February 14 Green Energy News

Headline News:

• “How Did the Oroville Dam Crisis Get So Dire?” • On Sunday, authorities ordered 188,000 people near the Oroville dam in California to evacuate. Extreme weather, which scientists say was exacerbated by human-caused climate change, moved from drought to saturated in just months, filling a reservoir to levels that proved dangerous. [The Atlantic]

Spillway at the Oroville dam (California Department of Water Resources via Reuters)

• A report in Ward’s Auto dated February 7th says EV battery prices are falling faster than expected and could be lower than the magic $100 per kWh mark by 2020. A US Department of Energy goal of achieving a price of $125 by that year is turning out to be much too conservative. Some experts are expecting $80 per kWh. [CleanTechnica]
• One of Australia’s largest operators of coal-fired power plants has weighed into the national energy debate, calling for a non-partisan push to clean energy and reminding policy makers that the shift to renewables is “a reality” that must be addressed. The managing director said the way the country generated energy “had to change.” [RenewEconomy]
• ABB is to provide an innovative microgrid, combining battery and flywheel based storage technologies, to around 300,000 people in Anchorage, Alaska. The small scale project aims to identify technologies that enable integration of renewables, such as wind power from a 17-MW wind farm on a nearby island. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
• An innovative project developed at the University of Vermont has received a $1.8 million award from the US DOE’s SunShot Initiative. It is for research aimed at improving the electric grid’s ability to accommodate power generated from renewable energy sources. The award is one of only 13 to be awarded nationally. [Vermont Biz]
• Southwest Power Pool set a wind-penetration record of 52.1% at 4:30 a.m., Feb. 12, becoming the first regional transmission organization in North America to serve more than 50% of its load at a given time with wind energy. The milestone beats a previous North American RTO record of 49.2% that SPP set April 24, 2016. [Satellite PR News]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

February 14 Green Energy News posted first on Green Energy Times