New Brunswick Chided for Low Wind Price
The Alliance for Community Energy has criticized the New Brunswick government’s financial projections for hypothetical power projects. A government document released last week gives the most optimistic outlook for the capacity at which wind farms would operate, as well as low-balling how much wind farms cost to put up. 10 cents per kilowatt-hour the province has offered proponents for power – with annual increases pegged to inflation – is not enough, considering what he views is the government’s overly idealistic vision. The Alliance for Community Energy is a group of about 50 people who recently formed the network of municipalities, woodlot owners, farmers, energy co-operatives, renewable energy companies and environmental groups – some of whom are interested in small-scale wind. The province’s policy is to pay the same price – 10 cents per kilowatt hour – for every renewable energy project, whether it’s a wind farm, hydroelectric facility or biomass operation…Energy Minister Jack Keir and Environment Minister Rick Miles joined together to push the button to start the flow of the electricity at the Crane Mountain Landfill. Saint John Energy is buying the electricity for the same price as the electricity from NB Power, who was the utility’s sole supplier until now…The Tennessee Valley Authority will close nine of its oldest coal firing units in its effort to save money on environmental upgrades and lower its carbon emissions. The idling is expected to be completed by 2015 and will include two units at the John Sevier Fossil Plant in northeastern Tennessee, six units at Widows Creek Fossil Plant in northeastern Alabama and one unit at the Shawnee Fossil Plant near Paducah, Ky. TVA will make up the difference with a gas plant in John Sevier, with the upcoming nuclear Bellefonte plant east of Scottsboro and a possible biomass plant at Shawnee.
Read MoreOntario 3rd Largest Solar Market in NA
Last year, Ontario was the third largest market for solar photovoltaic installations in North America pushing aside Florida with an installation total of 46 megawatts of solar PV production capacity and was only behind New Jersey, with 57 mw, and California with 212 mw, according to a report by the nonprofit Interstate Renewable Energy Council…Reservoirs in the Sierra Nevada foothills don’t just store water – they can store energy as well. Through a system called pumped hydro storage, water from one reservoir can be released into another downhill, turning turbines along the way and generating electricity when the state’s power grid needs it. Then, when the grid has ample energy, the water is pumped back uphill, to wait until it’s needed again. Six of these systems already exist in California. Now Pacific Gas and Electric wants to build at least one more, arguing that large-scale energy storage will help smooth out the addition of more solar and wind power to the grid. The project is likely to take six years or more to receive all the necessary government permits. The utility, based in San Francisco, asked California regulators on Friday for permission to spend almost $33.5 million to study and design a pumped hydro system in the Mokelumne River watershed in Amador County. Some of the money would also pay for exploring other possible sites, including one in the Kings River watershed in Fresno County. The Mokelumne River project would connect two existing reservoirs that PG&E already uses to generate hydroelectric power on a regular basis: the Lower Bear and Salt Springs reservoirs. Other possible variations would include using Upper Bear Reservoir or a new reservoir that would be built on nearby Cole Creek. Construction of the entire project would cost an estimated $2.5 billion, although the price could vary significantly depending on the final design.
Read MoreHR Milner Battle River#5 Online; Quebec Electricity Surplus
HR Milner came online at 08:30 Friday – offline at 14:31 Saturday amd back online at 02:13 Sunday offline at 14:31 Sunday and back online at 02:13 Monday; Battle River#4 came back online at 13:33 Saturday…The federal government is contributing $12 million for the establishment of a small wind farm at Prince Edward Island’s most northern point to study the production, operation and storage of wind power. The government will provide up to $12 million over five years to support the Wind Energy Research and Development Park and Storage System. The Wind Energy Institute of Canada will build and operate the nine-to 10-megawatt wind turbine cluster and electricity storage system…The massive, state-of-the-art Bécancour cogeneration electricity plant is capable of powering 550,000 homes. At the moment, however, the only action its gas turbines are getting comes from the dehumidifiers that prevent them from rusting out. Apart from providing steam for an industrial park neighbour, the plant, 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal, sits largely idle, victim of policies and planning in a province overrun with electricity. Such is the extraordinary electricity surplus in Quebec that several hundred million dollars are being spent and lost each year dealing with the problem, and consumers are footing the bill. Hydro-Québec, the provincial electricity monopoly, is forced to pay nearly $200 million each year to keep it closed, including $150 million to honour its contract with TransCanada Energy, the Alberta company that owns the plant. Despite this, the government is pushing ahead with even more massive hydro dams, as well as wind farms and mini-hydro projects, some privately owned.
Read MoreBattle River#4 Offline; Sheerness#1 Online
Battle River#4 offline at 19:46 yesterday and Sheerness#1 came back online at 03:18 this morning.
Read MoreSheerness#1 Offline; Sea Breeze Moves Ahead With North Vancouver Island Wind Farm
Sheerness#1 went offline at 17:58 yesterday…Vancouver based Sea Breeze Power Corp. has signed an agreement to build its Knob Hill Wind Farm on northern Vancouver Island. The company has partnered with Toronto-based electricity generator International Power Canada Inc. to build the first phase of the project, which would generate up to 99MW. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Sea Breeze did say International Power would become the majority owner of the project. Knob Hill is located 35 kilometres northwest of Port Hardy. BC Hydro granted the project a 20-year electricity purchase agreement in March. Sea Breeze received its provincial environmental assessment certificate in 2004, but had been toiling away on the project for nearly a decade. The company said Knob Hill received strong support from local communities on Vancouver Island and First Nations…The Electricity Distributors Association and its 81 local electricity distribution companies want to congratulate the Town of Goderich, Sioux Lookout, Tecumseh, the Town of Whitby and Halton Region for their commitment to energy conservation and being named winners of the province-wide Community Challenge Day on August 11th. The winners were announced recently at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario annual conference in Windsor.
Read MoreHR Milner Offline; New UBC Biomass
HR Milner went offline at 12:25 yesterday…The University of British Columbia will soon be home to the first installation of a new biomass combined heat and power system developed by Nexterra Systems Corp. and GE’s Jenbacher gas engine division. The city of Vancouver and local companies will supply tree trimmings and other urban wood waste diverted from the city landfill as fuel for the plant. The 2MW system will require about 12,500 bone-dry tons of wood waste…BC Hydro awarded a contract to Voith Hydro in Montreal for the complete overhaul of five Francis turbine units for Gordon M. Shrum hydro power plant, located near Hudson’s Hope, British Columbia. Voith Hydro’s scope of supply includes five new 310 megawatt turbines, site construction, installation, and start-up. The first unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2012. Each year, one unit will be replaced until all five units are in service in early 2017…Solar and wind power are booming in California, but there are times when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. So California utilities are looking to smooth out those bumps by doing something rarely done on the grid today: storing electricity. The California Independent System Operator is the traffic cop of the state’s electrical grid. Its job is to forecast how much electricity the state needs — every four seconds — and to make sure it’s supplied. Inside an unmarked building outside of Sacramento, dozens of people are glued to computer screens, and on one wall, there’s a display plotting a big red line showing how much electricity California is using right now, in real time. Just outside of Los Angeles in Huntington Beach, Praveen Kathpal of AES Energy Storage shows off one of the biggest batteries in the state. From the outside, it looks like a simple shipping container-it’s a 2-megawatt energy storage unit. Inside the container is packed with 83,000 small lithium-ion battery cells..
Read MorePoint Lepreau Nuke Delayed; Ontario Price on the Rise
Mounting delays to the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor have prompted a postponement of similar work at the Gentilly 2 station in Quebec. Hydro-Quebec announced Monday that it’s putting off the $1.9-billion project until 2012. It was to begin next year. The electricity giant said it made the decision so it can benefit from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s solutions to problems that have put the Point Lepreau work more than 21/2 years behind schedule. It’s a move that could bolster New Brunswick’s argument that the lessons learned from delays at Lepreau will help AECL’s efforts elsewhere. In the meantime, Gentilly 2 will continue to churn out 675 megawatts of electricity every hour. That means Quebec may be able to avoid additional costs of generating replacement power… Homeowners could be zapped with an extra $48 in annual hydro costs after Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet quietly approved a break on electricity rates for huge industrial users. The move extends time-of-use pricing now in effect for homeowners — allowing them to use electricity cheaper at off-peak times, such as nights and weekends — to major firms like Ford, Vale Inco, and Imperial Oil. It will give big power-consuming sectors an incentive to conserve energy, cut their costs and, the government hopes, keep manufacturing, mining and refining jobs in Ontario…The Saskatchewan government reiterated its position Monday that it hasn’t closed the door to the nuclear energy option. While large reactors might not be the best fit, small-reactor technology could work well in Saskatchewan — the world’s second-largest producer of uranium.
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