Solar panels switched off by energy authorities to stabilise South Australian electricity grid
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Rapid uptake of rooftop solar is creating challenges for network operators.
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Energy authorities in South Australia have used their new power to remotely switch off thousands of household solar panels for the first time, making the intervention when electricity demand plunged over the weekend.
Key points:
AEMO was forced to intervene, instructing ElectraNet to stabilise the grid
That resulted in about 12,000 solar generation units being remotely switched off
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) recommended the measure as a means of mitigating the threat to grid security posed by the rapid growth of rooftop solar, which has led to days of very low demand.
Origins of Mysterious Interstellar Visitor Oumuamua May Finally Be Explained
AYLIN WOODWARD, BUSINESS INSIDER
17 MARCH 2021
The origin and identity of a massive space object that careened past Earth in 2017 have remained a mystery ever since.
The object, called Oumuamua – a Hawaiian name meaning scout or messenger – traveled on a trajectory that strongly suggested it came from another star system. That made it the first interstellar object ever detected.
But what was it? A few researchers, including Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb, posited the object was an alien spacecraft. Others suggested it was an asteroid, or perhaps an interstellar comet.
Now, a pair of papers published in an American Geophysical Union journal offers another theory: that Oumuamua was shrapnel from a tiny planet in a different Solar System.
Dive Brief:
Regulators at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Tuesday grilled Hawaiian Electric (HECO) representatives on their plans to replace a 180 MW coal plant on Oahu, amid concerns that without adequate planning the facility will be replaced with oil-fired generation after it is retired in 2022.
The AES coal plant serves around 15% of demand on Oahu and is one of the fossil fuel plants that HECO is looking to shutter in the next couple of years. But regulators worry that delays to renewables projects that are planned to help replace the plant could require the state to turn to oil at the end of the next year.
Published: 17 Mar 2021, 14:25
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Image: Aberla Group.
Aberla Energy has been selected as specialist energy contractor for the Progress Housing Group, signing a three-year solar contact.
The company, part of the North West-based Aberla Group, will provide solar PV maintenance and installation services to homes in Progress’s portfolio across Lancashire and Lincolnshire. It was awarded the contract following a mini-competition run by Procure Plus.
Paul McCarren, chief executive officer at Aberla, said that it was encouraging to see an organisation such as Progress Housing invest in solar PV “as the cost of renewable technologies continues to fall”.
“Residents will benefit from powering their homes with cleaner and cheaper energy, reducing their dependence on fossil fuels and energy generated from the grid.”
/EIN News/ Las Vegas, March 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)
New solar facility provides clean energy to Apple’s Nevada data center, located in the Reno Technology Park
McCarthy Building Companies’ Renewable Energy & Storage group recently completed construction of the Turquoise Solar Project in Washoe County, Nevada. The new 61 MWdc solar farm is located on approximately 180 acres in the Reno Technology Park a 2,200-acre master planned industrial park shared between Apple and Turquoise Solar, who own approximately 1,600 and 600 acres, respectively.
Within the Park, the Turquoise Solar Project is owned by Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company (“GREC”), a utility-scale renewable energy development company. Upon completion, the project became the largest operating solar project in GREC’s portfolio. The project was also recently awarded “Utility-Scale Project of the Year” in