| United
States Installations
ALABAMA:
-
Florence - Two 30kW, PowerPort PV systems for TVA in Florence, Alabama
have been built at the Water Treatment facility at Veterans Park. A
second system was installed at the intramural fields at the Univ. of
MISS in Oxford. The systems transform direct current power produced
by the solar modules into 480 VAC 60, Hz, 3-phase utility-compatible
power that is fed into the utility transformer. In this grid-interactive
configuration, the PV system operates in parallel with the utility power
plants to provide power to the grid during daylight hours.
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ARIZONA:
-
Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) has installed a IMW concentrated soalr
electric power system using DukeSolar non-imaging optics and Ormats’
organic cycle engine, the world's largest high-concentration photovoltaic
(HCPV) solar project. The distributed, multi-site system will be rated
at more than 500 kilowatts (half a Megawatt) and will produce enough
energy to power more than 165 homes with an overall DC system efficiency
at converting sunlight to electricity exceeding 17 percent.
[http://library.northernlight.com]
- Tucson
- The city’s largest solar power generation facility activated
at Tucson water’s Hayden/Udall Water Treatment Facility; 144-panels
provide 72,000kWh of electricity annually to power several pumps and
associated equipment; partnership b/w City of
Tucson, TEP, SEPA and Tucson Coalition for Solar Energy; Funded partially
by US $75,000 grant from SEPA and DOE.
- Tucson
- Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) has activated the most recent
additions to its record-setting solar array near Springerville, Arizona
increasing the system's energy output to 2.4 MW. The Springerville Generating
Station Solar System, which includes 22,276 photovoltaic panels spread
out over 28 acres, remains the most powerful grid-connected solar array
operating in the Western Hemisphere. It produces enough energy to meet
the annual electric needs of 420 Tucson homes. TEP will continue to
expand the system to meet a growing demand for green power. By the end
of 2003, the site will be producing 3.2 MW. In 2004, the system will
be expanded to 4 MW, surpassing the size of what is now the world's
largest photovoltaic power plant, a 3.3 MW installation in Serre, Italy.
[solaraccess.com — 12 December
2002]
- Scottsdale
- APS has constructed a solar electric power plant at Scottsdale Water
Campus, which will feed 300 kW of solar energy- enough to provide for
the electrical needs of up to 100 homes- to the electric grid. The plant
was installed on top of water storage tanks.
- Prescott
- Arizona's largest electric utility, dedicated the first phase of the
new Prescott Airport Power Plant, which will be one of the world's largest
solar generating facilities when it opens in 2003. The plant will contribute
450 kilowatts (kW) of solar-generated electricity to the APS system
when the plant opens. With the completion of Phase 1, scheduled for
March 2003, 1.5 megawatts (1,500 kW) of electricity will be available
to APS customers. APS plans increase capacity to 5 megawatts, enough
power for over 2,000 homes, as the facility expands over the next three
to five years. Impetus comes from RPS; APS was skeptical about generating
solar power, but 2% of customers volunteered for the company’s
Solar Partner’s Program, opting to pay $2.4/month for a 15kWh
block of electricity generated by RE. [solaraccess.com
— 8 November 2002]
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CALIFORNIA:
- Sacramento
- The Municipal Utility District (SMUD), one of the largest public power
electric utilities in the United States, reached a 10 MW milestone in
installing photovolatics to meet the needs of 3300 homes. 1670 kW were
installed in 2001 and SMUD has 500 kW interconnected with the electric
utility grid as part of grid-support installations. SMUD has the world’s
larges photovoltaic array at the former Rancho Seco nuclear power plant
(3.9 MW) and the solar parking lot shade structure, a 540 kW Cal Export
Solar port structure. [www.smud.org/pv]
- Sacramento
- A solar-thermal powered air-conditioning system was installed by Duke
Solar in Sacramento, California, in 1997 using a 20-ton McQuay chiller
similar to the installation will in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the
second half of 2001, with a 50-ton Yazaki machine that has been modified
to be powered directly by hot water and natural gas. The combined efficiency
of the new solar collectors and double effect absorption chillers is
about 60 percent — or more than four times the efficiency of standard
evacuated collectors with single effect chillers.
- San Diego
- Shea Homes of CA in 2001installed photovoltaic (AstroPower, DE) and
solar water heaters (SunSystems, AZ) in their San Diego housing development
of 200 homes. This is the largest solar development in the U.S. AstroPower
is the first photovoltaic company that markets its products through
a national chain, Home Depot, in San Diego which is expected to be expanded
throughout the west. [www.astropower.com]
- PROPOSAL
Indigenous Global Development Corp. announced plans to install up to
15 wind turbines in Contra Costa County. 15, 1.5MW wind turbines. [3
September 2002]
- Dublin
- Almost three acres of the Santa Rita Jail's rooftop in Dublin Calif.
are now covered with photovoltaic solar collectors, expanding a previous
640 kW array to 1.18 MW and making the facility the largest rooftop
solar installation in the U.S. PowerLight Corp. of Berkeley, Calif.
installed the first solar array on the jail during the summer of 2001.
To date, the combined project has reduced the facility's peak summer
demand for grid-generated power by 35 percent. [http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com]
- Sacramento
- The California Department of General Services (DGS) and the Franchise
Tax Board (FTB) today unveiled the largest state-owned solar electric
rooftop installation in California at the FTB's headquarters in Sacramento.
The 470 kW solar system - generating enough electricity to power the
equivalent of more than 400 homes - will supply the Franchise Tax Board
with nearly half of its energy needs, reducing expensive electricity
purchases from the grid during peak demand periods. This solar-powered
installation is anticipated to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by
more than 9,000 pounds and carbon dioxide by more than 11,000 tons during
its 25-year lifespan. These emissions reductions are equivalent to planting
approximately 800,000 trees, removing 4,000 cars from the roadways,
or not driving 50 million miles.
- Novato-
Prevalent Power has installed & developed a complete soar energy
solution - grid connected 37.5kW solar system for a San Fransisco pet
care provider. The system will pay for itself in 7 years and will replace
30% of energy consumption and reduce energy bills by 50%. One half of
project is funded by state through the CPUC self-generation incentive
program with another 25% paid for by fed and state tax incentives.
- Los Gatos
– An installation of a 10kW solar electric system for Congregation
Shir Hadash has been completed. The system incorporates 77 Powerlight
“Powerguard” modules and a 10kW Xantrex 3-phase inverter.
Net metering allows the buildings’ excess electricity to be sent
back to the utility for credit at the full retail rate. [www.ecoenergies.com]
- Riverside
- The first solar powered gas station was unveiled in Riverside- a first
of a number of solar stations planned in Southern Cal. The new solar
stations will feature solar PV panels atop pump island canopies, providing
enough energy to supply approx. 20% of the site’s overall energy
needs; that equated to 16kW of clean electric power, enough to supply
electric power to 4 homes; BP has equipped more than 380 of its retails
sites in 17 countries with solar capability.
- Alameda
County- The county has installed country’s largest solar system.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PGE) presented Alaeda County with a check
for $1.6million at the inauguration of its newly expanded solar PV system
at the Santa Rita Jail; system rated At 1.18MW which is enough to power
1100 homes; 9726 panels on the jail roof and provides 30% of the jails
daytime electric needs; County expects to save $15million over the 25
year life of the system.
- Terrence
- The largest commercial solar rooftop electric system in North America
was built at Toyota Motor sales headquarters. The 501kW system can generate
enough electricity during day to power 500 homes. ThinkEnergy of Maryland
brought together Toyota and Powerlight and estimated that over the 25
year life of solar electric system, emissions will be reduced as follows:
nitrous oxide 10,250 lbs. and CO2 by12,300 tons; covers 52,000 square
ft. of South Campus with 3,300 solar elect. Powerlight’s Powerguard
roof system used for the flat roof provides electricity while protecting
the roof from effects of weather and UV radiation. [18 2002 September]
- Los Angles
- The largest solar electric rooftop system at any university in the
world is installed at Loyola Marymount University in early 2003, providing
a cleaner, more efficient source of electricity from California's famous
sunshine. 723-kilowatt hours peak solar rooftop system. Estimated at
a total outlay of more than $4.3 million, the project expense will be
offset by rebates — $3.7 million from the LADWP, and $325,000
from the Gas Company — resulting in an actual cost to the university
of only $325,000. The total project will generate roughly 880,000 kilowatt
hours annually — producing enough clean electricity in the daytime
to power more than nearly 150 homes in the Los Angeles area and resulting
in an annual reduction of carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to driving
a car more than two million miles -- or the amount that can be consumed
by about 233 acres of trees annually. Construction is expected to be
completed on all three facilities by April.
- Del Mar
- By the time the San Diego County Fair rolls around, the Del Mar Fairgrounds
probably will be generating about one-sixth of the electricity it consumes.
The fairgrounds in February will start installing about 7,000 solar
panels on the roofs of 10 barns. Given the cost of electricity, officials
expect the solar-panel system to cut the fairgrounds' annual energy
costs by about $230,000. The fairgrounds spent $1.5 million on electricity
in 2001. If energy prices climb as expected, the fairgrounds would save
more. The fairgrounds consumed 9.86 million kilowatt hours in 2001;
the system is expected to cut that by about 1.64 million kilowatt per
year. Half the $4.8 million cost of the 1-megawatt photovoltaic system
will be covered by a $2.4 million grant from the nonprofit San Diego
Regional Energy Office. It will take the fairgrounds 10 to 15 years
to pay off the rest.
- Sacramento
- Cal Expo installed a 400-kilowatt photovoltaic system in February
2002, and has seen a 50 percent decrease in its electricity bills. The
Cal Expo fairgrounds occasionally bring in diesel-powered generators
to help power large events such as the fair and the annual Holiday of
Lights display.
- Sant Cruz
- Mission Hill Junior High, which sports eight solar panels on its roof,
is the first public school in Santa Cruz County to have a sun-powered
system tied to the state’s electricity grid. The system generates
about 4 kWh daily, enough power for a classroom’s worth of lights,
computers, and audio and video equipment.
- Monrovia-
A photovoltaic array is sending power to a southern California car dealership.
The 60 kW array is installed on the roof of Sierra Autocars, a third-generation,
family owned dealership. The array consists of 384 165-watt modules
mounted on racks and two Xantrex inverters, according to Grant Vospher,
3 Phase Solar directors of sales.[December 5, 2002 SolarAccess.com]
- Sacramento
- The federal government approved a geothermal power plant in northern
California, reversing an earlier decision, but required the developer
to avoid areas important to environmentalists and American Indian tribes.
The 48-megawatt Fourmile Hill project is needed because of the nation's
and California's drive for more domestic and more renewable energy,
said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rebecca W. Watson. The plant
will produce enough power for about 50,000 homes by drawing naturally
heated water from the earth, then reinserting the water to be reheated
and reused. Calpine estimates it will operate for 45 years.
- Los Angeles
- Under the management of California Associated Power, the system was
recently installed at the Whole Foods Market store in Woodland Hills,
California, making the company Los Angeles' largest major retailer and
nation's largest food retailer to introduce solar energy as 25 percent
of its power source. A 108 kW solar electric system to power the Woodland
Hills store. The solar array is composed of solar electric panels covering
18,000 square feet on the store's roof. [14 November 2002]
- San Diego
- Navy Region Southwest announced today that it has deployed the largest
federal solar photovoltaic system in the nation. This system is a unique
solar electric carport at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, which makes
innovative use of existing parking space. The installation is comprised
of two contiguous solar arrays, covering a half-mile long parking structure
that serves US Navy personnel. In addition to providing shade for parked
cars, the system generates the equivalent energy during the day to power
over 935 homes. This 750 kW solar electric system will reduce the demand
on California's power grid, as well as improve air quality by avoiding
thousands of tons of polluting nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon
dioxide emissions. This system is the latest RE generation system deployed
by Navy region Southwest. Other installations include 3 solar electric
systems totaling 130kW, wind generating capacity of 675kW on San Clemente
Island, and 120 kW of micro-turbine technology at the Naval Base in
Coronado.
- San Diego
- Environmental Services Operations Station administration building
now operates on solar power, the city's first use of photovoltaic (PV)
panels that will generate enough energy to operate a municipal building.
The newly installed PV array consists of 468 panels with each panel
generating approximately 140 W of electricity. The entire structure
will produce approximately 91,950 kWh per year to power the administration
building, which currently uses 87,000 kWh of energy per year. The city
will save US$16,551 annually in energy expenses that would have been
used to cover energy costs of this building. [solaraccess.com
— 7 November 2002]
- San Francisco
- A $7.4 million project to install 5,000 solar electric panels atop
the Moscone Convention Center in has begun.
- San Francisco
-Rainbow Grocery becomes the city’s first solar powered grocery
store. The 10kW solar electric system will offset Rainbow Grocery's
power consumed from the grid while a solar thermal system will provide
hot water for use in the store. The system, located on the store's roof,
will generate 25% of the store's energy. In addition to an attractive
amortization period, the system will produce and save more than 547,500
kilowatt hours over 30 years. The system will also result in more than
500 tons of CO2 emissions avoided, the equivalent of removing 135 cars
from the roadways.
- San Francisco-
The Examiner Pet Camp has become the third-largest energy generator
in The City, after two power plants located in the Bayview and Potrero
Hill neighborhoods. An estimated $300,000 solar-panel system was installed
last week on the roof of the 13,000-square-foot kennel, allowing the
Bayview business to generate much of its own energy. Expected to eliminate
close to 80,000 pounds per year of such pollutants as carbon monoxide
and nitrous oxide. That is equivalent to adding 11 acres of trees to
the world's forests.
- Davis
- The largest rooftop solar panel system in the city has become operational,
on top of the Brinley Building, 603 Second St. Brinley said the system
cost about $300,000, but the family is receiving about half of that
back in a rebates and deductions. [solaraccess.com
— 30 November 2002]
- Salinas
– The Salinas Hospital has adopted solar power after erecting
1,008 solar panels to supply the hospital's Downing Resource Center,
an office building on East Romie Lane, with power. By harvesting free
energy for the building, the hospital estimates it can knock two-thirds
of the cost off the center's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. bill. [solaraccess.com
— 21 November 2002]
- Ventura
- In a major bid to plug into cheaper, "greener" energy sources,
Ventura County has begun installing solar panels on fire stations and
buying hybrid vehicles powered by gas and electricity. Twelve of the
county's 31 fire stations are at least partly run on solar energy, and
another dozen may join them soon. With rebates and state grants, it
costs about $7,000 to install each solar system on a firehouse. The
solar cells atop the county fire stations generate up to 25% of their
daily electricity and are expected to save each facility an average
of $1,000 a year on utiltity bills, Inger said. [ 11 November 2002]
- San Diego
- Mayor Dick Murphy has commissioned the city's first "energy independent"
municipal building. The mayor recently opened the City's first use of
photovoltaic panels that will generate enough energy to operate an entire
municipal building. The photovoltaic panels are designed as two carports
over the Operations Station's administration building parking lot. The
newly installed PV array consists of 468 panels and each panel generates
approximately 140 watts. The entire structure will produce approximately
91,950 kilowatt hours per year to power the administration building,
which currently uses 87,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year. The City
will save $16,551 annually in energy expenses that would have been used
to cover energy costs of this building.
- San Jose
- Cypress Semiconductor is installing a solar electric generation system
at its new headquarters in San Jose, to offset expensive peak power
purchases. When completed, the system will be the largest PV facility
in the Silicon Valley, generating electricity from its 336 kW rooftop
array.
- San Dimas
- Wescorp has installed a PV system at its corporate headquarters, consisting
of 154, 120-watt panels that cover 1900-square feet of roof space. It
will generate from 14-18kW of power, providing up to 4% of the building’s
peak usage. Wescorp said the California Energy Commission partially
offset the cost of installation with a rebate of US$67,963.50. n The
San Francisco International Airport has installed an array of building-integrated
photovoltaic (BIPV) roofing panels to produce clean energy for the airport
and its operations. The 20 kW array is capable of supplying a portion
of the power needed at one of the airport’s support buildings.
The system was designed and installed by Renewable Energy Resources
(RER) using ECD’s UNI-SOLAR™ photovoltaic (PV) laminates.
The peel and stick PV laminates were bonded to metal roofing pans and
installed in modular units.
- Marina
del Rey - The United States Postal Service has dedicated the nation’s
largest federal roof-integrated solar photovoltaic installation at its
Marina Mail Processing and Distribution Center in Marina del Rey. The
127 kW system is capable of generating enough electricity to power 120
homes, and will reduce the demand on California’s power grid and
improve air quality by avoiding thousands of tons of polluting nitrogen
oxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide emissions. The solar array,
measuring 50x300 feet, produces clean power silently atop the roof of
the postal facility and is virtually maintenance free.
- Petaluma
– On the roof of a resident’s garage, 214 solar panels provide
electricity to charge four 2,500 lb batteries that supply power for
the house.
- Mendocino
– The solar powered home of John Schaeffer has 15-kW solar arrays
that provides about 50 kW/day. The solar electric panels are enough
energy to power the entire house of 3000 sq. ft.
- Santa
Monica - Colorado Court, a 44-unit, 5-story building, now has a natural
gas-powered turbine/heat recovery system that generates the base electrical
load and also services the building's hot water needs. A PV system integrated
into the facade and roof supplies most of the peak load. The projected
annual savings in electricity and natural gas are an estimated $6,000.
Compliance with an energy conservation policy will enable tenants to
receive a cash rebate if they are under their monthly energy allowance.
- Northern
California - Officials of the Int’l. Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers Union Local 332, the largest IBEW local in the northern part
of the state, announced the completion of new headquarters featuring
a number of green building features. The union hall’s PV system
generates 55kW of power, enough to provide for 70-80% of the buildings
total electrical needs. They have been able to cut their utility bill
in half. In addition, California utility regulations allow the union
to send extra power back to the grid.
- Oroville
– A 520 kW solar system has been installed at a wastewater treatment
plant in by photvaics and geothermal enersy. The structure provides
enough electricity to treat 80% of the wastewater at the facility.
- Ft. Bragg
– The Thanksgiving Coffee Company was granted funds under CA’s
Transportation Fund for Clean Air to offset the cost differential between
using biodiesel or petroleum diesel. It is the first private fleet in
the state to use B100-pure biodiesel. CO2 emissions will be reduced
by 80%; CO lowered by 44%; Cancer risk reduced by 90% from petroleum
diesel; smog forming potential deceased by 50%.
- Northridge
- The installation of more than 3,000 solar panels at Cal State is expected
to save the university more than $50,000 annually in energy costs. The
$1.8 million Photovoltaic Project, one of the largest solar electric
installations at a public university in California, was developed through
a partnership with the university's Physical Plant Management Department,
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the Southern California
Gas Company and Shell Solar Industries
- Los Angeles
- With a new breed of three small, efficient wind turbines, Daniel Scott
was able to shrink his $600 /month electricity bill and provide a tiny
assist with California’s energy problems. www.wapa.gov
(2/28/03)
- San Diego
– The State University’s Mount Laguna Observatory recently
collaborated with HPWREN and the Tribal Digital Village Network to provide
high-speed Internet Access to the La Posta, Manzania, and Campo Native
American reservations, located in southeastern San Diego county. In
order to reach the remote reservations, solar-powered stations were
utilized – as traditional electricity was not available for the
relay sites.
- Woodland
Hills - A new 108- kW solar photovoltaic system was installed on the
roof of a Whole Foods Market in Woodland Hills, California. The Los
Angeles Dept. of Power and Water Solar Incentive program funded the
installation.
- Los Angeles
– City Mayor Jim Hahn announced plans to build a 120-megawatt
wind power facility on February 3, 2003. The Pine Tree Wind Project
will be the largest municipality owned wind plant in the United States,
producing enough power for more than 100,000 households. [Solaraccess.com
— 6 February 2003]
- Los Angles
- Officials flipped the switch to begin operating a solar electric system
at the historic Helms Bakery Building in Los Angles. The 20 kW system,
installed atop a shade carport with the assistance of the LA Dept of
Water and Power rebates, will provide clean, renewable electricity.
It features 288 solar panels, and expected to save the facility US$
5000 annually in electric costs. [Solaraccess.com
— 4 February 2003]
- Twenety-nine
Palms - Two planned solar power installations, both greater than one
megawatt in generating capacity, are to be installed at the Marine Air
Ground Task Force Training Command in Twenty-nine Palms, California.
They will be in addition to Tucson Electric Power’s existing 2.4-megawatt
solar array at Springerville Generating Station in eastern Arizona.
[EERE Network news 19 February 2003.]
- Roseville
– The installation and startup of a 22 kW solar photovoltaic generating
system for a fire station in the City of Roseville, California has commenced.
Electricity generated by the system reduces the fire station’s
power consumption from the electric grid, especially during the summer.
- Solano
County - PacifiCorp Power Marketing is planning buy the entire output
from the 150 MW High Winds power project to be built in northern California
by FPL Energy. The project is to be located in Solano County and will
use the company’s 1.8 MW wind turbines, the largest sold in North
America. It is scheduled to be operating in the summer of 2003. [Solaraccess.com
— 12 December 2002]
- Los Angles
- Loyola Marymount University will draw on 723 kW of solar power. The
$4.3 million installation will cover 81,000 square feet of rooftop on
three buildings at LMU’s Westchester campus. [EREN Network News
15 January 2003]
- Mountain
View - Beginning in January of 2003, Redjellyfish, a socially responsible
long distance telephone company, will purchase 100 percent wind energy
for its California and Minnesota offices. Redjellyfish will power itself
with renewable energy by purchasing Green Certificates marketed by Phases
Energy Services, in an amount equal to 100 percent of its energy use,
or 15.9 MW per year.
- Carlsbad
- Onsite Energy Corporation has executed the Fourth Amendment to its
Master Energy Efficiency Services Agreement with the City of San Diego
to proceed with a comprehensive US$3.6 million energy project at the
city's Police Department Headquarters building. The project will incorporate
both energy efficiency measures designed to reduce consumption and solar
photovoltaic (PV) and combined heat and power (CHP) systems that are
expected to produce over 60 percent of the electricity that the building
currently consumes. Under the Fourth Amendment, Onsite will deliver
a turnkey energy efficiency project that is projected to save the city
approximately one million kWh of electricity and 11,000 therms per year
of natural gas and a CHP project that is expected to generate 3.5 million
kWh of electricity and produce thermal energy in the form of hot water
and chilled water that will displace energy that otherwise would be
provided by the building's conventional systems. [solaraccess.com 18
March 2003]
- Fresno
- The largest rooftop solar electric system in the Central Valley was
recently built. The 231 kWsolar system, mounted on the roof of OK Produce's
distribution facilities in Fresno, was designed and installed by PowerLight
Corporation of Northern California. [EINews 23 March 2003]
- Orville
- PG&E plans to present the largest renewable energy rebate in history,
$2,342,000, to the Sewerage Commission-Oroville Region (SCOR) for its
solar-powered wastewater treatment plant, at a public ceremony at on
Earth Day, 2003 in Oroville, California. [http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsNAPR209.htm]
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COLORADO:
- Colorado
is home to 7 biomass key electric plants-biomass- which have a collective
installed about 6MW.
- Lamar
– The proposed Lamar wind farm, will provide 162 MW of energy.
It is an estimated amount of electricity for about 160,000 homes.
- Denver
- A fire station in Denver, Colorado will be the first in the state
to receive power from a fuel cell system. The demonstration system is
capable of generating 5 kW of electricity and 9 kW of heat. On December
4th, the Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation
(OEMC) announced the installation of a proton exchange membrane (PEM)
fuel cell system at Washington Park Fire Station in Denver. The demonstration
is a cooperative between OEMC, the City of Denver, Plug Power Inc. of
Latham, New York, and Xcel Energy, Inc., the state's largest electric
and gas utility. The fire station is OEMC's second fuel cell demonstration
in 2002, and it will provide a portion of the facility's electricity
and heat. [solaraccess.com —
5 December 2002]
- A Colorado
pork farm produces 40% of its own electricity from hog waste saving
almost $7000/year.
- Four
rural electric cooperatives are now each operating one 4.5 kW fuel cell
system. The H Power Corporation plans to continue installing systems
at other cooperatives who are members of Energy Co-Opportunity, Inc.
(an energy services cooperative that provides distributed energy solutions
to U.S. electric cooperatives)
- Cedar
River - Working with Mark Paton of American Green Energy Solutions in
Skandia, Mich., a family has installed several new solar photovoltaic
panels this and a new Turbex wind turbine in December, 2002.
- Fort
Collins - A $9million 63,000 sq.ft. building designed as a “high-performance”
building using the District’s Sustainable Design Guidelines, has
been erected at Zach Elementary School. Using 100% wind energy, the
school district will help avoid the burning of 670 pounds of coal and
prevent 1200 pounds of CO2 emissions per student/year;
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DAKOTAS:
- 1) Basin
River -Basin Electric power Coop and FPL Energy have reached agreement
to build an 80MW wind energy project with 40MW in North and South Dakota.
Basin electric will purchase the output of the projects, which is constructed,
owned and operated by FPL Energy. It is scheduled to be operational
by end of 2003. The North Dakota project includes constructing 11 miles
of transmission line to connect wind farm to existing substation line,
with capacity of 115,000volts. The South Dakota project is to be located
in the service territory of another of Basin Electric’s Class
A member-owner.
- Chamberlain
- Basin Electric and East River Electric Power Cooperative have jointly
developed a 2.6MW wind farm near Chamberlain, South Dakota.
- Brookings
- Vera Sun Energy Corporation of South Dakota has completed financing
and has begun construction on a 100 million gallon per year dry-grind
ethanol plant near Aurora, South Dakota. When completed in the first
quarter of 2004, the plant will process more than 35 million bushels
of corn annually, creating a new local corn market of more than US$70
million. The plant will employ 50-60 skilled personnel with an annual
payroll of more than US$ 3 million. [solaraccess.com
— 03 February 2003]
- Minot
- Basin Electric Power Cooperative helped dedicate two new 1.3 MW wind
turbines near Minot, North Dakota. [solaraccess.com
— 12 December 2002]
- Belle
Fouche – The Community Center in South Dakota has installed 15
ground-coupled heat pumps to heat and cool the auditorium, weight room,
racquetball court and swimming pool. The municipal water system serves
as the heat sink.
DELAWARE:
- Sussex
– The Sussex Central Middle School is raising funds for an additional
600 watts for a total system size of 1.2 kW to be used to connect to
the grid system.
DISTRICT
OF COLuMBIA:
- The National
Park Service, which manages the White House complex, installed a 9 kW
solar electric (also known as “PV” or “photovoltaic”)
system, as well as two solar thermal systems that heat water used on
the premises. Solar Design Associates of Harvard, Massachusetts designed
and oversaw the installation of the systems. One hundred sixty seven
solar electric panels were placed on the roof of the grounds maintenance
main building. Aurora Energy of Annapolis, MD, installed the solar electric
system and Daystar Energy Services of Silver Spring, MD installed the
solar thermal systems.
- Washington
Gas Energy Services and Community Energy Inc, two energy marketers,
have announced that American University, World Wildlife Fund, the Institute
for Local Self-Reliance, Norm Thompson Outfitters, and Ecoprint have
joined the growing list of businesses and institutions buying pollution-free,
wind-generated electricity. The electricity will be supplied by the
Mountaineer Wind Energy Center, the largest wind generating facility
in the Eastern United States with 44 turbines, which began operating
in December 2002. Washington Gas Energy Services also announced that
almost 5,000 residential and all commercial customers have signed contracts
to purchase some or all of their electricity from the new wind facility.
- Catholic
University of America in Washington, DC agreed to buy wind power for
12 percent of its electricity needs in 2002. [solaraccess.com
— 26 January 2003]
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GEORGIA:
1) Walter
Robins - The state’s first residential fuel cell has been installed
by Flint Energies to provide heat and electricity to its Service Center
facility in Warner Robins. The 5 kW fuel cell was installed and commissioned
in less then four days in June, 2002. [solaraccess.com
— 17 July 2002]
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HAWAII:
- Kamuela-
Large solar electric power area panels at the heart of the world's largest
hybrid-solar/wind power system, are now operational. Located on the
Big Island, this 225-kW AC solar/wind power hybrid system generates
electricity 24 hours per day to meet the water-pumping demands of Parker
Ranch, one of the largest cattle ranches in the United States [www.astropower.com]
- Hawaii
- A 250 kW PowerLight system at the Mauna Lani Resort (their fourth
large PV system) will provide power for irrigation of the resort's two
golf courses. Also, 122 of the Mauna Lani's golf cars are SunCaddies:
they have PV panels on top, to help charge the batteries for extended
playtime. The combined total of the four systems is over 500 kW, making
Mauna Lani the largest resort user of photovoltaic electric energy in
the world.
- ‘Ewa
- A consortium of government and utility organizations hopes to build
the state's biggest field of solar electrical panels at a model renewable
energy park are to be built on Naval land in 'Ewa. The energy park,
on 34.5 acres next to the Hawai'i Prince Golf Club, eventually could
have a solar photovoltaic field producing 2 to 3 megawatts, making it
the biggest photovoltaic project in the state. The initial stage —
to be operational in 2005 — will have 200 kilowatts- roughly enough
to power 60 Hawaiian homes.
- Hilo
Bay - The Hilo Bay Million Roofs project, completed last year, consists
of an educational kiosk with solar electric lighting and solar electric
lighting for the bay front public restrooms. This public demonstration
project was implemented as part of the Millino Solar Roofs Initiative
(MSRI) and the Island of Hawaii MSRI partnership.
- Hawaii
- Established in 1996, the Residential Solar Water Heating Program has
ignited a vibrant solar-heating industry on the islands of Hawaii, Maui,
Oahu, and Molokai. By now over 62,000 solar water heater systems have
been installed on residential units allowing owners to derive all their
hot water needs from the sun for at least 90 percent of the year. In
addition, the state of Hawaii offers financial incentives for homeowners
looking to reduce their reliance on the electrical grid. An instant
rebate of US$750 for each system reduces the initial price, while a
35 percent in the tax credit of up to US$1750 for the total cost of
the installed systems lends a hand around tax time. [solaraccess.com
— 22 November 2002]
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IDAHO:
- Caldwell
- Zero Energy Manufactured Home, recently completed by Kit Manufacturing
of Caldwell, Idaho, is 1600 sq.ft. and includes Icynene insulation,
a heat recovery ventilator, solar thermal panels, and a $30,000 6 kW
PV array. [Energy Design Update- December 2002]
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ILLINOIS:
- Chicago
- Lakefront SRO Holland Apartments and the Children's Place at Vision
House Apartments, two affordable multifamily housing developments have
solar photovoltaic (PV) systems that incorporates a solar array with
a peak capacity of 18 kW, enough to supply over 21,000 kWh in a typical
Chicago year. The two housing developments join an increasing number
of PV installations on Chicago's South Side, including the DuSable Museum
of African American History, the Museum of Science and Industry, three
Chicago public schools and the upcoming "New Homes for South Chicago",
a development of single-family homes by Claretian Associates.
- Northern
Illinois - PROPOSED: Navitas Energy received a $2.75million grant to
develop a 50MW wind power project. It will be states’ largest
wind facility and the wind farm will generate approx. 133millon kWh
of electricity, enough to power 15000 homes. In addition, it will offset
the annual emissions of 76,000 tons of CO2, 800 tons of SO2 and 300
tons of CO that would otherwise be generated by conventional power plants.
- Chicago
- Solar power keeps the gas pumping at the recently reopened Mac's Convenience
in downtown Chicago. The business became the first solar-powered gas
station in Illinois on Wednesday morning, when state officials and business
leaders turned on the 280 photovoltaic panels stored in the pump island
canopy. The solar panels were funded in part by a $60,741 renewable-
energy grant from the state.
- Naperville
- BP celebrated the installation of solar panels at Washington Junior
High. The Naperville school was one of five area schools chosen to receive
the free panels, which are a regular feature at most BP service stations.
Of the schools, BP first installed the solar panels last on October
2002 at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora.
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IOWA:
- Clarion
- Goldfield is Iowa’s latest school district to adopt wind power
as an energy source after the district installed a 50kW turbine near
its high school. Assistance from a DOE grant for >$26,000 as well
as $110,000 in low interest loans financed the project. The turbine
should save the district $6000-9000 in annual energy costs.
- Sioux
Center - Siouxland Energy and Livestock Cooperative opened their 14
million gallon per year fuel ethanol plant on January 3, 2002. The plant
is located near a 10,000 head cattle feedlot where the plant intends
to sell its co product “distillers dried grains” as cattle
feed. [www.ethanol.rfa.org/eth_prod_fac.html]
- Iowa
- The state has 24 electric generating plants that use biomass, with
a combined capacity of 22MW…accounting for less than 1% of the
state’s total electricity needs. Of this total, 52% is biogas,
47% is Municipal Solid Waste and <1% is from timber residues. . The
most recent addition to ethanol production facilities was the Tall Corn
Ethanol LLC. It is the largest farmer-owned ethanol plant in the state,
requires 15million bushels of corn to produce 40million gallons of ethanol
and 120,000 tons of distillers dried grains annually. 2002 also saw
the construction of 2 additional ethanol plants being constructed in
1)Sioux center-14 million-gallon production potential and 2) Galva-18
million gallon potential.
- Waverly
- Waverly Light and Power, has helped lead the way for wind energy development
across the Midwest, and has been awarded the 2002 Paul Rappaport Renewable
Energy and Energy Efficiency Award by the U.S. Department of Energy's
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Beginning with Waverly's
groundbreaking wind program, Iowa to date has installed some 350-wind
turbines, producing more than 500 megawatts of electricity. Today, Iowa
ranks third among the states, behind only California and Texas, in wind
energy development. [19 July 2002]
- Top of
Iowa - A wind Farm, located across 5,500 acres contains 89 NEG Micon
turbines, each producing 900kW. The turbines are sited on agricultural
land owned by 52 different landowners with at total capacity of 80MW.
- Hancock
County - FPL Energy project and Hancock County Wind Energy Center has
98 MW of installed. The installation uses 148 V47-600 kW wind turbines.
- Iowa
- The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) currently has 34 solar-powered,
portable, changeable message signs in operation throughout the state,
and two mobile signal trailers operating on PV technology. The state
agency also owns 125 solar-powered automatic traffic recorders, and
is adding two more per year. Another solar technology used by the DOT
is solar-powered weigh-in-motion detectors, with 14 currently in operation.
- Cedar
Rapids - The Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids uses a 960-watt
PV system to supply power to its Sugar House Building. The solar system
is mounted on the building's roof and is grid-connected to the local
utility. About 10 percent of the facility's power load is met during
the work week, with excess generation during the weekends sent to the
grid.
- Iowa-
Iowa State University's PrISUm team competes in the Sunrayce, a series
of competitions across North America in which college teams build and
race solar-powered vehicles. Team PrISUm's mission is to educate the
public and increase interest in solar energy.
- Iowa
- Researchers at the Microelectronics Research Center (MRC) at Iowa
State University have been working on thin film semiconductors for use
in PC systems since the 1970s. Information gathered by MRC has been
applied in space programs for NASA.
- Iowa -The
Million Solar Roofs initiative is a public-private partnership to encourage
investment in building PV and active thermal systems. The ultimate goal
is to install one million solar systems in the United States by 2010.
Reaching this goal would reduce pollution by the equivalent of removing
850,000 cars from the road. In addition, an estimated 70,000 new jobs
will be created.
- MidAmerican
Energy Co. and Gov. Tom Vilsack will unveil plans today to develop the
largest land-based wind farm in the world. The $323 million project
will be built in northwest or north-central Iowa and will have 180 to
200 wind turbines. The project will generate 310 megawatts of energy,
Mid- American officials said Monday. The project would surpass the current
largest wind farm, which is on the Oregon-Washington border. It produces
300 megawatts of energy, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
[Iowa Register 25 March 2003]
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KANSAS:
- Motezuma
– The sargest wind farm in Kansas was ribbon cut in December 2001
near Montezuma, Kansas. The FPL Energy plant generates 110 megawatts
by 170 wind turbines. [www.utilicorp.com]
- Russell
- US energy Partners LLC will produce 9 million bushels of crops that
will yeild 25 million gallons of fuel grade ethanol. The 15 MW of co
generated steam is to dry the distillers dried grain byproduct. Five
ethanol plants in Kansas now produce 37 million gallons each year and
four new plants will come on line in 2003 to produce an additional 150
million gallons of ethanol fuels.
- Leoti
- Sunflower Electric Power Corporation and Renewable Energy Systems,
an international wind farm developer, will construct the Sunflower Electric
Wind Farm in Wichita County. The company will purchase the first 30
MW of electricity produced by the project hat has been designed to produce
up to 100 MW as additional customers join the project. [solaraccess.com]
- Kansas
City - Jeff Simpson has created a web site that features a virtual tour
of the home, which is located conceptually in the suburban Kansas City
area of Johnson County. It showcases energy-efficient techniques used
in the home, such as lightning, high-performance foam insulation, solar
hot water, passive solar heating and cooling, and a photovoltaic (PV)
system rated at 4 kilowatts (kW). Sponsored by the Energy Programs Division
of the Kansas Corporation Commission, the site shows that an urban home
can become nearly self-sufficient and not have to rely on the natural
gas and electricity grids. [Jeff Simpson jsgoev@earthl.kninet]
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KENTUCKY:
- Walton
- Owen electric Cooperative and its power supplier East Kentucky Power
Cooperative have announced plans to build the first landfill gas electric
generating plant in Kentucky. The 3.2 MW facility is planned for the
Bavarian Landfill and is scheduled to begin commercial operation in
the spring of 2003. The project output will serve retail customers participating
in the “EnviroWatts” green power program through which customers
can purchase 100kW blocs of green power or an additional $2.75 per month.
[EREN News Network 4 February 2003]
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MARYLAND:
- Assateague
- Four self-powered trailers for water pumping were delivered in December
of 2001 to Assateague Island National Seashore. Each trailor consists
of 16 photovoltaic modules, which are attached to permanently installed
well pumps. The locked trailors also have bathroom, dressing room, shower
stalls and complete lighting. The pumps provide a minimum of 1920 gallons
of water per day from 5 feet below the surface at 8 GPM at 20 PSI. Note:
wells are 100 feet deep with static water level at 5 feet below surface.
The entire trailor can be decommissioned and moved within 30 minutes
to some other wellhead at the national park.
- Poolesville
– The Poolesville Schools and the Lathrop E. Smith Environmental
Education Center are now proud owners of state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic
(PV) systems. The three systems vary in size, ranging from 800 W at
the Middle School, 1,200 W at the High School and 2,400 W at the Smith
Center. Each system uses solid state, silicon-based photovoltaic (PV)
modules manufactured by AstroPower. While each of these systems provides
only a modest contribution to the school’s overall electrical
needs, each provides between 20 percent and 50 percent of a typical
Maryland residence’s electrical needs.
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MASSACHUSETTS:
- Boston
- The region’s first sunslate solar electric roof system was installed
on a home in Boston. A total of 480 solar electric roofing tiles comprise
the grid tied PV system. This 700 square foot array provides about 65%
of the home’s average annual power needs. Each sunslate consists
of six, 2-watt solar cells laminated to a concrete/fiber roofing slate.
Twenty four slates are wired together in a series to form a 290 W sub-array.
Each sub-array is connected to an inverter that converts the DC power
to alternating current (AC) power for use in the home.
- Mt. Wachusett
- Mount Wachusett Community College in Massachusetts converted from
an all-electric to a biomass heating system. The college switched to
a wood-chip fired combustion system, and with it, was able to offset
8.8 million kWh of electricity purchases per year.
- Taunton,
Massachusetts - General Dynamics C4 Systems has delivered a first-of-its-kind,
fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit (APU) to SunLine Transit Agency
for installation aboard the "21st Century Truck.” As configured
for the 21st Century Truck, the 5 kW power unit will act as a battery
charger to electrify the air conditioning and other driver utilities
in the concept Class 8 tractor when it is parked, avoiding the noise,
emissions and expense of running the vehicle's engine for electrical
power. [solaraccess.com —
20 November 2002]
- Beverly
- Massachusetts Electric has an additional program that allows residential
customers
to purchase a solar PV system for their home at half price. The company
maintains a 100-kilowatt PV system at the Beverly High School. [http://www.ascensiontech.com/solarschools.htm]
- Cambridge
- MIT received a grant ($455,700) from the MASS Renewable Energy Trust.
MIT Community Solar Power Initiative will build 40 solar installations
on the MIT campus as well as on schools, homes and businesses in Cambridge
and nearby towns.
- Cope
Cod - Cape Cod Wind Associates prepares to build 170 wind turbines on
Horseshoe Shoal, a shallow portion of Nantucket Sound. Advocates note
the project would be the nation’s largest renewable energy installation,
capable of weaning the region off oil and dramatically reducing its
greenhouse emissions. [GRIST MAGAZINE 19 December 2002]
- Princeton
- Voter approval will now enable Princeton Municipal Light Department
and its development partner, Community Energy, Inc., to replace the
eight 40 kW wind turbines currently sited on 100-foot towers at the
Mount Wachusett wind farm to new 1.5 mW wind turbines to be sited on
the 230-foot towers.
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MICHIGAN:
- Caro
- A 40 million gallon-per-year ethanol fuel facility has been constructed
in Caro, Michigan. Broin and Associates, a South Dakota design, engineering,
construction and management firm, built the plant.
- Zeeland
West High School has an 85 ft., 10 kW wind turbine, 1 kW solar electric
system, geothermal heat pump, occupancy sensors, and systems that capture
the energy from expelled air. The school's specially coated white roof
reflects energy and reduces heating and cooling loads. Special "low-emissivity"
paint and insulation reduces heat loss in classrooms and makes them
more comfortable. [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CIS_EO_Inside_Zeelandhighschool_50834_7.pdf]
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MINNESOTA:
- Fairmount
– PROPOSED, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA),
will build and own two, 950kW wind turbines that will feed into the
state electrical system. Sending the power directly into Fairmont’s
distribution system instead of into the transmission network will decrease
costs and availability issues of the constrained transmission network.
The turbines are to generate enough power for 700 homes.
- Duluth
– The city’s Lake Superior Zoo has been chosen as the site
for northeastern Minnesota's first Rebuild Minnesota renewable energy
demonstration project. It's designed to improve energy and environmental
performance at the zoo while demonstrating the benefits to a large and
diverse audience. Rebuild Minnesota is a new program through the Minnesota
Department of Commerce. Partners in this project include Minnesota Power,
City of Duluth's Lake Superior Zoo and Public Works & Utilities,
Rebuild Minnesota Institute, Johnson Controls, LHB Architects and Engineers
and, of course, the animals. Each component of the project — from
a solar water heating system to a micro hydropower plant — not
only solves a current problem but also provides a unique education on
renewable energy. Proposed for 2002 3:
— Solar hot water and potential space heating for the animal barn
— Photovoltaic fueling station for electric vehicles
— Geothermal heat exchanger to cool the polar bears and seal pools
— Micro hydro facility to provide power for a building or other
site on Zoo property. Total cost of the project is approximately $300,000.
- Farmer
–owned wind farm model. allows farmers with good wind resources
to take advantage of it like any other commodity. Kas Brothers farm
was completed in 2001 and consists of two, 750kW turbines. The installation
was built for $850kW and will yield $30-40k annually for the first 10
years of operation ($110-130k, thereafter). Five similar projects have
been completed in MINN by Kas Bros.
- Chippewa
Valley – The Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company (CVEC) located in
Benson, congratulated farmers on the groundbreaking for an expansion,
which will double the production capacity of their plant. CVEC currently
produces more than 20 million gallons of ethanol/year. Plant I is now
expanding to 40 million gallon production capacity.
- St. Paul
- Once completed, a new condo complex will strike a synergy between
the past and the future as an old deserted manufacturing complex is
renovated into energy efficient apartments. By the summer of 2003, the
brink building along the river bluffs will be producing energy created
from wind and geothermal sources. In addition, five 40 kW wind turbines
on the adjacent hill, and five others far from the community will generate
well more power than the first three buildings need. Minnesota’s
net metering legislation entitles the community to receive retail repayment,
which is now close to ten cents per watt from the energy produced by
the turbines. [solaraccess.com
— 19 November 2002]
- Rochester
- The Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency is installing two 950
kW wind turbines in southern Minnesota. [solaraccess.com
— 12 December 2002]
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MONTANA:
- Navitas
Energy has begun development of Whitehall Wind, a 50MW, 28-turbine wind
power facility to be completed in 2004.
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NEBRASKA:
- Chattanooga
– The Tennessee Valley Infrastructure Group Inc. (TVIG) has completed
construction of the Kimball, Nebraska wind farm project, the state's
first commercial-scale wind farm. The wind farm will have a generating
capacity of 10.5 MW of power, using 1.5 MW wind turbines; the most advanced
commercially available technology. [solaraccess.com 30 August 2002]
- Nebraska
- A 6kW demonstration flywheel will be installed by Beacon Power Corp
for the WinDBreak Cable Company. The 36-volt flywheel will provide back
up power for cable TV and data services, following testing of earlier
models to replace high maintenance battery systems.
- Central
City -Fagen Inc, a Minnesota-based developer of ethanol plants chose
Central Cityas the site for a US $60 million dry mill ethanol plant.
The plant will produce 40 million gallons of ethanol a year and will
purchase about 15 million bushes of corn per year. It will create between
30 and 35 jobs for an annual payroll of about US$ 1.2 million. [solaraccess.com
— 15 January 2003]
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NEVADA:
- Reno
- An agreement was signed with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe to develop
geothermal resources on the tribe’s reservation for a new 40MW
geothermal plant in the previously developed Steamboat geothermal power
park, located 9 miles south of Reno. The technology, an air-cooled binary
cycle, has been used in 4 plants thus far.
- Churchill
County – The County has installed a new 5MW binary-cycle geothermal
plant, which will be added to the existing plant in Brady Hot Springs.
- Reno
- A 30-year contract was signed to make the University of Nevada at
Reno the only college campus in the world powered by renewable energy.
ATS is to build and operate an 11-kW geothermal power plant to open
next year. Excess power would be sold to Sierra Pacific. [Restructuring
Today (ISSN 1522-7324)]
- Nye County
- Nathaniel Energy Corp. and Renewable Development LLC (of CO) will
provide electricity from 3800 acres of real estate property in Nye County.
Tonopah Aeronautics and Tech. Park, a $25million facility, will burn
used tires and convert them into electricity utilizing its thermal combustion
technology. It is estimated that 25MW of energy will be produced.
- Reno
- Some 80 wind turbines will be installed for a new 120-MW facility
in California's Mojave Desert that will be the first wind project for
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The project, to be completed
in the summer of 2004, will run on 1.5-MW wind turbines and will take
up about 22,000 acres of land located 12 miles north of Mojave, CA.
[utitilpoint.com 6 march 2003]
- Boulder
City – A thirty year-old contract was signed between the Sierra
Pacific Electric Utility and Solargenix Energy LLC (formerly Dulce Solar
LLC) for a 50 Mw solar steam to electric plant. The Nevada Public Utility
Company voted in support of the project.
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NEW
JERSEY:
- Waren
- New Jersey Senator Jon Corzine joined Cordis Corporation, a Johnson
& Johnson company, to dedicate a new 72-kilowatt solar electric
system at the company's Warren, New Jersey site. The solar system is
the third solar electric project of its type deployed by a Johnson &
Johnson company. This new solar electric system at Cordis' Warren, NJ
site, furnished by PowerLight Corporation, is the first to be installed
by a Johnson & Johnson company in New Jersey. The first system was
installed at Neutrogena Corporation in Los Angeles in July 2001, with
another now in place in Pennsylvania. The 72-kilowatt solar electric
system covers over 15,800 square feet of the Cordis facility's roof.
It is comprised of 1,680 solar electric foam blocks. The energy project
was partially funded by New Jersey's Clean Energy Program and the Virginia
Alliance for Solar Electricity.
- Atlantic
City - Millennia Square neighborhood, developed by the Casino Reinvestment
Development Authority (CRDA), offers a half dozen energy efficient,
solar-powered homes among 19 new single-family and twin-style residences.
The United States Department of Energy, through its "PV Bonus"
program and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, through its "NJ
Clean Energy" program, have provided US$78,000 in funding, respectively,
for photovolatics.
- Parsippany/Edison
- FuelCell Energy Inc will provide two 250 kW fuel cell power plants
for Installation at two hotels owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts
Worldwide, Inc. These fuel cell systems will provide one-quarter of
the power and hot water heating needs for the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel
and Sheraton Edison Raritan Center.
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NEW MEXICO:
- A new
solar power initiative of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA)
is bringing electricity to the homes of people living in remote areas
of the reservation. In a program that is the largest of its type in
the country, the NTUA is buying 200 photovoltaic systems for $2 million
and installing individual units at private residences to furnish electrical
power. "The only way for many of these people to have electricity
is to provide each household its own photovoltaic unit," he says.
Between 10,000 and 30,000 Navajos are estimated to live without electricity
throughout the reservation that covers parts of New Mexico, Arizona,
and Utah. [www.sandia.gov/pv
12 July 2002]
- Quay/De
Baca County - Eastern New Mexico will become the site of one of the
nation's largest wind generation facilities next year, the result of
an agreement announced by the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM),
a subsidiary of PNM Resources and FPL Energy LLC, a subsidiary of FPL
Group, Inc. Under terms of the agreement, FPL Energy will construct,
own and operate the 204 MW facility. 135, 1.5MW turbines in Quay and
De Baca counties. It will provide electricity for 94,000 homes. [solaraccess.com
— 22 October 2002]
- Texline
- Cielo Wind Power, an Austin, Texas-based company, plans to purchase
a pair of 660-kilowatt wind turbines to add to the single 660-kilowatt
wind turbine at the Llano Estacado Wind Ranch near Texline, New Mexico's
only commercial wind-generation facility. The two new turbines, Vesta
47s, will generate 1.3 megawatts of electricity. Three-bladed propellers,
with each propeller measuring about 75 feet, will drive the turbines.
The energy from the Llano Estacado Wind Ranch is sold to Xcel Energy,
a partner in the project, for Windsource Customers.
- Raton
- Western Water and Power Production (WWPP) recently announced plans
to build a $50-million biomass electricity generation facility near
the city of Raton that would convert "tree thinnings, agricultural
waste and other combustible material" into power for between 20,000
and 35,000 homes. [EIN 25 March 2003].
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NEW YORK:
- Long
Island – The Long island Power Authority has installed 55 of the
75 planned of 5 kW fuel cells. 18 fuel cells are now adding power to
the electric grid. The 55 3 kW units of PEM fuel cells are one of the
largest installations on the electric utility grid in the United States.
- Fenner
Wind Power Facility Twenty wind turbines, each 300 ft. tall is the largest
collection in eastern US. Each turbine has 1.5 MW output which is enough
energy for about 400 homes.
- Brooklyn
- New York City's largest commercial rooftop solar power system which
is located on the roof of two Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center
(GMDC) buildings in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, transforms
sunlight into electricity, generating clean electrical power. The total
solar system includes a 59 kilowatt (kW) array at GMDC's Humboldt Street
location and a 56 kW array that will be operational at GMDC's Manhattan
Avenue building within the next several months. The photovoltaic panels
and advanced battery will work as a solar energy system to generate
and store electricity in coordination with Con Edison's network system.
The 115 kilowatt solar power system covers 11,500 square feet of roof
area and reduces the peak electricity demand on New York's power grid
while improving local air quality. When fully powered, the solar system
will generate the equivalent energy to light 100 homes. Funding for
the project is provided through a joint partnership of NYSERDA, GMDC
and a Clean Air Communities grant stemming from Con Edison. [ENNS News
Network 8 November 2002]
- Huntington
- Advanced Energy Group has completed installation of a 20Kw residential
grid tie the system in Huntington, NY. An out-of-pocket cost of $18,000
eliminates the $300/month electric utility cost meaning the payback
period is 5 years. The system uses 168, 120W modules
- Long
Island -Located near Calverton on eastern LI, the first of 5 wind farms
that LI Power Authority will erect in Suffolk county. Each turbine will
generate 100,000kWh of electricity/year, equal to the electricity needs
of 12 homes.
- Long
Island- The four BJ's Clubs - in Farmingdale, Islandia, Riverhead and
Westbury - will feature 96 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at each location.
Each of the systems, which were designed and installed by CSG, covers
an area of about 1000 square feet on a store's roof. PV, or photovoltaic
solar electric panels, are solid-state devices, made from silicon, that
convert sunlight to electricity, without fuel, noise, or pollution.
Each BJ's solar power plant produces 10 kilowatts of "green"
electricity for the store, helping to reduce the peak demand on LIPA,
the local electric utility Combined, the four (4) BJ's solar power plants
on Long Island will generate between 40,000 and 50,000 kilowatt hours
of electricity yearly, and over their lifespan will avoid production
of 720 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).
- Amherst
- The Sweet Home Central School District has been awarded a US$20,000
grant as part of the New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority’s (NYSERDA) “School Power…. Naturally”.
The four-year program, scheduled to run through 2006, aims to install
Renewable Energy systems in New York schools for on-site electrical
generation and education. The grant will be used to install a solar
electric photovoltaic (PV) system and weather station on the roof of
the science/math/technology wing of Sweet Home High School. The school
is one of only 50 schools selected for the NYSERDA project. [solaraccess.com
— 10 December 2002]
- A 2 kW
system will be installed by Solar Works, Inc. and will be directly tied
into the school’s electricity grid. The system would provide almost
one half the energy needed to power a typical home.
- Students
at fifty New York State schools will soon be learning about solar energy
in their very own rooftop classrooms. The systems will consist of 20
AstroPower 100 W modules; a 2500 W inverter and a Heliotronics data
acquisition system, In addition to the systems that Eidlin said will
each generate about 8 kWh/day.
- Albany
- The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF)
in Syracuse will receive a US$1 million grant from the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to install a fuel
cell based combined heat and power system that will provide on-site
power generation. The waste heat from the fuel cell will be used for
domestic hot water, space heating or space cooling on the campus. [solaraccess.com
— 4 November 2002]
- Wyoming
County - The first to turn that local potential into reality was Western
New York Wind Corp., which erected 10 wind turbines in the town of Wethersfield
in 2000. The wind farm, since acquired by CHI Energy, has a capacity
of about 6.6 megawatts of electricity – enough to meet the annual
needs of about 1,700 households.
- Calverton
– A new wind farm will generate 100,000 kWh of electricity annually,
enough to power about 12 average-sized homes on Long Island. The wind
turbine is located on the Zeh Farm behind the Windy Acres Farm Stand
on Route 25 in Calverton. It cost approximately US$225,000 to construct
and put into operation. In return for allowing the wind turbine to be
placed on their farmland, the Zeh family will receive an annual energy
credit on their electric bill equal to 25 percent of the power generated
by their farm's wind turbine. This credit is expected to be worth about
US$3,000 per year. The term of the lease is 20 years. [solaraccess.com
— 12 September 2002]
- Latham
- A combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell system was installed and
operating at the Babylon Town Hall in Long Island, where it supplies
supplemental heat and electricity. The system is capable of generating
5 kilowatts of electricity or 9 kW of heat.
- New York
City - The New York Power Authority will install eight fuel cell power
plants in the city. The 200kW PC25 units will produce power and reduce
emissions from four wastewater treatment plants in New York City. NYPA
plans to install units at treatment plants in Brooklyn, Staten Island,
Bronx, and Queens. The units will run off anaerobic digester gas. Besides
generating 200 kW of electricity, the PC25 provides 900000 BTU of heat
for use in space heating, domestic hot water heating, or absorption
chilling and air conditioning. With the addition of the above 8 units,
NYC will have a total of 17 fuel cell power plants supplying electricity
for city facilities. Other installations include the police station
in Manhattan’s Central Park, North Central Bronx Hospital, St.
Vincent’s hospital on Staten Island, and the Conde Nast building
at 4 Times Square. The first of two 5 kW fuel cell installations in
residential homes was completed in Lewiston in April of 2002.
- Albany
- Chayuga Community College is renovating 33,000 square feet of existing
space and constructing a new two-story building- the Regional Economic
Center- that will include a geothermal heat pump system and several
energy efficiency measures. Their efforts are being funded using the
New York Energy $mart new Construction Program. [solaraccess.com --
15 January 2003]
- Farmingdale,
Islandia, Riverhead, Westubury- Four new power plants are now on line
with the help of a partnership between Conservation Services Group and
Evergreen Solar, Inc. Four BJ Wholesale clubs in Farmingdale, Islandia,
Riverhead and Westbury will feature 96 Evergreen PV panels at each location.
Each system covers an area of about 1000 square feet on the store’s
roof and will produce 10 kW of electricity for the store. [solaraccess.com
— 18 January 2003]
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NORTH CAROLINA:
- The North
Carolina Solar Center held the groundbreaking of their new Alternative
Fuels Vehicle Garage. The garage will serve as a research and education
facility for a variety of alternative fuels. Roof integrated photovoltaic
panels will provide a portion of the electrical energy required to charge
the batteries of electric vehicles.
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OHIO:
- Stockport
- Lock#6 generates 10 kW of electricity for the 14-room Stockport Mill
County Inn. On the Muskingum River, the Inn sells 40% of the electricity
to American Electric power as a net-metered system. The Inn will save
$3,000 per month and payoff their $200,000 investment in three years.
- Oberlin
College has a 3,700 sq foot PV array on the roof of the Lewis Center
meeting 70 percent of its electrical needs.
- Cleveland
- Ecovillage Cleveland is installing solar power systems on the garages
of ten homes out of the 20-unit town houses. One, 4.8kW installation
and nine 1.2 kW systems with the help of a US Department of Energy award
are being built.
- Grove
City - A new ethanol plant will be built by Genahol Inc. and be co-located
at the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio landfill-the fifth largest
in the nation. The Genehol Inc. plant will turn out-dated or spoiled
beer, wine and other products into ethanol. The estimated $5 million
plant is expected to be up and running by the summer of 2003.
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OREGON:
- Salem
- Oregon became the first state in the nation to mount solar energy
panels on its Capitol. Three rows of photovoltaic panels, covering approximately
850 square feet have been installed on the roof of the Capitol's west
wing. They are expected to generate an average of 7.8 kilowatts -- enough
electricity to power four floodlights trained on the 23-foot-tall Golden
Pioneer statue atop the building. Energy generated in excess of what's
needed to illuminate the Pioneer will be sent to the power grid.
[www.oregonlive.com]
- Oregon/Washington
- Green Mountain Energy Company announced an increase in wind content
of Pacific Power’s and PGE’s Renewable Usage and habitat
options from 15 to 20 percent in new wind. The wind power will come
from Stateline wind-generation facility, located on the Oregon/Washington
border. The product’s remaining 80 percent of energy will come
from geothermal sources in northern California.
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PENNSYLVANIA:
- Fort
Washington - A 3kW photovoltaic system has been installed on resident
Ellen Shek’s garage roof.
- Spring
House - The Pharmaceutical Sourcing Group Americas (PSGA), a member
of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, dedicated its new
pilot 75 kilowatt solar electric system at the company's pharmaceutical
research facility. The solar energy system will produce 78,440 kilowatt-hours
per year, and help reduce the company's annual energy consumption. The
Spring House installation represents the third solar electric project
deployed at a Johnson & Johnson company. [http://library.northenlignt.com]
- Scranton
- Exelon Power Team has a 20-year agreement for the Waymart Wind Project.
It is expected to bring close to 70 MW of wind energy to the Northeast
region and will be in operation in Spring 2003.
- Scranton
- Drexel University announced it has signed an agreement with Delaware
County PA based Community Energy to purchase the entire output of a
wind turbine at the new 60MW Pocono Wind Farm outside Scranton PA. This
will meet about 10% of the schools electrical energy needs.
- Philadelphia
- Green Mountain Power is providing 100 percent renewable energy to
the Liberty Bell Pavilion at Independence National Historical Park.
Facilities in Philadelphia total of 3.7 million kWh will be purchased
annually.
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SOUTH CAROLINA:
- The first
solar-driven absorption air-conditioning system on the east coast was
installed by Duke Solar in June, 2001. Santee Cooper, a SC public utility,
dedicated a 2.2 MW landfill methane power plant as the state’s
first green power generator offering 3 cents per kWh electricity. [November
2002]
- Columbia
- The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) installed
an E85 Fueling Capability and is now dispensing an ethanol blend at
its fuel depot. It stores up to 20,000 gallons of gasoline, and 10,000
gallons of E85, a blend of 85% ethanol, and 15% gasoline.
- Spartanburg
- A BMW automobile manufacturing plant has become the first non-utility
company in South Carolina to use landfill methane gas as a source of
energy in more than two decades. Ameresco Energy Services of Farmington,
Massachusetts, cleans the gas, compresses it, and pumps through a pipeline
it built to BMW to fuel four turbines at the plant. The turbines owned
and operated by Ameresco generate electricity and heat water, supplying
approximately 20 percent of the facility's energy needs. [January 2003]
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TENNESSEE:
- Anderson
County - The Tennessee Valley Authority has signed an agreement that
will greatly expand its wind power farm on Buffalo Mountain. The country's
largest public utility has been operating three wind turbines on Buffalo
Mountain, a reclaimed strip mine about 25 miles west of Knoxville, since
2001. TVA will add another 18 turbines, giving the wind farm a capacity
of more than 28 megawatts - up from 1.8 megawatts. The turbines will
add enough wind power to run 4,500 homes.
- Alabama/Oxford
- Two new 30kW solar systems have been installed under the Tennessee
Valley Authority’s “Green Power Switch” program. One
system is installed at the Floraence Water Treatment in Alabama and
the other at the intramural fields at the University of Mississippi
in Oxford. TVA has now installed 13 solar systems totaling 326 kW of
capacity to serve the green pricing program in which more than 5,900
customers throughout the Tennessee Valley are currently participating.
[Green Power Marketing monthly Update November 2002]
- Oliver
Springs - The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to expand its Buffalo
Mountain wind plant tenfold, adding 27 megawatts of new wind turbines
to the site near Oliver Springs.
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TEXAS:
- Houston
Advanced Research Center (HARC) has connected a 5kW proton exchange
membrane (PEM) fuel cell system to the electric grid. It’s the
first residential sized system in the state to be connected to the grid.
- Big Spring
- ArcLight Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, announced
that it has acquired the 34 MW Big Spring electric power generating
facility The Big Spring facility, which began commercial operations
in May 1999, sells 100 percent of its output to Texas Utilities under
a long-term power purchase agreement. Caithness Energy will operate
the plant. Annual energy production of the facility is approximately
117 million kWhs, enough to power 7300 homes.
- Houston
- A 43kW solar array, with panels stretching over 6000 square feet,
has begun generating electricity in Houston. The facility is made up
of 440 – 120 watt panels with a total of 31,680 individual multicrystalline
solar cells. [solaraccess.com —
19 July 2002]
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VERMONT:
- Searsburg
– The Searsburg wind facility has eleven turbines with capacity
rating of 550kW. This meets the average annual electricity needs of
2,000 households.
- Waitsfield
- The Essex Junction Wastewater Treatment facility is to engineer, build
and install a US$245,000 on-site power system that will burn methane
gas produced by wastewater processing to generate electricity and heat
for the facility. The new cogeneration system will produce over 400,000
kWh of electrical output per year, equivalent to 41 percent of the facility's
current annual demand. At the same time, the system will reduce the
plant's CO2 emissions by over 500,000 pounds - the equivalent of eliminating
42 cars from the road per year. As part of its commitment to removing
financing obstacles to such environmentally sound systems, Northern
helped the Essex Junction facility obtain grant and rebate assistance
for the project from various outside sources. [solaraccess.com
— 5 March 2003]
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VIRGINIA:
- Four
rural electric cooperatives are now each operating one 4.5 kW fuel cell
system from H power Corporation as a beta test of the company’s
newest project. The company plans to continue installing systems at
other cooperatives who are members of Energy Co-Opportunity, Inc. (an
energy services cooperative that provides distributed energy solutions
to U.S. electric cooperatives)
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WASHINGTON:
- Richland
- The White Bluffs Solar Station, a photovoltaic solar power facility,
was recently put into service. The station, which consists of 242 solar
panels, is estimated to be able to produce 29.5 kilowatts of alternating
current.
[http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2002/05/27/daily36.html]
- Kennewick
- The Nine Canyon Wind Project is a 48MW new wind power capacity located
8 miles SE of Kennewick. It has 37 turbines that created an estimated
1.3 W each. A substation and a 4 mile transmission line to connect 9
Mile to the regional power grid was also constructed.
- Ellensburg
- Zikha Renewable Energy has submitted detailed plans for a 181.5 MW
wind farm to be located along Highway 97 about 70 miles east of Tacoma.
Once complete, the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project could supply enough
electricity to serve about 45,000 homes. [solaraccess.com
— 26 January 2003]
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WEST
VIRGINIA:
- Tucker
County - The West Virginia Public /Services Commission (PSC) announced
it has approved a proposal from US Windforce to build a 250MW wind farm
on Mt. Storm, between Grant an Tucker counties. The proposal calls for
the construction of 166, 1.5 MW wind turbines on top of the mountain.
Construction is expected to begin in the first few months of 2003.
- Tucker
County - A 65-megawatt wind facility is being built in Tucker County
by Backbone Mountain Windpower LLC with another 150 MW wind facility
near Mount Storm being developed by US Windforce LLC. Exelon will purchase
the windpower. [www.exelocorp.com]
- Thomas
- Mountaineer Wind Energy Center utilizes the world's latest wind turbine
technology and is the largest commercial wind energy facility in the
eastern United States, according to the company. The Mountaineer Wind
Energy Center is owned and operated by FPL Energy. Exelon Power Team
will jointly market the output of the facility with Community Energy,
Inc of Wayne, Pennsylvania. Less than one year after groundbreaking,
Exelon’s Mountaineer Wind Energy is now producing around 66 MW
of electricity. [solaraccess.com
— 15 January 2003]
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WISCONSIN:
- Green
Bay - The recently opened Mary Ann Cofrin Hall at the University of
Wisconsin-Green Bay features some of the most innovative power-generating
technology in the world. An information kiosk gives touch-screen information
about the electric-generating solar panels, design and other environmentally-friendly
aspects of the building. WPS installed the solar equipment and helped
piece together the funding for the project.
[http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/page.html?article=112940]
- Milwaukee
- Methane biogas captured from decomposing cow manure will power as
many as 150 homes as a result of an agreement between Wisconsin Electric
and Ag Environmental Solutions.
[www.enn.com/news/ennstrories/2000/11/11212000/newsbytes_40348.asp]
- Franksville
– Wisconsin Energies has opened a fully operational duck manure-to-energy
digester facility at Maple Leaf Farms. The generating unit produces
200kW, enough to provide electricity for 75 homes.
- Monroe
- Inn Serendipity has become a showplace for energy efficiency and renewable
energy. Their facilities feature solar hot water and a PV system that
is rated at 480 Watts.
- Monroe
- Badger State Ethanol LLC has completed construction of the state’s
largest ethanol plant and has begun production. The plant, which will
process nearly 15million bushels of corn into 40 million gallons ethanol
annually, is expected t stimulate more than $100million in annual economic
activity for the region.
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WYOMING:
- Cheyenne
- Laramie County High School District #1 is completing installation
of 2 Capstone microturbines at East High School in Cheyenne. They are
rated at 60kw and 30kW. They provide electricity (with waste heat used
to heat the pool), and power lights at the Okie Blanchard stadium.
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MISCELLANEOUS:
- Carmanah
Technologies Corporation announced that 10 public transit authorities
in North America have purchased the entire first production run of the
company's solar-powered LED (light emitting diode) illuminated transit
stops. These transit authorities are installing a total of approximately
100 field trial units of Carmanah's i-STOP. The first i-STOP was installed
in San Bernardino, CA, followed by installs in Medford, OR, and Denton,
TX.
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INTERNATIONAL
ALGERIA:
- New Energy
Algeria (NEAL) has joined International Energy Agency's solar power
program, SolarPACES. Algeria aims to increase its solar power to 5%
of its electricity generation by 2010, and is hoping to establish a
partnership with the European Union to supply electricity from Algerian
solar power plants. [www.edie.net 2 February 2003]
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AUSTRALIA:
- Portland
Power erected 120 wind generators at four sites, Australia’s largest
renewable energy project to date. There is an estimated 180 MW of energy
produced at the four integrated wind farms. The new find farm will prevent
as much as 700,000 tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted into
the atmosphere each year. [23 November 2002]
- New South
Wales has installed ten parablic dishes concentrating on solar photovolatics.
Each dish standings 15 meters tall and costs $200,000. The first was
installed at Broken Hill.
- Leighton
Holdings Ltd has signed up for a project to develop a $1 billion solar
power tower station. The tower will be capable of powering up around
200,000 households with clean energy.
- Melbourne
– The Victorian Minister for Energy has launched construction
of a wind farm, which will deliver enough electricity to power 25,000
homes and abate nearly 185,000 tons of greenhouse emissions. [solaraccess.com
— 8 November 2002]
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BELGIUM:
- DeWind,
the Lubeck-based subsidiary of FKI’s Energy Technology Group,
will deliver six turbines to Sainte-Ode in Wallon, Belgium. The wind
farm has a rated power of 7.5 MW and is be the largest in the French-speaking
part of Belgium,. [solaraccess.com
— 20 November 2002]
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BRAZIL:
- Over
the last five years, sales of solar panels has been presenting an annual
growth of 25 percent. ( In 2000 it increased by 35%). According to Abrava,
260,000 panels were installed in 2000, while in 1999 it reached 194,000.
There are 86 companies the solar sector, which has registered a $30
million annual turnover.
[South American Business Information 17 January 2001]
- CFL,
an electricity distribution company is now buying four percent of its
need, 800 MWh, from sugarcane-derived electricity. The company expects
to increase to 7 percent by 2003.
- Dutch
BTG Biomass Technology Group BV is processing 2000 tons per hour of
green oil in the Rio Grande de Sul state from surplus rice bran. The
oil will be used to generate electricity in The Netherlands.
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CANADA:
- Sustainable
Energy Technologies LTD, has activated Southern Alberta’s largest
solar array at the company’s new power electronics laboratory
and head office in Calgary. At 3.1 kW, the PV array isn’t breaking
any worldwide records for size, but that wasn’t the company’s
goal. The fact that 3.1 kW array is the largest in Southern Alberta
is indicative of the region’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels
with nearly 90 percent of electricity coming from coal-fired generation.
- The BC
Hydros Company’s Power Smart incentive will make Weyerhaeuser's
pulp mill in Kamloops electrically self-sufficient and will conserve
enough power to meet the electricity needs of 15,000 homes. BC Hydros’
contribution of CAN$18 million dollars will combine with CAN$16.8 million
from Weyerhaeuser to fund the installation of am 30 MW hog fueled turbo-generator
at its pulp mill. The project involves converting wood waste from sawmills
and chipping facilities into electricity. This wood waste, known as
hog fuel, costs about 1.5 cents per kWh, and is significantly lower
than the estimated 5.5 cents/kWh price for acquiring new generation.
Through the agreement, Weyerhaeuser guarantees its Kamloops Pulp Mill
will produce an extra 155 gigawatt hours annually for 10 years. [solaraccess.com
— 17 January 2003]
- Dynamite
Energy Systems Corporation has secured its first option on biomass stockpiles.
DynaMotive announced it signed an option for 500,000 tons of wood residue
with L&M Wood Products of Saskatchewan. The site should yield up
to 2,140,000 barrels of BioOil when fully processed. BioOil is a greenhouse
gas neutral fuel that can effectively displace natural gas, diesel and
heavy fuel in heat and power applications. [solaraccess.com
— 18 February 2003]
- A combined
17 wind turbines at a commercial wind farm in Ontario have been in service
at the 11-megawatt site since February 2003. They provide enough wind-generated
electricity to meet the needs of about 5,000 homes.
- A group
of University of Waterloo students plan to use solar energy to light
things up on campus. The goal is to have 25 solar panels installed on
academic buildings. In addition, the City of Waterloo announced plans
to install at least 16 panels at City Hall and designs are in place
to have 15 homes in Waterloo's Eastbridge subdivision powered by the
sun's energy. Installation plans were slated for the end of 2002. [solaraccess.com
— 15 January 2002]
- Federal
and provincial government representatives joined with industry officials
and Gull Lake area residents recently at the official opening of SunBridge,
Saskatchewan's first major wind power project. [solaraccess.com
— 1 July 2002]
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CHINA:
- Asia’s
first high voltage solar electric pumping station was installed at Taklimakan
Desert, 116 kilometers from the main highway. The 15 kW system now provides
water pumping to customers.
- Baoding
Yingli Newenergy has installed the most advanced production line in
China for monocrystalline solar cells. With annual capacity of 16 MW,
the plant in northern Hebel Province ranks among the world’s ten
largest producers of solar cells. It also produces PV modules, power
inverters, and charge controllers.
- A contract
was signed between China and the Netherlands in early January to promote
the comprehensive development and utilization of renewable energy in
western China's countryside. The project, sponsored by the China Association
of Rural Energy Industry (CAREI), received investment of 5.3 million
euros (US$5.57 million) from the Dutch government and 5.4 million Yuan
(US$652,174) of subsidiary funds from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.
[http://test.china.org.cn/english/environment/53815.htm]
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COLUMBIA:
- Winrock
Financial Services Ltd. (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts), a South American
environmental group, has chosen a wind company to provide 25 MW of power
capacity at the company’s titanium processing facility near Puerto
Columbia, South America.
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DENMARK:
- A 160
MW wind farm at Horn Rev was completed in August of 2002. It is located
around 20km west of Blaavandshuk in the North Sea.
- A 60
MW wind farm project is scheduled for completion in the autumn of 2004.
It will be located approximately 3 km off the East Coast of England
at Great Yarmouth-a sandbank known as the Scroby Sands. [solaraccess.com
— March 5, 2003]
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GHANA:
- An estimated
$2.9 million has been invested in the provision of solar energy for
1,871 homes in the three northern regions and some parts of the Brong
Ahafo Region. Forty-two schools, six clinics, 24 street lighting systems
aswell as a water pumping machine are also benefiting from the solar
facility. [www.ghanaweb.com -- 20 March 2003]
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GERMANY:
- According
to the wind association, Germany is the largest market for wind with
total installed capacity of 2,659 megawatts in 2002- compared to 1,688
in 2000. There are 11,500 wind turbines in Germany with the domestic
Enercon manufacturer now having 28.5 percent of the domestic market
and world leader Danish Vestas having a 19.5 percent market share. Nordex
of Norway, Denmark’s NEG Micron and GE Wind (formerly Enron Wind)
each have a 10 percent market share. The German wind industry employs
35,000. The largest German solar installation is 1.56 MW in Bavaria
with 12,672 solar modules or panels.
- One of
the world's largest roof-mounted photovoltaic plants is under construction
on the roof of the new Munich Trade Fair Center. Once completed, an
additional 1,000,000 kWh (approx.) of solar energy will be fed into
the main supply of Munich's utilities company, the Stadtwerke Munched,
providing a nominal peak output of 1.058 MW. The peak output, around
2.1 MW, of both plants is sufficient to meet the annual energy requirements
of up to 700 private households. [solaraccess.com
— 27 November 2002]
- A project
to install photovoltaic systems on eight schools has been completed
in the city of Fürth in Bavaria. The total rated output of the
PV systems is 250 kilowatts. Private investors put up a total of 1.2
million euro to be established in the project. The solar energy will
be fed to the electricity grid and secure a tariff of 48.1 cents per
kilowatt hour, which is provided under the German Feed-In-Tariff law
[www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsEUPR65.htm]
- As part
of a renewable energy project incorporating solar, hydrogen generation
and wastewater treatment, a 97 kW solar photovoltaic array will be feeding
into the German electric grid. The second major component of the project
is the installation of HOGEN 380 hydrogen generator. Connecticut based
Proton Energy Systems Inc, designed and supplied the unit to provide
the customers with a commercial-grade hydrogen generating capacity.
- Nordex
AG, one of the leading producers of wind turbines, has completed three
wind farms on a turn-key basis for Sachsen Fonds. In a record time of
only four months, the company linked a total of 30 large turbines to
the electricity grid in 2002. The largest of the three projects is the
Uetze wind farm, located 30 km north-east of Hannover, which comprises
of 21 S70 1.5 MW turbines. [solaraccess.com
— 03 February 2003]
- A Canadian
energy company will play a critical part in development of a new biogas
plant in Germany, which will turn agricultural wastes into renewable
energy. Total project costs are estimated at 12.5 million Euros and
the plant will process in excess of 100,000 tons per year of agricultural
wastes. The 5.5 MW biogas fueled power project will be in Northern Germany.
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GREAT
BRITAIN:
- JCDecaux
and Solar Century yesterday announced a groundbreaking initiative in
the city of Plymouth with the installation of 300 solar-powered bus
shelters across the city. Once completed, the installation will be the
largest of its kind in the world. It will commence in spring 2003 and
will involve bus shelters throughout the city. The solar panels will
further improve the quality of Plymouth's bus shelters while making
one of the city's key public services more environmentally friendly
and cost-effective.
- Two commercial
buildings in Wales installed 110 photovoltaic modules producing 13.2
kW and 10 kW. The buildings use passive solar architecture, natural
ventilation, and recycled newspaper insulation. The two structures are
among the largest solar building installations on the British Isles.
[2 January 2002]
- A new
wind farm development, 8 km off the North Wales coast will produce enough
electricity to power 50,000 homes. Once completed, the development will
comprise up to 30 turbines, standing 150 meters high, and produce around
100 MW of electricity. Work is to be completed in 2004. It will be the
third offshore wind farm development in Great Britain. [solaraccess.com
— 31 December 2002]
- Eighty-seven
thousand photovoltaic cells supplied are to be used in the construction
of the new TXU-Europe building in Ipswich. The 200 kW project represents
the largest solar installation in the UK and is scheduled for completion
in 2003. [solaraccess.com —
9 September 2002]
- AstroPower
(DE) has installed solar module systems on two environmentally advanced
buildings in Britain. Both buildings feature a 13.2 kW solar array.
The combined system will generate 23 MWh of electricity a year and excess
power will be sold back to the company. In addition to the PV systems,
the buildings feature passive solar heating, natural ventilation, and
recycled newspaper and cellulose insulation inside timber walls.
- Ashia
Hansen, Commonwealth and European gold medallist helped to put the final
solar panels onto the roof of the new English Institute of Sport indoor
athletics training center at the Alexander Stadium on 9/26. The center,
which will be the main training venue for 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships
in Athletics in March 2003, is currently the UK’s largest solar
powered complexes with 1,760 solar panels.
- A 150kW
generator powered by tidal streams has been installed in 120 feet of
water in Yell Sound in Scotland’s Shetland Islands. The $2.8million
project marks the world’s first offshore installation of a full-scale
tidal stream power plant. [http://www.engb.com]
- The UK’s
latest wind farm, Moel Maelogen in North Wales, which included the 1000th
wind turbine, has been a long time coming for developers. Britain’s
wind industry reached a symbolic landmark when the turbine was commissioned,
although it was a modest achievement compared to Germany’s almost
14,000 machines. [solaraccess.com
— 29 January 2003]
- A sheltered
housing resident in Crawley, England now generates electricity with
an installation of 126 PV panels on their house’s roof. Solar
Century, who designed the system estimate that it will produce around
18,5000 kWh or electricity and save around 8 tons of CO2
every year. [solaraccess.com —
6 February 2003]
- Solar
LED lighting manufacturer Camanah Technologies Corporation has supplied
the city of Bristol, England with approximately 150 units of the company’s
solar-powered LED school crossing flashes, the “Dual Flash IQ.”
[solaraccess.com — 21 November
2002]
- The new
Birmingham High Performance Center at the Birmingham Alexander Stadium
is the main training venue during the Championships and possesses some
1,760 solar PV panels, the largest solar roof in the country. [www.solarbuzz.com
27 March 2003]
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GUAM:
- Mangilao
resident Dave Blas long thought that his family’s $300 monthly
power bill was a bit excessive. But since his purchase of a solar powered
home in March, he's been paying between $80 and $150 a month. Using
a basic setup of solar panels, batteries and a power inverter, he can
run everything in his home except for his washing machine and air conditioners
— all by using the sun's free energy. Setups like his have come
into the limelight as residents search for alternative ways to disengage
from government-run utilities.
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ICELAND:
- Norwegian
company Statoil ASA announced in early October 2002 that it is performing
a feasibility study for a 600MW geothermal power station in Iceland.
It will be connected to the Norwegian power grid by a 720mile undersea
transmission cable.
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INDIA:
- The Indian
Government offered 8.3 percent loans and has resulted in installation
of over 10,000 solar water heaters. Renewable Energy supplies 3 percent
of the installed capacity in India, or 3,165 MW according to the Federal
Secretary for Non-conventional Energy Sources. Almost 80 percent of
this capacity has been private sector financed. [November 2001].
- The Madhya
Pradesh Energy Development Corporation launched an ambitious program
to ensure power supply in more than 1,200 villages, that currently do
not have power connections.
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INDONESIA:
- An agreement
has been reached at the Gunung Salak geothermal project on the island
of Java, regarding pricing and production issues between Unocal subsidiary
and Indonesia’s state owned electric company. The installation
is a 330 MW geothermal steam plant and electricity generation facility.
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IRELAND:
- Irish
utility Airtricity recently announced details of a new plan to install
10 wind turbines on Kings Mountain in Sligo County. The facility will
generate approximately 80 gigawatts of electricity per year, or enough
power to meet the energy demands of up to 20,000 homes. [www.airtricity.net
18 March 2003]
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JAPAN:
- A $2
million solar energy system at Narita airport near Tokyo with 882 PV
panels has been installed on a passenger terminal to light airport facilities.
The total installatin of 120 kW was completed in early 2002.
- The town
of Yusuhara uses 2 wind power turbines to produce $320,000 of revenue/year
from electricity sales.
- The construction
of a 70-meter-tall windmill designed to generate power on reclaimed
land in Tokyo Bay was completed according to Tokyo Metropolitan Government
officials. The windmill is part of a wind power plant jointly built
on the waterfront by the metropolitan government and private companies.
It is the first windmill designed for power generation in a metropolitan
area of Japan. Construction work on a second windmill will start Sunday,
according to the officials said. [The Japan Times: 18 January 2003]
- The Marubeni
Corp. announced the sitting of a Direct Fuel Cell power plant at the
Nippon Metal Industry Co, in Japan. Marubeni will install a 250 kW DFC
power plant to the Sagamihara Works of Nippon Metal in the second quarter
of 2003. The cogeneration unit will operate using town gas and supply
the facility with electricity and steam.
- Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries Ltd. announced this week that it has installed solar
power generation systems at eleven of it's company locations. The amorphous
silicon PV systems have a combined output of 370 kilowatts. Among them
is a large system with an output of 140 kilowatts that was installed
at the firm's solar cell production plant in Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture.
[http://www.solarbuzz.com 24
March 2003]
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MEXICO:
- CFE has
incorporated 25MW solar into The Mexicali II thermo project. Mexico's
state power company CFE has decided to incorporate a 25MW solar power
unit into its 198-242MW Mexicali II combined-cycle project in San Luis
Rio Colorado in Sonora state. The solar-generated power is an addition
to the combined-cycle power hybrid plant and is to be completed by March
2006. [29 November 2002]
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MOROCCO:
- The 100th
photovoltaic system in Morocco was inaugurated on March 25 in one of
the biggest projects of this kind worldwide. The German KfW bank, which
also manages the overall German PV program, is supporting the project
on behalf of the German government with a financial contribution of
EUR 5
million. Under the project 16,000 families in rural regions are to receive
photovoltaic solar home systems. Today these families have no access
to electricity. Photovoltaic systems are very important in Morocco's
rural regions since only 40% of the population has access to electricity.
[http://www.solarbuzz.com/ 26
March 2003]
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NETHERLANDS:
- On the
Dutch coast near Lelystad, 28 windmills have been installed near the
shore, anchored in about 20 feet of water.
- Wind
Turbine manufacture NUON has opened the largest wind farm in the country
with a capacity of 54 MW generated by 32 turbines [solaraccess.com
— 04 February 2003]
- Amsterdam,
the Hague, Tilburg, and Twente all plan to install urban windmills in
2003, at a cost of $5,000 to $12,000 each. One windmill that has already
been installed on the roof of a technical school is capable of generating
about 5,000 kWh of energy per year, or more than enough for one Dutch
family (only about half the average for a US household). [Daily Grist
Magazine 27 January 2003]
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NEW ZEALAND:
- On a
hillside at Palmerston North, 48 wind turbines supply enough electricity
to power 15,000 homes.
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NICARAGUA:
- The community
of Agua Zarca plans to install a solar water pump well. A PV system
will pump and distribute potable water to 4 public faucets.
- In Bocay,
there are plans to install a second injector to their micro-hydro system,
which would double its potential electrical output. The expansion would
allow the Association for Development of Bocay Electric Service to offer
electricity to 80 more homes.
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NIGERIA:
- About
40 percent of Nigerians have access to electricity, with the majority
of un-served households being in the rural areas. Professor I.H. Umar,
director general, Energy Commission of Nigeria noted that as a result
of logistic problems Nepa's grid extensions alone would not be able
to meet the national rural electrification objectives in an affordable
and sustainable manner. He submitted that the nation must look at options
including off-grid renewable energy based systems such as solar photovoltaic
wind and small scale hydropower system for remote areas and independent
mini grids [http://library.northernlight.com]
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NORWAY:
- Norway's
Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) announced it has approved plans
submitted by regional utility Nord-Trondelag Elektrisitetsverk (NTE)
to build a wind farm in the county of Nord-Trondelag on the country's
west coast. It will be capable of generating up to 160 gigawatt-hours
(GWh) of electricity each year. OED said the permit covers two potential
plans: one featuring the use of 17 two-megawatt (MW) turbines capable
of generating 120 GWh per year, and another utilizing 15 three-MW turbines
with an annual generation capacity of 160 GWh. [Renewable Energy Today
18 March 2003]
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PERU:
- Eco Solar
signed an agreement with Luz del Sur, a power distribution company,
serving customers in southern Lima. The aim of the contract is to develop
a photovoltaic (PV) grid-connect system program. The initial objective
is to install one hundred of these systems providing as much as 500
kW of power for Luz del Sur customers. This program was scheduled to
begin on December 1, 2002.
- The Export-Import
Bank of the US will provide a US$2.4 million medium term loan for a
telecommunications project in Peru using photovoltaic. The project known
as Fitel, will bring 4000 solar Latin America PV systems totaling 580
MW to communication centers that currently lack access to the electricity
grid for voice and data transmissions.
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RUSSIA:
- The second
unit of a geothermal plant totaling 50MW in capacity was placed online
in October 2002. The Mutnovskaya Geothermal Power Plant, located in
Eastern region of Kamchatka, is part of the Unified Energy System of
Russia.
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SCOTLAND:
- A Gaelic
center on Islay is to become Scotland's largest solar power generation
application. Solar panels on the former cottage hospital's roof will
provide power and heat for the building in a project expected to cost
several hundred thousand pounds. The scheme is the only one in Scotland
among 18 being funded in a £4 million boost for solar energy.
[http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=302152002]
- Scottish
Power has unveiled plans to build a third large-scale wind farm in
Scotland- at Harestanes an Ae Forest near Galloway. The project will
be of a similar scale to the proposed wind farm at Whitelee Forest,
and could accommodate up to 180 turbines and generate enough electricity
to power 250,000 homes. If approved, the wind farm could meet a third
of the Scottish Renewable Energy target of 18 percent by 2010. [solaraccess.com
— 4 February 2003]
- Scotland’s
energy minister, Brian Wilson opened a new wind farm in Beinn an Tuirc,
in Argyll. The 46-wind turbine tower is 454 meters above sea level
and generates 30 MW of electricity, enough to supply 25,000 homes.
The project cost and estimated £21 million.
- An
installation with 24 wind turbines, each standing 75 meters high,
is being built on Bowbeat Hill-four miles northeast of Peebles, Scotland.
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SIKKUM:
- The world’s
highest solar electric plant, the 2.2 kW facility in the Chaurikhang
area provides street lighting for a 2 square kilometer area. The Western
Bengal Renewable energy development Agency announced the plant is at
an altitude of 14,000 feet. [December 2001]
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SINGAPORE:
- In April
2002, 100 PV panels were installed on a training institute to study
the viability of solar energy. Three different PV systems generate 9
kW for the building’s restaurant. The panels are to be monitored
for two years.
- Both
the water fountain and electric display board at Marsiling Secondary
School are run using the sun's energy. Seven solar panels that sit on
the roof of one of the school's eight blocks generate the needed power.
The panels are part of the school's new Energy Conservation Learning
Center, where students will be taught how to conserve energy as well
as be encouraged to think of better ways to harness the power of the
sun.
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SOUTH
AFRICA:
- Shell
Solar will be integrating solar technology throughout the remote village
of Lucingweni. Consisting of 220 homes, the village is ideal for the
company’s mini-grid solar system. The installation consists of
6 off Proven 6kW wind generators and a 50kW array of S100 solar panels.
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SPAIN:
- Grupo
Auxiliar Metalurgico SA (Gamesa) plans to increase it’s installed
wind energy capacity by 40 percent in one year, reaching 803 MW in 2002compared
with 503MW in 2001. Gamesa currently operates 18 wind farms and has
started construction of seven more.
- The installed
wind capacity in Spain in fact reached 3,337 MW last year, and up one-third
over 2000. As the second largest generator of wind energy (after Germany)
Spain currently generates wind electricity for 1.7 million families.
The northwest region of Galicia remains the largest producer, with output
of 973,485 MWh (29% of Spain’s installed capacity).
- Energy
Conservation Devices Inc. (ECD) has installed the world’s largest
photovoltaic system integrated in a metal roof. With installed capacity
of 76 KW, it is the largest metal roof in the world.
- A 1.2
MW solar photovoltaic installation near Tudela is the largest solar
power station in Spain in terms of installed capacity. It has 400 sun
trackers that rotate on a vertical axis to point at the sun. More than
12,000 photovoltaic panels receive the solar energy and produce 2 million
kWh per year. [23 January 2003]
- A 1.2
MW plant, which consists of 2,602 PV modules, was opened in Navarre.
It represents a total investment of US$11.74 million.
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SWEDEN:
- Tranas
Energy AB has built a 10 MW biofueled boiler in the city of Tranas.
The heat from Sermet Oy of Finland’s technology will feed into
a cogeneration plant for district heating. The plants are designed to
burn wood waste such as bark and sawdust.
- Three
fuel cell power systems were installed in a residential development
project in Stockholm, Sweden. The new residential district has 8000
housing units powered by renewable energies. The fuel cells co-generate
electricity and heat for hot water and space heating.
- City
of Tomorrow, a new district including 700 homes in Malmo, Sweden, will
meet 100 percent of its energy needs from renewables. A 2 MW wind turbine
and 120 sq. meters of PV panels will provide electricity. In addition,
a geothermal heat pump will draw heat from underground aquifers to meet
83 percent of heating needs. Some 2,000 sq. meters of solar collectors
and biogas from local waste will produce the other 17 percent needed
for heating. [http://www.caddet.co.uk/assets/300art3.pdf]
- GE Hydro
has been awarded contracts by VaTTENFALL Vattenkraft AB, Sweden’s
largest electric utility for the re-powering of 2 hydro turbines. The
projects, at the company’s Naverede(35MW) and Grundfors (54MW)
power plants in Indalsalven and Ume alv, are valued at more than $4.25million.
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SWITZERLAND:
- Suntechnics
Fabrisolar installed three PV systems for the start of the of the Alpine
skiing world championship in February 2003. St Moritz benefits from
an average of 322 sunny days per year making it an ideal location for
solar photovoltaic power. The first PV system has a peak power output
of 17.8 kilowatts, comprising 162 PV panels. An additional PV system
with a kilowatt peak of 13.5 kilowatts, utilizes 102 solar modules.
A further 420 modules have been used in a 16.8 kilowatt system located
on the roof of the ice skating building. The electricity is being fed
in to the St Moritz electricity grid.
- Switzerland’s
new national football stadium is to be fitted with the country’s
biggest solar panel. Officials said the installation on the roof of
the stadium in the capital, Bern, would measure 5,300m and produce a
maximum of 600 kW. The stadium is to be opened in the middle of 2005.
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UGANDA:
- MTN introduced
a low denomination card to access 2500 payphone around the country.
Most of the 2100 rural telephone booths in over 150 towns and trading
centers since October 1999 have been powered by solar.
- Solar
Light for African churches, a non-profit, has worked with entrepreneurs
in Uganda to micro-finance over 1000 UniSolar lighting kits for huts,
schools and churches since 1998.
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VIETNAM:
- In the
remote community of Sy Hai, Cao Bang province, electric lights have
been put to use for the first time. The energy for the city lights was
generated by solar shelters. Prior to the solar installation, this village
(being 1,000 meters above sea level) had no access to other sustainable
energy sources.
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