News
Kennedy Lays Groundwork for his WNY Small Business Advisory Board
New York could be first state to ban controversial drilling practice
Rush On for 'Rare Earths' as U.S. Firms Seek to Counter Chinese Monopoly
NYSERDA Awards $11.3 Million for 25 Innovative Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Projects
http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2010/04/26/daily46.html?s=industry&i=energy
Power grid is inefficient, expensive and vulnerable
Keynote speaker at Smart Grid Opportunities conference is quoted.
Changing to a "smart" electrical grid
BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) - Changes are coming to the nation's electrical grid. Experts in the field say the way electricity is produced, distributed and consumed will be transformed. The nation's electrical grid hasn't changed in decades. A coal fired power plant generates electricity, which is added to the grid and sent to our homes. But Martin Casstevens says the grid is overbuilt, designed to meet the demand for a few days each and every summer when air conditioner use is at its highest. Casstevens is director of the clean energy business incubator known as Directed Energy. He recalls that just a few summers ago, the grid failed just as it was needed most... "The blackout in 2003 cost the region $6 billion in economic loss," said Casstevens. "Those events have to be minimized." So, the industry is looking to developing a smart grid -- one that is more reliable and efficient. And one, says Casstevens, that meets the electricity needs of consumers. "We're entering an era where we're starting to talk about smart metering, where the meter on your wall will charge you different amounts depending on when you used power," Casstevens said. "For instance, consumers could wash their clothes or dishes at night, saving themselves money." And all these changes are presenting various business opportunities. Casstevens says a workshop will be held Wednesday at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, linking business and academia in an exploration of the smart grid. As an example, Casstevens points to a local company, Energy Curtailment Specialists, that actually pays businesses that reduce their power usage on the hottest days of the year. © Copyright 2010, WBFO
"Smart Grid" Is Focus of First Workshop in UB's "Business of Energy" Series
Samsung Signs $6.6 Billion Solar and Wind Power Deal with Ontario, Canada
That takes my breath away. In one of the biggest renewable energy deals in the history of the world, a Korean consortium led by Samsung* has agreed to build 2,500 megawatts of wind and solar power capacity in the Canadian province of Ontario. Samsung C&T and the Ontario government signed the deal on Thursday, January 21st. The agreement will bring thousands of jobs and clean energy for more than half a million homes to Ontario. Building off of this new deal, Korean trade officials plan to make Ontario their base of operations for all of North American. Samsung first proposed the deal about a year ago, but Ontario’s Green Energy Act is what seems to have actually moved the proposal to a reality — another reason for clean energy activists in the US to look with puppy dog eyes at the rest of the world as they speed ahead with clean energy (and clean energy jobs) and Americans remain tied to the old bone of dirty technology. As The New York Times reports, “Under the terms of the agreement, officials said, Samsung must build four manufacturing plants in Ontario, promising 16,000 direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. The energy generated will be enough for 580,000 homes.” The first phase of the project is scheduled to be built near an old coal plant that is supposed to be decommissioned by 2014 (near Windsor). Out with the old, in with the new. Samsungs new manufacturing facilities under this deal (4 manufacturing plants in Ontario) will be producing wind turbine towers, wind blades, solar inverters and solar assembly by 2015. Now, as Ontario’s premier, Dalton McGuinty, says, “This means Ontario is officially the place to be for green energy manufacturing in North America.” With generous subsidies for clean energy production under its new Green Energy Act, many more clean energy developers probably have their eye on Ontario as well. With a project so big and so close to home, the US may start to take the clean energy and climate change legislation that is currently in the Senate a little more seriously. We will see. *The other major player in the consortium that signed the deal with the Ontario government is the Korea Electric Power Corporation.
