EREN Network News

May 2, 2001

News and Events

• BPA Wind Request Garners Proposals for 2,600 Megawatts
• BPA to Launch "Green Tags" to Sell Renewable Power
• TVA Gets Greater-than-Expected Response to Green Power
• Arizona Utility to Install 500 Kilowatts of Solar Power
• Wind Company Brings Headquarters, Wind Power to Virginia
• NREL Solar Cell Achieves New Efficiency Record

• EREN Technologies Pages Shine after Major Overhaul

• The Lingo of Energy Saving: From Conservation to Efficiency

News and Events

BPA Wind Request Garners Proposals for 2,600 Megawatts

In response to a request for proposals to install "upward of 1,000 megawatts" of wind power, DOE's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has received 25 proposals that total 2,600 megawatts, the organization announced last week. Included in the proposals were options for future expansions that would increase the total capacity to 4,000 megawatts. "The results show the strength and diversity of the wind resource in the Northwest," said Peter West of the Renewable Northwest Project, a non-profit organization.

BPA estimates that the full 2,600 megawatts of wind power would generate enough electricity to power the city of Portland, Oregon. BPA will select the most promising proposals by the end of May and then begin contract negotiations with developers. BPA hopes to place the first of the projects online in late 2002 or early 2003. See the BPA press release.

BPA to Launch "Green Tags" to Sell Renewable Power

BPA is already lining up a new way to sell the power from its wind energy installations and other renewable power sources. Through an agreement announced Monday, BPA and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) will work together to sell the power from renewable energy through a new "Green Tags" program. Through the agreement, BPA will sell the power from its renewable energy facilities at market rates, and BEF will sell the "environmental attributes" of the power at the additional cost required for the facility.

For example, BPA, BEF, and Energy Northwest announced in late April that they plan to build a solar power plant on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state. The photovoltaic power plant will have a capacity of 35 to 50 kilowatts, making it the largest solar installation in the Pacific Northwest. BPA will sell the power from the facility at its regular rate, and BEF will sell the green tags from the power at the added cost of the solar project. Purchasers of the green tags can take credit for purchasing a percentage of their power from renewable sources. See the BPA press release.

The green tag concept isn't new -- in fact, one company is selling green tags (also called green tickets) on a national scale. Sterling Planet, Inc. started selling green tags in March, offering them to anyone in the mainland United States. The company buys the green tags from Automated Power Exchange, Inc. (APX), which operates an online trading system for wholesale power, including renewable power. The cost of the green tags is typically about $10 to $15 per megawatt-hour. The company claims to be negotiating to buy power directly from several renewable energy power facilities. It also claims that it will eventually develop new renewable power facilities to serve its customers. See the Sterling Planet press release.

See also the APX Green Power Market Services.

TVA Gets Greater-than-Expected Response to Green Power

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced last week that its customers have responded more enthusiastically to its Green Power Switch program than it had expected. TVA sells power from renewable energy sources in "blocks" of 150 kilowatt-hours, at an added cost of $4 per month. During the first 11 months of Green Power Switch, 3,260 residential customers signed up for 5,683 blocks of green power per month, and 150 business and commercial customers signed up for 4,931 blocks per month. That totals 10,614 blocks of green power per month -- about 18 percent higher than TVA's expectation to sell 9,000 blocks per month. “This program has clearly demonstrated strong consumer interest in supporting renewable energy to produce electricity,” said TVA Senior Vice President of Marketing Jim Keiffer.

TVA currently operates eight solar power sites and one wind energy facility, and a landfill gas facility should go online by this summer. With the strong demand for green power, TVA is now evaluating the possibility of adding more solar and landfill generation sites, and possibly another 20 megawatts of wind power in 2003 or 2004. See the TVA press release.

Arizona Utility to Install 500 Kilowatts of Solar Power

Amonix Incorporated announced last week that Arizona Public Service plans to install a number of solar electric systems that will have a combined capacity of 500 kilowatts. The systems will be supplied by Amonix and will use the company's patented high-concentration photovoltaic system. Unlike typical flat-plate solar panels, concentrating photovoltaic systems use lenses or mirrors to concentrate the sunlight onto a photovoltaic cell that operates at high efficiency.

The Amonix system uses arrays that are more than 55 feet wide and 45 feet tall, mounted on a two-axis tracking system that follows the sun. The sunlight is concentrated to 250 times normal, allowing the system to use relatively little of the expensive semiconductor material needed for the solar cells. The first 100 kilowatts of solar energy went online on April 5th; when complete, the combined systems will generate enough electricity to power more than 165 homes. See the Amonix press release.

Wind Company Brings Headquarters, Wind Power to Virginia

Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore announced last week that proVENTO International, a German wind energy company, will locate its U.S. headquarters in the Cape Charles Sustainable Technology Park in Virginia's Northampton County. The company will also install six 1.3-megawatt wind turbines near the site, creating enough wind energy to power more than 3,000 homes. The proposed wind farm will be the first utility-scale wind project to be installed in Virginia and will create 25 new jobs in Cape Charles. See the governor's press release.

The Cape Charles Sustainable Technology Park bills itself as an eco-industrial park. Its first building, unceremoniously named Building One, is a 30,930-square-foot industrial facility featuring 50 kilowatts of photovoltaic panels, an energy efficient design, and skylights for natural daylighting. See the Sustainable Technology Park Web site.

NREL Solar Cell Achieves New Efficiency Record

DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced last week that it has achieved a new record efficiency from a solar cell made with cadmium telluride. The measurement of 16.4 percent efficiency bested the previous high-water mark of 15.8 percent efficiency for a cadmium telluride cell -- a record that has stood since 1992. The efficiency of a solar cell is the percentage of available sunlight the device converts into electricity.

Thin films of cadmium telluride can be produced relatively cheaply, and eking more energy out of the cells will enhance their profitability. According to NREL, two of the largest new photovoltaic plants in the United States are producing thin film panels made from cadmium telluride. See the NREL press release.

Site News

EREN Technologies Pages Shine after Major Overhaul

The Technologies pages on the EREN Web site have been rebuilt, creating a new, inviting look while dramatically improving your ability to find the information you're looking for. Located in the upper right-hand quadrant of the EREN home page, the Technologies pages include all of the major energy efficiency and renewable energy topics, from solar energy to industrial energy efficiency. The new sections break down each of the technologies into subtopics, and then provide predefined searches to guide you to information on that subject. The EREN database of links has also been reorganized by resource type, and each link now includes a brief description of the site.

Frequent users of the EREN Web site may have noticed the Technologies pages changing one by one over the past year. If you haven't noticed, be sure to try out the new pages -- we think you'll be pleased. See the EREN home page.

Energy Facts and Tips

The Lingo of Energy Saving: From Conservation to Efficiency

Saving energy has taken a prominent place in the news lately, particularly in the West. California recently kicked off its new "20/20" program, which gives consumers an extra 20 percent off their electricity bill this summer if they use 20 percent less energy than they did last summer. Others have followed California's lead: PacifiCorp is offering a nearly identical program in Utah and Idaho, and in Washington and Idaho, Avista Utilities is offering incentives that increase as customers save more than 5 percent compared to last year. See the PacifiCorp press release.

See also the Avista Utilities Web site.

Given this focus on saving energy, this seems like a good time to focus on some of the terminology that goes along with it. The most common term is "conservation" -- a term that generally mean turning things off, like lights and computers, or using them less, like keeping your air conditioner's thermostat at 78 degrees Fahrenheit. A good example of conservation is Bank of America's decision to stop lighting the pylon signs at 200 of its banks in the Northwest. See the April 25th press release on the Bank of America press release.

While conservation is an important part of using energy wisely, it alone has its limitations. After we take all the steps we can to avoid wasting energy, it becomes obvious that energy is needed for most of the things we do. This is where energy efficiency steps in. Energy-efficient technologies run the gamut from energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs to hybrid electric cars to Energy Star appliances, heating and cooling equipment, windows, computers…the list goes on and on. All of these technologies are about living our normal lifestyles, but using less energy in the process. When you combine energy efficiency with common-sense conservation, that's when you'll see significant energy savings. For more information, see the recent press release from the Alliance to Save Energy.

The instantaneous nature of electricity supply adds some unique challenges, and some additional lingo, to the concept of saving energy. We'll examine electricity terminology for saving energy in next week's issue.

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