Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: March 19, 2003

*News and Events

250-Kilowatt Fuel Cell System Installed in Los Angeles
New Waste-to-Energy Projects Planned Throughout the U.S.
U.S. Helps Fund Study for Hungarian Wind Power Project
Renewable Power Plants Win Contracts in California, Nevada
Building Developer and Town Buy Large Amounts of Green Power
Arizona Court: Homeowners Have a Right to use Solar Energy

EIA Report Examines Troubled Electric Industry in 2001

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NEWS AND EVENTS

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250-Kilowatt Fuel Cell System Installed in Los Angeles

The largest fuel cell system in North America was dedicated last week in Los Angeles. FuelCell Energy Inc. built the 250-kilowatt power plant and installed it at the downtown headquarters building for the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water (LADWP). The LADWP has also broken ground on a second 250-kilowatt fuel cell power plant, to be located at Terminal Island in San Pedro. The Terminal Island facility will be fueled with digester gas from a nearby wastewater treatment plant. See the LADWP press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

DOE has been supporting research at FuelCell Energy since 1976. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham hailed the new installation as “a preview of our energy future – clean, efficient power generated from hydrogen by innovative technology.” See the DOE press release at:
[sorry this link is no longer available]

New Waste-to-Energy Projects Planned Throughout the U.S.

The ongoing installation of a fuel cell power plant at a Los Angeles wastewater treatment facility is just one of many projects underway in the United States to convert waste into energy. In Vermont, for instance, a wastewater treatment facility in Essex Junction is planning to make better use of its digester gas by installing microturbines, which will produce enough electricity to meet 41 percent of the facility’s power needs. The microturbines will also generate enough heat to warm the facility’s digester tanks. Currently, the facility burns more than half of its digester gas in a boiler to heat the digester tanks, and flares off the remainder of the gas. Northern Power Systems will engineer, build, and install the new microturbines and associated control systems. See the Northern Power Systems press release, in PDF format only, at:
[sorry this link is no longer available]

In the Midwest, Environmental Power Corporation is forming a strategic alliance with Dairyland Power Cooperative in an effort to convert animal waste from poultry and swine farms into electricity. Environmental Power uses an anaerobic digestion process to convert manure into biogas, which is then burned to generate electricity. The company plans to deploy systems totaling 25 megawatts in capacity throughout Dairyland’s service area. Dairyland Power Cooperative sells wholesale power to electric power cooperatives and municipal utilities in 62 counties in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan. See the Environmental Power press release at: http://www.environmentalpower.com/news/pr_3-6-03.htm

In 2002, Environmental Power signed similar agreements for power facilities in Wisconsin, New York, and New England. The company expects the Wisconsin installations to be operating by August. http://www.environmentalpower.com/news/pr_10-15-02.htm
http://www.environmentalpower.com/news/pr_7-11-02.htm

U.S. Helps Fund Study for Hungarian Wind Power Project

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham signed a $138,000 grant last week to partially fund a feasibility study for a Hungarian wind power project. The grant was awarded to Greenergy Kft. of Hungary on behalf of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

Greenergy is presently conducting wind measurements in Hungary at eight locations, but will use the grant to expand this effort to additional sites. Greenergy will also perform wind development tasks such as wind plant and interconnection design, environmental assessments, geological studies, economic analysis and wind flow modeling. The effort could lead to several Hungarian wind energy projects with a total capacity of up to 100 megawatts, which would generate enough electricity over the course of a year to power more than 20,000 homes.
[sorry this link is no longer available]

Renewable Power Plants Win Contracts in California, Nevada

Producers of electricity from renewable energy are finding new stability through long-term power supply contracts, as evidenced by recent developments in California and Nevada. Calpine Corporation announced Monday that it has signed a contract for the “single largest renewable energy transaction in California,” a long-term agreement to provide Southern California Edison with 200 megawatts of geothermal energy from its power plants at The Geysers in northern California. In recent months, Calpine has signed a similar agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric Company for 110 megawatts of geothermal power, and has signed contracts for its geothermal plants to contribute to power reliability in northern California. Calpine hailed the latest contract as a sign of recovery in the California power market.

In Nevada, the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved six contracts between Nevada Power and renewable energy power plants in early March. The contracts will result in four geothermal power plants totaling 107 megawatts in capacity and two wind facilities totaling 130 megawatts. All of the projects are expected to be operating by the summer of 2005. See the PUC press release:
http://www.puc.state.nv.us/news/2003/REPS%20303.pdf

Building Developer and Town Buy Large Amounts of Green Power

A developer of properties and a town in Pennsylvania are two of the most recent purchasers of green power — electricity produced from renewable energy sources. Their purchases demonstrate the diversity of U.S. companies and government entities that are buying green power.

The Tower Companies, a commercial and residential building developer, announced last week that it will buy 24 million kilowatt-hours of green power over 18 months, meeting between 25 and 50 percent of the electricity needs for its buildings in the Washington, D.C. area. See the Tower Companies press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

In Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, the town commissioners approved the purchase of green power in early February. With the help of Community Energy, Inc. (CEI), the town is buying 1.4 million kilowatt-hours of wind energy over the next three years from the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center in West Virginia. The purchase will meet 62 percent of the township’s electricity needs, and will be paid for in part by the savings from installing energy-saving traffic lights that use light- emitting diodes (LEDs). See the February 26th press release from CEI at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

As a further demonstration of the diversity of green power purchasers, Staples, Inc. and The Dow Chemical Company have joined the Green Power Market Development Group, a partnership dedicated to building corporate markets for green power. Dow recently signed a contract to use landfill methane at its Dalton, Georgia, manufacturing plant, and Staples plans to buy green power for five percent of its energy needs by the end of the year. See the press releases from the World Resources Institute at:
[sorry this link is no longer available]
[sorry this link is no longer available]

Arizona Court: Homeowners Have a Right to use Solar Energy

Believe it or not, not everyone in the United States is in favor of solar energy. In fact, some homeowners associations require solar energy panels to be hidden from view, a restriction that in many cases would block the panels from sunshine and make them essentially useless. That’s the challenge that faced two retired families in Arizona, who installed solar panels on their roofs to heat their swimming pools. The families spent five years in litigation and finally fought off a legal challenge from their homeowner’s association, which aimed to have the systems removed and the two families fined. A ruling in late February by the Arizona Court of Appeals concluded that the restriction violated an Arizona law that protects an individual homeowner’s property rights to use solar energy. See the press release from the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

The full ruling is available in PDF format on the Arizona Court of Appeals Division One Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

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SITE NEWS

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Gridless Urban House Project
http://www.gridlesshome.com/index.html

The Gridless Urban House project, sponsored by the State Energy Program of the Kansas Corporation Commission, educates citizens about alternative energy solutions that promote energy conservation, energy efficiency, and stunt the growth for energy demand. The Web site features a slide show tour of a house that boasts the largest solar electric array in Kansas.

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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS

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EIA Report Examines Troubled Electric Industry in 2001

DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) published its annual look at the electric power industry last week. The report notes that electric industry restructuring slowed considerably in 2001, and the financial problems of California’s utilities, as well as the collapse of the Enron Corporation, placed the industry in a state of flux that will continue for the foreseeable future. Although total net generation of electricity decreased slightly from 2000 to 2001 — likely due to the economic slowdown — the total net summer generating capacity increased by about 36.5 gigawatts, or 4.5 percent. Most of the increase in capacity was provided by power plants fueled with natural gas; nearly 30 gigawatts of new gas-fired plant capacity was added in 2001.

The EIA estimates that utility demand-side management programs, which help customers reduce their electrical demand, achieved nearly 25 gigawatts of peak demand reductions in 2001. Although the number represents a 9 percent increase above 2002 demand reductions, the overall trend for demand reductions has been dropping since 996, when utilities achieved a peak demand reduction of nearly 30 gigawatts. See the EIA’s “Electric Power Annual 2001” at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

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