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Blockchain technology is ideal partner for smarter energy grids
 Keeping track of renewable-energy certificates is one of dozens of potential applications of blockchain technology that could solve data management challenges in the electricity sector without disrupting business as usual, according to Morris. He and many others believe that in the long term, the technology could help transform the very architecture of the grid itself.

A blockchain is a shared, encrypted ledger that is maintained by a network of computers. These computers verify transactions—in the case of Bitcoin, the transfer of cryptocurrency between individual users. Each user can access the ledger, and there is no single authority (see “Why Bitcoin Could Be Much More Than a Currency”). Advocates say the technology could be especially promising in industries where networks of peers—electricity producers and consumers, connected via the grid, for instance—depend on shared sets of data.

When a renewable-power plant generates a unit of electricity today, a meter spits out data that gets logged in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is then sent to a registry provider, where the data gets entered into a new system and a certificate is created. A second set of intermediaries brokers deals between buyers and sellers of these certificates, and yet another party verifies the certificates after they are purchased.

Such a byzantine system racks up transaction costs, while leaving plenty of room for accounting errors that can range from honest mistakes to outright fraud. The lack of transparency also scares many people off entirely.

What if the meter wrote the data directly to a blockchain instead? Most of these problems would vanish at a stroke, says Morris.

And that’s just the beginning—many energy experts are convinced that blockchain technology has the potential to touch off a fundamental transformation of modern energy grids.

The electricity sector is, for the most part, still based on massive, centralized power plants that generate power sent long distances over transmission and distribution lines. In recent years, though, a growing number of smaller “distributed” power generators and storage systems, like rooftop solar panels and electric-vehicle batteries, have been connecting to the grid.

The owners of these systems struggle to maximize their value because the system is so inefficient, says Jemma Green, cofounder and chair of Power Ledger, an Australia-based startup developing a blockchain-based platform that allows producers to trade energy peer-to-peer with consumers. For instance, it generally takes 60 to 80 days for an electricity producer to get paid. With a blockchain-based system, Green says, producers can get paid immediately, so they need less capital to start and run a generating business.

Output: Blockchain technology is a natural fit for tracking power generation and payments on distributed energy grids, according to Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based green energy organisation, and Austrian blockchain start-up Grid Singularity. The two outfits have joined together to create the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), which has launched an Ethereum-based blockchain, which is “purpose-built for the energy sector”. The team will start by developing applications to track renewable energy certificates. In future, the EWF intends to enable “more granular transactions” between providers and consumers and eventually to allow near-instant payment in return for sending energy to the grid.


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Travel insurers urged to stop mental illness discrimination
 Bupa revoked a woman's travel insurance after she declared she suffered from bipolar disorder.

Elizabeth Watson, 29, from London, was granted insurance from the company, which was then cancelled after she later mentioned she had the mental health condition.

Although Ms Watson was covered by another company, she claims she was forced to pay four times as much due to her disorder.

After starting a campaign, which has been sent to Jeremy Hunt, to prevent travel insurers from discriminating against mental health patients, Ms Watson says she has been inundated by people who have nearly been left bankrupt due to such insurance claims.

A Bupa spokesperson has apologised for any distress caused, adding the company screens for mental health conditions to ensure it can provide adequate cover.

This comes after recent research revealed 21 per cent of mental health sufferers travel without insurance due to its extortionate price, while 15 per cent are forced to avoid going overseas altogether.

Elizabeth Watson had her Bupa travel insurance revoked after declaring her bipolar disorder

She was initially granted insurance for her IBS and acid reflux, but it was later taken away

Ms Watson got insurance with another company, but was forced to pay four times as much

WHAT IS BIPOLAR DISORDER? Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that mainly affects sufferers' moods. It is characterised as periods of euphoric highs and depressive lows. These mood swings can be extreme and have a big impact on a patient's quality of life. The rate of bipolar episode cycling varies between sufferers. Bipolar's causes may include childhood trauma, stressful life events, genetics or brain chemistry. Treatment may include medication or therapy. Sufferers can practice self-care by staying physically healthy, maintaining a strong support network, sticking to a daily routine and avoiding known triggers, such as late nights. Source: Mind Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/health/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->

'Mental health should not be discriminated against'

Ms Watson, who also suffers from acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome, said: 'Before I mentioned bipolar they were absolutely happy to cover me, but as soon as I mentioned bipolar, no matter how much I paid, they just were not interested,' The Independent reported.

She also told the Wandsworth Guardian: 'People go on booze-filled holidays and are at a higher risk than someone with depression in my eyes.

'Mental health should not be discriminated against, full stop.'

Forced to pay four times as much

Ms Watson had already paid £21 for travel insurance for a one-week holiday to Spain.

After later declaring her mental health problems, Ms Watson was asked a series of questions before Bupa stated they would not be able to insure her for any of her conditions, even if she paid a premium.

Ms Watson filed a complaint against the company when the incident occurred back in August, but to date has only received a letter from Bupa saying it will be in touch.

She managed to secure travel insurance from another provider, but was forced to pay four times as much. According to the Bipolar UK website, only five UK travel companies cover bipolar disorder.

Richard Norris, director of consumer insurance at Bupa UK: 'We're sorry for the distress we have caused Ms Watson. We can and do cover mental health conditions such as bipolar through some of our travel insurance products.

'We aim to give our customers the most comprehensive cover possible, including mental health conditions where possible. We screen our Premier and Gold travel insurance customers for physical and mental health conditions to check whether we can provide coverage for any pre-existing conditions while they're abroad.'

She has started a campaign banning mental health discrimination among travel insurers

Sufferers driven to near bankruptcy

Ms Watson has launched a campaign to prevent travel insurance companies discriminating against mental health conditions.

She claims to have heard from thousands of people who have undergone similar experiences, including a couple who were nearly made bankrupt after the husband had a nervous breakdown while on holiday, despite suffering no mental health complaints for years. The insurer accused him of lying about his past conditions.

Another individual said they were quoted more than a 2,000 per cent higher price after they declared their mental health disorder.

To date, the campaign has received 56,161 signatures, and has been sent to Bupa, the Financial Conduct Authority and health secretary Jeremy Hunt with the aim of banning travel insurance companies discriminating against mental health disorders.

This comes after research by the charity Money and Mental Health Policy Institute last month revealed 21 per cent of people with mental health problems travel without insurance because it is too expensive, while 15 per cent have chosen not to travel at all because of such high costs.

Output: Thousands of UK campaigners have signed a petition urging travel insurance providers to stop discrimination against policyholders with mental health disorders. Some travellers have to pay 2,000% higher for coverage, while other potential policyholders have been denied coverage outright, according to reports. The campaign began after insurance provider Bupa rescinded coverage from a policyholder due to her bipolar disorder. Only five travel insurance providers in the UK cover bipolar disorder, according to advocacy group Bipolar UK.


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Rivers in England and Wales contaminated with raw sewage
 Raw sewage is flowing into rivers at thousands of sites across England and Wales, a report has warned, harming wildlife and putting human health at risk.

The total amount of raw sewage intentionally being put into rivers is unknown, which is a “huge concern”, according to conservation group WWF, which produced the analysis. The available data suggests that more than half of overflow sites spill sewage into rivers at least once a month and 14% at least once a week.

WWF argued this is far more frequently than allowed under regulations that permit overflows only at times of unusually heavy rainfall, when treatment works cannot cope.

The report also said the number of reported sewage pollution incidents, including failures at sewage treatment plants, rose in 2016 for the first time since 2012. Furthermore, only 14% of rivers in England have “good” ecological status, which reflects both sewage and farm pollution and low water levels, compared with 27% in 2010.

Sewage pollution can cause algal blooms that starve rivers of oxygen and kill fish, as well as affecting the wildlife such as kingfishers and otters that depend on them. The pathogens in untreated sewage can also threaten people’s health, causing gastroenteritis and even septicaemia and hepatitis A.

“Britain’s bountiful rivers have forever provided the lifeblood of our nation – vital to our economy as well as our wildlife and our own wellbeing,” said Tanya Steele, the WWF chief executive. “The current situation is unacceptable. These findings demonstrate the urgent need to transform the way we treat our freshwater environment.” The government must force water companies to act, WWF says.

The analysis reports that 40% of the rivers in England and Wales are polluted with sewage, which comes from almost 18,000 sewage overflow sites operated by water companies and from treatment plant breakdowns. Thames Water had the highest proportion of rivers affected by sewage – 72% – followed by Southern and Anglian Water.

Until recently, there was little monitoring of how often and for how long the overflows spill sewage into rivers. But data from south-west Wales showed overflows there spilled for an average of 217 hours over a year, with 9% spilling for at least 730 hours a year, equivalent to flowing constantly for a whole month.

WWF warns that without action the situation is likely to get worse due to rising population, increasing urbanisation and climate change making intense rain more common. “It seems companies are relying on sewer overflows to compensate for under-capacity” at treatment plants, the report states. “Our research has revealed a sewerage system on the edge; one that is ill-equipped to protect people and nature as we face the tough challenges ahead.”

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: “There have been dramatic improvements to water quality over the last two decades but there is more to do. We have set more stringent targets for the water sector, stated they must do more to reduce pollution incidents and in the most serious cases taken enforcement action leading to record fines.”

Since 2015, 4,000 of the sewage overflow sites have been fitted with monitoring equipment to record the frequency and duration of spills and by March 2020 about 11,500 will be monitored, the EA spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our rivers are the cleanest they have been since industrial times and we’re working with the water industry to meet tougher targets and improve their planning and investment in wastewater infrastructure.”

A spokesman for Water UK, which represents water companies, said that in relation to pollution incidents WWF had failed to distinguish between the most serious, which increased from four to nine in 2016, and the vast majority which the EA classes as having “only a limited or localised effect on water quality”.

“There’s a genuine debate to be had about how we as a country are going to deal with sewage and drainage issues in future in a way which protects our environment, but WWF have muddied the waters with an inaccurate picture of what is going on,” he said. Wildlife such as salmon and otters have returned to some rivers, he added.

Coastal waters have seen a big reduction in sewage pollution in recent decades but action on rivers has lagged behind, WWF argues. “We know the water industry can clean up their act, if given the right push. They just have to get on and do it,” said Catherine Moncrieff, the freshwater policy manager at WWF.

Output: Raw sewage is entering rivers at thousands of sites in England and Wales, endangering human health and wildlife, according to a report by WWF. The data suggests that over 50% of overflow sites leak sewage into rivers at least once a month, with 14% spilling sewage at least once a week. The number of reported incidents of sewage pollution rose last year for the first time since 2012. Just 14% of English rivers have “good” ecological status, down from 27% in 2010. Thames Water had the highest number of sewage affected rivers at 72%, followed by Southern and Anglian Water.


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Levi Strauss tops Chinese environmental supply chain table
 2022

The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) today released the evaluation results of its 2022 Green Supply Chain CITI Index and its Corporate Climate Action (CATI) Index. The report indicates that in spite of the global challenges, a number of local and global companies have undertaken the tasks of pollution control and emissions reduction, driving low-carbon transformation in their supply chain and contributing to global climate governance.

Publication Date：2022-11-03

Output: Levi Strauss, Esquel and Adidas have been ranked as the three best apparel companies when it comes to environmentally-friendly supply chain practices in China, according to the latest Corporate Information Transparency Index. The report reveals that increased environmental supervision in the country has led to a greater recognition of supply chain environmental risks by brands. However, inadequate monitoring is still hampering environmental performance in the country, the report states.


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Levi Strauss tops Chinese environmental supply chain table
 BEIJING – Newly released data from the Chinese government, online monitoring by NGO’s and corporate disclosure agreements has shown the textile industry has boosted its environmental performance in partnership with leading international brands.

However, the findings, which are reported in the 4th annual Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI), show that although China’s strengthening of environmental supervision has prompted more brands to recognise supply chain environmental risks, insufficient monitoring capacity is still hindering companies from going green.

In the report, Levi Strauss, Esquel Group and Adidas Group were ranked the top three apparel companies for supply chain practices.

Output: Levi Strauss, Esquel and Adidas have been ranked as the three best apparel companies when it comes to environmentally-friendly supply chain practices in China, according to the latest Corporate Information Transparency Index. The report reveals that increased environmental supervision in the country has led to a greater recognition of supply chain environmental risks by brands. However, inadequate monitoring is still hampering environmental performance in the country, the report states.


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Petrol demand to peak by 2030: Wood Mackenzie
 We are excited to announce that as of February 1, Wood Mackenzie is a portfolio company of Veritas Capital, a leading investor at the intersection of technology and government. Our focus remains on providing you with the best intelligence, analytics, data and tools to ensure you are making the best data-driven business decisions with confidence.

Read more in our news release here.

Output: Global demand for petrol will peak by 2030, due to increased engine efficiency and the greater prevalence of electric cars, according to a report by energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The consultancy said that it expected the demand for gasoline to fall significantly, particularly after 2025, and that total oil demand would also level off around 2035. Of the 96 million barrels of oil consumed globally each day, 60 million are used in transport. In the short term, regulatory changes relating to fuel efficiency imposed by China, the European Union and the US will provide the greatest curb on gasoline demand.


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Petrol demand to peak by 2030: Wood Mackenzie
 World petrol demand will peak within 13 years thanks to the impact of electric cars and more efficient engines, energy experts have predicted.

UK-based Wood Mackenzie said it expected the take-up of electric vehicles to cut gasoline demand significantly, particularly beyond 2025 as the battery-powered cars go mainstream.

Combined with car manufacturers forced by regulations to produce models that run further on the same amount of oil, a new report by the analysts suggests global gasoline demand is likely to peak by 2030.

The UK and France have recently said they will phase out sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. China, the world’s biggest car market, is mulling a similar move, which would have a significant impact on oil demand.

Of the 96m barrels of oil consumed globally each day, 60m are used for transport, which Wood Mackenzie predicts will stall by 2030.

Alan Gelder, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said the ripples of gasoline’s plateau would be felt much earlier, as oil companies put off investment in refineries and the number of petrol stations is reduced.

“We are becoming increasingly efficient as we use our energy. So as economies grow we are less reliant on oil, so the significance of oil in the global economy should decline over time,” said Gelder.

For countries that rely strongly on tax income from fuel duty, such as the £28bn the tax brings in for the UK each year, falling gasoline demand will pose a challenge for governments, he said.

In the short term, regulatory changes to fuel efficiency standards imposed by Barack Obama in the US, and by the EU and China, will be the biggest curb on gasoline demand. Battery-powered cars are expected to have a bigger impact later.

“Post-2025, that’s where electric car sales take off. The further you go into the future, the more it’s electric cars,” said Gelder, who foresees plug-in models taking 10% of global new car sales by 2030. If cities began banning cars with a combustion engine, that would rapidly accelerate the switch to electric vehicles, he added.

While gasoline will peak first, the analysts expect total oil demand to plateau about 2035, as growth is hit by climate change policies and developing world economies maturing.

Although the “market used to worry about peak oil supply”, Wood Mackenzie said, the industry’s chief concern now was a peak in demand.

“The prospect of peak oil demand is very real,” said the group. Its forecast of peak oil demand is relatively early compared with BP’s prediction of the mid-2040s and the International Energy Agency’s expectation of 2040.

However, some oil firms, such as Shell, believe the peak could come in the early 2030s or potentially even late 2020s due to growth in cars powered by biofuels and batteries. The Anglo-Dutch firm believes the impact on oil demand from more fuel-efficient cars will far outweigh the impact of electric vehicles.

The price of of oil stood at one of its highest levels this year on Thursday, at $58.24 (£43.83) a barrel, after reports of skirmishes between Iraqi and Kurdish forces in oil-producing areas, and concerns over sanctions against Iran.

Toyota has announced it will test electric cars in Japan from 2020 equipped with artificial intelligence to help the cars better understand and adapt to their drivers. A driverless concept car, the Concept i-series, can also be driven manually.

The AI will gauge “emotion and level of alertness by reading the driver’s expressions, actions, and tone of voice”, the Japanese manufacturer said.

Output: Global demand for petrol will peak by 2030, due to increased engine efficiency and the greater prevalence of electric cars, according to a report by energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The consultancy said that it expected the demand for gasoline to fall significantly, particularly after 2025, and that total oil demand would also level off around 2035. Of the 96 million barrels of oil consumed globally each day, 60 million are used in transport. In the short term, regulatory changes relating to fuel efficiency imposed by China, the European Union and the US will provide the greatest curb on gasoline demand.


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Outrage as Sainsbury’s development features 4% affordable homes
 Sainsbury’s is facing housing campaigners’ anger over a proposed high-rise development surrounding an east London superstore that includes just 4% affordable homes.

Local opponents have described the supermarket’s proposal that just 27 of the 683 homes in the Ilford project will be available for affordable rent as “insulting”.

Planning experts for the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, have said the offer “falls substantially short” of City Hall’s plan to deliver 17,000 affordable homes per year – equivalent to 40% of the strategic housebuilding target.

It also falls well short of the London Borough of Redbridge’s target of 50% affordable housing across all new developments. There are currently over 8,000 households on the waiting list for affordable housing in the area, and more than 2,400 living in temporary accommodation.

The borough estimates it needs an extra 15,000 affordable homes by 2033. The case is set to go before a public inquiry starting on Tuesday, but the project appears likely to go ahead after the council withdrew its opposition on Saturday.

The Ilford development is Sainsbury’s largest yet.

Sainsbury’s says the “maximum reasonable” amount of affordable housing it can include is 14 one- and two-bedroom flats, a dozen three-bedroom units and a single four-bedroom property. It estimates making a 20% profit selling off the private flats, according to planning documents. At current local prices that could exceed £40m.

It has described it as “a financially challenging project”, partly because of lost revenues to its retail operation when it closes its existing store for construction. It has also agreed to pay Redbridge £11.4m in community infrastructure levy, although this cannot be used to fund affordable housing.

But Meenakshi Sharma, co-founder of Ilford NOISE, a local residents group, said the amount of affordable housing being offered was “ridiculous and insulting”.

“People can’t believe it is 4% especially with all the publicity about the need for affordable housing,” she said. “And yet this still carries on. They don’t take any notice whatsoever. There’s a big housing need in the area. There are lots of people in temporary accommodation and lots of overcrowding.”

It is the latest in a series of high-profile battles over the financial viability of private housing schemes in the capital with councils seeking to maximise the number of cheaper homes in developments and developers seeking to minimise them. Previous disputes have centred on central London sites where developers have argued that the high cost of land limits their ability to subsidise affordable housing, but the row over the Ilford site suggests the issue is spreading to the outer London suburbs.

Affordable in this case means rents capped at 60% of market rates. Sainsbury’s is increasingly moving into housebuilding, using the space above its stores for housing. The Ilford project is its largest yet, but it has also built 650 homes around a store in Nine Elms and 500 homes above a store in Fulham, both in London.

Redbridge had originally rejected the application because of the lack of affordable housing and was planning to oppose it at the public inquiry, but it has now reversed its position and accepted the 4% offer.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Redbridge told the Guardian: “We declined the application because of the huge gap between the borough’s expectations on affordable housing in new developments, and the proposals we were given. The capital is critically short of housing, especially affordable housing and we need to increase the stock in the borough.”

But on Saturday it told the planning inspector it was withdrawing its opposition and would not resist Sainsbury’s appeal against its original refusal.

In a letter to the planning inspectorate, the head of planning, Joanne Woodward, said it had agreed common ground on the financial viability of the project and a planning deal, although without any increase in the affordable housing included in the development.

“The council will attend on the first day of the inquiry to explain how the position it has now adopted has been reached,” she said.

Sainsbury’s said: “Our plans will help kick-start Ilford’s future regeneration by driving growth and job creation, as well as provide a broad mix of housing for local people. We look forward to the outcome of the appeal. We have agreed with the council to review the provision at certain points throughout the development, and if we can increase the number of affordable homes we will.”

Output: Sainsbury’s has been criticised after it emerged that the retail giant's proposed housing development surrounding an east London superstore will comprise just 4% affordable homes. Of the 683 homes planned for the Ilford project, 27 will be available for affordable rent even though the local borough council has a 50% affordable housing target for all new developments. The project is the largest undertaken by the grocer as it grows its housebuilding business.


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Innogy buys out Statkraft from Triton Knoll offshore wind project
 German energy business Innogy has announced it has acquired Statkraft's 50 percent share in the Triton Knoll offshore wind project.

The Essen-based company said Tuesday that it was now the sole owner of the project, which has a planned installed capacity of 860 megawatts. Both Innogy and Norway's Statkraft have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.

Innogy added that the farm, which is set to be located 32 kilometers off the east coast of England, was expected to supply the equivalent of 800,000 U.K. homes with renewable electricity annually. The company said the planned investment volume for the project amounted to around £2 billion ($2.64 billion).

"With full control over Triton Knoll, we will now develop the project further to final investment decision at our own discretion," Hans Bunting, Innogy's chief operating officer for renewables, said in a statement.

"In due course, we will also review all options regarding the ownership structure of Triton Knoll to maximize value for our company and our shareholders," he added.

The project's onshore works are set to commence in 2018, with offshore work due to start in 2020. Innogy said that it expected Triton Knoll to be commissioned in 2021.

Output: German energy company Innogy has acquired Statkraft's 50% share in the Triton Knoll offshore wind project. Innogy is now the sole owner of the wind farm, which is expected to have a capacity of 860 MW. The Triton Knoll wind farm will be 32 km off the east coast of England and capable of supplying 800,000 UK homes with renewable electricity.


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Enel invests $330m in Oklahoma wind project
 Enel Green Power North America announced last week that it has signed a $330 million tax equity agreement with the Alternative Energy Investing Group of Goldman Sachs and GE Energy Financial Services to spur development of Oklahoma’s 298 MW Thunder Ranch wind project.

The announcement was made on Friday in which Enel Green Power North America revealed that Alternative Energy Investing Group of Goldman Sachs and GE Energy Financial Services would together purchase 100% of the 298 MW (megawatt) Thunder Ranch wind project’s Class B and Class C equity interests in exchange for payment of approximately $330 million. Enel Green Power will retain 100% of Thunder Ranch’s Class A interests and control of the project.

These tax equity investments are traditional financing methods for the development of renewable energy projects across the United States. In turn, Goldman Sachs and GE Energy Financial Services will receive a percentage of the financial benefits generated by Thunder Ranch.

Construction of the 298 MW Thunder Ranch wind project began back in May after Enel Green Power committed approximately $435 million into the project, part of the company’s larger investment plans. Upon completion, Thunder Ranch generate more than 1,100 GWh (gigawatt-hours) of clean energy each year and provide enough electricity to meet the needs of the equivalent of 89,400 US homes, and subsequently avoid CO2 emissions worth around 790,000 tonnes.

Thunder Ranch was also in the news last month as the focus of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) concluded by Missouri-based Anheuser-Busch, brewer of drinks such as Budweiser and Stella Artois, and one of America’s leading breweries. Anheuser-Busch announced mid-September that it would purchase 152.5 MW generated by Thunder Ranch to support its brewing operations in the United States. Further, the company can now boast 50% renewable energy purchased, and the ability to produce 20 billion 12-ounce servings of beer each year.

“As we strive to bring people together to build a better world, we at Anheuser-Busch are dedicated to reducing our carbon emissions,” said João Castro Neves, president and CEO of Anheuser-Busch at the time. “Helping to grow the renewable energy market is not only good for the environment, it is a strategic business move as we strive for long-term sustainability. Now more than ever, we are excited to lead our company’s global effort toward a renewable future and, partnering with Enel, set an industry example of how major companies can help to make a difference in climate change.”

Sign up for Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast: I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ... Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps —— grow. So ...

Output: Enel Green has signed a $330m tax equity agreement to spur development of Oklahoma’s 298 MW Thunder Ranch wind project. Goldman Sachs' Alternative Energy Investing Group and GE Energy Financial Services have agreed to purchase 100% of Thunder Ranch's Class B and Class C equity interests. Enel Green Power will maintain control of the entirety of the wind project's Class A interests.


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EON launches renewable tariff for EV charging
 Eon has today launched a new tariff for electric and hybrid vehicle owners in the UK that uses energy sourced from 100% renewable electricity and green gas.

The Eon Fixed One Year Electric Vehicle is a dual rate tariff, which offers customers access to a competitive day rate and a night rate 33% below the day rate.

The tariff also matches 100% of both the electricity and gas used with renewable energy guarantees of origin and green gas certificates, Eon said.Eon residential managing director Chris Lovatt said: “For many electric or hybrid car owners, choosing the right energy tariff may be the last piece of the jigsaw in helping them lower fuel emissions and energy costs.”

Output: EON has announced a new tariff that will allow UK owners of hybrid and electric vehicles to access energy sourced from "green gas" and renewable energy. The EON Fixed One Year Electric Vehicle tariff offers customers access to a night rate that is 33% less than the day rate.


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EON brings 10 MW battery storage unit online in UK
 Britain’s switch to greener energy will take another significant step forward this week with the opening of an industrial-scale battery site in Sheffield. E.ON said the facility, which is next to an existing power plant and has the equivalent capacity of half a million phone batteries, marked a milestone in its efforts to develop storage for electricity from windfarms, nuclear reactors and gas power stations.

The plant, housed in four shipping containers, is the type of project hailed by the business secretary, Greg Clark, as crucial to transforming the UK’s energy system and making it greener.

At 10MW, the Blackburn Meadows battery is one of the biggest in Britain so far, but will soon be eclipsed by much larger plants.

Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, is building a 49MW facility on the site of a former power station in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, while EDF Energy is working on one of the same size at its West Burton gas power station in Nottinghamshire.

David Topping, the director of business, heat and power solutions at E.ON, said: “This is a milestone for E.ON in the new energy world and an important recognition of the enormous potential for battery solutions in the UK.”

The utility-scale batteries are being built in response to a request from National Grid, the owner of Britain’s power transmission network, for contracts to help it keep electricity supply and demand in balance, which is posing an increasing challenge for the grid as more intermittent wind and solar comes online.

Balancing supply and demand is essential for keeping the frequency of electricity constant at 50Hz across the UK. The ability of batteries to respond to demand in less than a second makes them ideal for the task, with earlier sources of backup power much slower at just under 10 seconds.

E.ON has secured £3.89m of the £65.9m of contracts awarded for the service, though National Grid estimates the batteries will save it £200m over four years.

Leon Walker, the commercial development manager at National Grid, said: “Using battery storage is a significant development for managing the national grid. It’s an ultra-fast way of keeping electricity supply and demand balanced.”

The new generation of batteries will also earn their owners money by helping with the government subsidy scheme for providing backup power during winter, known as the capacity market. The storage plants will also be able to take power off the system when supply is unexpectedly high, such as on a particularly windy or sunny day.

Output: German energy company EON is to open a 10 MW battery site in Sheffield, UK. The Blackburn Meadows project will be among Britain's largest, and will be used to store energy from wind farms, gas power stations and nuclear reactors. Centrica plans to build a 49 MW facility at a former power station site in Cumbria, and EDF will introduce a similarly sized battery in Nottinghamshire.


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Facebook offers in-app access to food delivery services
 Today Facebook is announcing that users can now order food for takeout or delivery using both the Facebook mobile app and website. But it’s not at all what you might think; Facebook hasn’t created its own answer to Seamless, which would be massive news for the restaurant industry. This isn’t that.

Instead, the company is partnering with existing services GrubHub, Delivery.com, DoorDash, ChowNow, Zuppler, EatStreet, Slice, and Olo, and will now link out to those food ordering businesses for restaurants that support them. You head to the new “Order Food” area of Facebook under the Explore section, find the local spot you’re craving, and then hit “start order.” From there, if a restaurant supports more than one of Facebook’s ordering partners, you’ll be able to choose between them. Once you do, Facebook will bring up an in-app browser that takes you through the existing websites for Delivery.com and the others. That’s where all the ordering actually happens, so you’re not actually doing much with the Facebook app beyond finding a restaurant and tapping your preferred delivery option.

Seamless is not currently among Facebook’s partner services, but parent company GrubHub is, so that should get you most of the same delivery restaurants. But there are other omissions such as Caviar, so you’ll still need to open those apps separately to know which restaurants use them and place an order.

Facebook is also partnering on food ordering directly with national chains Chipotle, Five Guys, Jack in the Box, Papa John's, Wingstop, Panera, TGI Friday's, Denny's, El Pollo Loco, and Jimmy John's. But it works the same way as with the other services; you browse to one of these nearby chain locations, pick start order, and then you’ll be sent to their existing delivery system. All Facebook is really doing here is launching an in-app browser so you can get a meal without ever leaving the app.

“We've been testing this since last year, and after responding to feedback and adding more partners, we're rolling out everywhere in the US on iOS, Android and desktop,” Alex Himel, Facebook’s VP of local, said in a press release. “People already go to Facebook to browse restaurants and decide where to eat or where to order food, so we're making that easier.”

That “we’ve been working on this for a year” bit surprised me. There’s certainly some work necessary to link all these restaurant pages with the services they use (and businesses can opt out of displaying the food ordering feature if they wish). The value for Facebook is obvious; the company hopes you’ll fill your craving and then keep swiping through your news feed with your greasy fingers.

Output: Facebook has enabled food orders for takeout or delivery through its mobile app and website in the US, and is working with delivery services GrubHub, DoorDash, Zuppler, Slice, Olo, EatStreet, ChowNow and Delivery.com. Restaurants will be able to offer food through the delivery firms' sites via an in-app browser after users open the Order Food feature. The feature merely enables ordering a delivery without leaving the Facebook app, but could be useful for restaurant or delivery service exposure.


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Wartsila takes energy-storage solutions to India
 Wärtsilä offered to be a part of Indian energy storage sector, which is estimated to the tune of $4-6 billion in the next five years.

India’s renewable sector is growing at a stupendous rate but also faces serious challenges related to grid-management, which thus far has not kept pace with the nation’s solar and wind power development.

Intermittent power outages and the inaccessibility of the grid to remote areas are commonplace. These challenges can be tackled with improved integration of stand-alone systems combined with energy storage technology – a space in which global power provider Wärtsilä is planning to populate.

The Indian Energy Storage Association (IESA) recently raised the issue of a lack of policy framework in the energy storage sector of India – a topic that was also discussed and pledged during last month’s Energy Storage Forum to push forward India’s Energy Storage sector as quick as possible.

The IESA estimates that India could attract investments to the tune of $4-6 billion in the next five years.

Javier Cavada Camino, President, Energy Solutions, and Executive Vice-President of Wärtsilä Corporation, said: “Adding energy storage technology enables customers to have instant power while saving fuel and maintenance costs. The growing capacity of renewable generation, including solar PV, becomes more sustainable and attractive when integrated with advanced energy storage.”

Wärtsilä stated that flexible generation options must be encouraged to ensure geographical distribution and balancing of loads across India. It also highlighted the constraints faced by hydro plants, which are technically best-suited for plugging such gaps, regarding site, seasonality, and competing demand from irrigation needs.

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Such a need can be fulfilled by battery storage systems or gas-run IC engines, which are popular in many countries, especially in the context of renewable energy balancing. The Indian grid, which has among the largest renewable energy penetration in the world, and has adequate capacity but not sufficient flexibility, will benefit from such solutions.

Cavada mentioned that solar units with battery storage may typically cost 20% more per MW than a project without it, but they do bring more efficiency in the long term and can reduce imbalances in the power sector. “The battery helps generate 30% more power with the same investment. Our solution has a payback period of less than two years,” Camino told the Economic Times.

Neeraj Sharma, President & Managing Director, Wärtsilä India Pvt Ltd, added: “Wärtsilä energy storage solutions will significantly improve efficiency by increasing back-up capacity and creating new opportunities in electricity markets. Energy storage has become an integral part of every power system, with features like frequency support and reserves, peak demand management, demand charge reduction (C&I) and energy shifting. Customer benefits include peak demand management, demand charge reduction (C&I), electricity market opportunities and back-up capacity.”

Wärtsilä Energy Solutions has become a leading global system integrator after the acquisition, in May 2017, of Greensmith Energy Management Systems Inc., one of the biggest in grid-scale energy storage software and integrated solutions.

Output: Finnish energy storage manufacturer Wärtsilä is looking to bring its products to India to assist with the country's grid management problems. India is seeing a rapid increase in renewable energy production, but the national power infrastructure has not kept pace with developments. Power outages and lack of supply to inaccessible locations remain problems. The Indian Energy Storage Association estimates that the storage sector could attract investment of between $4-6bn in the next five years.


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Small-scale solar cut $1.7bn off New South Wales energy bills
 Small- scale solar systems have cut wholesale electricity costs by up to half in the past 12 months, a study has shown.

The report by consulting firm Energy Synapse, commissioned by a community-based organisation Solar Citizens Australia, found solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in NSW had saved consumers up to $2.2 billion from May 2016 to April 2017.

During this period, small solar PV systems are estimated to have generated 1540 gigawatt hours of power within the state.

The report says the volume-weighted average price of wholesale electricity would have been between $29 and $44 per megawatt hour higher than the actual average price for the period of $88 per megawatt hour.

Output: Consumers in the Australian state of New South Wales have had up to AUD2.2bn ($1.7bn) cut from their annual energy bills due to small-scale solar generation, according to consultants Energy Synapse. Small-scale PV installations had generated 1,540 GW hours of power from May 2016 to April 2017 and helped reduce wholesale energy prices by up to half, it said. During heatwaves in February, the contribution from small-scale solar reduced the average price of wholesale electricity by up to AUD258/MWh.


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Musk's offer to rebuild Puerto Rico grid changes aid game
 "Now along comes Musk, and suddenly investors have another way to look at Puerto Rico. Bond debts or no bond debts, Tesla could make a project on the island profitable for its investors even just as a demonstration of what the company could do for better paying municipal customers elsewhere."

But the relief effort is being joined, and in some cases led, by corporations. There are also extensive data being published showing that the private sector essentially did a good job in response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. After Hurricane Maria, Apple, Google, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Burger King, Goya, all stepped up and Wal-Mart is again setting the pace with up to $5 million in cash and product donations to Maria victims alone.

And along with the private sector stepping up to the plate, there are signs that the government may be realizing one part of the charity job it should stop doing altogether. That is, ending the practice of making ordinary American taxpayers continue to underwrite national flood insurance for sometimes richer Americans who choose to build homes in flood areas. President Trump even mentioned the idea of putting an end to subsidized national flood insurance for new homes built in those areas from now on.

Just like that, we have evidence that the government and the public have become used to the private sector doing more and the public sector doing less after disasters... as long as it works.

Like I said, timing is everything.

And, just to be fully honest, let's not ignore the fact that these companies stand to earn some very valuable positive public relations from all of his and even a bit of powerful advertising.

But now Musk is taking that idea and moving it a crucial step further. Because he and Tesla are focusing on making an investment in Puerto Rico's recovery.

The investment community's response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico has been in special focus because of the island's heavy debt and President Trump's comment that those debts would need to be "wiped out."

Now along comes Musk, and suddenly investors have another way to look at Puerto Rico. Bond debts or no bond debts, Tesla could make a project on the island profitable for its investors even just as a demonstration of what the company could do for better paying municipal customers elsewhere. Again, that takes us to a new place from just the valuable public relations effect Wal-Mart and other companies gain from pitching in cash and material after disasters.

And Musk isn't alone. Google parent Alphabet has just secured FCC approval to float large balloons over Puerto Rico to restore cellular service. Again, whether Alphabet does this for free or at cost isn't the point. It's going to be demonstrating its abilities to create an investment worthy tool for disaster recovery.

This is a new approach in many ways, but perhaps this is actually the beginning of a return to America's historic roots. The best example is probably what happened after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed much of the city and the private sector began to rebuild quickly and without waiting for much government direction or aid.

Now that rebuilding effort wasn't perfect, but the speed with which the city bounced back is a well documented case of effective recovery. And the savvy response of one San Franciscan named A.P. Giannini, who just happened to run a bank in the city, was essential to that recovery. Giannini broke with his fellow bankers in the city and set up shop on the docks near San Francisco's North Beach and began extending loans right then and there. His actions not only were a crucial factor in the city's recovery, it started the process of turning his small local bank into the huge multinational Bank of America.

Will Musk become Puerto Rico's Giannini? He certainly could in many ways. But so could some of Musk's peers like Google, which undoubtedly could find a way to profit not from tragedy, but from leading the recovery from tragedy.

The best news is that people like Musk et al. are not only willing to try, but Americans and the current White House seem to be very willing to let them.

Output: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company could assist with rebuilding Puerto Rico's energy infrastructure, which was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria. Responding on Twitter to a suggestion he could help with independent solar and battery systems, Musk said that Tesla had already assisted smaller islands with such technology, and as there was "no scalability limit", the same could be done for Puerto Rico. He stressed the decision would be in the hands of the island's government, but his intervention raises the potential for more large corporations to play a role in disaster recovery work.


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Indonesian geothermal plant commissions second unit
 RENO, Nev., Oct. 10, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ORA) today announced that the second unit of the Sarulla geothermal power plant, one of the world's largest power plants, located in Indonesia's North Sumatra, has commenced commercial operation.

The Sarulla power plant includes three units of approximately 110 MW each, utilizing both steam and brine extracted from the geothermal field to increase the power plant’s efficiency. SIL, the first unit of the power plant commenced commercial operation on March 17, 2017 and is performing well. The second unit, NIL 1, completed successfully its testing and commenced COD on October 2, 2017 selling additional 110 MW to the state-owned Indonesian power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) under a 30 years Energy Sales Contract. Sarulla power plant is operated by Sarulla Operations Ltd. (SOL). The third unit, NIL 2, is under construction and SOL expects the unit to commence operation in 2018.

SOL is a consortium consists of Medco Energi Internasional Tbk, Inpex Corporation, Itochu Corporation, Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc., and Ormat subsidiary that hold 12.75% equity interest.

About Ormat Technologies

With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (REG), with the objective of becoming a leading global provider of renewable energy. The company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter – a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. With 73 U.S. patents, Ormat’s power solutions have been refined and perfected under the most grueling environmental conditions. Ormat has 530 employees in the United States and 720 overseas. Ormat’s flexible, modular solutions for geothermal power and REG are ideal for the vast range of resource characteristics. The company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed to utilities and developers worldwide, totaling over 2,200 MW of gross capacity. Ormat’s current 776 MW generating portfolio is spread globally in the U.S., Guatemala, Guadeloupe, Honduras, Indonesia and Kenya. Ormat also intends to expand its operations and provide energy management and energy storage solutions, by leveraging its core capabilities and global presence as well as through its Viridity Energy Solutions, Inc. subsidiary, a Philadelphia-based company with nearly a decade of expertise and leadership in demand response, energy management and storage.

Ormat’s Safe Harbor Statement

Information provided in this press release may contain statements relating to current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about future events that are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally relate to Ormat's plans, objectives and expectations for future operations and are based upon its management's current estimates and projections of future results or trends. Actual future results may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" as described in Ormat Technologies, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2017.

These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Ormat Technologies Contact:

Smadar Lavi

Head of Investor Relations

775-356-9029 (ext. 65726)

slavi@ormat.com

Investor Relations Agency Contact:

Rob Fink/Brett Maas

Hayden - IR

646-415-8972/646-536-7331

rob@haydenir.com / brett@haydenir.com

Output: Nevada-based renewable energy company Ormat Technologies has begun commercial operations at the second unit of its geothermal power plant in Indonesia. The Sarulla power plant is operated by a consortium of investors and consists of three 110 MW units, the first of which was commissioned in March. The plant sells energy to the country's state-owned power company PLN under a 30-year contract. The third unit is expected to enter service next year.


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Green Charge to build first grid-scale energy storage project
 Storage developer Green Charge has made its first foray into utility-scale projects with a 3-megawatt/6-megawatt-hour deal in Massachusetts, marking an early entry in that state's nascent storage market.

Green Charge made its name with commercial-scale behind-the-meter projects, setting up batteries at 7-Eleven shops in New York that were able to continue to serve customers even through Superstorm Sandy. In 2016, European energy giant Engie bought a controlling stake. With the parent company’s balance sheet and professional network, the storage company was able to increase its scale of operation.

“It’s our biggest announced project,” said CEO Vic Shao. “We’ve got lots of other things in the works right now that we’re not ready to talk about yet.”

When the system comes on-line in April 2018, it will help Holyoke Gas & Electric reduce its annual systemwide peak charge, which ultimately affects the city’s ratepayers.

The project leverages a few sources of funding, and complies with the criteria of the federal Investment Tax Vredit by charging from a 5.76-megawatt Mt. Tom Solar plant Engie built earlier this year.

The government of Massachusetts provided a $475,000 grant, although that isn’t contributing to the economics of the system, Shao said. That money will fund research by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to study the value of the system for the distribution grid, with a focus on peak reduction.

Most strikingly, the battery system will be owned by a bank, another first for Green Charge.

PNC Bank will own the asset, and lease it back to Green Charge to operate on behalf of the municipal utility customer. This arrangement lowers the cost of capital for the storage system.

“The pure fact that a bank is signing off on and buying storage is a tremendous indication of the maturity of the storage market,” Shao said. “In the past, we’ve had to balance-sheet these kinds of storage assets.”

The leaseback setup means the bank owns the assets and provides money to Green Charge upfront to develop the project. Green Charge will make monthly payments back to the bank with revenue it generates from operating the storage. The bank also nabs the ITC, which places some restrictions on how the battery can operate for the remainder of the tax credit's availability.

Bank interest in owning storage systems is pretty new for the industry, but it bodes well, said GTM Research analyst Daniel Finn-Foley.

"The entry of financial entities into the project ownership ecosystem is an important milestone for any emerging industry, as it truly puts the 'bank' in 'bankability,'" he said. "As financial entities begin putting their muscle behind projects, expect to see assets trading hands and further investment as energy storage capitalizes on its proven track record."

The storage contract with Holyoke is for 20 years, the same time span as the solar contract.

Commercial storage is pretty much a demand-charge game these days, so at first glance, the pivot to utility-scale sounds like a change in direction. But it’s actually more similar than one might think, Shao said.

“Our behind-the-meter experience applies completely in the situation with Holyoke,” he said. “Energy arbitrage is a lot easier. [...] Shaving the systemwide peak on an annual basis requires a whole lot of sophistication.”

In other words, helping the municipal utility avoid paying too much for its annual peak ends up looking like demand-charge reduction on the citywide scale.

The task is similar in cases where the storage system is needed to avoid overloading an interconnection hookup or to defer a transmission upgrade: It’s all about keeping the flow of electricity below a certain threshold.

Without getting too specific, Shao said Green Charge has begun eyeing international expansion, leveraging the resources of its corporate backer.

“Engie operates in 70 countries with 150,000 employees around the world,” he said. “It gives instant credibility when we enter a new market -- and instant resources.”

In the meantime, he envisions more work to be done in Massachusetts. That state has had a few significant storage projects thus far, but policymakers have made an effort to incubate the industry with a procurement target and supporting funds and programs.

This has been the first major movement in the market since the state announced its goal of 200 megawatt-hours by 2020 back in July. That policy didn’t kick off a flurry of storage development just yet, but Shao insists “it’s a market that's primed and ready for storage.”

The express enthusiasm of the governor and legislature certainly helps, as does a customer base with a strong interest in clean energy. The state also happens to be home to a number of other municipal utilities, which have their peak charges to deal with -- and the ability to move quickly and make a storage deal happen.

“Getting the first one across the finish line required a lot of heavy lifting to push and get the deal done,” Shao said. “Now that it’s done, we’re experiencing a lot of customer pull: a ‘Holyoke did it; I want to do it too’ kind of thing.”

Output: US energy storage company Green Charge is to build its first grid-scale project in Massachusetts. The company, majority-owned by France's Engie since last year, will provide the battery system to Holyoke Gas & Electric for 20 years from April 2018. The project uses an innovative financing model, with the asset owned by PNC Bank, which will fund its construction and lease it back to Green Charge.


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RWE betting on Uniper disposals after Fortum takeover
 By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff

FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Germany's RWE is likely to buy Uniper assets that Fortum sells after the Finnish firm's planned 8.05 billion euro ($9.5 billion) takeover rather than launch a counterbid, investors and M&A sources said.

State-controlled Fortum, under pressure from investors to do a big deal, bid for Uniper last month to try to snap up a 46.65 percent stake E.ON wants to divest.

Fortum is mainly interested in Uniper's assets in Sweden and Russia and less in its more polluting gas and coal fired power plants, which would be a better fit for RWE, the sources said.

"It is much cheaper for RWE to wait it out than embarking on a bidding war with Fortum," a person familiar with the deal said, adding that RWE would essentially be "cherry-picking".

RWE declined to comment on its plans on Friday.

Fortum, keen to expand its carbon-free energy business, said it had no plans for a restructuring and wants to be a long-term investor in Uniper.

However, Finnish business daily Kauppalehti on Friday quoted Fortum's head of generation Tiina Tuomela as saying that the company expects the power industry to stop using coal in the long term, without commenting on the company's short-term plans.

Investors doubt Fortum will hold on to all of Uniper's assets should its bid succeed.

"There is a chance that Uniper will be broken up," said Thomas Deser, fund manager at Union Investment, a Uniper shareholder, adding RWE could be interested in Uniper's 1.05 gigawatt Datteln 4 coal-fired plant.

Smaller deals would also be more in line with RWE's strategy of selective M&A.

RWE could easily sell stakes in its network and renewable unit Innogy, in which it still holds 76.8 percent, to pay for parts of Uniper, the sources said.

Fortum has bid 22 euros per share for Uniper, which is trading at around 24 euros and any counterbid would have to be above 26 euros to compensate for a break-up fee, Andreas Schneller, fund manager at Swiss asset manager EIC, said.

"Chances for a counterbid are currently zero," he added.

Uniper, which is opposed to the deal, hopes that the Finnish government could shy away given expected ratings downgrades for Fortum, one of the people said. But Finland's Economy Minister earlier this week said it supported the deal. ($1 = 0.8447 euros) (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt and Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell in Helsinki; editing by Alexander Smith and Adrian Croft)

Output: German utility RWE is likely to cherry pick from Uniper's assets, including its coal-fired power plants, following its acquisition by state-owned Finnish firm Fortnum, according to anonymous insiders. "It is much cheaper for RWE to wait it out than embarking on a bidding war with Fortum," sources familiar with the deal said. Fortnum has said it has no plans to break up Uniper's assets, though head of generation Tiina Tuomela was recently quoted by Finnish paper Kauppalehti as saying the firm expected "the power industry to stop using coal in the long term".


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Nuclear blast-resistant tech added to Russian combat robo-suit
 Stormtrooper Chic

Russia has a new battle suit that seems to be visually inspired by Star Wars's Imperial Shadow Stormtroopers. While Russia's version likely doesn't come with a cloaking device, the high-tech armor does have a few tricks up its sleeves, including nuclear blast resistant tech.

The suit was developed by Rostec and is called the Ratnik-3. The latest upgrade to the new armor includes a reportedly nuclear blast resistant watch. According to a statement released by the press office, the Chief Designer for the Life Support System of the Soldier Combat Outfit at the Central Scientific Research Institute for Precision Machine Engineering, Oleg Faustov, says "The watch, which we have included in the Ratnik outfit, retains its properties upon the impact of radiation and electromagnetic impulses, for example, upon a nuclear blast."

The watch also features a self-winding mechanism and operates under water.

Other perks of the 59 items Rostec has included in the suit include a powered exoskeleton, which is said to give soldiers greater strength and stamina; the latest in bulletproof body armor tech; and a full face-covering visor and helmet equipped with a video game-esque heads-up display (HUD). According to Russian state-owned media outlet Tass, the weight of the completed combat gear will be reduced by 30% when it is released for use in the field.

The Ratnik 3 is expected to be ready for use by 2022.

Next-Gen War

The future of how we will one day wage war is being developed now. The United States is also working on a high-tech combat suit of its own. The suit, inspired by pop culture, has been dubbed the Iron Man.

Weapons are also getting next-gen upgrades, with laser weapons currently being deployed in various forms around the world. The United States Navy has the Laser Weapons System (LaWS) mounted on the USS Ponce, an amphibious naval transport dock, to defend against drone strikes and eventually incoming missiles. China has also previously given its soldiers laser weapons designed to blind opponents. Click to View Full Infographic

In the sky, killer drones the size of a quadcopter have been developed to carry weapons. The Air Force is even training soldiers to get the military ready for combat in space with extraterrestrials or other hostile interests.

Of course, with all these developments, it maybe good to be reminded what a nuclear showdown would do to the planet—and hope that these future technologies rarely have to be put to use.

Output: Ratnik-3, a high-tech combat suit made by Russian state tech firm Rostec, has been upgraded with "nuclear blast-resistant" components. A resistant self-winding watch has been added to withstand radiation and electromagnetic pulses, as well as work underwater. The suit itself features a powered exoskeleton, bulletproof body armour, and a heads-up display in a full face visor. The outfit is expected to be completed in 2022, and is due to be 30% lighter in weight when released for field use.


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Enel sells 80% of 1 GW Mexican solar farm
 The Italian energy company Enel has announced it has sold an 80% stake in 1.7 GW of operational renewable energy power projects or currently under construction in Mexico to Canadian institutional investor Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Mexican pension funds CKD Infraestructura México S.A. de C.V. (CKD IM).

The transaction includes 1 GW of PV projects, which is comprised of the Villanueva I (427 MW), Villanueva III (327 MW) and Don José (238 MW) solar plants. As for the two Villanueva projects, where construction began in late March, Santiago Barcón, a columnist for Energía Hoy and an advisor to Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission, told pv magazine in early August that Enel had already put the project up for sale and is listening for offers.

Enel said the portfolio, owned by special purpose vehicles of its local subsidiary Enel Green Power México S.r.l. de C.V, consists of 429 MW of operational power plants and 1,283 MW under construction.

The $1.35 billion transaction is being implemented through the sale of 80% of a newly formed Mexican holding company, which will own the special purposes vehicles, for $340 million and through a $1.01 billion financing granted to the vehicles by CDPQ-CKD.

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“The new model”, said Enel Green Power’s head Antonio Cammisecra, “represents an opportunity for partners willing to invest in a large and diversified portfolio of projects in strategic areas, supported by long-term power purchase agreements, with the plants developed, built and operated by Enel Green Power. This strategy enables us to further exploit our global pipeline of solar and wind projects to gain access to additional resources, accelerating our growth.”

Enel said that the transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of this year.

The 754 MW Villanueva project is located in the Mexican state of Coahuila and is part of the 1 GW capacity that Enel won in Mexico’s first energy auction, which was held in 2016. In the energy auction held last year, Enel also won a contract for the 238 MW Don José solar project in Guanajuato, which is also part of the transaction and where construction started in April. For this project the company secured a 15-year PPA and a 20-year clean energy certificate sales contract.

Output: Canadian institutional investor, la Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and consortium CKD Infraestructura México will acquire 80% of a renewable energy portfolio operated by Enel Green Power. The deal, worth $1.35bn, includes the Villanueva I and II, and Don José photovoltaic plants, totalling almost 1 GW, and is set to be completed by the end of this year.


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US concentrated solar company ESolar 'disappears'
 The concentrated solar power player eSolar, one of just three remaining companies in the U.S. specializing in tower designs, appears to have ceased operating.

GTM emails this month to key eSolar leadership team members, including chairman and founder Bill Gross, executive vice president of projects Dale Rogers and vice president of systems engineering Michael Slack, failed to elicit any response from the company.

Although Gross and Rogers still cite eSolar as their current employer on their LinkedIn profiles, and the business is listed among Gross’ Idealab incubator startups, the company’s website delivers a blank page with the words "Please come back later."

The Burbank, California-based business has fallen out of the news cycle since closing $22 million of a $30 million funding round in 2013. But before then, the company had been credited with bringing to market a potentially groundbreaking modular power tower technology.

In 2007, when eSolar was founded, the CSP industry was entering its second phase of maturation, characterized by the evolution of technologies developed during the 1980s and ‘90s.

The genesis of the industry last century led to a range of CSP technology concepts, from solar chimneys to linear Fresnel designs, with California’s Solar Energy Generating Systems parabolic trough plant leading the way in terms of size and performance.

In the 2000s, parabolic trough emerged as the design of choice for CSP. But Spanish and American developers began investigating a new concept, power towers, which promised higher efficiencies by focusing the full force of an entire solar field onto a single central receiver.

Companies including BrightSource Energy and SolarReserve in the U.S. and Abengoa and Sener in Spain pursued large-scale power tower projects that offered attractive economies of scale but were fraught in terms of permitting and financing.

Meanwhile, eSolar chose to commercialize a smaller-scale, modular plant design starting at 46 megawatts, with mass-manufactured heliostats to cut the cost of the solar field. Each 46-megawatt unit was intended to have 12 towers with their corresponding heliostat fields.

Under the aegis of internet entrepreneur Gross, eSolar pulled in funding from the likes of Google, Oak Investment Partners, NRG Energy, GE, ACME Group and Quercus Trust. By 2011 it was reported to have raised $182 million.

It also made headlines in 2010 by becoming the first Western firm to break into the Chinese CSP market, under a deal to develop up to 2 gigawatts of generating capacity with China Shandong Penglai Electric Power Equipment Manufacturing.

In 2013, eSolar’s name was attached to several other CSP projects worldwide, including the Gaskell, Alpine and Sierra SunTower plants in the U.S., the Dervish project in Turkey and the Acme Rajasthan Solar Power 1 plant in India.

Of these, only the Sierra SunTower and Acme Rajasthan Solar Power project are thought to have been completed.

And while eSolar’s concept was praised for its potential to avoid the gargantuan project development challenges facing larger plants, not everyone was convinced by the technology.

This was particularly the case at the turn of the decade, when it became apparent that the only way CSP could overcome competition from cheaper PV would be to add thermal storage into the equation.

“The big challenge for CSP is the cost comparison with PV, in light of the dramatic cost reductions in PV over the last few years,” said Kevin Smith, SolarReserve’s chief executive.

“If energy storage is a requirement, CSP with technologies like ours is a cheaper option than PV with batteries. However, small-scale CSP just makes the cost issues more difficult, and energy storage is a challenge in small-scale CSP.”

Elsewhere, research suggested that eSolar may have gone below the solar field optimum size with its modular approach.

A study led by Dr. Luis Crespo, president of the European solar thermal association ESTELA, found that even in hazy locations plant designers should aim for around 30 megawatts of solar field per tower. ESolar’s “was an unfeasible concept,” Crespo said.

It is rumored that eSolar may have let go of most of its staff at the end of last year. It is not known whether the company’s assets or intellectual property were acquired by a third party.

Output:
US solar energy company ESolar may have ceased trading or dramatically scaled down its operations. Its website has gone blank, senior executives are not replying to emails, and it is rumoured that most of its staff left at the end of last year. Since its foundation in 2007, the Californian firm had pioneered concentrated solar technologies, commercialising smaller-scale plants, and raising a reported $182m from investors by 2011. It completed projects in India and the US, but is thought to have struggled to compete with the falling cost of PV solar generation.
Technology: Advanced solar


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Solar PV monitoring has become commoditised
 The world of supervisory controls and data acquisition systems (SCADA) is evolving at a rapid pace to meet the changing needs of the PV industry around the world.

The latest edition of GTM Research’s annual report on the topic, Global PV Monitoring 2017-2022, identifies the trends that shape and sometimes shake this small yet increasingly critical component of modern PV plants.

1. PV monitoring is commoditized

Basic monitoring functions are now commoditized and subject to price pressure in most markets. Clients assume that any monitoring solution will reliably collect information and present it in a useful and intuitive interface. Offering such functions is no guarantee for success, and doing them well does not command a price premium. On the other hand, any shortcoming with these core functions can quickly result in loss of market share and lasting brand damage.

2. Monitoring platforms must improve plant returns

Increasing production and reducing operating costs remain the key battlegrounds for differentiation in the utility and industrial segments. All monitoring vendors support alerting and performance deviation analysis, which thus is not differentiated. More vendors seek to stand out by leveraging new technologies like machine learning to provide better fault detection and diagnosis, as well as to enable fault prediction.

3. Control functions remain differentiated

Control functions drive higher prices and margins, especially in the utility segment where advanced grid integration functions often require complex SCADA systems. Even in distributed generation segments, in markets favoring self-consumption (like Germany and Australia) or imposing grid export limits (like Hawaii), these features are core to the functionality of the PV system itself. For example, in self-consumption markets, the focus is to increase local usage of solar-generated energy and to reduce grid imports. To this effect, some monitoring systems offer automatic optimization of energy expenditures via control of home or business appliances, and via integration with energy storage systems.

4. Fleet operators want process integration

Tight business process integration between monitoring systems, computerized maintenance management systems, and asset management software is a key requirement from fleet owners and operators around the globe, whether via a single platform or multiple point solutions integrated together.

5. The utility PV monitoring market is becoming global

While most residential and commercial monitoring markets still favor local vendors, globalization is accelerating in the utility segment, where large portfolio investors own plants in multiple countries and often standardize on a single data platform.

6. Major inverter vendors are strong competitors

Monitoring hardware is now commonly built inside residential and commercial inverters. Software packages from major inverter providers like SMA, SolarEdge and Enphase are increasingly feature-rich, especially for self-consumption and energy storage integration, and commonly offered at a low (or for no) price. As a result, independent software vendors must find areas of differentiation, especially in self-consumption markets where the homeowner is now the main user of monitoring (vs. the installer) and does not value inverter independence or fleet-level functions.

7. Monitoring adoption rates are increasing in every market

Self-consumption drove residential monitoring adoption rates from 10 percent to practically 100 percent in Australia. Japan’s new FIT rules mandating that PV systems have a maintenance plan should drive monitoring adoption rates up in the residential and commercial segments. Free or near-free solutions offered by inverter firms are also pushing higher adoption rates for residential and commercial PV.

For more global and country-by-country PV monitoring trends, as well as market size and forecasts to 2022 and competitive landscape analysis by segment (residential, commercial, industrial, utility) and key country, please refer to GTM Research's new report Global PV Monitoring 2017-2022: Markets, Trends and Leading Players.

Output: The photovoltaic monitoring industry has become increasingly commoditised, leading to higher client expectation and increased risk of brand damage, according to an annual report by GTM Research. Vendors of monitoring platforms are adopting technologies including machine learning to stand out from their competitors, while the utility monitoring market has increasingly globalised compared with its commercial and residential counterparts.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Sun-tracking solar panels invade rooftop market
 A startup has installed close to 3,000 solar trackers on top of an industrial rooftop in Southern California, earning the title of “world’s largest rooftop solar tracker installation.”

That’s a solar industry equivalent to being "the world’s tallest leprechaun." Trackers -- which allow solar panels to move with the sun throughout the day -- aren’t commonly used on the tops of roofs.

Strong winds, small roof spaces and heavy tracking gear mean that much of the tracker hardware doesn’t make economic sense on top of a roof. Instead, tracking systems are being used in the majority of the large ground-mounted solar systems that are found in remote regions. Trackers boost the amount of energy a solar system generates and can lower the overall cost.

But startup Edisun Microgrids, which was founded by tech entrepreneur Bill Gross and emerged a year ago, has developed a dual-axis rooftop tracking system specifically designed for the roofs of commercial and industrial building owners. Its distributed trackers pivot from the bottom edge of a panel (instead of from the center in most tracker systems) and can also retract to lie flat against the roof.

The company says its rooftop tracking gear can boost the energy output of a solar project by 30 percent compared to fixed-tilt trackers and 40 percent compared to solar panels without trackers. The hardware adds 10 percent onto a budget of a solar project, and can improve the economics of a solar installation by 20 percent, says founder and CEO Gross.

“We’re hoping to show tracking is just as valuable on the roof compared to the ground," he said. "We hope this will be a big sea change and make a big impact."

The company’s big solar-tracker project was installed on an industrial rooftop in Oxnard, Calif., which is being used by produce distributor Chiquita Brands International. The 1-megawatt solar array is using 2,900 trackers across 368,000 square feet. West Hills Construction developed the project, and it’s financed and owned by building owner Harry Ross Industries.

The project is the first larger one by Edisun Microgrids, but Gross said that the company has a pipeline of 20 megawatts-worth of projects to be built on the roofs of commercial and industrial buildings. The company says ideal customers include warehouse owners, retail outlets, college campuses and hospitals.

While the Chiquita roof is a big step for Edisun Microgrids, it could face an uphill climb. The industry is notoriously hard for solar hardware startups to break into.

“The solar industry is quite conservative and price-sensitive. They’re producing electricity, which is a commodity,” noted Scott Moskowitz, a solar analyst at GTM Research.

When it comes to Edisun Microgrid’s prospects, Moskowitz pointed out that adding an individual tracker to each module adds equipment, complexity and cost.

“Proving that their technology adds enough value (via increased performance) and reliability will be an extremely difficult thing to do,” said Moskowitz.

However, Moskowitz also noted that the commercial sector is more willing to invest in the premium that the new tracking gear would require. If Edisun can prove that the performance and economics work, there could be an opportunity in certain areas like California or Arizona, said Moskowitz.

Gross said that the majority of the company’s customers are in California. “Whenever I fly into the San Jose airport, I can see all those white warehouse roofs that would be perfect,” said Gross.

Edisun Microgrids has grown to 16 employees, and Gross says the company is looking for funding to expand.

Output: Californian start-up Edisun Microgrids could bring solar trackers to the commercial rooftop sector, following the successful installation of a 1 MW solar array using the technology in Oxnard. Solar trackers, which follow the sun as it moves across the sky, are traditionally deployed in utility-scale projects on the ground, but Edisun developed a dual-axis rooftop system ideal for warehouses, retail outlets and hospitals. The company said its trackers can improve a solar project's energy output by between 30% and 40%, compared to fixed-tilt and non-tracking arrays.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
MaTontine unveils financial services plan for poor in Senegal
 Senegalese fintech startup MaTontine has launched a nationwide pilot with the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), aiming to roll out innovative solutions that accelerate the way innovation improves and expands financial services for low-income populations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Established in 2015, MaTontine has automated the traditional savings circles found throughout Africa, and built a software platform that enables it to work with a range of partners to provide access to small loans and related financial services for the financially excluded.

“The problem we are trying to solve is an enduring and challenging one: how to unlock access to financial services like small loans to the poor at scale. The banks and micro-finance institutions have realised that they cannot do this profitably at scale with their current infrastructure,” MaTontine managing director Bernie Akporiaye told Disrupt Africa.

“It turns out that it’s actually very difficult to profitably make small loans like US$100. Consequently, for our members the only providers of these type of loans charge between 25 per cent and 100 per cent per annum.”

MaTontine – which was recently named the winner of the Senegalese leg of the global Seedstars World startups competition – solves this problem by utilising mobile phones and its platform to digitise the benefits of traditional savings groups, reducing the cost of borrowing by 75 per cent or more.

“For our solution, we went back about century to a system used all over the developing world. It is called Tontines in Francophone Africa; the industry term is Rotating Savings and Credit Associations,” Akporiaye said.

Here’s how it works. A group of, say, 10 people, each with its own manager, contributes, say, US$10 every month into a pot. At the end of the month one member of the group collects the pot of US$100. This cycle repeats itself until everybody has won the US$100 pot.

“Our innovation is to build a digital platform that automates this whole process and incorporates a credit scoring system in order for us to facilitate small loans and other financial services like micro-insurance from our partners based on the credit score of our members. All financial transactions are done digitally using mobile phones and mobile money,” Akporiaye said.

MaTontine is now ready to make this innovation readily available through its pilot with the World Bank’s CGAP, testing how the digitisation of traditional savings circles and the use of mobile payments can significantly improve the delivery of financial products and services at scale to women and the rural poor in Senegal.

For the six-month pilot, the startup is teaming up with payment providers like Yup and Wari, financial institutions such as COFINA and Manko, and insurance providers like SUNU Assurances Vie and PMAS.

“Up until recently we were self-funded. We have however accepted grant funding from the World Bank,” Akporiaye said.

“In December 2016 we completed our last pilot, with 2,000 members including 475 active ones, to which we have granted small loans for a total amount of US$12,000, with a default rate of zero per cent. We have a goal of acquiring at least 10,000 members by the end of the year.”

Currently only operating in Senegal, MaTontine does have plans to expand throughout Francophone Africa, starting with Ivory Coast next year. Access to the platform is free, with the startup generating revenues through commissions from partners who offer products such as loans and insurance.

Output: Fintech start-up MaTontine is piloting financial services solutions for low-income citizens across Senegal, with the help of the World Bank’s Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). The company operates a software platform that automates of traditional savings circles common in Africa and links them to providers of such products as savings accounts and small loans. MaTontine hopes to expand access to financial services across sub-Saharan Africa using its low-cost infrastructure.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
California gas peaker likely to be cancelled for renewable option
 It's beginning to look like NRG's proposed Puente gas plant may never see the light of day.

The California Energy Commission members assigned to draft a proposed decision on permitting the contested peaker plant unveiled a surprise sneak peak of their thinking Thursday.

"It is clear to us that the Project will be inconsistent with several Laws, Ordinances, Regulations or Standards (LORS) and will create significant unmitigable environmental effects," wrote Commissioners Janea Scott and Karen Douglas. "This, in turn, requires us to consider feasible alternatives that avoid or reduce those impacts and inconsistencies."

Utility Southern California Edison selected NRG's proposal years ago to resolve a future reliability constraint in the region of Oxnard, on California's central coast.

Since that time, energy storage and other distributed energy resources have matured and proven their ability to respond quickly to grid reliability needs. That evolution prompted clean energy advocates, environmentalists and the City of Oxnard to oppose a new gas plant on its shore when cleaner options were available.

Puente has developed into a test case for energy storage to challenge the need for a new gas peaker plant. The storage industry has long said it is capable of displacing new peakers, which cost a lot of money but rarely operate, but it has had few opportunities to prove this. What's new here is that California's grid operator agreed it could be done.

In a study released in August, the California Independent System Operator found that storage and DERs could perform the technical needs that Puente would fulfill for local grid reliability. It would cost significantly more, though, according to that analysis.

Greentech Media reported that month that the storage pricing data used in the CAISO study was out of date and overestimated the costs of a storage solution relative to the gas plant.

Subsequently, CAISO filed a document September 29 suggesting that the only way to know for sure how much a storage and DER alternative would cost is to run a new request for offers, and let the industry supply competitive bids.

"There appears to be an opportunity to conduct an expedited RFO and operationalize preferred resources prior to the summer 2021 timeframe,” the filing stated.

It was that note of urgency that prompted this week's early notice of the intent to reject Puente's application.

"While we have no current information about whether an expedited RFO is forthcoming, the timing constraints identified by the California ISO lead us to conclude that it is prudent to communicate the Committee’s position before we complete the [presiding member's proposed decision]," the letter notes.

When surveying the record of evidence, the commissioners see "significant unmitigable impacts" from the proposed gas plant. Meanwhile, the grid operator has attested that other alternatives can meet the need without imposing the environmental impacts of a new gas plant with several decades of lifespan.

Based on the available information, the commissioners see no reason to override the impacts and allow the gas plant to move forward.

There's a lot left unsaid here. Some of the confusion stems from the state's web of interweaving energy institutions. The CEC has authority to evaluate the environmental impacts of power plants approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, with CAISO advising based on its expertise.

The wording of the letter indicates the commissioners are waiting on someone else to seize the opportunity to launch a rapid RFO. This early notice is intended to give that entity reason to get the process started. Typically, energy procurement requests are carried out by utilities under the supervision of the CPUC, so SCE and the CPUC would be the logical audience for this remark.

Whether SoCal Edison has an appetite for re-running a procurement it already completed remains to be seen.

This is not the end of the procedural road on the CEC's side, either. Commissioners Scott and Douglas still need to formalize their opinion in a proposed decision, gather comments on it and send it to the full commission for the final decision.

Puente is not dead yet, but its prognosis has certainly dimmed. Now the question is what sort of action this unusual step kicks off among the relevant institutions, and whether that leads to the energy storage deployment that CAISO says is possible.

--

Join GTM for a deep dive into the budding domestic energy storage market at the U.S. Energy Storage Summit 2017. Utilities, financiers, regulators, technology innovators, and storage practitioners will all come together for two full days of data-intensive presentations, analyst-led panel sessions with industry leaders, and extensive, high-level networking. Learn more here.

Output:
The proposed Puente gas plant in California is likely to be cancelled after state authorities said the project is inconsistent with some regulations, and would damage the environment to an unacceptable extent. The California Energy Commission released an update on their thinking, stating that they would be recommending denial of the project. The statement from the committee suggested the state's power infrastructure company ISO should look for alternatives by running a new Request for Offer process. Campaigners against the plant have argued that energy storage technology would provide a more appropriate solution.
Technology: Battery technology, Advanced wind, Advanced solar


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Solar power to achieve grid parity in NYC before Johannesburg
 Residential solar will be cheaper than grid electricity in New York, London and Munich well before it becomes so in sun-drenched Johannesburg, according to new research.

In fact, behind-the-meter solar already makes financial sense in New York and Munich, found a study published last month by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School in London, U.K. And it will achieve grid parity in the British capital from 2020, said the authors.

But in Santiago, Chile, rooftop or industrial-scale solar will not be cost-competitive with grid supplies until 2025. In Bangalore, India, it will take until 2030. And in Johannesburg, South Africa it will take even longer.

“This modeling…shows the perhaps counterintuitive result of a lack of strong dependence on mean annual insolation for the point in time at which break-even happens,” wrote the authors.

The researchers based their findings on a novel conceptual framework looking at cost-competitiveness between grid supplies for residential or industrial customers and on-site solar on its own or coupled with daily battery storage.

They modeled scenarios for Johannesburg, London, Munich, New York, Santiago and Bangalore. Grid parity was harder to achieve in sunnier locations because of relatively low electricity prices and a higher cost of capital.

On the other hand, Munich, with high electricity costs and cheap capital, emerged as the leader in what the authors termed “firm power parity,” or when “a system of technologies can provide an energy service at the same or lower cost than conventional service providers.”

By 2030, the researchers predict that residential solar in Munich -- on its own and with storage -- will be cheaper than grid supplies. By the same year, PV on its own will be cheaper than the electricity industrial users can get from a utility.

Munich is the only city of the six surveyed where PV and battery storage will be economically viable by 2030, though.

Residential PV on its own will be cost-competitive in all locations except Johannesburg, while industrial solar alone will make financial sense in London, Munich, Santiago and Bangalore -- but not New York.

Charles Donovan, one of the study’s authors, said further work would be needed to see when PV, perhaps coupled with seasonal storage, could beat wholesale electricity on price.

“We focused on the near term, but we expect, in time, to fill out the matrix in its entirety,” he said.

This additional work would likely complement research into 100 percent renewable energy scenarios by experts such as Professor Mark Jacobson of Stanford University.

“In most countries, you’re going to need a significant over-build of the capacity of renewables,” Donovan predicted, “and storage is going to have to play some role in leveling that back out.”

The research so far showed it was not ideal to have all this storage deployed at residential scale, though. “There is a good amount of investment that needs to be made in the network,” Donovan said. “It doesn’t make sense for us to be trying to cover that intermittency ourselves.”

Yet, the research also showed that utilities in many countries could soon see a real threat of partial or total grid defection. In a press release, Imperial College warned of “major disruption to U.K. utilities by 2030.”

It is far from clear, though, whether falling PV and storage costs will in fact lead to mass grid defection, not least because consumers rarely respond to pricing signals in the way economic models anticipate they will.

Today, for instance, early adopters are buying into solar-plus-storage in many places where the business case for energy self-consumption is shaky at best.

And at the other end of the spectrum, “even when you’ve got something that is economically attractive, like switching [electricity] supplier, half the population isn’t doing it,” noted Jon Slowe, founding director of the consulting firm Delta Energy & Environment.

To get consumers hooked on distributed solar, “It needs to engage customers in a way the energy sector has failed to do so far,” Slowe said.

This does not mean utilities can rest easy, he said. Other companies could disrupt the market, giving consumers a cheaper, smarter way to acquire energy. “Our advice to utilities is based on the premise that this will happen whether you do something or not,” said Slowe.

Output: Solar power will equal the price of electricity from baseload sources such as coal and gas earlier in New York, London and Munich than it will in sunnier locations such as Johannesburg, according to the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment at London's Imperial College. Using a new model, it found that the sunnier locations would be hampered by existing low energy prices and the higher cost of capital. Residential solar PV will achieve grid parity in five of the cities studied by 2030, it said.