Power-Gen Attendees Experience Awe-Inspiring Solar Generation Up Close at Ivanpah
Arriving at NRG Energy Inc.’s Ivanpah solar electric generating system while it is making power is nothing less than an awe-inspiring experience.
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Duke, Green Charge Networks and REC Solar Team to Offer Commercial Solar + Storage
As prices for energy storage systems continue to creep downward, utilities are recognizing the value it brings to commercial customers for peak shaving and for the utility itself for grid balancing. This week, Duke Energy Renewables announced an …
Read MoreRenewable Energy World Announces the 2015 Project of the Year
At last night’s PennWell Awards Ceremony, Invenergy’s Grand Ridge Energy Storage Project was named the Renewable Energy Project of the Year.
As more and more intermittent renewables come online in the developed world, the business case for energy storage becomes more and more defined. In 2012 transmission operator PJM recognized the value of energy storage in the secondary market for frequency regulation and today the region has more than half of the energy storage installed capacity in the U.S.
Read MoreInspiring Young Women To Pursue Careers in Energy
At last night’s PennWell Awards Ceremony, Kim Greene, a 24-year veteran of the power industry, was named the POWER-GEN 2015 Woman of the Year.
Greene began her career as an engineer with Southern Company in 1991 and ascended to leadership roles at Mirant and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), before returning to Southern Company Services in 2013 to become President and CEO. She was a keynote speaker at POWER-GEN International in 2014.
Today, she serves as chief operating officer of Southern Company and is responsible for overseeing system operations, which include generation, transmission, engineering and construction services, system planning, and research and environmental affairs, as well as the company’s competitive wholesale generation businesses.
Read MoreAs Solar Pushes for U.S. Tax Break, One CEO Says Don’t Bother
Congress is debating whether to renew an investment tax credit that for nine years has helped put solar panels on rooftops across the country.
Read MoreAs Power Generation Week Starts in Las Vegas, City Commits to 100 Percent Renewable Energy
Las Vegas – Dec. 7 marks the opening of Power Generation Week in the city of Las Vegas. Power Generation Week is a series of energy conferences anchored by the behemoth Power Gen International (PGI) – the largest conference and expo for the traditional power generation industry.
Read MoreWind, Solar Projects Find New Buyers, Uncertain Prices
Prices to buy U.S. renewable energy projects are going down as yieldcos, battered by the market, acquire fewer wind and solar farms.
Read MoreWind, Solar Projects Find New Buyers, Uncertain Prices
Prices to buy U.S. renewable energy projects are going down as yieldcos, battered by the market, acquire fewer wind and solar farms.
Read MoreThe Hidden Cost of Solar + Energy Storage
Tom McCalmont, President McCalmont Engineering has been working on large solar projects for more than 15 years. The former CEO of Regrid Power, which in 2008 was purchased by Real Good Solar, his six-year old company McCalmont Engineering is fully dedicated to large solar and energy storage projects in California. “We do medium voltage interconnections, we do energy storage, we do NGOM meters, reverse-power relays, SCADA systems — so all of the things that people have problems with, we have expertise in,” he explained.
This expertise means that McCalmont understands what goes into interconnection and utility requirements for permitting and a little-known utility requirement called the NGOM, or “net-generation output meter” is making him very worried about the future of solar + energy storage projects, particularly in California.
What’s the Problem?
“The issue that utilities are absolutely paranoid about is that people will use energy storage to somehow arbitrage energy rates,” explained McCalmont.
Because solar is net-metered and the owner is being paid at retail for exporting power to the grid, utilities are worried that if you add storage, you are going to sell all of your power at retail rates when they are high and buy it back when it is cheap, he explained. In other words, utilities are worried that system owners will sell more energy to the utility than their solar is actually producing because they could, in theory, draw down their energy storage system and put it on the grid.
Read MoreThe Hidden Cost of Solar + Energy Storage
Tom McCalmont, President McCalmont Engineering has been working on large solar projects for more than 15 years. The former CEO of Regrid Power, which in 2008 was purchased by Real Good Solar, his six-year old company McCalmont Engineering is fully dedicated to large solar and energy storage projects in California. “We do medium voltage interconnections, we do energy storage, we do NGOM meters, reverse-power relays, SCADA systems — so all of the things that people have problems with, we have expertise in,” he explained.
This expertise means that McCalmont understands what goes into interconnection and utility requirements for permitting and a little-known utility requirement called the NGOM, or “net-generation output meter” is making him very worried about the future of solar + energy storage projects, particularly in California.
What’s the Problem?
“The issue that utilities are absolutely paranoid about is that people will use energy storage to somehow arbitrage energy rates,” explained McCalmont.
Because solar is net-metered and the owner is being paid at retail for exporting power to the grid, utilities are worried that if you add storage, you are going to sell all of your power at retail rates when they are high and buy it back when it is cheap, he explained. In other words, utilities are worried that system owners will sell more energy to the utility than their solar is actually producing because they could, in theory, draw down their energy storage system and put it on the grid.
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