Hawaii power companies to deactivate oil plants, ramp up Renewables by 2016

After a year of research and deliberation, three major Hawaiian power companies are now putting up plan to deactivate a total of 226 MW of oil-fired generating units, convert remaining baseload plants to cycling duty, and substantially ramp up use of renewables by 2016.

Indeed a great move by the utility companies.

Renewable energy projects in Oahu, Hawaii. Image credit: UCS-USA

The Hawaiian Electric Companies serve 95% of the state's 1.2 million residents and in the next 5 years plan the followings:

• To deactivate the Honolulu Power Plant and two of four units at Maui’s Kahului Power Plant by 2014, 
• To deactivate two units at Oahu’s Waiau Power Plant by 2016,
• Also includes Hawaii Island’s Shipman plant, which has already been deactivated and will be retired in 2014,
• To fully retire all units at Kahului Power Plant by 2019. The oil-fired units make up 14% of the utility's owned generation.

Focus on renewable energies

The companies will instead accelerate development of utility-scale renewable energy projects, including solar and wind. Plans include:

• Increasing the capability of utility grids to accept additional customer-sited renewable generation, especially roof-top photovoltaic systems, 
• Developing smart grids for all three companies,
• Installing smart meters for all customers in 2017–2018, 
• Automating grids, and developing utility energy storage systems.

Hawaii's renewable portfolio standard requires that the companies meet 15% of net electricity sales with renewable power by 2015, 25% by 2020, and 40% by 2030.

The three companies met a record of 13.9% of generation with renewables in 2012 i.e., installing 111 MW of nameplate utility-scale wind that year. By the end of this year, the companies expect to meet 18% of generation with renewables.

Hawaiian Electric Co. (HECO) also plans to convert or replace generating units, which have not been deactivated, to use “cost-effective, cleaner fuels,” including renewable biomass or biofuel and liquefied natural gas.


Source: Power Magazine

US joins 10-GW solar PV club

The United States now has more than 10 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar PV capacity, joining Germany, Italy, and China — and it's just getting warmed up, according to new calculations from NPD SolarBuzz. And watch for the next 10-GW Club member that's fast approaching.



Regional distribution of the U.S.' 10 GW of installed solar PV. (Credit: SolarBuzz)


Solar PV installations in the U.S. totaled 1.8 GW through the first six months of 2013. That isn't quite at the midpoint of SolarBuzz's forecasted 4.3 GW for the entire year, but that's still the expectation because the majority of the U.S. solar market should be realized in the second half of the year.

With the 10-GW milestone in hand, the U.S. solar PV market isn't looking back. SolarBuzz expects the market to hit 17 GW by the end of 2014, representing 80 percent growth over 18 months.


What's driving the U.S. solar market

• Individual state support schemes
• U.S. residential solar demand continues to surge, and third-party-owned solar residential in particular
• System pricing declines, especially driving the utility segment
• System price-points for utility-scale solar at $2.14/W and residential systems at $4.93/W

Worldwide outlook

Worldwide solar PV demand reached 15 GW through the first six months of this year, roughly a 9% increase from a year ago, and cumulative solar PV installations are about 116.5 GW, according to SolarBuzz. In each scenario, more than 60% comes from four countries: Germany, China, Japan, and the U.S.

In cumulative capacity only Japan is close to them, and Spain and France are distant at around 4.5 GW and 4 GW respectively. In the second half of this year, China and Japan should account for nearly half of the solar PV demand all by themselves.

Japan, which is having a stellar 2013 for solar PV, is catching up fast behind the U.S. in solar PV capacity and could top 10 GW cumulative in the next couple of months.

What's driving the Japanese market these days is the non-residential feed-in tariff, which is helping the utility segment really take off.


Further readings: Renewable Energy World

8 energy hogs in your home - What are they?

While I don't necessarily agree with the use of the term 'hog' here, it is necessary to illustrate the miscellaneous energy loads (MELs) in your home. These are the electrical appliances that use up way more than their fair share of energy.

I read the article and it surprises me that fan is one of the identified energy hogs. I thought leaving 10 fans switched on the whole day uses less energy than turning a single  2.5HP air-conditioner on for 8 hours.

*Size of bubble represents annual energy consumption (AEC) in TWh/year. Source: GTMedia

Surprising 8 energy hogs

GreenTech Media reported a finding by American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, which listed the following eight technologies in the home that are due for an energy efficiency makeover:-

Televisions. Even though your television has gotten slimmer, it is a growing part of energy use in your house. More than half of homes have at least three televisions. New TVs, such as LCD and LED models, are more efficient, but they are also usually larger, which offsets efficiency gains.

Set-top boxes for cable or satellite TV service. The energy use continues to climb with the popularity of DVRs, which require the box to be active for more times of the day.

Personal computers. More efficient active and sleep modes as part of Energy Star standards have made some gains, but increasing numbers of laptops and tablets mean that many of us are more plugged in more often.

Video game consoles. Like personal computers, video game consoles have gotten more efficient over the years, but they have also gained in popularity and are used for a lot more, and many are left on all the time.

Ceiling fans. Overall ceiling fan energy use is going up and is expected to increase through 2030. ACEEE estimates savings of 84% are possible if current fans were all replaced with the best available technology.

Microwaves. Even if you only use the microwave for popcorn, it can still suck up a lot of energy in standby mode.

Monitors. Standalone computer monitors have gotten more efficient in recent years, but usage has outstripped the gains. Since 2006, computer monitor usage has increased about 35%.

Cordless phones. This includes all rechargeable electronics -- including everything from cordless and cellular phones to electric toothbrushes and power tools. The cordless phone continues to be responsible for about half the energy consumption amongst rechargeable electronics in homes.


Read more at GTM (link provided above)