Saturday 19 July 2014

Ontario Liberals Energy Reign of Error by Will Dubitsky, July 19, 2014

Ontario provincial Liberal energy policies to-date are a dog's breakfast, because the Liberals have had a terribly bad habit of making announcements and then retracting after each announcement with a series of less and less ambitious goals -- to a point where it became, and still is, almost impossible to base anything on their word.  

To this effect, when the Ontario government came out with its Green Energy Act several years ago, it set an objective for a non-hydro renewables capacity of 10.7 GW by 2015.  This was latter re-set for 10.7 GW by 2018 and the latest announcement, December 2013, has the objective pegged for 2021.

The May 2013 WTO ruling that rendered "illegal" the Ontario content requirements pertaining to solar and wind farm projects -- 50% and 60% Ontario content to be eligible for Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) rates for wind and solar farms respectively --  put Ontario into a tail spin.  The Ontario Liberals have spoken of a long term procurement plan to replace the FIT program, but quite frankly, they don't see to know themselves what they are talking about.

For several reasons the Ontario Liberals' capitulation on the WTO content ruling strikes me as based on a lack of initiative on Ontario's part.

First, since Quebec has a 60% Québec content requirement via Hydro-Québec for wind projects, one would think that Ontario could have found a way around the WTO ruling if it had wanted to. 

Second, Brazil's state development bank, Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social,  has wind energy project local content rules for preferential financing arrangements.  It has a staggered plan to require the wind sector to eventually source 60% of their content for projects by, around mid 2016. In June 2014, Vestas of Denmark invested $43.6M in Brazil to meet Brazil's local content requirements.

Third, there is the US which applies it's Buy American Act to just about every infrastructure project.  Note that this suggests that even the Canadian federal government has plenty of wiggle room to set it's own national rules on Canadian clean tech content. Only the NDP would have the courage and conviction for such a policy.  It's been an awful long time since we have had a federal government that stood up for Canadian interests!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Returning to Ontario backtracking, the Ontario Liberals have scaled back a deal involving Samsung, Korea Electric Power and Pattern Energy, made outside of FIT in the early Green Energy Act days.  The original deal would have had the Ontario government spend $9.7B to purchase 2500 MW of solar and wind energy in return for 4 clean tech manufacturing plants.  But in June 2013, Ontario announced it was downsizing the agreement to $6B for 1369 MW.

Actually, Ontario Liberal energy policies is reminiscent of the corny Clairol cliché ads of the past, "Keep them guessing!"


Australia scraps carbon tax, By Anamaria Deduleasa Recharge News in London,, July 17 2014

Australia scraps carbon tax

Australia's RET is shrouded in uncertainty
Australia's RET is shrouded in uncertainty




The Australian Senate voted to get rid of the price on carbon by 39 to 32, making Australia the first country to repeal such a policy.
Introduced in July 2012, the carbon tax charges the 348 biggest polluters A$23 ($21.50) for every tonne of greenhouse gases they produce.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott now says he plans to replace it with A$2.55bn taxpayer-funded plan under which industries will be paid to reduce emissions and use cleaner energy.
The Climate Institute think-tank issued a statement criticising the move, saying that it left Australia "bereft of credible climate policy".
"By repealing laws that price and limit carbon pollution, Australia today became the world's first country to dismantle a functioning and effective carbon market, taking a monumentally reckless backward leap even as other major countries are stepping up climate action," it says.
The legislation passed with the support of the Palmer United Party (PUP), which earlier this month backed a package to save the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).
The outcome of a review of Australia’s RET is due later this month.
PUP announced that, regardless of the review’s results, it will block any changes until 2016, as it holds the balance of power in the Senate.
However, large foreign investors in the country's renewable energy sector continued to express anxiety at the policy upheavals.
"If there is a change [to the RET] I would like to see one that gives us and other investors, confidence that it is going to stay in place for a while," GE vice chairman John Rice told The Australian newspaper.
Rice called on the Abbott government to end the political uncertainty and not impose a target that "might change again in a few years”.

Friday 4 July 2014

US Increases Clean Technlogies Support, by Richard A. Kessler, Recharge News, July 3, 2014

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz




The projects must “avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases,” DOE says, adding loan guarantees will support technologies that are “catalytic, replicable, and market-ready.”
While any project that meets the appropriate requirements is eligible to apply, DOE has identified five key technology areas of interest: advanced grid integration and storage; waste-to-energy; efficiency improvements, drop-in biofuels and enhancement of existing facilities including micro-hydro or hydro updates to existing non-powered dams.
“As the president emphasized in his Climate Action Plan, it is critical that we take an all-of-the above approach to energy in order to cut carbon pollution, help address the effects of climate change and protect our children’s future,” says Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
On Tuesday, DOE announced its intention to provide a $150m loan guarantee for Cape Wind, America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
DOE earlier announced that it would provide $16bn in loan guarantees to support advanced technology vehicle manufacturing and $8bn for advanced fossil energy projects.
The Loan Programs Office supports a diverse portfolio of more than $30bn in loans, loan guarantees and commitments for a range of low-carbon and re-tooled auto manufacturing facilities.
While most of the projects have been successful, the program got a black eye when it provided loan guarantees for several solar ventures that went bankrupt, saddling taxpayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in losses

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Renewable Energy Set for $5T Boom by 2030, by Karl-Erik Stromsta, Recharge News, July 1, 2014

RE set for $5tr boom – study

A Juwi Shizen array in southern Japan
A PV array in southern Japan. Asia is set to see the most spectacular growth, says BNEF




Over the period to 2030, renewables will boom in every region, while the success of other energy sources will vary greatly depending on local circumstances, according to BNEF.
In the Americas, non-hydro renewables – primarily wind and solar PV – will rise in the electricity mix from 7% at present to 28%. In the US, gas will remain highly competitive, with overall gas-fired capacity set to rise by 134GW.
But renewables will be the biggest gainer, with the US set to add 275GW of capacity out to 2030, mostly small-scale PV and onshore wind.
Meanwhile, coal will be the big loser as it is increasingly outcompeted by renewables and gas, with 109GW of US coal-fired capacity set to disappear by 2030.
Latin America will add 102GW of solar capacity over the next decade and a half, and 71GW of wind capacity. By comparison, all fossil-fuel sources will collectively add just 48GW of new capacity in Latin America, BNEF says.
In Europe, the share of renewables in the power mix will hit 60% in 2030, up from about 40% at present. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, will fall to 27% from today’s 48%.
Put together, that means that the amount of carbon emitted by Europe’s power sector in 2030 will be less than half of its 2013 output.
BNEF predicts offshore wind will be the only major renewables technology still being subsidised in Europe in the 2020s.
The Asia Pacific region will experience the most jaw-dropping growth in renewables investment and installation, although unlike Europe and the Americas, Asia Pacific will also see significant growth in coal-fired plants.
Of the $3.6tr that will be spent on installing new power-generation capacity in Asia Pacific to 2030, some $2.5tr will go into renewables.
“The period to 2030 is going to see spectacular growth in solar in this region, with nearly 800GW of rooftop and utility-scale PV added,” says Milo Sjardin, BNEF’s head of Asia Pacific.
“This will be driven by economics, not subsidies; our analysis suggests that solar will be fully competitive with other power sources by 2020, only six years from now.”
BNEF notes, however, that Asia Pacific will see 434GW of new coal-fired capacity added during the period, and another 314GW of gas, meaning that its carbon emissions will continue to rise strongly for the foreseeable future.