Google says it’s the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy on the planet

  

Google now has contracts to buy 3 gigawatts of output from renewable energy projects.The search giant says it will carry on signing contracts to purchase more renewable energy.

Google's total purchase of energy from renewable sources in 2017 was greater than the electricity used by its global operations, the tech giant has said. This follows on from a 2016 announcement that the business was on target to buy enough renewable energy to "match" electricity usage.

In a blog post Wednesday, Google's Senior Vice President for Technical Infrastructure, Urs Hölzle, described what the business meant by "matching." Put simply, for every kilowatt hour of electricity the company used in 2017, it bought a kilowatt hour of renewable energy from a solar or wind farm built specifically for Google.

Hölzle said that Google now had contracts to buy 3 gigawatts of output from renewable energy projects, and that no corporate purchaser was buying more renewable energy than Google. Renewable energy contracts for Google had resulted in more than $3 billion in new capital investment across the globe, he said.

"We say that we "matched" our energy usage because it's not yet possible to "power" a company of our scale by 100 percent renewable energy," Hölzle explained.

"It's true that for every kilowatt-hour of energy we consume, we add a matching kilowatt-hour of renewable energy to a power grid somewhere," he added. "But that renewable energy may be produced in a different place, or at a different time, from where we're running our data centers and offices."

What was important to Google, he said, was that it was adding "new clean energy sources to the electrical system" and buying renewable energy in the same volume that it was consuming both globally and on a yearly basis.

Looking forward, Hölzle said that Google would carry on signing more contracts to buy renewable energy. 

The search giant is among a number of technology businesses looking to "green" their operations with big, ambitious projects. Last October, for instance, Amazon announced that its biggest wind farm to date was operational.

The business said that Amazon Wind Farm Texas would add over 1 million megawatt hours of clean energy to the grid annually. The facility, which is located in Scurry County, has over 100 turbines, each standing more than 300-feet tall and with a rotor diameter over double the wingspan of a Boeing 787.

Enel inaugurates 180MW solar project in Peru

Credit: Enel

Enel, through its Peruvian subsidiary Enel Green Power Peru (EGPP), has started operations at the 180MW Rubi solar PV plant, which is Peru’s largest solar project.

The project, for which Enel invested US$170 million in consruction, is the firm’s first solar facility in Peru. It is located in the city of Moquegua in Mariscal Nieto province and is financed in part through Enel Group’s own resources and in part by the European Investment Bank (EIB). The solar farm will be able to generate approximately 440GWh of electricity per year.

Enel has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines. Electricity from the plant will be delivered to Peru’s National Interconnected Electricity System (SEIN) through the Montalvo substation. Enel was awarded the PPA in 2016 following a public tender launched by the energy regulator OSINERGMIN.

As in several other huge Latin American projects by Enel, EGPP carried out a training programme for the local community for the recycling of wasted wood from the construction site to build furniture, an initiative implemented in collaboration with the Municipality of Moquegua. EGPP also signed an agreement with the local association Asociación de Irrigación Pampa Clemesí to promote grant funds for the development of productive and social projects in the area of ​​influence of the Rubi solar plant.

“The inauguration of Peru’s largest solar PV plant is testament to our commitment to boost the development of renewables in the country, contributing to the diversification of its generation mix and increasing energy production from clean sources in Peru’s Southern region by 12%,” said Antonio Cammisecra, head of EGP. “The entry into service of Rubi just over a year after construction began strengthens our ambition to keep growing in Peru and to harness the country’s great renewable potential.”

Racking company NEXTracker this week said it had achieved 100% on-time delivery for Enel Green Power’s 754MW PV power plant in Mexico, which has deployed its Gen2 ‘NX Horizon’ self-powered tracker system.

 

Microsoft to buy solar power in Singapore in first renewable deal in Asia

Singapore: Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it will buy solar power from the Sunseap Group in Singapore, the technology company’s first renewable energy deal in Asia.

Microsoft will purchase 100% of the electricity generated from Sunseap’s 60 megawatt-peak solar power project for 20 years for its Singapore data operations, the software company said in a statement. Sunseap’s project consists of an array of solar panels on hundreds of rooftops across the city-state.

“This deal is Microsoft’s first renewable energy deal in Asia, and is our third international clean energy announcement, following two wind deals announced in Ireland and the Netherlands in 2017,” said Christian Belady, general manager, cloud infrastructure strategy and architecture at Microsoft.

Microsoft said it is on track to exceed its goal of powering 50% of its global data centre load with renewable energy this year.

“Once operational, the new solar project will bring Microsoft’s total global direct procurement in renewable energy projects to 860 megawatts,” Belady said.

The solar project is under construction and will be operational by the end of the year, the companies said.

Solar Impulse founder expects electric passenger plane in 10 years

The co-founder of a project that saw a solar-powered aircraft complete the first fuel-free flight around the world this year expects electric passenger planes to operate within a decade.

Bertrand Piccard, who along with fellow pilot Andre Borschberg founded Solar Impulse, also shrugged off concerns that US President-elect Donald Trump's appointment of a fossil fuel industry defender as his top environmental official could hamper global clean technology efforts.

Since completing their historic fuel-free flight in July, Mr Piccard and Mr Borschberg have been working on projects to show how the technologies used in their plane can be used in other applications.

The Solar Impulse 2 takes off from Nanjing Lukou International Airport in Nanjing in eastern China's Jiangsu province. 

Mr Borschberg said they were especially interested in how the technology could be used to develop small electric planes with a flying time of about 1.5 hours. The two plan to announce their next project early next year, he said.

"In nine years and eight months, you'll have 50 people travelling short-haul on electric planes," Mr Piccard, founder and chairman of Solar Impulse told an IATA airlines association briefing in Geneva.

"Why nine years and eight months? Because since four months, I've been saying it will be '10 years'. It will happen," he added.

Mr Piccard said that it didn't matter what people thought about climate change because clean technology was getting cheaper and would help to drive growth. He cited examples of insulation making homes cheaper to live in, and of LED lights reducing lighting costs.

"Five years ago everything that was clean tech was more expensive - that is not the case today. If the aim is to be profitable and create jobs, then coal is out of business," he said.

Alphabet's 'moonshot' lab has a new project to store renewable energy

A rendering of what X's renewable energy storage plant would look like.X

X, the "moonshot" division of Google's parent company Alphabet that has worked on everything from self-driving cars and delivery drones, has a new public project: storing renewable energy so it doesn't go to waste.

The team working on the project is codenamed "Malta," and it aims to efficiently store energy from solar and wind using salts. That way, renewable energy can still be used even if solar panels or wind turbines can't collect energy.

Malta is part of X's Foundry, which explores early-stage projects. It's not an "official" project like Project Wing (drone delivery) or Project Loon (high-altitude balloons that beam the internet to the surface). X is announcing Malta now because it wants to build a prototype plant for testing how storing renewable energy can feed a power grid. It's accepting applications for potential partners on its website.

Argentina Plans Energy Auctions to Drive $7 Billion Investment

Argentina is planning at least four energy auctions this year that are expected to attract as much as $7 billion in investments as president Mauricio Macri seeks to boost generating capacity for both conventional and renewable power plants.

The country will hold two auctions for new thermal capacity, one for renewable energy and one for new transmission lines, according to Energy Minister Juan Jose Aranguren. The government is considering another one for thermal projects.

The auctions are part of Argentina’s efforts to revive its economy and make its power grid more reliable. They follow similar events last year that are expected to result in $6.5 billion in investment in the country’s power industry.

“We want to maintain the virtuous cycle of public, open auctions, then national and international capital can collaborate to improve Argentina’s electric system reliability and to reduce costs of generation,” Aranguren said in an interview in Buenos Aires on Thursday. “We have also to ensure the expansion of the transmission system in parallel to the new generation capacity.”

Argentina announced in January plans to increase electricity rates for domestic consumers by as much as 149 percent in two stages, in a bid to reduce subsidies and cut the primary fiscal deficit to 4.2 percent of gross domestic product this year. The first took effect in February and the next is set for November, to help utilities invest in the grid and prevent blackouts in Buenos Aires, Aranguren said.

As much as 6.5 gigawatts of new capacity will be added to the grid over the next three years, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. That includes 3.6 gigawatts powered by fossil fuels and 2.8 gigawatts from renewable sources other than large hydropower.

Renewable Auction

The renewable-energy auction will be in July or August, Aranguren said. Companies that won contracts to deliver electricity in earlier auctions are still seeking financing to build projects. About 3 gigawatts of renewable power projects were auctioned in 2016.

“There are a lot of people looking for financing now,” he said. “If we do the next one too soon, before new projects already auctioned are structured, we might generate a bottleneck on the financing side.”

Argentina has set an ambitious goal of boosting its clean energy consumption to 8 percent by the end of this year, from about 1 percent now, and 20 percent by 2025. The main mechanism to achieve these goals is its RenovAr renewable energy auction program. More than 60 percent of Argentina’s energy comes from fossil fuels, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

A lack of transmission lines in Argentina may hamper the outcome of the next clean-energy auction, as most of the country’s transmission capacity was filled by projects from the first two events last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Limited transmission nodes in areas with good wind and solar sources may drive up prices in the next auctions.

There’s enough transmission capacity for projects already awarded, and Argentina will need to add 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) of transmission lines in the next three years, Aranguren said.

“New power transmission lines are necessary to follow the expansion of generation capacity,” he said.

Two world-leading clean energy projects have opened in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Two world-leading clean energy projects have opened in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

An industrial plant is capturing the CO2 emissions from a coal boiler and using the CO2 to make valuable chemicals. It is a world first.

And just 100km away is the world's biggest solar farm, making power for 150,000 homes on a 10 sq km site.

The industrial plant appears especially significant as it offers a breakthrough by capturing CO2 without subsidy.

Built at a chemical plant in the port city of Tuticorin, it is projected to save 60,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year by incorporating them into the chemical recipe for soda ash - otherwise known as baking powder. 

Here's how it works: 

1.  The plant operates a coal-fired boiler to make steam for its chemical operations.

2.  CO2 emissions from the boiler's chimney are stripped out by a fine mist of a new patented chemical. 

3.  A stream of CO2 is fed into the chemicals plant as an ingredient for soda ash - a compound with many uses, including the manufacturing of glass, detergents and sweeteners.

Zero emissions

The owner of the chemicals plant, Ramachadran Gopalan, told a BBC Radio 4 documentary: "I am a businessman. I never thought about saving the planet. I needed a reliable stream of CO2, and this was the best way of getting it."

He says his operation has now almost zero emissions. He hopes soon to install a second coal boiler to make more CO2 to synthesise fertiliser.

The chemical was invented by two young Indian chemists. They failed to raise Indian finance to develop it, but their firm, Carbonclean Solutions, working with the Institute of Chemical Technology at Mumbai and Imperial College in London, got backing from the UK's entrepreneur support scheme.

Their technique uses a form of salt to bond with CO2 molecules in the boiler chimney. The firm says it is more efficient than typical amine compounds used for the purpose. 

They say it also needs less energy, produces less alkaline waste and allows the use of a cheaper form of steel -  all radically reducing the cost of the whole operation.

The firm admits its technology of Carbon Capture and Utilisation won't cure climate change, but says it may provide a useful contribution by gobbling up perhaps 5-10% of the world's emissions from coal. 

Lord Oxburgh, former chairman of Shell, and now director and head of the UK government's carbon capture advisory group, told the BBC: "We have to do everything we can to reduce the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels and it is great news that more ways are being found of turning at least some of the CO2 into useful products."

Solar farm

Meanwhile, the nearby giant Kamuthi solar plant offers a marker for India's ambition for a rapid expansion in renewables.

It is truly enormous; from the tall observation tower, the ranks of black panels stretch almost to the horizon. 

Prime Minister Modi is offering subsidies for a plan to power 60 million homes with solar by 2022 and aims for 40% of its energy from renewables by 2030. 

For large-scale projects, the cost of new solar power in India is now cheaper than coal. But solar doesn't generate 24/7 on an industrial scale, so India has adopted a "more of everything" approach to energy.

The firm behind the solar plant, Adani, is also looking to create Australia's biggest coal mine, which it says will provide power for up to 100 million people in India. Renewables, it says, can't answer India's vast appetite for power to lift people out of poverty. 

And questions have been raised recently as to whether India will stick to its renewables promises now President-elect Donald Trump may be about to scrap climate targets for the US.

At the recent Marrakech climate conference, China, the EU and many developing countries pledged to forge ahead with emissions-cutting plans regardless of US involvement. But India offered no such guarantee.

Some environmentalists are not too worried: they think economics may drive India's clean energy revolution.