Work On New Solar Plant Will Start In Tulare County: Quanta Power Generation (QPG) has begun to prep for the next 20MW solar project in Alpaugh in southwestern Tulare County – a project expected to last 4 to 6 months. Alpaugh is already home to the largest cluster of solar power in the county. with some 110MW already producing power and another 90 MW of solar approved by the county. Most the facilities are owned by ConEdison. Sources say QPG will first put up the mobile structures, grade the land, begin receiving the equipment, pound the piles and then begin hiring for the module installation requiring about 120 workers by early February to late March 2014.
$10 Mil In Biodiesel Awards: California Energy Commission has announced awards of around $5 million each to two existing biodiesel plants in the state.One is near Bakersfield, the Crimson Renewables facility that would expand and the Community Fuels plant at the Port of Stockton. A recent article about Community Fuels offers this perspective.”Biodiesel is enjoying strong demand in 2013 and has grown far past its beginnings as a boutique fuel. It has been incorporated into commercial fuel markets and is considered one of the most practical means of meeting obligations mandated by the federal renew- able fuel standard and California low carbon fuel standard.”
Hydro’s Future: Wall Street Journal article this month argues hydropower has a green future helping to meet the world’s growing demand for electricity. Most of the power would be from large new dams but a good amount could be generated from a list of 54 existing US dams over the next 2 decades. Pumped storage has a strong future as well it says.
First Solar to Sell Power to Southern California Cities :First Solar Inc. (FSLR), the largest builder of U.S. solar farms announced it would to sell electricity from a 40-megawatt plant in Southern California to four area cities. Pasadena, Riverside, Colton and Azusa, California, signed 20-year contracts for power from the Kingbird project in Kern County, First Solar said .The plant near Rosamond may begin construction in 2014.