Energize Weekly, June 19, 2019 Two of the four coal-fired units at Colstrip Power Plant in eastern Montana will close at the end of the year – 30 months ahead of schedule, the operator, Talen Energy, announced on June 11. A controversial legislative effort to save the Colstrip plant died in the Montana legislature this…
Energize Weekly, June 19, 2019 A multipronged, draft energy plan aimed at getting New Jersey to 100 percent clean energy by 2050 was unveiled June 10 by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU). The plan looks to address transportation, energy consumption by buildings, grid modernization, as well as a net-zero carbon electricity generation and…
Energize Weekly, June 19, 2019 Wind generation, which has been the dominate form of renewable energy for corporate clean energy in power purchase agreements, is running “neck and neck” with solar in 2019, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Globally, companies had signed deals for 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar and 2.8 GW of…
Energize Weekly, June 19, 2019 U.S. crude oil imports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell in March to 1.5 million barrels a day, the lowest level in 33 years, based on data from the federal Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) “Petroleum Supply Monthly.” The drop to a level not seen since March…
Energize Weekly, June 12, 2019 Massachusetts energy officials have proposed doubling the state’s offshore wind capacity by adding another 1,600 megawatts (MW) by 2030. The state has already awarded one 800-MW offshore project and is set to select another 800-MW project in the fall. After an economic analysis and a review with stakeholders, the Massachusetts…
Energize Weekly, June 12, 2019 U.S. energy storage installations hit a quarterly record in the first three months of 2019 with 148.8 megawatts (MW) of new capacity, according to a market report by Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the Energy Storage Association (ESA). The first quarter of 2019 installations were 6 percent higher than…
Energize Weekly, June 12, 2019 Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MPHS) and Magnum Development announced a plan at the end of May to develop the world’s biggest clean energy storage facility – 1,000 megawatts – using a range of technologies and salt caverns in Utah. The aim is to provide energy storage for the Western power…
Energize Weekly, June 12, 2019 While the deployment of carbon-free electricity generation advanced in 2018, many key technologies are lagging in the pace needed to reach international goals, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). “The world is currently not on track to meet the main energy-related components of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed on…
Energize Weekly, June 5, 2019 Global wind-turbine orders were up 7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, an 875-megawatt (MW) increase—breaking the record set in the first quarter of 2018, according to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. The Wood Mackenzie market report found that strong orders from China and the Americas more than offset a nearly…
Energize Weekly, June 5, 2019 More than $570 billion in new global oil refining investments are set to be made by 2025, raising total capacity by 15 percent to 116 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). About 75 percent of the new capacity will be in the Asia-Pacific region and…
Energize Weekly, June 5, 2019 U.S. shale oil drillers continue to “burn cash” as they operate with negative cash flows, and while bankruptcies in the sector have cooled with the rebound in oil prices, risks still remain, according to industry analyses. An analysis of 40 shale companies by Oslo, Norway-based Rystad Energy, an independent energy…
Energize Weekly, June 5, 2019 The Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has rejected a multi-million dollar offer by Guzman Energy to buy three of Tri-State’s coal-fired plants, close them down and supply the association with electricity from a generation mix heavily tilted toward renewables. Guzman, a Miami-based energy contractor and consultant, contends that the deal—valued…