Get Ready For 1.5¢ Renewable Electricity, says Steven Chu Says – “Former Energy Sec. Steven Chu told a roomful of scientists in Chicago they should think now what they could do with renewable electricity that costs only 1.5¢ per kilowatt hour. “I’m an advisor to Royal Dutch Shell. They think within a couple decades the very best sites will go to 1.5¢ per kilowatt hour cost of electricity.” Chu told the ones who got in that when electricity falls below 4¢/kWh it can produce hydrogen that competes with hydrogen from natural gas.” Source – Forbes.
Idaho 120 MWac solar project price slightly higher than 8minutenergy’s in Nevada – per reports leaking out prior to the official filing (pending upload of the pdf located here) of the Idaho Jackpot Solar project, there is in fact a 1.5% escalator applied to the 2.175¢/kWh price. If this is the case, then it seems the effective price, when using a 5% discount rate, is less than 1/10th of a cent per kilowatt hour more expensive. Here’s the math (Google Sheets). Much thanks to Matthias Fripp and Eric Hittinger for their assistance in fine tuning the equations via Twitter. Source – pv magazine USA.
Student led solar for schools bill fails in Montana – A proposal to create a budget for Montana state schools to install solar power, House Bill No. 704 (pdf), has failed to get through committee by a vote of 5-7. “The bill would have raised some $1.7 million a year to offer grants to about 15 Montana schools a year to install solar panels. To pay for solar installations, the bill proposed raising the state motel bed tax by 0.2 percent. Students said the increase would cost only 25 cents on a typical $125-a-night motel bill.” Source – Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
GameChange Solar expands manufacturing in Detroit, Michigan – “GameChange Solar selected Michigan as a premier location and has recently added 6 new manufacturing lines in the state, bringing the total to 12 lines in two facilities, one in the Detroit area and the other in western Michigan.” Source – GameChange Solar
Battery storage is “charging” ahead in New England ISO territory – “New England has enjoyed the benefits of two large-scale pumped-hydro energy storage facilities that can supply almost 2,000 MW of capacity within 10 minutes. Now, new storage technologies are emerging, driven by technological advances, falling costs, and support from the states. Today, the region has about 20 MW of grid-scale battery storage capacity; currently proposed new projects could add more than 1,300 MW of battery storage capacity by 2022.” Source – ISO New England (pdf)
The Florida Public Service Commission approves solar rate basing – Florida regulators have found that two of Duke Energy’s Florida based solar power facilities – the Hamilton Solar Power Plant and the Columbia Solar Power Plant – “are forward-thinking, cost effective, and benefit customers, while producing emissions-free energy” – and have approved Duke to recover costs by billing customers at an installed cost of $1,486/Wac. Duke Energy requested $29.2 million in total annual revenue requirements for the two projects through a Solar Base Rate Adjustment (SoBRA). Source – Florida Public Service Commission.
And because its always great to see oil companies buying solar power, let’s talk about Texas:
https://twitter.com/BloombergNRG/status/1113867341094367233
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Nice to see Texas go for lots of solar to balance all the wind out.
Texas may end up being the most RE from their open market where RE has a fair market to compete in even if the FF generators still have the huge pollution subsidies.
If the ratepayers are paying for the Duke solar farm, shouldn’t the ratepayers own it?