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Australia Continues Tidal Energy Research with $2.49 Million In Funding (Thu, 17 Aug 2017)
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced it will provide $2.49 million in funding to attract future investment via a 3-year project that will explore the tidal energy potential in Australia.
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An Eclipse Is Just What the US Power Sector’s Been Waiting For (Thu, 17 Aug 2017)
Turns out the solar eclipse, set to plunge parts of the U.S. into total darkness on Monday, will offer exactly what the power sector’s been looking for: a completely predictable stage for experiments.
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SolarReserve to Build 150-MW Solar Thermal Plant in South Australia (Thu, 17 Aug 2017)
A 150MW solar thermal power plant will be built in South Australia by global company SolarReserve. The Aurora Solar Energy Project located in Port Augusta, about 300km north of the South Australian capital Adelaide, will incorporate eight hours of storage or 1,100 MWh, allowing it to operate like a conventional coal or gas power station.
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NorthVolt Starts Biggest Fundraising for $4 Billion Battery Plan (Thu, 17 Aug 2017)
NorthVolt AB, the Swedish battery factory developer founded by a former Tesla Inc. executive, is planning to close its first major fundraising round this autumn, potentially drawing in 100 million euros ($118 million).
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How an Arkansas Co-op Used Solar Power to Help Retain a Major Employer (Thu, 17 Aug 2017)
An electric cooperative in rural Arkansas is finding that solar power is not only benefiting its members, it’s helped to keep a major employer in the community.
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Offshore Oil and Gas Has Experience and Innovative Technology To Help US Offshore Wind (Wed, 16 Aug 2017)
While last week’s Offshore Wind Executive Summit was formulated in order to illuminate the offshore wind business opportunities that offshore oil and gas supply chain companies could take advantage of, it was clear during the conference that the US offshore oil and gas companies have a lot to teach offshore wind. First, according to Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), on the public relations front, offshore oil and gas has a lot of experience dealing with opposition and educating the public about the importance of the service it is providing. 
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ScottishPower Looks to Next-Gen Turbines for East Anglia 3 Offshore Wind Farm (Wed, 16 Aug 2017)
ScottishPower Renewables plans to use larger, “next generation” wind turbines for its East Anglia 3 offshore wind farm than on previous phases of the project.
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London Solar Auctions Aim to Make City Greenest on Earth (Wed, 16 Aug 2017)
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he wanted to try city-wide auctions as part of an environment strategy proposed to more than double the capital’s solar energy generation capacity by 2030.
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First Solar to Profit If Trump Slaps Tariffs on Panel Imports (Tue, 15 Aug 2017)
First Solar Inc. is standing on the sidelines of a trade dispute that could give its products a significant leg up. The U.S. International Trade Commission held a hearing on Tuesday regarding the request by Suniva for the U.S. to impose tariffs on imported solar panels. The petition alleges China, which accounts for more than 80 percent of global solar panel production, gives manufacturers unfair government support.   The commission is expected to make a decision next month, and a finding of harm could lead President Trump to impose duties as early as November.  
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GE Renewable Energy Contracted for Work on 344-MW Kokhav Hayarden Pumped Storage in Israel (Mon, 14 Aug 2017)
GE Renewable Energy announced it has received a turnkey contract from Star Pumped Storage Ltd. for the 344-MW Kokhav Hayarden pumped storage station in Israel.
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Parked Electric Cars Earn $1,530 From Europe's Power Grids (Mon, 14 Aug 2017)
Electric car owners are earning as much as $1,530 a year just by parking their vehicle and feeding excess power back into the grid. Trials in Denmark carried out by Nissan Motor Co. and Italy’s biggest utility Enel SpA showed how batteries inside electric cars could help balance supply and demand at times and provide a new revenue stream for those who own the vehicles.
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Tech Guru Bill Joy Unveils a Battery to Challenge Lithium-Ion (Mon, 14 Aug 2017)
Elon Musk isn’t the only visionary betting that the world will soon be reliant on batteries. Bill Joy, the Silicon Valley guru and Sun Microsystems Inc. co-founder, also envisions such dependence. He just thinks alkaline is a smarter way to go than lithium-ion.
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Combined Solar and Methane Power Plant Set to Open in South Australia (Mon, 14 Aug 2017)
A combined solar and methane power plant in South Australia is set to begin operating within days. In what’s believed to be an Australian first, the plant will channel thermal energy from solar panels and methane gas from decomposed garbage through a shared turbine inter-connector. 
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4 Unusual Uses of Solar PV Technology (Mon, 14 Aug 2017)
It’s becoming more common to find solar panels on rooftops, but that’s just one of thousands of places where they are generating power. As costs drop and energy production rises, we expect to see many more places where solar technologies are put to work—providing unleashed, inexpensive electricity.  
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Solar Eclipse Will Affect PV Generators Across US (Mon, 14 Aug 2017)
On August 21, a solar eclipse will obscure the sunlight needed to generate electricity at approximately 1,900 utility-scale solar PV power plants in the U.S. However, relatively little solar PV capacity lies in the path of totality—where the sun will be completely obscured by the moon—and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) does not anticipate the eclipse will create reliability issues for the bulk power system.
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There Are No Glass Ceilings In This Solar Village (Fri, 11 Aug 2017)
Engineer, entrepreneur, builder, leader: who are you picturing right now? Actually, these titles are held by several incredible collegiate women who have leadership roles on the Solar Decathlon 2017 teams.
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Myth Busting Indian Solar (Fri, 11 Aug 2017)
Solar capacity has been growing at a jaw dropping pace in India. What is especially remarkable is the range of stakeholders that play a part in this story. The central government; national level policy makers; national and multilateral agencies; state level governments; central off-takers; state level Discoms; private developers taking equity risk; EPC folks; hardware suppliers; sources of debt finance; corporate customers; individual customers — the list is literally endless. 
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4 Emerging Trends in U.S. Offshore Wind Technologies (Fri, 11 Aug 2017)
Is offshore wind the next big thing? It could be for the United States. As global project costs continue to drop, America is building on the momentum of its first commercial offshore wind farm. 
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Do You have a Favorite Insurance? For Pharma, it May be Microgrids (Fri, 11 Aug 2017)
A large pharma company recently came to me to discuss energy supply and its need for guaranteed electricity.  The company had to take out expensive insurance to cover a power failure event that could interrupt their production line. Why is this a big deal? We’ve all lost refrigeration for a few hours. After talking with the company, it became clear that a power loss lasting only 1 minute can result in a major economic hit because much of the pharmaceuticals are made in large batches to amortize the costs, and increase production.  With a power loss, it’s not just a temporary interruption, it’s a lost batch.  And the market value of a lost batch can easily reach millions of dollars. 
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Green Power Still Tied Up with Red Tape in Macron’s France (Thu, 10 Aug 2017)
Some 80 days into Emmanuel Macron’s new job, Europe’s biggest renewable energy companies are still waiting for the French president to make good on campaign pledges to boost green power.
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Atomic Movies May Help Explain Why Perovskite Solar Cells Are More Efficient (Thu, 10 Aug 2017)
In recent years, perovskites have taken the solar cell industry by storm. They are cheap, easy to produce and very flexible in their applications. Their efficiency at converting light into electricity has grown faster than that of any other material — from under four percent in 2009 to over 20 percent in 2017 — and some experts believe that perovskites could eventually outperform the most common solar cell material, silicon. 
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4.5-GW Solar Project in the Sahara Desert Could Supply Power to Europe (Thu, 10 Aug 2017)
TuNur Ltd. recently said that it has filed for authorization to build a solar power export project in the Sahara Desert that would supply the European market with electricity.
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To Solve ‘Duck Curve,’ Missouri Utility to Pay Bonus for West-Facing Solar Panels (Wed, 09 Aug 2017)
In an effort to better align solar-energy production with peak demand, the electric utility in Columbia, Missouri, has begun to pay higher rebates for new west-facing arrays than it will for those facing south.
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Alphabet's Green Energy Ambitions Hit Turbulence (Wed, 09 Aug 2017)
On May 16, Makani released a YouTube video. A camera pans on a T-shaped airplane, with wings stretching 85 feet holding eight small turbines and a tether connecting it to a tall ground station. The plane swoops into the air. It dips and soars, looping elegantly in circles that mimic a windmill, something it was built to replace.  
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aartonarticle (Wed, 09 Aug 2017)

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Oil and Gas Companies Discuss Diversification at the Offshore Wind Executive Summit (Wed, 09 Aug 2017)
On Wednesday in Houston at the Offshore Wind Executive Summit, representatives from Statoil, DONG Energy, Avangrid/Iberdrola and US Wind explained why their companies decided to move into offshore wind after working in offshore oil and gas for decades. Meagan Keiser, legal counsel for Statoil said that just this year her company launched a new division called Statoil New Energy Solutions with the aim of building a profitable renewable business. “So, my team is now working full-time in renewables,” she said.
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VL Offshore Unveils New Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Foundation (Tue, 08 Aug 2017)
Houston-based VL Offshore (VLO) said this week that it has unveiled its Y-Wind floating offshore wind foundation.  
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SINN Power gets grant to continue wave energy device research (Tue, 08 Aug 2017)
Wave energy developer SINN Power has received a US$1.2 million grant from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to expand its research activities on the Greek island of Crete.
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Notes from the Solar Underground: The Danger of Conjecture (Tue, 08 Aug 2017)
As with advice, conjecture is easy to give as typically the conjecturers, as with advice givers, have little at stake and sometimes much to gain. First and foremost, conjecturers gain attention, second but not necessarily second-most, if the eventual outcome falls anywhere in the vicinity of the initial conjecture, the giver gains credibility. 
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Utilities Shifting Away from Wind, Solar PPAs (Tue, 08 Aug 2017)
There’s a new model emerging for growth-starved utilities looking to profit from America’s solar and wind power boom. American Electric Power Co. is using it for a $4.5 billion deal that’ll land the U.S. utility owner a massive wind farm in Oklahoma and a high-voltage transmission line to deliver the power.
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The Section 201 Trade Case, Part III: Will Any Americans Benefit? (Tue, 08 Aug 2017)
I’m fairly certain that there is some American ownership of SQN Ventures and Red Lion Capital, and they would likely benefit from a decision in favor of Suniva. One person who stands to benefit is Jim Modak.  
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FERC Accepts Preliminary Permit Application for 172-MW Panther Pumped Storage Project (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced on July 25 it had accepted an application for a preliminary permit for the 172-MW Panther Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Project in Pennsylvania.
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Senate Restores Quorum at FERC, Confirms DOE Deputy Secretary (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
Quorum has been restored to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, following the unanimous confirmation of Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson by the U.S. Senate.
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Nova Scotian Waste-to-Energy Firm Wins $2.6 Million in Funding for Demo Facility (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) recently said that it will invest CAN$2.6 million for the construction of a “waste-to-bio-pellets” facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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The Energy Sector Needs to Adapt to Millennials—Not Vice Versa (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
As interns at Environmental Defense Fund, we’ve been tapped as resident experts on surviving on college budgets, social media, and all things Millennial. Research tells us Millennials are the largest living generation. So, as clean energy interns this summer, we’ve learned that gives us much power to change the game for the energy sector. But in unexpected ways.  
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Queensland Opens Registrations for 100 MW Energy Storage Auction (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
The Queensland Labor government has kicked off its large-scale energy storage auction, calling for early registration of companies wishing to tender for the installation of up to 100 MW of energy storage before 2020, alongside 400 MW of new solar and wind farms. The Renewables 400 auction was officially launched on Monday, as a key plank of the Palaszczuk government's Powering Queensland Plan — an AU $1.6 billion scheme, first unveiled in June, to help the state meet its 50 percent renewable energy target by 2030.
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The Section 201 Trade Case, Part II: In the Hands of DIPs (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
The 201 trade case is being financed and organized by Suniva’s “Debtors in Possession” or DIPs. These firms want their money back. The 201 trade case is a desperate attempt to do just that.
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Why a University in Illinois Is Removing Its Coal Stacks; Hint — The Alternative Was ‘Boring’ (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
One university in Illinois says now-defunct, coal-era smokestacks on its campus are coming down. Representatives of Ball State University said that the university decided to dismantle two smokestacks now that coal-fired boilers are no longer necessary to heat and cool the campus. 
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Germany to Take on Tesla With Gigafactory Rival (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
German executives are preparing to announce a new home for a lithium-ion battery plant designed to rival the output at Tesla Inc.’s Gigafactory. Terra E Holding GmbH will choose one of five candidate sites in Germany or a neighboring country next month to build its 34 GWh battery factory, Frankfurt-based CEO Holger Gritzka said in an interview.
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Siemens Financial Offers ‘Outcome-based’ Financing for Energy Storage (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
A new offering from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) could give potential customers in the UK an avenue to access Siemens’ energy storage technology, SIESTORAGE, without committing capital up front. Using SIESTORAGE technology companies can defer electricity purchases from peak times to cheaper periods. The modular system, which is based on Lithium-ion battery technology, typically suits customers with on-site consumption of between 1 MW and 100 MW, according to SFS.
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Cell Phones to Bring Solar Power to 1 Million Africans Living Off the Grid (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
Fenix International, a San Francisco startup making solar power systems for people with no access to electricity grids, is expanding in Africa through a partnership with the continent’s largest wireless carrier.
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Researchers Develop Transparent, Flexible Solar Cells (Mon, 07 Aug 2017)
Imagine a future in which solar cells are all around us - on windows and walls, cell phones, laptops, and more. A new flexible, transparent solar cell developed at MIT is bringing that future one step closer. The device combines low-cost organic (carbon-containing) materials with electrodes of graphene, a flexible, transparent material made from inexpensive and abundant carbon sources.
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Japan's First New Geothermal Power Plant in 15 Years to Open Next Month (Fri, 04 Aug 2017)
Japan’s first new geothermal power plant in 15 years will open next month, heralding the start of a new chapter for the nation’s nuclear-hit energy industry.
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Expansion of Waste-to-Energy Infrastructure Continues in China’s Shandong Province (Fri, 04 Aug 2017)
China Everbright International is expanding its portfolio of waste-to-energy projects in China’s Shandong Province. The company this week said that it has secured a contract to build the Qihe waste-to-energy project in Qihe County.  
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AES, AimCo Complete $853 Million Deal for Solar Company SPower (Fri, 04 Aug 2017)
AES Corp. and Alberta Investment Management Co. completed the $853 million joint acquisition of sPower from Fir Tree Partners Inc., in one of the largest clean-energy deals to date.
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Tesla Finishes First Solar Roofs—Including Elon’s House (Fri, 04 Aug 2017)
First the Model 3 electric car. Now the solar roof. In just one week, Tesla has challenged two distinct industries with radically new products. 
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Just Add Solar: Building Africa’s Largest Thermal-Solar PV Hybrid Power Plant (Fri, 04 Aug 2017)
Finnish technology group Wärtsilä is set to deliver a 15-MW solar PV plant in Burkina Faso — creating Africa’s largest thermal-solar PV hybrid power plant. The solar PV development will be integrated with an existing 55-MW Wärtsilä thermal plant (running on heavy fuel oil), to power IAMGOLD’s Essakane Mine, 330km northeast of the Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou.
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The Section 201 Trade Case: Suniva’s Tangled Web (Thu, 03 Aug 2017)
Late this fall President Trump is going to decide how to implement any recommendation made by the International Trade Commission in the Suniva/SolarWorld trade case.
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3@3 on Solar PV: Trade Case, GMP, Smart Inverters (Thu, 03 Aug 2017)
Jenn Runyon, Chief Editor of Renewable Energy World and Paula Mints, Chief Market Research Analyst with SPV Market Research discuss three hot topics in the global solar industry for three minutes each. Today’s topics an update on 201, aka the fast-tracked trade case against China, Green Mountain Power's innovative off-grid program and how smart inverters could change the game for residential and commercial solar + battery owners. Check it out!
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Scottish Government Extends Support for Offshore Wind Accelerator (Wed, 02 Aug 2017)
The Carbon Trust today said that the Scottish government has extended its financial support for the Carbon Trust’s collaborative research, development and demonstration program for offshore wind.
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