SunEdison Solar Farm Beats Gas With Biggest Colorado Project

[ScienceRocks]

SunEdison Solar Farm Beats Gas With Biggest Colorado Project
“We actually can offer solar and wind that’s cheaper than gas,” Blunden said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s such an important inflection point. We can sell power without any fuel-price risk.”

SunEdison Inc., the biggest clean-energy developer, began construction on a Colorado solar farm that will be the largest in the state and comes out ahead in direct competition with natural gas.
The 156-megawatt Comanche solar farm will deliver power to Excel Energy Inc.’s Public Service of Colorado utility under a 25-year agreement, Maryland Heights, Missouri-based SunEdison said in a statement Thursday. The utility awarded the contract through an open solicitation, with the solar farm beating out other power sources including gas, SunEdison said.
The deal shows that renewable energy is increasingly able to compete on price with fossil fuels. Utilities that are planning for future demand growth are looking more carefully at solar panels and wind turbines, which will be cheaper to operate over the next few decades in part because they have no fuel costs, said Julie Blunden, chief strategy officer at SunEdison.
“We actually can offer solar and wind that’s cheaper than gas,” Blunden said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s such an important inflection point. We can sell power without any fuel-price risk.”

Now no matter if it is subsidized or on the market place = gas and coal is fucked. haha

 

[Stephanie]

Look at the land those things takes up on top OF KILLING 1000 of birds.

I don't know if it's worth it all

 

[Derideo_Te]

The inevitable is happening!

 

[Derideo_Te]

Look at the land those things takes up on top OF KILLING 1000 of birds.

I don't know if it's worth it all

Fossil fuel advocates are suddenly environmentally friendly when it comes to opposition to pollution?



Tell that to the oil coated sea birds along the coastlines of the world.

 

[westwall]

SunEdison Solar Farm Beats Gas With Biggest Colorado Project
“We actually can offer solar and wind that’s cheaper than gas,” Blunden said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s such an important inflection point. We can sell power without any fuel-price risk.”

SunEdison Inc., the biggest clean-energy developer, began construction on a Colorado solar farm that will be the largest in the state and comes out ahead in direct competition with natural gas.
The 156-megawatt Comanche solar farm will deliver power to Excel Energy Inc.’s Public Service of Colorado utility under a 25-year agreement, Maryland Heights, Missouri-based SunEdison said in a statement Thursday. The utility awarded the contract through an open solicitation, with the solar farm beating out other power sources including gas, SunEdison said.
The deal shows that renewable energy is increasingly able to compete on price with fossil fuels. Utilities that are planning for future demand growth are looking more carefully at solar panels and wind turbines, which will be cheaper to operate over the next few decades in part because they have no fuel costs, said Julie Blunden, chief strategy officer at SunEdison.
“We actually can offer solar and wind that’s cheaper than gas,” Blunden said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s such an important inflection point. We can sell power without any fuel-price risk.”

Now no matter if it is subsidized or on the market place = gas and coal is fucked. haha

Wow, the plant isn't even built yet and already it is beating gas prices. How's Ivanpah working out these days? Is it even producing energy from its panels or is it merely using the gas to fire its generators?

 

[Mr. H.]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

 

[Derideo_Te]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

 

[Old Rocks]

Texas Enjoys Record-Breaking Quarter As New Solar Capacity Soars

Quarter As New Solar Capacity Soars
June 25th, 2015 by Guest Contributor

Originally published by the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Powered by growth across all solar sectors, Texas recorded its best-ever Q1 with 49 megawatts (MW) of newly installed solar capacity coming online, according to the recently released US Solar Market Insight Report compiled by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

In the first quarter of this year, Texas trailed only five states – California, Nevada, New York, North Carolina and Massachusetts – in new capacity, kicking off what’s expected to be a banner year in 2015.

“Over the past five years, Texas has continued to show steady growth in the number of new solar installations and total solar capacity,” said SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch. “But that growth is rapidly accelerating. Texas is now on pace to install more than 200 MW of new solar capacity in 2015 alone. That’s a huge jump – nearly three times more than was installed in 2013. Clearly, smart public policies, like the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), are providing a tremendous boost to the state’s economy, creating thousands of new jobs and generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year in economic activity.”

Note the mix of red and blue states. Wind and solar are no longer a political issue, but now an economic one. President Obama has won his bet on renewables. Even without subsidies, they are more economical than coal. And with the grid scale batteries about to come on line, they will be 24/7.

 

[martybegan]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Only for peak loading. Once you get to the point of the base load, each one will have to be built with a stand-by fuel fired system ready to go, and that will increase costs.

 

[martybegan]

Texas Enjoys Record-Breaking Quarter As New Solar Capacity Soars

Quarter As New Solar Capacity Soars
June 25th, 2015 by Guest Contributor

Originally published by the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Powered by growth across all solar sectors, Texas recorded its best-ever Q1 with 49 megawatts (MW) of newly installed solar capacity coming online, according to the recently released US Solar Market Insight Report compiled by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

In the first quarter of this year, Texas trailed only five states – California, Nevada, New York, North Carolina and Massachusetts – in new capacity, kicking off what’s expected to be a banner year in 2015.

“Over the past five years, Texas has continued to show steady growth in the number of new solar installations and total solar capacity,” said SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch. “But that growth is rapidly accelerating. Texas is now on pace to install more than 200 MW of new solar capacity in 2015 alone. That’s a huge jump – nearly three times more than was installed in 2013. Clearly, smart public policies, like the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), are providing a tremendous boost to the state’s economy, creating thousands of new jobs and generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year in economic activity.”

Note the mix of red and blue states. Wind and solar are no longer a political issue, but now an economic one. President Obama has won his bet on renewables. Even without subsidies, they are more economical than coal. And with the grid scale batteries about to come on line, they will be 24/7.

It's less politics and more about States with open land and lots of sunshine.

Try comparing it in the Northeast, and you have a different story.

 

[Derideo_Te]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Only for peak loading. Once you get to the point of the base load, each one will have to be built with a stand-by fuel fired system ready to go, and that will increase costs.

Nope!

As Old Rocks mentioned Grid Scale Batteries are coming online to handle stand by loads.

 

[Shrimpbox]

SunEdison (SUNE) Marked As A Dead Cat Bounce Stock

Sun has lost 45 per cent of its value since,the first of the year. Read the full article and you will find that from a business standpoint sun is not doing very well and is doing worse than last year. The devil,is in the details.

 

[martybegan]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Only for peak loading. Once you get to the point of the base load, each one will have to be built with a stand-by fuel fired system ready to go, and that will increase costs.

Nope!

As Old Rocks mentioned Grid Scale Batteries are coming online to handle stand by loads.

From wikipedia:

Two of the world's largest batteries are in Fairbanks, Alaska (40 MW for 7 minutes using Ni-Cd cells),[19] and in Notrees, Texas (36 MW for 40 minutes using lead-acid batteries).[20][21]

 

[Derideo_Te]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Only for peak loading. Once you get to the point of the base load, each one will have to be built with a stand-by fuel fired system ready to go, and that will increase costs.

Nope!

As Old Rocks mentioned Grid Scale Batteries are coming online to handle stand by loads.

From wikipedia:

Two of the world's largest batteries are in Fairbanks, Alaska (40 MW for 7 minutes using Ni-Cd cells),[19] and in Notrees, Texas (36 MW for 40 minutes using lead-acid batteries).[20][21]

World's 10 Biggest Grid-Scale Batteries

Grid scale batteries are still in the early stages of adoption. It was little more than a decade ago when the first hybrid cars became available to the public and yet now they are everywhere on the roads.

Like most options there are pros and cons and there are alternative strategies for storing energy that can be converted into electricity like flywheels, liquid salt solutions and compressed air.

The odds are that the end result will probably only become apparent once each of the alternatives has been demonstrated to be cost effective on a large scale.

That is already happening now with both solar and wind technology.

 

[martybegan]

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Only for peak loading. Once you get to the point of the base load, each one will have to be built with a stand-by fuel fired system ready to go, and that will increase costs.

Nope!

As Old Rocks mentioned Grid Scale Batteries are coming online to handle stand by loads.

From wikipedia:

Two of the world's largest batteries are in Fairbanks, Alaska (40 MW for 7 minutes using Ni-Cd cells),[19] and in Notrees, Texas (36 MW for 40 minutes using lead-acid batteries).[20][21]

World's 10 Biggest Grid-Scale Batteries

Grid scale batteries are still in the early stages of adoption. It was little more than a decade ago when the first hybrid cars became available to the public and yet now they are everywhere on the roads.

Like most options there are pros and cons and there are alternative strategies for storing energy that can be converted into electricity like flywheels, liquid salt solutions and compressed air.

The odds are that the end result will probably only become apparent once each of the alternatives has been demonstrated to be cost effective on a large scale.

That is already happening now with both solar and wind technology.

Batteries will never be a true grid scale solution because of the physics behind their storage mechanism. Kinetic systems are a better fit, but require large amounts of land to be feasible.

 

[Old Rocks]

Eos Raising $25M to Build Megawatts of Low-Cost Zinc Batteries for the Grid : Greentech Media

Eos Energy Storage has raised the first $15 million of a planned $25 million in funding, meant to scale up manufacturing of its hybrid zinc cathode, aqueous electrolyte-based battery that could break the price barrier for grid-scale, multi-hour energy storage.
.................................................................................................................................................................
But “Eos’ business strategy is not to become a large global manufacturer of this technology,” he said. “There are other manufacturers better suited to that task.” To that end, the startup is in discussions with what he described as some of the “largest contracts manufacturers in the world,” in search of partners willing to replicate its production lines, and help it to reach its goal of 100 megawatts of annual capacity in 2016.

“We want to work with existing manufacturers, and we’ve designed the battery to employ highly commoditized manufacturing equipment and processes,” he said. “We’re talking about metal cutting and stamping for our current collectors; our cathode is made by mixing and pressing carbon powders and other active ingredients; our electrolyte is a simple water-based solution; and we’re packaging these cells in plastic mold-injection frames. […] There are no clean rooms required, no complex vapor deposition processes. We’re building batteries in the equivalent of a machine shop.”

Just one of many grid scale battery start-ups

 

[martybegan]

Eos Raising $25M to Build Megawatts of Low-Cost Zinc Batteries for the Grid : Greentech Media

Eos Energy Storage has raised the first $15 million of a planned $25 million in funding, meant to scale up manufacturing of its hybrid zinc cathode, aqueous electrolyte-based battery that could break the price barrier for grid-scale, multi-hour energy storage.
.................................................................................................................................................................
But “Eos’ business strategy is not to become a large global manufacturer of this technology,” he said. “There are other manufacturers better suited to that task.” To that end, the startup is in discussions with what he described as some of the “largest contracts manufacturers in the world,” in search of partners willing to replicate its production lines, and help it to reach its goal of 100 megawatts of annual capacity in 2016.

“We want to work with existing manufacturers, and we’ve designed the battery to employ highly commoditized manufacturing equipment and processes,” he said. “We’re talking about metal cutting and stamping for our current collectors; our cathode is made by mixing and pressing carbon powders and other active ingredients; our electrolyte is a simple water-based solution; and we’re packaging these cells in plastic mold-injection frames. […] There are no clean rooms required, no complex vapor deposition processes. We’re building batteries in the equivalent of a machine shop.”

Just one of many grid scale battery start-ups

And when they work without subsidies, let me know.

 

[Old Rocks]

Both wind and solar are cheaper without subsidies than is dirty coal. I have not seen any subsidies for the grid scale batteries.

Another Mega Battery Factory in U.S., This One For the Grid | Xconomy

Eikeland said Alevo chose North Carolina, which hasn’t provided any financial incentives, because it could locally source many of the components and machinery it needed. The entire battery except for the electrolyte will be assembled in North Carolina; one local supplier is engineering company Parker Hannifin. “We spent years looking to secure the location that’s capable of a multi-gigawatt capacity,” Eikeland says. The company hopes to operate in the U.S. and has a supply agreement with a Chinese energy project developer.

As for funding, Eikeland says the company has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from private investors, all in equity. It plans to start deploying its first battery systems next July.

'Largest ever' U.S. energy storage system takes shape

Energy storage specialist Alevo Group has announced plans to deliver the largest U.S. energy storage deployment to date, after signing a deal to provide 200MW of capacity.

The company, which emerged from stealth mode last autumn with news that it had raised around $1 billion to support the development of its advanced battery technology, revealed that it has signed a deal with energy services firm Customized Energy Solutions (CES).

The joint operational agreement will see the two companies work together to provide 200MW of grid frequency regulation services to the wholesale power market through Alevo's GridBank energy storage systems. These are 2MW capacity batteries stored in shipping containers.

Alevo said that the deal will allow CES to provide energy storage-based frequency regulation services to its customer base in the U.S. and Canada, and "represents the largest ever energy storage deployment in the U.S."

Grid scale storage, at the generation end and the customer end, is now a reality.

 

[flacaltenn]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Speaking of fools ..... There's more to that story that we're not getting.. It's all gold-plated in happy talk... No one would look at that buy decision based on MW-HOURS and put the solar farm in if they were needing to fill INCREASED capacity. Because you can't increase base grid capacity with solar panels. You can only use solar for daytime PEAK loads.. The solar farm will actually produce 1/3 of what the installed capacity is in actual ENERGY MW-HRS, if it's equal to the nat gas plant in POWER MW.

So i'm certain they were shopping for daytime peaking capability only. You'd be a foolish to compare the value of a reliable 24/7/365 nat gas plant DIRECTLY to a 6 hour a day peaker technology..

 

[flacaltenn]

The inevitable is happening!

That's not inevitable.

THIS is inevitable...

Utilities will go with whatever is the most cost effective means to provide electricity.

Since the price of wind and solar has been dropping it was inevitable that Utilities would take advantage of those cost savings over fossil fuels.

They would be fools not to do so.

Only for peak loading. Once you get to the point of the base load, each one will have to be built with a stand-by fuel fired system ready to go, and that will increase costs.

Nope!

As Old Rocks mentioned Grid Scale Batteries are coming online to handle stand by loads.

Grid Scale batteries of the size and type required to spread solar thru the night would be an absolute enviro nightmare of toxic waste and resource use. LARGEST installations (in China)

THAT is what $500MILL looks like.. Gives you 36MW-HOURS of storage.

So that's one hour of storage for 36,000 homes. Or 10 hours of storage for about 100 supermarkets.
Or do the math any way you want. To get thru the other 14 non-solar-peak hours of the day -- that massive investment and future toxic waste dump will serve about 2500 homes at a development cost of only $194,000 per home without maintenance and upkeep and taxes..

Solar is just never gonna be an alternative without SEVERE enviro implications.. It's a daytime peaker technology to enable you to put off REAL increase in backbone grid capacity..

[/IMG]