• Intel has contracted new solar electric installations targeted at eight U.S. locations in four states, generating approximately 2.5 megawatts of clean solar energy.
• Intel increased its renewable energy credit purchases by 10 percent – powering more than 51 percent of Intel’s estimated U.S. electricity use – and was again named the largest voluntary purchaser of green power by the EPA.
• These new investments are part of Intel’s already established commitment to energy efficiency and footprint reduction programs, with worldwide savings of more than 650 million kilowatt hours since conservation program inception in 2001.

Building on its existing portfolio of renewable energy site installations, Intel Corporation today reported that new contracts are in place to incorporate approximately 2.5 megawatts worth of new solar power projects at eight U.S. locations in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon. In addition, Intel announced it has renewed and increased by 10 percent its purchase commitments for renewable energy credits (REC) to more than 1.43 billion kilowatt hours — more than 51 percent of its estimated 2010 U.S. electricity use.

These commitments reflect Intel’s continued focus on energy efficiency and conservation programs that will help achieve its 2012 goals related to water use, global-warming emissions, energy consumption, waste reduction and product energy efficiency. They also represent Intel’s long-standing goal of inspiring more demand for and cost-effective supply of solar and other renewable energies.

“Intel is committed to renewable energy to reduce our own carbon footprint as well as to spur the market and make renewables more economically feasible for individuals and businesses to deploy,” said Brian Krzanich, vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Supply Chain for Intel. “These announcements represent our broader commitment which includes diversifying our energy portfolio through solar and other clean energy investments, and this will continue to be a priority for us around the globe.”

Intel’s new solar installations are planned to be completed over the next 7 months. Each project would currently rank as one of the 10 largest solar installations in its respective region if activated today. For example, the panels planned for Intel’s Chandler and Ocotillo campuses in Arizona would each currently be the fifth largest in SRP service territory or the second largest when combined, according to the utility company. All of the solar panels will be installed on the roofs of Intel’s facilities, with the major exception of the largest installation, an approximately 1-megawatt solar field in Folsom, Calif. The Folsom installation will span nearly six acres of land on campus, which would make it one of the largest non-utility ground-mounts in California at the time of this release. All of the installations will use the power generated at their respective site, making them an efficient source of electricity with savings on grid delivery losses.

RECs are the “currency” of renewable energy markets, and Intel’s latest REC purchases equate to approximately 51 percent of Intel’s estimated purchased electricity needs in the United States for 2010. This corresponds to the carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity use of nearly 134,000 average American homes or nearly 200,000 passenger cars removed from the streets for 1 year.¹ As a result of Intel’s continued commitment to purchase RECs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) again placed Intel at the top of its latest Green Power Partner List for 2010 as the largest voluntary, single purchaser of green power. Intel was previously honored with the EPA’s Green Power Partner of the Year Award.

Intel’s new solar installations and its reaffirmed commitment to purchasing RECs reflect just the latest in Intel’s energy portfolio, which includes wind, solar, geo-thermal, small hydro-electric and biomass sources. Since 2001, Intel has invested more than $30 million and saved more than 650 million kilowatt hours from energy conservation and efficiency initiatives.² Other highlights include:

Investments: Intel reaffirms its dedication to clean technology innovation and development.

• In July 2009, Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment organization, announced five cleantech investments totaling more than $10 million.
• In total, Intel Capital has invested more than $125 million in more than a dozen cleantech companies that span four continents; four in solar photovoltaics, further demonstrating Intel’s commitment to accelerating innovation in this space.

Installations: Intel continues to look for opportunities across its dispersed locations.

• Intel’s Bangalore, India site hosted the company’s first solar thermal installation: solar water heaters, which now supply nearly 100 percent of the total hot water requirements for two campuses, saving 70,000 kilowatts per year.
• Intel Oregon energized the company’s first solar electric system on the roof of its Jones Farm site in early 2009.
• Later this year, Intel’s Haifa, Israel (IDC 9) site will open Intel’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-registered building.³

Employee Engagement: Employee engagement in sustainability is paramount at Intel with a portion of each employee’s variable compensation tied to company performance against environmental metrics, which include reducing Intel’s absolute carbon footprint growth.

• As a key element of Intel’s new solar installations, awareness kiosks will be set up in each site lobby to educate and engage employees in the company’s energy efforts.

Intel’s REC purchase will be handled by Sterling Planet, a national supplier of renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-carbon solutions. All purchases will be certified by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions’ Green-e® program, which certifies and verifies green power products.

• View or download b-roll video

www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.

Intel, the Intel logo and Moblin are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

1 Source: EPA 2010 Green Power Partnership Press Release. Click here for more information.

2 Source: Intel Corporate Responsibility Report. For more information, visit: http://download.intel.com/intel/cr/gcr/pdf/Intel_CSR_Report_2008.pdf.

3 Source: Intel Corporate Responsibility Report.

Tioga provides project financing through its SurePath^SM Solar(PPAs), and maintains and operates solar systems on behalf of its customers.  Tioga’s offering deliver spredictably priced power and enables organisations to to both ‘green’ their operations and reduce energy costs.  In order to illustrate the benefits of solar, Tioga needs to estimate future electricity prices and make comparisons by showing the savings from a new solar system.

To forecast possible price increases, Tioga Energy inputs California’s historical electricity rate data into a model developed using Palisade’s risk analysis software, @RISK.  This generates a probability distribution for electricity rate rises over the 20-year PPA period, which shows that there is a 25 percent likelihood that price increase swill be less than 4.8 percent, and a 25 percent chance that rate rises would be more than 8.7 percent.

The @RISK model therefore helps Tioga Energy evaluate the likelihood that acustomer will save money for a variety of PPA scenarios (i.e. the rate at which electricity would initially be charged and the amount by which it would then increase each year).  It also calculates the magnitude of savings for the different combinations of first year costs and subsequent rises.  Consumers are therefore able to better understand the pricing and make an informed decision about whether to sign up for a PPA.

“Using historical data and @RISK’s modelling capacity, we can offer consumers a robust view of the potential benefits of a solar PPA.  This enables them to hedge against rising electricity rates, as well as feel confident that they are playing a part in tackling global warming,”explains Kristian Hanelt, VP Project Finance for Tioga Energy.

Hanelt confirms:  “@RISK is a flexible and technically adept tool that, in addition to enabling in-depth analysis, makes it easy for us to present relatively complex ideas in an easy-to-understand graphical format.  As a result, it plays a key role in helping Tioga Energy to differentiate itself from its competitors.”

Tioga Energy’s full report on its study, ‘Hedging Against Utility Rate Fluctuations with a Solar PPA’ is available to download here: http://www.tiogaenergy.com/tioga-energy-reports.php

RWE npower stepped up power generation at the coal-fired Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire bringing all four units into operation to cope with the expected rise in demand during the evening peak as the country faced a continuation of winter weather.

The gas-fired Didcot B Power Station was also playing a major part in providing power to heat and light homes as demand for electricity across Britain peaked.

Didcot A station manager John Rainford said: “When we were informed of the expected snow storms we put our plans into place to ensure that all essential workers were able to get into work. There are no problems with power generation and although we have obviously seen a rise in demand the situation is well under control.

“Didcot A Power Station has good supplies of coal and we have contingency plans in place to ensure that all other vital supplies to the power station are not affected by the poor weather. Didcot B is powered by gas and is operating to help meet demand and RWE npower are in a position to make gas that we have earmarked for power generation available to domestic customers if required.

“Weather like this shows the need for a balance of fuel supplies for generating electricity across the UK. Demand is high at the moment but within the levels anticipated during the winter months and the two power stations at Didcot are playing a major part in keeping households and businesses warm throughout the region.”

The biggest problem faced by RWE npower across the country was getting staff into work on snow-clogged roads. Staff braved the snow to work at the company’s power plants and also into its customer service centres with a number making their way in on foot.

- RWE npower’s site at Didcot is host to two power stations – the 2,000 MW dual-fired A station and the 1,360 MW combined cycle gas turbine B station. Together the two power stations are capable of producing enough electricity to meet the needs of over 3 million people – equivalent to the demand of three counties the size of Oxfordshire.

RWE npower is an integrated energy business, generating electricity and supplying gas, electricity and related services to customers across the UK. We operate and manage flexible, low-cost coal, oil and gas-fired power stations – generating over 10.3 GW of electricity. We serve around 6.8 million customer accounts and produce more than 10% of the electricity used in England and Wales.

RWE npower has stepped up power generation at the coal-fired Tilbury Power Station all week bringing all three units into operation to cope with the rise in demand during the evening peak as the country faces a continuation of winter weather.

Tilbury station manager Nigel Staves said: “When we were informed of the expected snow storms we put our plans into place to ensure that all essential workers were able to get into work. There are no problems with power generation and although we have obviously seen a rise in demand the situation is well under control.

“Tilbury Power Station has good supplies of coal and we have contingency plans in place to ensure that all other vital supplies to the power station are not affected by the poor weather.

“Weather like this shows the need for a balance of fuel supplies for generating electricity across the UK. Demand is high at the moment but within the levels anticipated during the winter months and Tilbury station is playing a major part in keeping households and businesses warm throughout the region.”

The biggest problem faced by RWE npower staff at Tilbury Power Station today was getting into work on snow-clogged, icy roads. Workers have continued to brave snow and icy conditions to get to the station in recent weeks including over the Christmas period when the station continued to be staffed 24/7.

Despite the cold, warm-hearted staff still managed to raise nearly £500 for charity over Christmas. This will be matched £ for £ by npower with the final £1000 sum being shared between Kent Air Ambulance Service and Macmillan Cancer Support.

- Tilbury Power Station can generate 1,063 MW of electricity – enough power to meet the needs of some 1.4 million people, which is equivalent to 80% of the total population of Essex

RWE npower is an integrated energy business, generating electricity and supplying gas, electricity and related services to customers across the UK. We operate and manage flexible, low-cost coal, oil and gas-fired power stations – generating over 10.3 GW of electricity. We serve around 6.8 million customer accounts and produce more than 10% of the electricity used in England and Wales.

The U.S. government—and major U.S. banks—seem to have lost their appetite for coal. After spending five years and approximately $50 million on preliminary studies as well as selecting a proposed site in Mattoon, Ill., the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has scuttled plans to build the so-called FutureGen power plant.

The facility would have captured the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) that is emitted when coal is burned for electricity generation. Instead, the DOE hopes to help industry add carbon-capture-and-storage capability to advanced coal plants already in the works.

“This restructured FutureGen approach is an all-around better investment for Americans,” Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a statement announcing the change. The DOE is asking Congress for $407 million to research how to burn coal most efficiently, along with $241 million to demonstrate such carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies—at least $900 million less than DOE said it would have cost to complete FutureGen.[...]

Full article – Via : ©sciam.com