·        Hot Topic Hour  – May 26, 2011

·        Utility E Alert – May 13, 2011

·        Solar Roofs Decrease Energy Costs

“Status and Technology of Solar Power Generation” is “Hot Topic” on May 26, 2011

Utility sized concentrating solar power plants covering a land area equal to just 9 percent of the state of Nevada could provide 100 percent of the power consumed in the U.S. today.  Global warming and resulting state mandates that require renewable energy to make up from 10 to 30 percent of the power supplied by utilities within the next 10 to 15 years is driving interest and investment in solar power. Yet most energy forecasts for the U.S. indicate that combustion of fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas will provide the lion’s share of our power for the next 25 years and beyond with solar contributing only a small share of the renewable portion of the power mix.

Concentrating solar power plants of a utility size have been in operation for over 25 years and with the advances in technology and operating experience over this time have proven to be reliable and economic. And with economic thermal storage using molten salt now available, solar plants could be utilized to provide base load capacity. However, with the exception of a few utility sized projects announced over the past few years, utilities seem to be focused on distributed arrays of small roof top photovoltaic panels for integrating solar power into their power source mix and using solar primarily to provide power during periods of peak demand.

The following speakers will discuss the economic issues of PV and concentrating thermal solar power, the driving forces (regulatory, government incentives, GHG reduction) for utilities to utilize these technologies, the economics and technical issues favoring either distributed arrays of PV versus utility sized solar plants, solar base load plants versus peaking power, new technology under development or in testing to reduce the cost of power per kWh and improve the reliability or reduce maintenance requirements and provide an update on current PV and thermal technology in use and experience with plants in operation.

Bart Krishnamoorthy, Research Associate with the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), will discuss current solar technology and market trends, including types of solar technologies, current and future deployment patterns, and declining price points, with a particular focus on analyzing the data within an electric utility context.  In addition, the presentation will look briefly at utility solar procurement strategies and evolution, as well as an overview of current utility strategies in solar integration. 

Paula Mints, Principal Analyst, PV Services Program and a Director in Navigant's energy practice, will discuss how PV, CSP and CPV compete on the utility scale battleground -- competitors and allies, all solar technologies must support each other while competing for the prize -- which is, ironically, to sell commodity electricity at the lowest price. This presentation will detail how each technology (thin film flat plate, crystalline flat plate, CSP and CPV) approach the battlefield.

Dr. Peter Johnston, Project Manager for Clean Energy Technologies at Burns and McDonnell Engineering Company and Matt Brinkman, Solar Business Unit Manager for Burns & McDonnell's Energy Global Practice, will present the reasons they see that photovoltaic solar systems are enjoying multiple installations even into the 100's of MW and solar thermal systems are not so prolific. They will also discuss how solar thermal systems can be integrated into fossil fueled power plants to reduce fossil fuel consumption and potentially generate some of the cheapest solar MWh for utilities.

Joseph (Joe) Bessler, President and CEO of Silverwood Energy, Inc, will discuss the status of the California utility market - utility owned programs versus third party provider programs.  A snapshot of the California utility solar market as it stands today.

John King, Founder, President and CEO of Combined Power Cooperative, a provider of disruptively low cost Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, will provide a survey of the current state-of-the-art and incipient developments in reflector systems, receivers and thermal energy storage.

To register for the "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 10 a.m. CDT (Chicago time), click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.

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Here are the Headlines for the May 13, 2011 – Utility E Alert

UTILITY E-ALERT

#1024 - May 13, 2011

Table of Contents

OVERVIEW

• Non-attainment and MACT need to be Evaluated Simultaneously
• Renewables are the Future but Not the Present

COAL – US

• Salem Harbor gets Grid OK to retire two Units
• Lawsuit filed against Las Brisas Project in Texas
• We Energies to begin Coal-to Natural Gas Conversion at Valley Power Plant
• Lawsuit continues against 600 MW Hempstead County Power Project in Arkansas
• Minnesota Legislature:  MN can buy Power Produced in another State using Coal as Fuel
• Sierra Club Sues Michigan over Holland Power Plant Expansion
• Potomac River fined for Permit Violations relating to Opacity

COAL – WORLD

• Bihar (India) OKs 1320 MW (each) Chausa and Kajra Power Projects
• Swanbank B (Australia) Mothballs Third Unit
• MHI to supply Turbines for 2x350 MW Jorf Lasfar in Morocco
• 660 MW Ledvice in Czech Republic delayed by Boiler Problem
• Hazelwood Power Plant in Victoria, Australia to remain Open
• Tuas Power considering Phase 2 of Power Plant on Jurong Island, Singapore
• Swaziland looking for Partner for Mpaka Power Project
• Room for Future Expansion of Janamanjung Power Plant in Malaysia
• GLOBAL Business Power to build 80 MW Power Plant, possibly in Negros Occidental, Philippines
• Issues related to Land Acquisition for the 1980 MW Nabinagar Power Project in Bihar, India Resolved
• Go-ahead for 4,000 MW Chhattisgarh UMPP Unlikely
• Israel to Reduce Percentage of Coal-fired Generation
• BHEL and Larsen & Toubro are Contractors for DB Power 1200 MW Chhattisgarh (India) Project

GAS / OIL – WORLD

• TEPCO to set up Gas Turbines at Yokosuka near Tokyo for Emergency Power
• 900 MW Gateway Energy in UK in Final Stages of Permitting

BIOMASS

• Hawaii Power Plant to Co-fire Eucalyptus Chips
• ANDRITZ Energy & Environment to Supply CFB Boiler-fired Exclusively with Biomass in South Korea

GASIFICATION

• Work begins on Adams Fork Coal-to-Gasoline Facility in West Virginia

CO₂

·         Alstom Announces Successful Results of Mountaineer CCS Project

• Air Products’ Carbon Capture and Purification Pilot Starts Up at Vattenfall Oxyfuel Plant
• 2Co Energy Rescues Powerfuel’s Hatfield CCS Project
• UK Submits Seven CCS Projects for EU Funding

NUCLEAR

• Japan to Continue using Nuclear Power
• TEPCO and Toshiba ask for More Time to Start Turkish Nuclear Power Project
• Visaginas Nuclear Power Project in Lithuania not dead
• NRC Task Force:  U.S. Nuclear Plants Still Safe
• Flood Risk might Postpone Construction of Xianning Nuclear Power Station in Hubei, China
• Vietnam to continue Nuclear Program
• Most of the World Proceeding with Nuclear Power Plant Plans

BUSINESS

• At Electric Power FGD, MACT, Gas Turbines and PRB Coal were the Hot Topics
• Yokogawa Electric Corp. to supply Control System for 1370 MW Raipur Power Project in India
• NTPC (India) Considering Water Usage in Future Power Plants
• EES says ChemVactor^™ working Well
• Emerson PlantWeb^™ for Luis Carlos Prestes Power Plant in Brazil
• Evonik Energy Services completes Acquisition of ESA
• Iran, Turkey to build Power Plants
• Mitsubishi Power Systems Unveils New $325 Million Manufacturing and Service Facility in Georgia

HOT TOPIC HOUR

• PM_2.5 Compliance will be tough but not Impossible - Hot Topic Hour - May 12, 2011

For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.

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Solar Roofs Decrease Energy Costs

More and more companies are seeing value in using their roof tops to generate power from solar cells.  A few items from recent McIlvaine Renewable Energy Updates illustrate that point.

China Sunergy Co., Ltd., a specialized solar cell and module manufacturer based in Nanjing, China, announced that it has entered into an approximately 7 MW solar module supply contract with CEEG (Nanjing) Solar Energy Research Institute, for the Nanjing South Railway Station solar roof project. This is the world’s largest stand-alone building integrated photovoltaic project for one structure. A major stop along the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway, the Nanjing South Railway Station will be one of the most energy efficient public buildings in China.

Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Clara Medical Center has gone live with solar power, becoming one of the U.S.’s first major medical centers to receive a significant amount of its energy from the sun.

Kaiser Permanente agreed recently to install solar power systems at 15 of its California facilities – deploying a total 15 MW of solar energy – by the end of 2011. The agreement with Recurrent Energy, a solar project developer and generating company providing clean electricity to utilities and large energy users, launched one of the largest sustainable energy programs in U.S. health care.

 Kaiser Permanente’s investment in solar power will reduce the organization’s reliance on the public power grid and help it diversify its energy sources. The 15 MW of solar power will produce an average of 10 percent of the electricity at each of the facilities, which also include the Vallejo Medical Center in Northern California, and medical offices in Lancaster and La Mesa in Southern California.

Kaiser Permanente agreed to purchase the solar power through power purchase agreements with San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy, which will own and operate all of the solar power systems. Kaiser Permanente also will retain all the Renewable Energy Credits awarded for these solar projects.

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and the world’s largest express transportation company joined with Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany to inaugurate the new FedEx Central and Eastern Europe hub.

The Cologne hub is the second FedEx Express hub to be solar-powered and the fifth solar facility in operation within FedEx Corp. The roof features the largest FedEx Express solar power installation worldwide and represents one of the largest rooftop solar installations in North Rhine-Westphalia, with an area of 16,000 square meters, producing about 800,000 kWh per year.

Prudential Financial, Inc. announced that it has installed solar panels on its office building in Scottsdale, AZ and added charging stations to be used for electric cars when they become widely available.

The solar panel installation project in Scottsdale also included constructing a covered employee parking facility and the addition of several car charging stations.  The solar panels in Scottsdale involved installing 4,508 panels that generate approximately 30 percent of the building’s power use, with a peak output of 885 kWh. 

The Port of Los Angeles has completed its World Cruise Center solar rooftop project, a 71,500 square foot, 1 MW system capable of generating approximately 1.2 million kWh of electricity annually to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) energy grid.

The solar photovoltaic installation, which is expected to result in an annual $200,000 energy cost savings, is the first phase of a multi-location solar power program that will eventually produce 10 MW of solar system generation capacity. The $10.8 million project includes a total of 1.16 million square feet of rooftop solar panels, larger than the size of a football field. Three additional project phases are slated for completion over the next five years.

IKEA, the home furnishings retailer announced solar energy is planned for its Denver-area store under construction in Centennial, CO. Pending governmental permits, installation of solar panels on the store’s roof were to begin in February, with completion by grand opening in Fall 2011. REC Solar will design, build and install this solar energy system.

The 60,000-square-foot solar array will consist of a 498-kW system, built with 2,212 panels, and will produce approximately 740,000 kWh of electricity annually for the store.

IKEA U.S. already has solar energy systems in Brooklyn, NY, Pittsburgh, PA and Tempe, AZ, and is installing systems at eight existing locations in California and two stores on the East Coast. Additionally, IKEA Centennial will be the first U.S. IKEA store to integrate a geothermal component as part of its heating/cooling system.

California State University Bakersfield (CSUB), installed a 1.2 MW solar parking canopy located on the CSUB campus. The solar parking canopy was made possible through a Solar Power Service Agreement between CSUB and SunEdison that required no upfront costs from the university. CSUB will purchase the clean energy produced over a period of 20 years to offset their demand from the utility grid. CSUB will also retain the renewable energy credits generated by the production of clean energy from the solar parking canopy.

The 1.2 MW solar parking canopy will generate over 1.6 million kWh of clean energy in the first year of operation and produce over 30 million kWh over 20 years.

Further details may be found at:

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Brochure/renewable_energy_WM_brochure.htm

You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Free_Newsletter_Registration_Form.htm

Bob McIlvaine
President
847 784 0012 ext 112

rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com