-November 12,2019-
More tribes tap solar/storage
Southwest tribes are adding solar and battery storage to their portfolios. In California the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians has issued a request for proposals that seeks design-build services for a hybrid microgrid that would supply electricity to essential buildings during utility outages. SPBMI seeks a grid-connected microgrid that will use solar, energy storage, and liquid propane for six essential facilities at the tribe’s administration campus, part of a 2,656-acre community with 350 homes near San Diego. The project springs from the tribe’s plan to make San Pasqual energy independent by 2021.
In Nevada, the Moapa Band of Paiutes in 2017 blazed the tribal
utility-scale solar trail with a 250megawatt (MW) installation that
supplies power directly to the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power. The tribe is proceeding now with the development of
two new solar farms, one 200MW and the second 300MW, that
will provide power to NV Energy, the biggest utility in Nevada.
In New Mexico, the state’s first tribal utility-scale solar
project onJicarilla Apache land, will send power via the
PublicService Company of New Mexico to the City of
Albuquerque as part of a larger plan to replace generation that
will be lost in the closure of the coal-fired San Juan Generating
Station.
In Arizona and Utah, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority has
partnered with the Salt River Project in Phoenix on a 55MW solar
park that feeds into the regional grid, and the tribal utility has
struck a deal with 16 Utah cities to buy electricity from a planned
66MW solar farm on tribal land in San Juan County, Utah.
Shale slump drives U.S. producers to scrap fracking fleets
Reports
The downturn in shale drilling has been so steep and brisk that oilfield companies are taking the unprecedented step of scrapping entire fleets of fracking gear.
With almost half of U.S. fracking firepower expected to be sitting idle within weeks, shale specialists including Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. and RPC Inc. are retiring truck-mounted pumping units and other equipment used to shatter oil-soaked shale rock.
Whereas in previous market slumps, frackers parked unused equipment to await a revival in demand, this time it’s different: Gear is being stripped down for parts or sold for scrap.
EIA
Estimated U.S. coal production the first week in November totaled about 12.6 million short tons which is16.6% lower than the production estimate in the comparable week in 2018.
Oil giant Shell buys into Kern solar
reports
EDP Renewables SA through its fully-owned subsidiary EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) and Shell Energy North America (SENA) have closed on a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for 200 MW that will bring the Sandrini Solar Park to Kern County, California.
Located near Bakersfield, the 200-MW Sandrini Solar Park, which is anticipated to be operational in 2022, represents an estimated capital investment of more than $200 million and will generate enough clean electricity to annually power more than 91,000 average California homes.
“We are proud to enable the development of the Sandrini Solar Park,” said Glenn Wright, president of the Shell subsidiary. “This opportunity will increase the supply of renewable power in California while simultaneously reducing Shell’s carbon footprint. We recognize that customers and communities are demanding a shift in the way power is generated and we are adapting to the demand for more clean energy solutions.