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South Korea Will Fight Solar Tariffs; Others Will Wait

January 24, 2018

The global solar industry on January 23 reacted to President Trump’s announcement on Monday that the U.S. will enact a 30% tariff this year on imports of solar cells and modules, a levy that could begin as soon as next month. Some groups said they will take a “wait and see” approach to the charge, while others—including South Korea—promised swift action against the assessment.

Trump on January 22 said imported photovoltaic (PV) products would be subject to a 30% tariff in 2018, with the levy falling by 5% each year, to 15% by 2022. The decision came after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2017 said imports of PV products are causing “serious injury, or threat of serious injury, to the domestic [solar] industry.” The ITC acted after Suniva, a bankrupt solar panel manufacturer with a Chinese majority owner, and SolarWorld Americas, the U.S. arm of a German solar company, asked for tariffs and a floor price to be imposed on imported solar cells and panels.…

Don’t Let EPA Stall on Clean Power Plan, 17 States Tell Federal Court

January 20, 2018

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The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent request that the D.C. Circuit hold a case challenging the Clean Power Plan in additional abeyance until it concludes rulemaking has been strongly opposed by 17 states and several cities.

The EPA, in its latest 30-day court-required status report filed on January 10, asked the federal court for continued abeyance of the massive case. The court heard oral arguments on the merits of the Obama administration’s legacy rule to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants 16 months ago.

But in a joint filing with the court on January 17, 17 states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington—along with the District of Columbia, New York City, Florida’s Broward County, Boulder (Colorado), Chicago, Philadelphia, and South Miami, urged the court to deny additional abeyance.

“Neither EPA’s proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan nor its prolonged and uncertain plans to replace the rule justify additional abeyance,” the parties argued.…

Report: Clean Energy Investments Hit $333.5 Billion in 2017

January 18, 2018

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Though some countries, including the U.S., have moved to support coal-fired power generation over the past year, investments in renewable energy continued to rise, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

The research group on January 16 said global investment in clean energy such as wind and solar reached about $ 333.5 billion in 2017, a 3% rise from the prior year, and just 7% below the record in 2015. BNEF said about half of all investment went to solar projects, with China accounting for nearly $ 133 billion—or about 40%—of the total investment in renewables. China’s total is 24% more than it spent in 2016, according to BNEF.

The report said two dozen countries invested more than $ 1 billion in clean energy initiatives in 2017. It noted that the falling costs of equipment such as wind turbines and solar panels has opened new markets, and is bringing electrification to areas—particularly in developing countries—where there is limited access to a transmission grid.…

Decade-Old Power Grid Problem Solved by Smart Grid Technology

January 16, 2018

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A control system that smooths out inter-area oscillations—a problem affecting power systems connected by relatively weak tie lines—has been successfully demonstrated by researchers from Sandia National Laboratories and Montana Tech University. The system that uses smart grid technology could allow utilities to push more power through transmission lines, possibly nixing the need for new transmission lines and help to stabilize the grid.

Electric power grids operate well below transmission capacity to avoid widespread outages due to inter-area oscillations, which occur when the standard frequency of 60 cycles per second increases on the utility side of the transmission line while the frequency on the customer side decreases, switching back and forth every second or two. “Most of the time these oscillations are well-behaved and not a problem—they are always there,” explained Sandia engineer David Schoenwald. “But at a moment when you are trying to push a large amount of power, like on a very hot day in the summer, these oscillations start to become less well behaved and can start to swing wildly.”…

Tampa Electric Will Convert Big Bend Coal Plant to Natural Gas

January 14, 2018

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An executive with the parent company of Tampa Electric said the utility plans to seek regulatory approval to convert its Big Bend Power Station in Florida, the oldest and last major coal-fired facility in its fleet, to natural gas.

Rob Bennett, speaking at a breakfast gathering in Tampa on January 12, said an engineering analysis of the switch has been underway for a few years. “It’s a big decision,” said Bennett, who was named CEO of newly formed Emera Technologies last month after overseeing Emera Inc.’s integration with TECO Energy, which Emera Inc. acquired in July 2016. TECO has operated Tampa Electric for many years. “It has to work. It has to make sense for 35 or 40 years,” Bennett said of the plan.

Big Bend has four coal-fired units, the first of which came online in 1970; Unit 4 began operation in 1985. The 1,730-MW plant in Apollo Beach, south of Tampa across Tampa Bay, has a troubled history; most recently, five workers at the plant, including a senior plant manager and four contract workers, were killed in an accident June 29, 2017, which occurred as the workers were trying to clean hardened slag, a by-product of burning coal, from the bottom of a tank where slag cools.…

CPUC Backs PG&E Plan to Retire Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant

January 12, 2018

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California regulators have approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) application to retire the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant by year-end 2025, ending a protracted battle over the generating station that pitted local economic interests against environmentalists and other opponents of nuclear power.

The state Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on January 11 voted unanimously to accept PG&E’s request to decommission the two reactors at the plant near Avila Beach when operating licenses for the units expire in November 2024 and August 2025, respectively. The 2,256-MW plant is the lone remaining operating nuclear facility in California.

The CPUC also authorized PG&E to recover from ratepayers $ 241.2 million in costs associated with the retirement: $ 211.3 million to keep employees until the plant in closed; $ 11.3 million to retrain displaced workers; and $ 18.6 million for operating license renewal costs.

CPUC President Michael Picker, the commissioner assigned to today’s proceeding, said “Diablo Canyon has been a source of reliable and clean electricity, and employment, in San Luis Obispo [County] for many years now.…