state, or buy power from such farms, in order to meet the mandate.
“It will probably put a damper on wind project development activity in Colorado, but probably not a complete stop because Colorado has a good wind resource,” said Steve Dayney, CEO of REpower USA Corp., a German wind turbine manufacturer which has its U.S. headquarters in Denver.
Minneapolis-based Xcel (NYSE: XEL) — Colorado’s largest utility, serving 1.3 million customers in the state — may still add renewable energy resources to its power portfolio in the form of new wind or solar power farms in the years ahead.
But such additions will be driven by questions of cost-effectiveness, or new rules made by Congress or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to curb carbon dioxide emissions, and not by the need to hit a state-mandated target, said Robin Kittel, Xcel’s director of regulatory and policy analysis.
“We have what we need for renewable resources, but we’re not in a static world,” Kittel said. “If Congress was to enact carbon legislation, or the EPA to exercise its authority to regulate carbon, it becomes a larger picture than just a compliance picture with a state goal.
“Also, there are supply-and-demand components — such as if there’s an oversupply of wind turbines in the marketplace, or solar panels, such that the cost of the systems are very cost-effective. It’s too dynamic out there to call it one way or another,” she said.
On Friday, Xcel will file a “Renewable Energy Standard Compliance Plan” with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The proposal will detail how Xcel plans to meet the state’s 30 percent standard during the next 10 years. The utility will ask approval only for actions its planning in 2012 and 2013.
That plan will detail Xcel’s progress toward meeting the 30 percent mandate. And it could signal a slowdown in its effort to support more wind and solar development projects here.
“There may be projects under development [whose power] will be sold into other regions. But the big fish in this pond, in Colorado, is Public Service Company [Xcel’s Colorado arm],” REpower’s Dayney said.
Or, state officials could look at raising the 30 percent standard, said Ron Lehr, a Denver-based consultant for the American Wind Energy Association, based in Washington, D.C.
“If they think they’re done at 30 percent, then it’s time to go to 40 percent,” Lehr said. “It’s a minimum standard, you’re encouraged by law to go beyond the standard.”
Xcel has built, or bought power, from several wind and solar farms in Colorado in recent years.
At the end of 2010, Colorado had 1,252 megawatts of wind power in operation, up from 32 megawatts in 2000. All but 60 megawatts of the 1,252 total are used by Xcel and its customers.
Two more wind farms, each with 250 megawatts of capacity, will start operations this year — with all the power going to Xcel, according to Craig Cox, the executive director of Interwest Energy Alliance, based in Lakewood, which represents wind energy companies.
“I’ve been very pleased with Xcel’s proactivity in renewable energy development,” Cox said. “Xcel is one of the leading renewable energy utilities. I believe they can and should continue to do more.”
Xcel also gets 27.2 megawatts of solar power from two existing solar plants in the San Luis Valley. The company will buy power from two additional large-scale solar power plants — each generating 30 megawatts — that will start operation by the middle of 2012.
And its Solar*Rewards rebate program has paid $178 million in rebates, through the end of 2010, to help pay for 75.9 megawatts of smaller solar power systems perched on residential rooftops or a customer’s property, according to the utility.
Colorado’s renewable energy standard mandates that Xcel get 30 percent of the power it sells to customers from renewable energy sources — such as wind or solar farms — by 2020.
The law, signed by then-Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010, measures progress toward the standard by the amount of “Renewable Energy Credits” or RECs the utility owns and spreads the RECs across three categories.
One REC corresponds to one megawatt of power generated from renewable energy for an hour. The law also adds a 0.25 credit for each REC generated in Colorado.
The 30 percent mandate means that in 2020, when Xcel expects to sell about 32.3 million megawatt-hours of power, Xcel will need to have:
• 8.7 million RECs in the first, biggest category — called “non-distributed generation,” which translates into large wind farms, Kittel said.
“We have more RECs than what we need for compliance in the non-distributed generation bucket,” she said.
That’s because Xcel can “bank” extra RECs — RECs the company owns over and above incremental targets leading up to the 30 percent by 2020 mandate — for up to five years and dip into the account as needed, she said.
• Xcel also needs 485,000 RECs in a second bucket, called “wholesale distributed generation,” or wind or solar farms generating 30 megawatts of power or less, Kittel said.
Xcel expects to have that amount of RECs by the middle of 2012, Kittel said.
A 30-megawatt solar power plant, built by Iberdrola Renewables Inc. in the San Luis Valley, is expected to start operation by the end of 2011. A second 30-megawatt power plant, built in the valley by Cogentrix Energy LLC, based in Charlotte, N.C., is expected to start operations by the middle of 2012. Xcel has signed contracts to buy all the power produced by the two solar plants.
• Xcel also needs another 485,000 RECs in a third bucket, called “retail distributed generation,” or solar power systems perched on rooftops or on a customer’s property.
Xcel believes it will be compliance for this category in the “near future,” Kittel said.
The utility expects it will need to acquire more RECs in the third category, via rebates for small-scale solar power systems through the Solar*Rewards program, for a few years. But Kittel said she didn’t know how long that would be.
“We’ll still need more in the long run but we don’t know how much,” Kittel said.
As for a 2 percent charge on each customer’s monthly bill, a charge intended to help pay for renewable energy resources, Kittel said that’s not likely to disappear quickly.
Xcel will file its next long-range resource plan, its forecast of energy needs and the power plants needed to satisfy that demand, in October.
And Xcel had advanced about $51.4 million into the renewable energy fund — over and above what the 2 percent charge collected from customers — as of January in order to pay for renewable energy. The company will be repaid that money via the 2 percent charge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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