The US wind industry installed more than 7GW of capacity last year, bringing total utility-scale wind capacity across the nation to to nearly 89GW.

That’s according to new statistics from the US Department of Energy (DoE), which show $11 billion (£8.6bn) was invested in the sector as technology costs and wind energy prices continued to fall.

In total, 41 states had utility-scale wind projects in operation – Texas held the lead with more than 22GW of wind capacity, while Oklahoma, Iowa, California and Kansas each possessing more than 5GW.

The report also shows another 13 states have more than 1GW installed and highlights distributed wind capacity in the US crossed the 1GW threshold last year.

The DoE says bigger turbines with longer blades are enhancing wind plant performance, with capacity factors increasing by 79% in recent years compared to projects installed between 1998 and 2001 – the average cost of wind projects installed in 2017 was $1,611 (£1,253) per kW, down a third from peak prices in 2010.

The post US wind energy gusts past 7GW of new capacity last year appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Russia plans to increase its coal production to more than 420 million tonnes in 2018.

The nation’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the country expected to beat the peak achieved during the maximum production level of the Soviet era, recorded in 1988.

From 2012 to 2017, Russian coal production increased by 15.5% to 410 million tonnes.

The government says investment in the industry is likely to reach 130 billion rubles (£1.48bn) per year.

Mr Novak said: “According to our estimates, coal exports from Russia are expected to exceed 200 million tonnes in 2018: about 100 million tonnes to the West and another 100 to the East.”

He added exports to Europe would not be substantial due to consumption of the fossil fuel being gradually phased out.

The post Russian coal production to exceed 420m tonnes this year appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

The solar industry could face significant job losses if government proposals to reduce subsidies are enacted in full.

That’s according to a new survey of 140 solar installation companies conducted by the Renewable Energy Consumer Code, a subsidiary of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) – it gauged the sector’s opinion relating to closing the Feed-in Tariff for new solar projects next spring and ending ‘export tariffs’ for new small scale solar projects, meaning they would essentially be producing and exporting electricity for nothing.

If replicated across the solar industry, the organisation says it could amount to thousands of job losses.

More than 40% of solar installers across the UK said they are considering leaving the industry entirely, with 78% thinking of reducing staff levels as a reaction.

Around half of respondents said they would cut more than 75% of their workforce if the changes come in as proposed.

Dr Nina Skorupska, CEO of the REA, said: “While we would not normally be so stark, it is becoming increasingly clear that the government is endangering the jobs of thousands with the current proposals for the closure of the Feed-in Tariff without any adequate replacement alternative measures to assist this important sector.

“The retention of an ‘export tariff’ to fairly compensate projects for the energy they generate and then send to the grid for others to use, would as a minimum provide some relief and is a logical and fair measure.”

The post Solar industry ‘could face significant job losses with new government proposals’ appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Fossil fuels continue to be the most common source of electrical generation in most US states.

New statistics released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show in all but 15 states, coal, natural gas or petroleum liquids were the most-used fuel last year.

Since 2007, the number of states where coal was the most prevalent electricity generation fuel has fallen as natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectricity have gained market share.

However, in 2017, the polluting fuel source still provided the largest generation share in 18 states.

Natural gas had the largest share in 16 states, with petroleum remaining the largest generation share in only Hawaii.

Beyond fossil fuels, nuclear power plants provided the largest electricity share in nine states, with hydroelectricity the most prevalent electricity generation source in six.

The post Fossil fuels still most common power source in majority of US states appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Half of Belgium’s power will be provided by non-hydro renewables by 2030, filling the gap left by nuclear plant closures.

That’s according to analytics firm GlobalData, which says the nation is due to lose a significant proportion of its generation capacity by the end of 2025 as aging nuclear facilities retire, leading to a demand shortfall of 3.6GW.

The country’s lack of domestic fossil-fuel reserves and a nearly-maximised hydropower potential means it will have to increasingly rely on non-hydro renewables – it cannot afford to depend too heavily on electricity imports.

GlobalData says non-hydro renewable capacity is expected to increase at an annual rate of 7.1% over the next 12 years, reaching 18.7GW.

It says the nation’s small land area means potential for new solar and onshore wind power generation is limited, meaning it will largely have to rely on cogeneration facilities alongside offshore wind generation.

Chiradeep Chatterjee, Power Industry Analyst at GlobalData, said: “The answer to this challenge is likely to lie in creating an infrastructure that will boost energy efficiency, leading to a lower growth in electricity consumption.

“Belgium should also invest in energy storage technologies, including grid-based storage, which will help in meeting demand when production from renewable sources is low.”

The post ‘Half of Belgium’s power to be renewable by 2030’ appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Solar generation records across Europe will continue to be set through 2019, despite harsher winters.

That’s according to experts at Sun Investment Group, who stress photovoltaic panels are still actually highly effective during cold but clear winter periods, as they are powered by sunlight and not heat.

They suggest 2019’s solar output is likely to overtake that seen in this summer’s heatwaves, during which time solar energy records soared across Europe and the market grew by 28.4% – in the UK, solar briefly overtook gas generation as the main form of energy.

Sun Investment Group analysts added that homes and businesses should adopt the technology to save money and help the EU reach its target of sourcing 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.

Deividas Varabauskas, CEO of Sun Investment Group, said: “Although is too early to mention in percentage terms how much we expect the previous winter records for solar energy to be beaten by, we believe that based on the climate changes that contributed to this summer’s heatwave, new records will be set for solar energy output in the coming months and into 2019.”

The post Solar records expected to continue despite harsh winter appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Turkey is to launch a 1GW solar tender in January.

The nation’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said a 30MW storage project will also be included at one of the three sites identified.

Around 500MW will be assigned to the Sanliurfa-Viransehir site, as well as 200MW to the Hatay-Erzin site – both of these facilities are based in the south-east of the country.

Approximately 300MW has been assigned to the Nigde-Bor location, which will also receive the battery storage site.

Successful bidders will have to source at least 60% of the modules they use from Turkey and achieve minimum cell efficiency of 21% and module efficiency of 18%.

Selected projects will have to start commercial operation by January 2024.

Currently, most of Turkey’s operational solar capacity is represented by unlicensed projects that are smaller than 1MW in size.

The post Turkey to launch 1GW solar tender in January appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

China is to be the first nation to fire up new nuclear reactor technology.

That’s the suggestion from the China National Nuclear Power Company, which says an AP1000 reactor at the Sanmen power plant is likely to be ready for operation today, following a 168-hour test run.

The AP1000 is a pressurised water reactor designed by Westinghouse – the unit is said to be easier and less expensive to build and operate than standard models.

It is the same reactor being built for the long-delayed Vogtle project in Georgia, problems with which have led to Westinghouse declaring bankruptcy in 2017.

The Sanmen 1 reactor achieved initial criticality in June this year, which is when the reactor’s nuclear fission chain reaction became self-sustaining for the first time.

This marks the last major milestone for the reactor before commercial operation.

Snowy Yao, Analyst at China Securities International Finance Holding Company, said: “It’s a landmark event for China’s nuclear power industry.

“It’s safe to say China is now one of the leaders in the world’s civil nuclear power industry.”

The post China ‘to be first nation to use new nuclear reactor tech’ appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Forget milk – an average cow can produce up to 3kwh of electricity every day.

Networking platform Renewity says this power, produced through the anaerobic digestion of manure, can then be sent to the electricity grid.

It says the renewable form of energy generation has the advantage of creating gas, liquid and fibrous fertiliser byproducts, opening up another stream of revenue for farms.

The organisation also says efficient anaerobic digestion can also be used to reduce the odour levels of a facility and to remove phosphorous and other metals from waste.

The organisation says the high temperature of anaerobic digestion systems can decrease the number of disease-causing pathogens in manure slurry.

The post Forget milk – an average cow can produce up to 3kwh of electricity appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

New Zealand’s renewable generation has broken a 37-year record, making up 85% of the mix in the second quarter of 2018.

Recent government data illustrates that favourable hydropower and wind conditions drove a higher proportion of clean generation, as power produced by non-renewable sources fell by more than a quarter from its position a year before.

The country’s 623MW of wind energy generated 560GWh through the period, a 12% yearly increase and up 24.1% quarter-on-quarter, despite no new capacity having been installed since 2015.

Demand for electricity in the second quarter of 2018 remained at a comparable level to the same time the previous year.

Hydro produced the most power, totalling 6,843GWh, up 18.4% from the first quarter of the year and 12.9% higher than the same period in 2017.

In terms of the largest sources of generation, hydropower was followed by 1,841GWh from geothermal and 1,340GWh from gas.

The post New Zealand’s renewable generation shatters 37-year record appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Renewable energy hit a record share of generation in the second quarter of 2018, reaching new highs of 31.7%.

That’s according to new statistics from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which show fossil fuel generation simultaneously fell, with coal dropping to a new record low of 1.6%.

Renewable generation provided 24.3TWh of power, an increase of 3% per cent on the same period the year before.

The UK’s total renewable capacity was 42.2GW at the end of the period, a tenth up from 2017’s second quarter – more than half of this annual increase came from offshore wind.

Gas accounted for the largest share of generation at 42%, whilst nuclear made up 21.7%.

A BEIS Spokesperson said: “We’ve hit another landmark record, with this summer’s intense sunshine generating enough solar power to fuel over a million homes.

“With less dirty coal being used than ever before and plans underway to phase out coal power completely by 2025, our modern Industrial Strategy is supporting thousands of good jobs in new clean growth industries.”

The statistics reveal total energy production was 2.1% lower than in the second quarter of 2017, while temperature adjusted energy consumption rose by 0.3%.

James Court, Policy and External Affairs Director at the Renewable Energy Association (REA) said: “The record renewable power generation is a significant achievement for the industry. Renewables have never been more affordable and accessible as they are now and this is reflected in the data released today.

“However, for renewables to continue to become more affordable and for the UK to grow its green jobs base, the government must continue to support the industry.”

The post Renewables hit record 37.1% share of UK generation appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

Japan has started building a 10MW hydrogen gas plant, officially named the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R).

In collaboration with a consortium made up of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation, Toshiba, Tohoku Electric Power and Iwatani, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to open the facility in 2020.

The site in Fukushima Prefecture will produce renewable gas to be used to power fuel cell vehicles, support clean factory operations, store surplus renewable energy and balance the grid.

The plant is expected to synthesise and store around 900 tonnes of hydrogen per year, using a new control system to coordinate operations and optimise production.

A new pilot site for the production of carbon-free hydrogen has recently been officially opened in Denmark.

The post Japan hits the gas on 10MW hydrogen plant construction appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

The global market for gas turbines is expected to decline by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% over the next four years.

By 2022, analytics firm GlobalData suggests the slowdown in the market is mainly due to the growing influence of renewable energy technologies, as well as ongoing volatility in gas spot prices.

It estimates this could result in the value of the market falling by $6.84 billion (£5.2bn).

When compared to the total market value for the period between 2013 and 2017 of $52.39 billion (£39.8bn), the estimate for 2018 to 2022 of $37.97 billion (£28.9bn) would be a CAGR decline of 0.7%.

Despite this, GlobalData believes the growing influence of developing nations in the global energy market could see the Asia-Pacific region propelled upwards at a CAGR of 3.95%, overtaking Europe, the Middle East and Africa as a market leader.

Nirushan Rajasekaram, Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “The need to meet the short term increasing demand for electricity faces significant technical, monetary and supply challenges that are influencing governments’ agendas to generate cheap electricity; utilising indigenous resources and existing power generation infrastructure.

“The existing infrastructures in most nations are heavily tilted towards coal and a potential shift towards abruptly increasing gas would require substantial investments.”

The post Global gas turbine market ‘to decline annually by 7.7% up to 2022’ appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

CorPower’s marine energy technology is the first device supported by Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to be successfully tested in real sea conditions.

The wave energy developer has proved its product can survive storms at sea and produce significant amounts of power, completing its ‘Stage 3’ demonstration in Orkney after 18 months of combined dry and ocean testing.

It protects itself against rough waves by turning its machinery in line with impacts to minimise potentially harmful motion and loads.

In addition, the company’s phase control technology, called WaveSpring, was shown to enable a threefold increase in average power capture for a given buoy size.

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) issued a “Performance Statement” verifying its success.

Patrik Möller, CEO at CorPower Ocean said: “Based on the results, the projected performance of the next generation commercial scale C4 machine has been increased.

“With C4, the structural efficiency of wave energy is expected to improve by more than five times compared to current state-of-the-art, bringing wave energy above 10MWh/ton, which is comparable to leading wind turbines.”

The post CorPower’s marine tech successfully tested in real sea conditions appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

New vertical-axis wind turbines could power two households a day using wind turbulence created by passing cars.

Devecitech says its 1KWh ‘ENLIL’ devices can turn busy roads and motorways into sources of renewable energy by using channels of wind pushed by speeding vehicles, as well as natural breezes, to spin their blades.

It features a solar panel to power temperature, humidity, wind and carbon dioxide sensors, as well as an intelligent ‘internet of things’ platform to connect with other infrastructure.

It also serves as an earthquake monitoring station, improving the safety of cities in which it is installed.

Due to its relatively small size, the device can be installed in a number of places unsuitable for traditional turbines, such as next to pathways and on the roof of high-rise residences.

The post New wind turbine tech gets revved up by passing vehicles appeared first on Energy Live News - Energy Made Easy.

The UK’s generation capacity will drop by around 30% before 2030 if the government doesn’t get building new nuclear power stations.

That’s according to trade union Prospect, which warns of a significant gap between supply and demand – it expects this shortfall to be due to the planned phasing out of coal power stations, the decommissioning of existing nuclear power stations and the loss of ageing gas plants.

It claims new nuclear capacity is the best way to meet this gap, due to a potential strike price 13% lower than that for offshore wind in 2017 and 42% lower than the strike price agreed for Hinkley Point C.

The union argues the controversial energy source would help the UK reduce its carbon footprint whilst ensuring a reliable and secure source of energy.

Sue Ferns, Prospect’s Senior Deputy General Secretary, said: “Increasing reliance on non-dispatchable generation, such as wind and solar, at the same time as increasing reliance on imports, significantly increases energy security risk and will take the UK into uncharted territory.

“If the UK is serious about its commitment to a low carbon economy and it wants reliable year-round security of supply then it has to stop dithering on nuclear new build.”

The post UK power capacity ‘to drop by a third without new nuclear’ appeared first on Energy Live News.

A new solar plant claimed to be the largest in Australia has entered full-scale commercial operation.

Neoen’s Coleambally Solar Farm has an installed capacity of 189MW and produces the largest output in the National Electricity Market from any current solar generator.

The facility in New South Wales is spread over 550 hectares and generates enough emission-free electricity to supply more than 65,000 households.

It is supported by a 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with energy retailer EnergyAustralia, which will take 70% of the solar farm’s energy output – the remainder will be sold directly to the market.

With 567,800 solar panels installed, the facility will produce more than 390,000MWh of clean energy each year and save emissions equivalent to taking 90,000 cars off the road.

The post Biggest solar plant down under enters operation appeared first on Energy Live News.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the nuclear-reliant nation will close 14 of its 58 operational nuclear reactors by 2035.

The leader added between four and six facilities will be closed by 2030 but warned that reducing the proportion of the energy mix derived from nuclear sources does not mean renouncing the technology altogether.

France currently relies on nuclear power for nearly three-quarters of its electricity needs – the government aims to halve this by 2035, replacing it with clean energy such as wind and solar.

The President said: “I would have liked to be able to do it as early as 2025, as provided for by the Energy Transition Law but it turned out, after pragmatic expertise, that this figure brandished as a political totem was in fact unattainable.

“We therefore decided to maintain this 50% cap but by postponing the deadline to 2035.”

He added France would aim to triple its wind power output and increase solar output five times over by 2030, as well as close its remaining four coal-fired power plants by 2022 as part of efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and slash harmful air pollution.

The nation will commit €5 billion (£4.4bn) a year to renewable growth, financed by a fuel tax.

The post France bids adieu to 14 of its nuclear power stations appeared first on Energy Live News.

The UK installed more than 2GW of new offshore wind capacity in 2018.

RenewableUK says the record-breaking volume that went operational in UK waters through the year is enough to power more than 2,300,000 homes with clean electricity.

It total, eight new offshore wind farms were opened, nearly doubling the previous annual record of 1,154MW recorded in 2012.

Since the previous record, the average capacity of an offshore turbine has soared from 3.7MW to 5.8MW, allowing the near-doubling of capacity to be reached with just 18% more turbines in place.

The world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, the 659MW Walney Extension facility, was completed this year, as well as the 400MW Rampion site and 573MW Race Bank.

RenewableUK’s Executive Director Emma Pinchbeck said: “We’re thrilled that we’ve absolutely smashed previous records and installed more new offshore wind power stations than ever before.

“This is just the beginning of the great shift to renewables. By 2030, offshore wind could be generating more than a third of the UK’s entire electricity needs, with 30GW up and running.”

The post UK installed more than 2GW of offshore wind in 2018 appeared first on Energy Live News.

Coal demand is set to remain stable through to 2023.

That’s according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), which suggests predicted declines in Europe and North America are likely to be offset by strong growth in India and Southeast Asia.

In the short term, it suggests coal demand looks set to rise for the second year in a row in 2018, despite environmental policies, divestment campaigns, declining costs of renewables and abundant supplies of natural gas putting increasing pressure on the resource.

Coal’s contribution to the global energy mix is forecast to decline slightly from a 27% share in 2017 to 25% by 2023.

India is predicted to see the largest increase in demand of any country, although growth is slowing at 3.9% – however, significant increases in coal use are expected in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Pakistan.

Chinese coal accounts for 14% of global primary energy, although it is expected to drop by around 3% over the period.

Keisuke Sadamori, Director of Energy Markets and Security at the IEA, said: “The story of coal is a tale of two worlds with climate action policies and economic forces leading to closing coal power plants in some countries, while coal continues to play a part in securing access to affordable energy in others.

“For many countries, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, it is looked upon to provide energy security and underpin economic development.”

The post Coal demand ‘set to remain stable through to 2023’ appeared first on Energy Live News.