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Solar Industry Celebrates Record Breaking Q2

September 16, 2017

The solar industry enjoyed its largest second quarter in history, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) announced, kicking off the annual Solar Power International (SPI) conference in Las Vegas. In the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report, GTM Research and SEIA found that in Q2 2017, the industry installed 2,387 MW of solar photovoltaics (PV), the largest total ever recorded in the second quarter.

“That’s up 8% from last quarter and 12% from last year, which is notable considering how large 2016 was,” Shawn Rumery, SEIA director of research, said while presenting the report at SPI.

Growth was seen across all market segments. Commercial, residential, and utility-scale market segments experienced quarter-over-quarter growth. “The U.S. installed 2,044 MW of capacity in Q1. The non-residential and utility-scale market segments also posted year-over-year growth,” according to an SEIA release. The non-residential market grew 31% year-over-year, installing 437 MW.

Utility-scale solar accounted for 58% of PV instillations in the second quarter. “In fact, Q2 marked the seventh straight quarter in which the U.S.…

Japan Regulatory Group Gives Conditional Support for TEPCO Restart

September 14, 2017

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Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency has given Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) conditional approval to restart two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The units were taken offline after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in March 2011.

The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on September 13 said TEPCO could restart the units after it provides a detailed plan of how it can ensure the operational safety of the boiling-water reactors, the same type that operated at Fukushima, which was crippled after an earthquake and tsunami struck the region, resulting in flooding at the nuclear plant. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported the NRA’s action.

A district court in March of this year ruled that TEPCO and the Japanese government were aware of risks at Fukushima and could have taken action to avoid the meltdown of three reactors.

TEPCO Under Scrutiny

Units 6 and 7 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture were among 54 nuclear facilities in Japan—the country’s entire nuclear fleet—ordered to shut down after the 2011 earthquake.…

DOE Rolls Out Funding for Turbines, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

September 12, 2017

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is kicking off September with a couple of significant funding announcements. The department announced September 6 the selection of 16 projects to receive a combined total of more than $ 10 million in funding to advance solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. That announcement was followed up September 7 with the selection of nine projects to receive a combined total of $ 5.4 million under the University Turbine Systems Research (UTSR) program.

SOFC Award

The 16 projects selected under the SOFC award “will address the technical issues facing the cost and reliability of SOFC technology and conduct field testing of an integrated prototype system project intended to validate the solutions to those issues,” according to a DOE press release.

The projects fall under two categories, prototype system testing and core technology development.

Only one project was selected under the prototype system testing topic area. Receiving total funding of $ 7.1 million, LG Fuel Cell Systems will deploy a 250-kW integrated fuel cell system in North Canton, Ohio.…

Pruitt: EPA Will Have CPP Replacement Proposal in Coming Months

September 10, 2017

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose a replacement rule for the Clean Power Plan (CPP) this fall, according to a September 7 court document filed by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

The document, filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, provides an update on the EPA’s efforts to develop the CPP replacement. The court heard oral arguments in a massive ongoing lawsuit, pitting a coalition of 27 states and numerous energy producers, utilities, and trade organizations against the EPA, nearly a year ago, but has yet to reach a decision in the case.

After President Donald Trump on March 28 issued an executive order calling on the EPA to begin a reevaluation of the Clean Power Plan, the Justice Department asked the court to hold the case in abeyance until the EPA had fully reviewed the rule. A month later the court filed an order suspending the case for 60 days, and in August, the abeyance was extended 60 more days.…

Florida Nuclear Plants Will Shut Ahead of Irma

September 8, 2017

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Florida Power & Light (FPL), the largest utility in Florida, said September 7 it would shut down its Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants in the hopes of limiting potential damage from Hurricane Irma. The facilities are the only operating nuclear plants in the state.

FPL did not give specific timing for the shutdown, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it expects Turkey Point, located south of Miami, will be taken offline the evening of September 8, with the St. Lucie facility on Hutchinson Island, north of West Palm Beach, likely being shut down early on September 9. The effects of Irma, which could be the most-destructive hurricane to ever strike Florida, are expected to be felt in south Florida on Saturday, with conditions worsening throughout the weekend.

The two plants are each about 20 feet above sea level. The plants are protected by concrete and steel barriers, and were further reinforced for protection after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, when floodwaters from a tsunami after an earthquake caused multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.…

Could Success Spoil ISO-NE?

September 6, 2017

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Independent System Operator-New England celebrated its 20th anniversary last July with a solid record in its energy and capacity markets, turning around a fragmented regional electric system. Can it repeat that performance in the face of new challenges: retiring coal, oil, and nuclear plants; gas deliverability problems; the rise of renewables; and the need for decarbonization?

On July 1, the Independent System Operator-New England (ISO-NE), headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts (Figure 1), marked 20 years as a wholesale, competitive market covering Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and most of Maine (Figure 2). When the ISO began operations, competitive wholesale markets were a bold experiment for the 1990s, fostered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The foundation was FERC’s belief, based in classical economics, that market competition would produce superior results compared to the conventional model of the state-regulated, vertically integrated monopoly electric companies.

1. At the controls. The control room of Independent System Operator-New England’s (ISO-NE’s) headquarters in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is the nerve center for the group’s operations.

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