Document Takes Stock of Germany's Energy Policy Shift and Lists Pending Issues

A document produced by Germany's Federal Minister of Economic an Technology list 4 issues with the 'Energiewende' - I particularly noticed the section on encouraging the construction of new coal and natural gas facilities, where capacity markets seem increasingly viewed as an attractive option.

New BMWi Brochure Takes Stock of Energy Policy Shift and Lists Pending Issues « German Energy Blog:

"The discussion how to provide incentives for new efficient fossil power plants that can replace the nuclear power plants that go offline until 2022 and balance the growing amount of renewable energy continues to run high. Different proposals like capacity markets, in which providers of secure energy are in some way or other remunerated, have been made, and their potential to distort the market and/or render the market design even more complex is pointed out.
In the section on conventional power plants, BMWi mentions the study carried out by the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne (EWI) on the best market design to secure sufficient power plant capacity and says that is was carefully examining the topic of capacities markets together with the federal states and the trade associations. Besides BMWi states that the state-owned KfW development bank will launch a new credit programme as of 1 June 2012. The program me shall support investments by municipal enterprises in gas and steam power plants and combined heat and power plants by giving long-term loans at discounted interest rates."

Read the entire article at the German Energy Blog:

I did not cite the section on the grid/grids - a situation described in more detail in an earlier German Energy Blog post.   Discussion there notes the need for high voltage direct current power lines (HVDC) for long distances, and very different local a/c lines.

Wind Energy Money Drying up: REC better for consumers than FIT

A report from a West Texas television station was broadly circulated this week;  Wind Energy Is Booming, But Where's The Money? (video segment viewable at link).  The gist of the piece is that in West Texas, turbines are producing energy, but money hasn't been circulating.

Nextera, formerly known as Florida Power and Light, owns the turbines and electricity. Beaird believes Nextera might be selling contracts to Gexa, a subsidary of theirs. Not just selling, but over selling.

"They're selling contracts and they're not fulfilling them so they have to go back in and buy electricity at a higher price than they sold it," says Beaird.

 During the period of the wind money drought for West Texas landowners, energy reporting firm Platts introduced a monetary product to provide regular coverage on renewable energy certificates (fact sheet .pdf here).  Renewable portfolio standards are used in many states to demand utilities purchase a percentage of their power from selected 'renewable' generation sources, and the certificates are part of tracking that percentage.

ERCOT operates the grid in Texas, and has reports related to Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that indicate demand was down in 2012's first 4 months (here), while output from renewable was up (here).
Thus the price drop.

A green investment that turned hazardous

A green investment that turned hazardous | Money | The Guardian:

"Is this the latest big trap for investors? Every day, thousands of people are being cold-called to encourage them to invest in environmentally friendly carbon credit certificates offering "safe" returns of 10% to 15% a year.
But regulators are warning that many of these companies are "knowingly run scams", often conducted by the same people who misled investors through "boiler room" share-selling.
Carbon credits can seem like an attractive opportunity for investors or anyone who wants to offset their carbon footprint, but the Financial Services Authority says people should be wary, and it is concerned that an increasing number of firms are using "dubious, high-pressure sales tactics and targeting vulnerable consumers".

The Entire Article can be read at The Guardian

It's called snake oil y'all
it's been around for a long, long time.
    - Listening to Steve Earle's 'Snake Oil' could help explain the article.

Toronto Star's John Spears In Campaign to Discredit Ontario's Auditor General

John Spears' latest at The Toronto Star, Ontario auditor-general’s green energy report was flawed, critique says, begins:

A report by Ontario’s auditor-general that blamed renewable energy projects for pumping up electricity prices was flawed, according to a critique commissioned by two environmental groups.

Environmental groups is arguable: they are Environmental Defence and Pembina.

Pemina's Tim Weis tweeted this moring: "Auditing the Auditor's claims about Green Energy in Ontario [and provides a link to an Environmental Defense page that didn't function - I assume this]

Pembina's Weis links to ED entry quoting ED's Dr. Rick Smith (zoology). The entry at ED is titled "A Few Questions for Ontario's Auditor General...", but the single question implied is not even at a sophomoric level: "Did you look for all the facts"

Germany Looks to Removing Subsidies for Energy Projects

NASDAQ has an article on some of the latest events in Germany which are pulling it away from feed-in tariffs (FIT) in a push towards mechanisms with a market function (such as renewable energy certificates - REC).

Germany Rejects Subsidies for Energy Projects, Says Market Can Provide:

BERLIN--Germany's economy minister and environment minister Tuesday rejected demands for more state subsidies for the construction of new power plants and grid expansion in Germany.

"The market alone is best suited to handle a task of that size," Energy Minister Philipp Roesler said during an energy conference in Berlin.

Every Complete Neighborhood Needs a Good Local Bar

Every Complete Neighborhood Needs a Good Local Bar : TreeHugger:

"I thought of the Gem when I read Kaid Benfield in NRDC Switchboard, where he asked Does a sustainable community need a good drinking establishment? Kaid quotes Michael Hickey, who describes them as a form of "Third space" in his post In Praise of (Loud, Stinky) Bars

We shouldn’t romanticize third spaces as only being about brightly lit cafes, pedestrianized streets, and the local public library. Bars work in their scruffy way by offering a place to get away from an overcrowded apartment or a squalid loft or a grimy job. They are a place where someone with little to spare can go for a change of pace.

The full article can be read at treehugger.com:

Washington Post Editorial Opposes Extension of PTC

An interesting editorial in the Washington Post challenges the largely unchallenged assumption that subsidizing chosen technologies is likely to accomplish anything.

Judith Curry's Climate Etc. blog had a related entry yesterday, "Conservative perspectives on climate change," which cited another call, from Professor Johnathan Adler, for a carbon tax - also calling from the right.

Wind power - The Washington Post:

"More clean energy is good. Achieving it with crude policy is not. Maybe wind power really is the future, or maybe it’s not. There are policies designed to allow consumers and utilities to decide, instead of Congress, and the best among them is a carbon tax. Instead, politics have led lawmakers to place hidden costs on taxpayers through subsidies such as the PTC, just one of scores of federal clean-technology programs.
It’s widely assumed that a carbon tax could not pass Congress, so green-minded policymakers are defending what they have. But if political reality demands that Congress stick with subsidies, there are better ways to approach them. A report in April from the Breakthrough Institute, the Brookings Institution and the World Resources Institute offered plenty of ways to design subsidies that encourage less expensive renewables. "

Read the entire editorial at the Washington Post Site: 
The report referenced in the quoted paragraphs is "Beyond Boom & Bust"

Speech by head of the Association of Power Producers of Ontario

"Ontario’s Electricity System: Headed in The Right Direction” Speech by Dave Butters to the BOT - Welcome to APPrO, the Association of Power Producers of Ontario:

"First, we need to set a schedule for nuclear refurbishment and new build and simply get on with it. Fact: last month nuclear supplied 61% of our energy. Ontario is not going to walk away from nuclear – nor should it. While I was encouraged to see the government proceed with planning on nuclear refurbishment, there needs to be a clear commitment to move forward from there. And each day that we delay the decision is another day that the rest of the system is left waiting. Let’s please just move forward.

Second, the issue of surplus baseload capacity simply must be tackled. It is, in our  view, the single greatest impediment to ongoing confidence in the system - the greatest obstacle to forward momentum.

As everyone here knows, electricity does not remain idle. It cannot be stored in a jar. Put away for later. Once generated, it must be moved along the grid and delivered to a destination. Or not generated at all."

Read the entire speech at APPrO's site: 

Energy meltdown looms large over Greece | EurActiv

Green games contribute to threat of blackout in Greece, as the gas company threatens to cut off electricity generators unless they bring current their account payments

Energy meltdown looms large over Greece | EurActiv:

"Power companies have failed to pay their bills to DEPA because they, in turn, have not been reimbursed by LAGHE, a state-run clearing account for the nation's energy transactions.
In recent months RAE has repeatedly urged the government to shore up the accounts of LAGHE, which is sitting on a deficit of more than €300 million.
The account went into deficit because its receipts have not matched the generous subsidies it pays out to renewable energy producers, particularly for solar panels.
LAGHE's deficit deteriorated earlier this year when two electricity retailers, PPC's biggest rivals, went bust without honoring their obligations to the account, leaving authorities scrambling to find cash.
The easiest way to do this would be to take out a loan of between €300 and €400 million from the state-run Loans and Consignment Fund, which has the cash sitting in a so-called "Green Fund" for environmental purposes.
But the so-called "troika" of Greece's international lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), refuse to approve this move, PPC Chief Executive Arthouros Zervos told Reuters in an interview."

Continue reading the full article:

Bruce Power Completes Important Project with Reactor's Return to Production

The IESO's Output and Capability report shows Bruce 3 returning to production at 11 am Saturday June 2nd.  This project is likely very important for the next 1-2 decades of electricity generation in Ontario.

Update: News Release notes key milestone

Less glamorous than the full refurbishment projects at units 1 and 2, this is the project that will assure significant nuclear generation from the Bruce B units for over another decade.   The 'west shift' project seemed to demonstrate the move to engineering dealing with life limiting components independent of the massive refurbishment projects such as Bruce Power has been carrying out at units 1 and 2.