Welcome to Wind-Works

An on-line archive of articles and commentary on wind and solar energy, community power, feed-in tariffs, and Advanced Renewable Tariffs.

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May 14, 2012

What's New on Feed-in Tariffs

• Saudi Arabia Launches Massive Renewable Program with Hybrid FITs--While North America continues to dawdle on the road to the renewable revolution, the conservative, oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has proposed one of the most sweeping and massive moves to renewable energy on the planet. . .
• Craig Morris: Bundesrat forces review of slashed solar FITs--On Friday, the German chamber of Parliament that represents states' rights overwhelmingly rejected the governing coalition's proposal to drastically change feed-in tariffs for photovoltaics. Now, the policy will be reviewed, though it is unclear what the changes will be. And another decision by the Bundesrat the same day shows how differently Germany ticks. . .
• Public Power Daily: Long Island Power Authority plans feed-in tariff for solar power--To encourage its customers to build solar projects of more than 50 kW, the Long Island Power Authority in New York is planning a feed-in tariff that would pay 22 cents per kilowatt-hour over 20 years. The power authority's board of trustees is expected to approve the tariff when it meets on June 28. This would be the first such tariff in New York state for solar energy, LIPA said. . .
• Rural Electric Co-op Board Candidates Run on FIT Agenda--The four New Southwest Energy Economy candidates for LPEA board have been speaking at house parties and community events about their collective vision for our region’s future as a green energy leader. . .
• Updated Tables of Feed-in Tariffs Worldwide--Includes proposed Japanese tariffs, new French solar PV tariffs, New British solar PV Tariffs, Rwanda's hydro tariffs, new German solar PV tariffs, new Ontario tariffs, new wind and biogas tariffs in Ireland, and new solar PV tariffs in Greece. . .
• Japanese Proposed Tariffs Submitted--In what may be the most significant renewable energy policy development worldwide in years, Japanese authorities are circulating proposed feed-in tariffs that-if confirmed by the Minister of Trade later this month-could lead to a crash renewables program. . .
• Presentation by Paul Gipe for Local Clean Energy Alliance 10 May 2012 Oakland, CA titled Real Tariffs, Real Targets, A Real Program for California
• RAP: Energy Efficiency Feed-in-Tariffs: Key Policy and Design Considerations by Chris Neme, Energy Futures Group and Richard Cowart, Regulatory Assistance--Energy efficiency feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) are a potential alternative approach to striking a better balance between efficiency and energy supply markets. In a way, they are the obverse of energy savings obligations. Instead of establishing the quantity of energy savings desired and letting the market (i.e., via the obligated energy companies, or otherwise) determine the price of achieving them, they establish a price that will be paid for efficiency savings and let the market determine the quantity of savings that will be delivered. . .

Nuclear Power, Japan, Feed-in Tariffs, and the Rapid Development of Renewables

• Angst or Arithmetic? Why Germans are so Skeptical about Nuclear Energy--The fact that Germany, in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, redoubled its efforts to phase out nuclear energy has nothing to do with hysteria or postwar angst. On the contrary, a majority of Germans, including much of the political class, has been unconvinced of its merits since the early 1980s; the source of this anti-atom consensus lies not in emotional populism but rather in the persuasive, fact-based arguments of a powerful, grassroots social movement that has long included nuclear physicists and other bona fide experts. . .
• UPI: Future of Japan's nuclear energy uncertain--None of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors will be in operation as of May 6, as the country's last reactor operating is to go offline for maintenance, Japanese Trade Minister Yukio Edano said. . .
• Bloomberg: EDF Says Fires at Penly Nuclear Reactor Extinguished--Electricite de France SA, the biggest operator of nuclear reactors, said two fires were put out in their early stages at its Penly plant in Normandy. . .
• Greenpeace: Nuclear Main Source of Increased Electricity Prices in Ontario--Nuclear advocates have blamed renewable energy for driving up Ontario's electricity rates. A new report by the Ontario Energy Board tells a different story: Nuclear has been responsible for 45% of recent increases on your electricity bill. Meanwhile, the impact of renewables on your electricity bill has been minor – about 6%. . .
• Pacific Standard: Will Japan Follow Germany’s Path to Green Energy?--As Japan shuts down the last of its nuclear reactors, Germany shows the way to an energy-efficient future with its rapid timetable for conversion to renewables. . .
• Cut nuclear reliance to zero: Japan minister--Japan should aspire to phase out nuclear power completely, its Energy Minister said on Friday, even as the government struggles to persuade a wary public that it is safe to restart reactors after the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. . .
• The Mainichi: Industry minister Edano aiming to end dependence on nuclear plants--"I would like to break away from the reliance on nuclear plants and reduce dependence to zero as promptly as possible," Edano told a House of Representative committee, describing that his remark represents his personal opinion. . .

What's New on Solar Energy

• Craig Morris: UK Reaches 1,300 MW of Solar PV Since FIT Launch--The drastic cuts in feed-in tariffs for solar power in the UK reduced installations by nearly 60 percent in April, putting the government far behind its target of 22 gigawatts of PV for 2020. . .
• BBC: Reading (UK)Council installs thousands of solar panels with FITs--Reading Borough Council installed the 2,126 panels on schools, council offices, leisure centres, libraries, businesses and sheltered accommodation. The authority embarked on the project to take advantage of the national Feed In Tariff, which pays for electricity generated by renewable installations. . .
• Rays of hope for UK churches--Residents and organisations including churches, who receive rebates for the electricity they put back into the National Grid, will see their Feed-in-Tariff payments increase by 4.8 per cent from next month. . .
• Craig Morris: Solar as share of peak power demand--In California, solar proponents are happy about the clarification of what constitutes peak demand in legislation for net-metering, but the levels discussed in California are a fraction of what is already happening in Germany, as the latest figures show. . .
• California Watch: Solar rooftops sought in poor communities--A bill [PDF] before the California Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce this month seeks to equalize renewable energy installation in the state by promoting small-scale solar rooftops in the disadvantaged communities. . .

What's New on Community Power

What's New on Wind Energy

• Guardian: Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against clean energy--A confidential strategy memo seen by the Guardian advises using "subversion" to build a national movement of wind farm protesters. The strategy proposal was prepared by a fellow of the American Tradition Institute (ATI) – although the thinktank has formally disavowed the project. The proposal was discussed at a meeting of self-styled 'wind warriors' from across the country in Washington DC last February. "These documents show for the first time that local Nimby anti-wind groups are co-ordinating and working with national fossil-fuel funded advocacy groups to wreck the wind industry," said Gabe Elsner, a co-director of the Checks and Balances, the accountability group which unearthed the proposal and other documents. Among its main recommendations, the proposal calls for a national PR campaign aimed at causing "subversion in message of industry so that it effectively because so bad that no one wants to admit in public they are for it.". .
• Removal of 37 Abandoned Mitsubishi Wind Turbines on Hawaii's Big Island--Finally, decades after being abandoned on South Point of Hawaii's Big Island the 37 Mitsubishi turbines have been removed. Long a source of embarassment in the wind industry and a source for right wing attacks on the viability of wind energy, the derelict turbines have been removed. . .

What Can Be Found on This Site

This site contains information about my books, an archive of my articles, and descriptions of my workshops on wind energy and Advanced Renewable Tariffs. This site also contains an extensive collection of articles and technical reports on electricity feed laws or renewable energy tariffs. I've been an outspoken proponent of feed laws since the late 1990s when I urged the American Wind Energy Association to call for them nationally.

Photography

My photos are stocked by Still Pictures in London. For more on my photography and for photo tours of several wind farms as well as a sampling of wind energy icons, see the photos section of this site.

Small Turbine Testing

Beginning in 1997 I've measured the performance and noise emissions of small wind turbines at the Wulf Test Field in the Tehachapi Pass. For more information on this work, visit Wulf Test Field.

Previous Web Sites

My web pages have previously been hosted on the Chelsea Green web site and by the Workgroup Wind Turbines at TU-Berlin. My thanks to Michael and Sienna Potts, and to Klaus Kaiser, for their help posting my pages in the past.

Origin of Wind-Works

Since 1981, following a trip to Denmark, I've stressed the theme that wind energy does indeed work, makes economic and environmental sense, and is here to stay. Even then Denmark was a model of how successful wind energy could become--when given the opportunity. In North America at the time, there were few wind turbines and only a few of those operated well. Most simply didn't work. My slogan was as much a statement of what could be as it was a statement of fact. Today, wind turbines are commonplace throughout the world and "wind works", once a bold statement, now elicits a "What? Of course it does. Everyone knows that." And that's the way it should be.--Paul Gipe