Clean energy outperforms fossil fuels

Clean energy outperforms fossil fuels, says report

Green energy companies outperformed fossil-fuel companies by almost three times over a 10-year period based on simulated returns, according to a joint report released Monday from As You Sow and Corporate Knights.

Pensions & Investments

Tesla aims to combine battery, solar power

The dream of a solar-powered society has tantalised us for decades. But the costs involved in piping the sun’s energy into the electricity grid remain prohibitively high. Now, solar power could get the efficiency boost it needs – thanks to a corporate takeover.

New Scientist

Tesla’s deal for SolarCity could speed sustainable energy

Tesla wants to put its car and energy storage businesses under one solar-powered roof.  Tesla said Monday it will buy solar panel maker SolarCity Corp. in an all-stock deal worth $2.6 billion. The deal must still be approved by the government and shareholders at both companies. It’s expected to close in the fourth quarter if it goes through.

Calgary Herald

Billions to be spent on green energy

With up to $50 billion to be spent on renewable energy projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan over the next 14 years, suppliers want details on how the money will be spent and which projects they can bid on.  The estimate came Thursday from David Hickey, of Siemens Canada’s wind and renewables division, speaking at a panel in Calgary.

CBC

Alberta and Saskatchewan to play catch-up on green energy spending

Alberta and Saskatchewan are renewable energy laggards, while Ontario and Quebec are leaders, according to a new report from Clean Energy Canada. The organization added up all the clean energy projects constructed in 2015 across the country.

CBC

Alberta’s power purchase opt-out may prove costly

Alberta’s “incompetent” NDP government can only blame itself if it loses up to $2 billion on returned electricity purchase arrangements, interim Progressive Conservative leader Ric McIver said Tuesday.

CBC News

Developers say time is right for tidal power

They flank the bay that is home to the highest and strongest tides in the world, but for hundreds of years Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have struggled to channel the awesome might of the Bay of Fundy into tidal power.  Aspiring entrepreneurs have tried everything from mill wheels in the 1600s to turbines in the 2000s, only to have their hopes dashed and devices casually battered to smithereens by the water’s crushing force.

The Province

World’s largest wind farm inches closer to reality

The Hornsea Project Two offshore windfarm – set to be the largest in the world – received the green light from the U.K. government on Tuesday after it was granted development consent by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Greg Clark.

CNBC

Ontario’s wind-power decision makes it look like a ‘banana republic’

The Ontario government would not have bailed out on its plans to allow wind farms in the Great Lakes without agreement from the premier’s office, Dalton McGuinty’s former deputy testified at an international tribunal dealing with some of the fallout of that 2011 decision.

Ottawa Citizen

Ontario wind farm portfolio may land on the market

Brookfield Renewable Partners LP is weighing the sale of its Ontario and Irish wind farm portfolios as low interest rates create an attractive market for such assets.

Bloomberg Markets

Smyth: The Site C dam blows away major wind power project from B.C.

It was an exciting news story that jumped off front pages less than three years ago: a massive new wind farm was to be built on Vancouver Island. The $750-million project was great news for taxpayers because it wouldn’t cost the public a penny. The TimberWest forest company was partnering with EDP Renewables, a Spanish-based global wind-energy giant, to build the 150-turbine wind farm on private land.

The Province

Five tips: How to invest in green energy affordably

Big companies have been buying a lot of clean energy lately – 3.5 gigawatts of renewable capacity last year alone (a good chunk of all the capacity added*). These leaders, mostly consumer-facing brands like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Walmart, and IKEA, have been covering their roofs and filling giant fields with solar panels and wind turbines.

Harvard Business Review

Ten U.S. cities committed to 100 per cent renewable energy

The Sierra Club has released a new report showcasing 10 U.S. cities that have made ambitious commitments to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. This report is the first from Ready for 100, a new Sierra Club campaign launched this year challenging 100 cities in the U.S. to move away from fossil fuels and commit to 100 per cent clean energy.

Solar Industry Mag

Electricity providers of the future: Not your grandmother’s utility

The future of the electricity industry has never been so uncertain.  Similar to the inflection point telecommunications faced several years ago, power players are now trying to determine how — or if — electric utilities will continue to play a central role in our everyday lives.

Green Biz

Richard Branson buys Jamaican wind company

Jamaica’s minister of science, energy and technology, Dr Andrew Wheatley, has welcomed the move by British billionaire and head of the Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, to acquire Blue Mountain Renewables (BMR) Jamaica Wind Limited.

Caribbean News Now

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Companies in the news

AltaGas building lithium-ion battery system

Canadian energy company AltaGas Ltd. is moving into the California energy storage market after winning a 10-year storage and power purchase contract with West Coast utility Southern California Edison (SCE).

CleanTech Canada

Market reports and research

Green energy growing faster than natural gas

During the first quarter of 2016, green energy generation dominated. That’s according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which said that it comprised 1,291 megawatts compared to 18 megawatt of new natural gas-fired generation. Altogether, it says that 700 megawatts of wind was added while 500 megawatts of solar came online.

Energy Manager Today

Solar energy

Canadian Solar signs agreement with Mexican firm

Canada-based photovoltaic (PV) solar systems manufacturer Canadian Solar has signed a new power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-owned electric utility company Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) for a 63MWp solar power plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Power-Technology

Demand high for solar power course training

Historically, Albertan IBEW members helped build the oilsands, he says, but younger members in particular see renewable energy as a natural progression for the electrical trade. That resulting interest in solar has grown course waiting lists “as long as your arm.”

Edmonton Sun

The first step to community solar for all

More than 1,000 locally elected officials from around the world were present at the Paris Climate Conference talks. In the United States, communities and governments continue to drive toward more sustainable, inclusive economies by leveraging local solar power — most recently, in the form of community-scale solar.

Green Biz

Manitobans sign up for Hydro’s solar-energy program

More Manitobans than expected are plugging into Manitoba Hydro’s new solar-energy incentives in a bid to harness the power of the sun and reduce energy costs. “We were expecting 50 installations over the next year, and we got 21 applications in the first month,” Manitoba Hydro spokesman Scott Powell said.

Winnipeg FreePress

Wind power

Saskatchewan developing wind energy siting guidelines

The provincial government is working on guidelines for determining appropriate locations for wind energy projects — but they might not be complete before a decision is made on a project that raises environmental concerns. The Ministry of Environment is in the process of developing wind energy project siting guidelines.

Leader Post

Geothermal

Richmond, B.C. honoured for district energy system

The City of Richmond’s Alexandra District Energy Utility (ADEU) has earned the City a prestigious, highest-honour award for being an exemplary district energy system, providing high-level performance and advancing the goals of the entire district energy industry. 

Richmond News

Electrical grids and transmission

Ontario electricity prices at record high

Ontario’s wholesale energy prices are the lowest they’ve been in decades, but the retail price charged to consumers is at a record high, says Ross McKitrick, an economics professor at the University of Guelph.

Huffington Post