Bloomberg: SunEdison Bankruptcy Floods India Market for Green Projects
SunEdison Inc.’s bankruptcy filing is reverberating halfway around the world in India, where developers say the U.S. company’s troubles are adding to a surplus of green capacity up for sale.
SunEdison has said it’s searching for equity partnerships for its 2.4 gigawatts of capacity in India following its petition to a New York federal court. That means about 4 gigawatts of clean-energy projects are up for sale, more than 10 percent of the nation’s existing solar and wind capacity, according to industry executives.
“There are 2 gigawatts...of wind assets comprising medium and small portfolios,” Rahul Shah, chief executive at Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd., the clean-energy arm of Tata Power Co., said in an interview in Mumbai. “In solar, again 2 gigawatts odd, finished and unfinished projects are looking for buyers.”
The National: Saudi Arabia Needs Billions in Investment to Meet Renewable Energy Targets
Saudi Arabia will need US$20 billion of investment to meet its renewable energy targets as it looks to diversify its economy away from its dependence on oil by 2020, according to industry experts.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman set an “initial target" for the installation of 9.5 gigawatts of renewable energy when he announced Saudi’s National Transformation Plan on Monday. In his speech, the deputy crown prince said that while oil and gas remained essential to the economy, Saudi Arabia was laying the groundwork to expand investments into additional sectors.
Portland Press Herald: LePage Vetoes Solar Energy Bill After Compromise Talks Fail
Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a landmark solar energy bill Wednesday, after failed attempts by Democratic leadership to reach a compromise during extensive negotiations.
Solar advocates now plan to press lawmakers to override the veto when they reconvene Friday.
Rep. Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, the assistant majority leader, said a request by the governor to cap at a very low level the price that homeowners receive for solar power they generate was a deal-breaker.
Forbes: How a Big Utility Fought Back Against Marijuana Growers Stealing Electricity
In 2011, BC Hydro developed its smart metering business case, and included a subsidiary business case for reducing theft of electricity to the cultivation of marijuana by 75%. The utility installed 1.9 million smart meters for nearly all of its residents and businesses, and was pulling back real-time usage data from all of its customers. But that data by itself was not enough. It needed to be analyzed and turned into information that could be acted upon.
BC Hydro therefore took a few additional steps. It put in SCADA-enabled grid monitoring and control devices, check meters, and created a new analytics capability.
PVTech: Abengoa Wins U.S. Bankruptcy Court Protection
Abengoa, which entered insolvency proceedings last November, has been granted bankruptcy protection under Chapter 15 over the objections of a group of insurance companies that claimed the Spanish renewables company’s talks to restructure billions in debt was unfair to U.S. creditors.
The insurance companies -- including Zurich American, AIG and Liberty Mutual -- called Abengoa’s ongoing restructuring talks with financial institutions in Spain “manifestly contrary” to U.S. policy because it required them to adhere to a standstill agreement without due process.