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EERE NETWORK NEWS -- June 4, 2003
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
Hawaiian Efforts Support Renewables, Efficiency, Fuel Cells
New One-Megawatt Solar Installations Online on Both Coasts
New Minnesota Law Supports Renewables, Requires Xcel Energy
to Boost Funds and Install 300 Megawatts of Wind Power
Iowa Utilities Propose a Wind-Powered Energy Storage Plant
Efficiency Vermont Wins Award for Excellence in Government
FutureTruck Competition Now Underway Near Detroit
*Site News
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
*Energy Connections
California Power Outlook Positive Despite First Power Alert
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Hawaiian Efforts Support Renewables, Efficiency, Fuel Cells
Recent public and private efforts to advance renewable energy, energy
efficiency, and fuel cells in Hawaii -- including plans to spend up to
$10 million in support of renewable power projects -- are giving the
state a new prominence in the clean energy arena.
The Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) is involved in many of these
actions, including low-interest loans and rebates for solar hot water
systems in Honolulu and the opening of the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test
Facility, also in Honolulu. And in late May, HECO announced that its
subsidiary, Renewable Hawaii, Inc., is requesting proposals for
renewable energy projects on the island of Oahu. The company has
approval to invest up to $10 million in grid-connected power projects
that draw on renewable energy. See the HECO press releases by
selecting "News & Press Info" under the "About HECO" heading on the
HECO Web site at: <http://www.heco.com/CDA/frontDoor/>.
See also the Renewable Hawaii Web site at:
<http://renewablehawaii.com/RenewableHawaii/home/>.
HECO also worked with the State of Hawaii and DOE's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) to generate new high-resolution wind resource
maps for the islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Although the
full set of maps is currently being validated by a local meteorologist
and by NREL, the 50-meter wind speed maps for each island are
available at: <http://windmaps.heco.com>.
Hawaii is also showing leadership in its State Energy Program and
Weatherization Assistance Program, which earned the praise of Deputy
Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow during a visit on May 30th.
Hawaii's State Energy Program is seeking to develop wind and solar
energy and is working to implement a Model Energy Code for buildings.
Hawaii's Weatherization Assistance Program works in cooperation with
community organizations to improve residential energy efficiency for
low-income families. The two programs will receive a total of $526,000
from DOE for the 2003 to 2004 fiscal year. See the DOE press release
at: <http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases03/maypr/pr03115.htm>.
New One-Megawatt Solar Installations Online on Both Coasts
Two large solar power installations, both weighing in at a megawatt in
capacity, went online last week in California and on Long Island, New
York.
In California, BP Solar installed 9,700 solar panels on the roofs of
11 stables at the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego, providing a
combined peak generating capacity of one megawatt. The $4.8 million
project will produce enough power each year to equal the annual
electrical needs of 300 homes and is expected to save the fairgrounds
more than $250,000 per year. The San Diego Regional Energy Office
(SDREO) provided an incentive of nearly $2.3 million for the project.
See the SDREO press release, in PDF format only, at:
<http://www.sdenergy.org/docs/DMFG_Solar_Celebration_PR_3.pdf>.
On Long Island, Shell Solar and PowerLight Corporation dedicated a
one-megawatt solar power system at Fala Direct Marketing, one of the
nation's leading direct-mail companies. The system, located in
Farmingdale, consists of 13,464 solar panels covering nearly 2.4 acres
on three buildings. See the press release on the Shell Solar Web site
at: <http://www.shell.com/solar/>.
See also the Long Island Power Authority Web site at:
<http://www.lipower.org/features/fala/index.html>.
New Minnesota Law Supports Renewables, Requires Xcel Energy
to Boost Funds and Install 300 Megawatts of Wind Power
A new law in Minnesota requires Xcel Energy, the state's largest
electric utility, to double its contribution to a renewable energy
fund, install at least 300 megawatts of new wind power capacity, and
install renewable energy technologies whenever they are the most cost-
effective resource. The legislation, signed into law last week by
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, affirms a settlement between Xcel
Energy and the Prairie Island Indian Community that allows the
continued operation of the Prairie Island nuclear plant by approving
additional storage of nuclear waste at the plant. As part of the
settlement, Xcel Energy will contribute $16 million per year to the
state's Renewable Development Fund for as long as the nuclear plant
continues to operate.
The new bill also provides an additional $4.5 million to subsidize
small wind turbine installations totaling 100 megawatts in capacity,
and provides $1.5 million to subsidize biogas projects on farms. It
requires the state's utilities to develop formal plans to produce
10 percent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2015. And
finally, the bill provides a $10 million grant and $2 million in
annual funding to the University of Minnesota for research and
development of hydrogen and other renewable energy sources. See
Governor Pawlenty's press release at:
<http://www.governor.state.mn.us/Tpaw_View_Article.asp?artid=340>.
Iowa Utilities Propose a Wind-Powered Energy Storage Plant
A group of municipal utilities in Iowa are proposing to build a unique
power plant that will combine wind power with a compressed-air energy
storage (CAES) facility. The proposed Iowa Stored Energy Plant (ISEP)
will use a 100-megawatt wind power facility to pump air into an
underground aquifer, compressing the air. During times of peak power
demand, the compressed air will be supplied to 200 megawatts of
combustion turbines that are fired with natural gas, allowing the
turbines to operate at high efficiencies. The group places the cost of
the ISEP at $215 million and hopes to launch the project this fall,
with a startup date in mid-2006. See the ISEP Web site and Background
page at: <http://www.idea.iastate.edu/isep/index.asp> and
<http://www.idea.iastate.edu/isep/isep_background.asp>.
CAES plants work by replacing a combustion turbine's compressor with a
source of compressed air. Nearly two-thirds of the natural gas
supplied to a conventional combustion turbine is used to drive the
compressor, so a CAES plant burns much less natural gas than a
conventional combustion-turbine plant. Currently, two CAES plants
exist: a 290-megawatt plant in Germany and a 110-megawatt plant in
Alabama. A 2,700-megawatt CAES plant has also been proposed by CAES
Development Company, LLC for construction in Norton, Ohio. See DOE's
Distributed Energy Resources Web site and the CAES Development Company
Web site at: <http://www.eere.energy.gov/der/compressed_air.html> and
<http://www.caes.net/who.html>.
Efficiency Vermont Wins Award for Excellence in Government
Efficiency Vermont -- the nation's first independent, ratepayer-funded
"utility" dedicated to delivering energy efficiency rather than power
-- was awarded the prestigious Innovations in American Government
Award in May. Efficiency Vermont was one of five awardees among nearly
1,000 applicants, and will receive a $100,000 grant.
In 1999, Vermont's Public Service Board contracted with the private,
nonprofit Vermont Energy Investment Corporation to deliver energy
efficiency services throughout the state. In its first three years,
the program generated over 99,000 megawatt-hours of electricity
savings and is also saving 109,000 gallons of propane, 29 million
cubic feet of gas, 123,000 gallons of oil, and 50 million gallons of
water annually. See the press release from the Council for Excellence
in Government at:
<http://www.excelgov.org/displayContent.asp?NewsItemID=3539>.
According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
(ACEEE), energy efficiency is a resource that can help electric
utilities maintain reliability, defer distribution system investments,
and reduce peak demand. You can learn more by attending ACEEE's
"National Conference on Energy Efficiency as a Resource," to be held
June 9th and 10th in Berkeley, California. See the ACEEE conference
Web site at: <http://aceee.org/conf/03ee/03eeconf.htm>.
FutureTruck Competition Now Underway Near Detroit
Teams of students from 15 top universities converged near Detroit on
Monday to demonstrate how the Ford Explorer can achieve low air
emissions while boosting fuel economy by at least 25 percent. No, this
was not some form of environmental protest, but rather a competition
by engineering students to find the best way to save fuel and cut
emissions for Ford Motor Company's sport utility vehicle. The
re-engineered Ford Explorers include such features as hybrid electric
drives, lightweight components, and hydrogen-fueled engines.
The FutureTruck competition, sponsored by Ford and DOE, takes place
from June 2nd through the 12th at Ford's Michigan Proving Ground in
Romeo, Michigan, and at the Allen Park Testing Lab in Allen Park. The
vehicles are judged in a number of events that evaluate their
technical performance and design. DOE's Argonne National Laboratory is
managing the competition, which concludes with a press conference on
June 13th. The team will then display their vehicles at the Ford
headquarters through June 16th. See the FutureTruck Web site at:
<http://www.futuretruck.org/>.
Throughout the competition, you can follow the progress of the teams
on the FutureTruck Competition 2003 Web site at:
<http://198.65.230.227/>.
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SITE NEWS
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Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
<http://www.ceere.org/>
The Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (CEERE) at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst provides economic analyses and
technological innovations relating to energy and the environment. The
CEERE research program draws on teams that specialize in renewable
energy, energy efficiency in buildings, industrial energy efficiency,
and environmental technologies.
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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California Power Outlook Positive Despite First Power Alert
The California Energy Commission (CEC) released its summer power
forecast on May 25th, indicating that the state's power supplies
should be adequate to meet summer peak demand, even with a hotter-
than-normal summer. The CEC credited 7,730 megawatts of new generation
added since the power crisis of 2000 and 2001. See the May 25th press
release on the CEC Web site at:
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/releases/index.html>
Following the CEC announcement, the California Independent System
Operator (ISO) -- the organization responsible for operating the
state's power grid -- joined a number of California utilities and
state agencies on May 27th to launch this summer's energy conservation
campaign. Despite the CEC's forecast, the group still emphasized the
importance of energy conservation, noting that high electricity use
could draw down the state's stores of natural gas, potentially
impacting this summer's and next winter's natural gas prices.
Ironically, the state's conservation message was driven home the very
next day, when the California ISO declared a Stage One electrical
emergency due to unseasonably high temperatures in the state. At
3 p.m., the ISO asked consumers to avoid using large electrical
appliances until after 7 p.m. Although a dip in operating reserves led
to the power emergency, the state did not reach the higher alert
levels associated with possible power blackouts. See the California
ISO press releases at: <http://www.caiso.com/newsroom/releases/>.
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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If you have questions or comments about this
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