Boxer will 'hound' Bush on emissions regulations

By San Francisco Chronicle


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Sen. Barbara Boxer promised to pressure the Bush administration to adopt California-style global warming regulations, saying that the Supreme Court "handed us a gift" with its recent landmark decision authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce greenhouse gases as a pollutant.

The decision "put the wind at our backs," the California Democrat said, vowing at the National Press Club to haul administration officials before her Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to ask them what immediate steps they will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are produced by the consumption of fossil fuels.

"I will hound them on this week after week after week after week," said Boxer, who chairs the committee. "It doesn't take China doing anything. It doesn't take India doing anything. It doesn't take Congress doing anything."

The administration has the power to act on its own, she said, and "I intend to move to make sure the administration uses its powers."

Among the steps she said she expects the agency to take is providing California a waiver from federal rules, which would allow the state to impose greenhouse gas emissions limits on automobiles. She also wants a similar rule adopted nationwide, as well as new limits on all coal-fired power plants. A national rule would reduce greenhouse gases from cars by 30 percent, she said, while gases from utilities account for 40 percent of emissions nationwide.

EPA chief Steve Johnson ihas appeared before the committee, along with Carol Browner, who ran the agency under Democratic President Bill Clinton and William Reilly, who headed it under Republican President George H.W. Bush.

Although President Bush embraced global warming as a problem in his January State of the Union address, his administration opposes forcing industry to cut emissions. Boxer faces an uphill struggle to pass a global warming bill in Congress, even though she said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has made the issue second only to the Iraq war on the Democrats' agenda.

Boxer promised to move a bill out of her committee as soon as she has Republican support. While that support is growing among moderates - committee member Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, is poised to introduce a global warming bill - Boxer conceded it is unlikely that Democrats will be able to overcome the 60-vote filibuster threshold needed to pass global warming legislation in this Congress.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco faces a similar difficulty pushing global warming legislation through the House, despite creating a special committee on the issue and pledging to have a bill by July.

At the first hearing of the special committee, Republicans questioned efforts to paint global warming as a national security threat.

"Unfortunately, this debate hasn't been characterized by common sense. It's been characterized by extremism," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. "While this extremism hasn't done anything to produce effective solutions, it has created a lot of hot air, which hasn't been good for Congress' carbon footprint."

But Boxer, in her speech to the press club, said she is counting on public pressure to force the administration to act before the 2008 elections.

"At some point," she said, "the administration will realize that the price isn't worth it," to stand in the way. "Congress is at stake. The presidency is at stake."

Boxer ruled out a carbon tax, widely viewed by economists as an efficient and quick way to encourage energy conservation and reduce fossil fuel consumption, especially gasoline, by raising prices. For that same reason, it is highly unpopular politically.

"There's no support for it," Boxer said. Clinton attempted early in his first term to impose an energy tax, but was hammered by Republicans, and the idea hasn't surfaced seriously in Congress since.

Boxer instead favors a "cap and trade" system modeled on the approach taken by California's new law and by Europe. Under such a system, the government sets emissions levels and develops a market in emissions, in which companies can earn credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or buy credits from other companies that can do so more cheaply. Such a system was initially adopted by Bush's father's administration to curb acid rain pollutants from power plants. The idea was initially denounced but has since been widely embraced. While leveraging market forces, it has the political advantage of targeting industry, while hitting consumers only indirectly.

"At the end of the day, it does the same thing," Boxer said of a cap-and-trade system versus a carbon tax. "You put a price on carbon."

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U.S. Electricity Sales Projections Continue to Fall

US Electricity Demand Outlook examines EIA forecasts, GDP decoupling, energy efficiency, electrification, electric vehicles, grid load growth, and weather variability to frame long term demand trends and utility planning scenarios.

 

Key Points

An analysis of EIA projections showing demand decoupling from GDP, with EV adoption and efficiency shaping future grid load.

✅ EIA lowers load growth; demand decouples from GDP.

✅ Efficiency and sector shifts depress kWh sales.

✅ EV adoption could revive load and capacity needs.

 

Electricity producers and distributors are in an unusual business. The product they provide is available to all customers instantaneously, literally at the flip of a switch. But the large amount of equipment, both hardware and software to do this takes years to design, site and install.

From a long range planning perspective, just as important as a good engineering design is an accurate sales projections. For the US electric utility industry the most authoritative electricity demand projec-tions come from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA's compre-hensive reports combine econometric analysis with judgment calls on social and economic trends like the adoption rate of new technologies that could affect future electricity demand, things like LED light-ing and battery powered cars, and the rise of renewables overtaking coal in generation.

Before the Great Recession almost a decade ago, the EIA projected annual growth in US electricity production at roughly 1.5 percent per year. After the Great Recession began, the EIA lowered its projections of US electricity consumption growth to below 1 percent. Actual growth has been closer to zero. While the EIA did not antici-pate the last recession or its aftermath, we cannot fault them on that.

After the event, though, the EIA also trimmed its estimates of economic growth. For the 2015-2030 period it now predicts 2.1 percent economic and 0.3 percent electricity growth, down from previously projections of 2.7 percent and 1.3 percent respectively. (See Figures 1 and 2.)



 

Table 1. EIA electric generation projections by year of forecast (kWh billions)

 


 

Table 2. EIA forecast of GDP by year of forecast (billion 2009 $)

Back in 2007, the EIA figured that every one percent increase in economic activity required a 0.48 percent in-crease in electric generation to support it. By 2017, the EIA calculated that a 1 percent growth in economic activity now only required a 0.14 percent increase in electric output. What accounts for such a downgrade or disconnect between electricity usage and economic growth? And what factors might turn the numbers 
around?

First, the US economy lost energy intensive heavy industry like smelting, steel mills and refineries; patterns in China's electricity sector highlight how industrial shifts can reshape power demand. A more service oriented economy (think health care) relies more heavily on the movement of data or information and uses far less power than a manufacturing-oriented economy.

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Second, internet shopping has hurt so-called "brick and mortar" retailers. Despite the departure of heavy industry, in years past a burgeoning US commercial sector increased its demand and usage of electricity to offset the industrial decline. But not anymore. Energy efficiency measures as well as per-haps greater concern about global warming and greenhouse gas emissions and have cut into electricity sales. “Do more with less” has the right ring to it.

But there may be other components to the ongoing decline in electricity usage. Academic studies show that electricity usage seems to increase with income along an S curve, and flattens out after a certain income level. That is, if you earn $1 billion per year you do not (or cannot) use ten times a much electricity as someone earning only $100 million.

But people at typical, middle income levels increase or decrease electricity usage when incomes rise or fall. The squeeze on middle income families was discussed often in the late presidential campaign. In recent decades an increasing percentage of income has gone to a small percentage of the population at the top of the income scale. This trend probably accounts for some weakness in residential sales. This suggests that government policy addressing income inequality would also boost electricity sales.

Population growth affects demand for electricity as well as the economy as a whole. The EIA has made few changes in its projections, showing 0.7 percent per year population growth in 2015- 2030 in both the 2007 and 2017 forecasts. Recent studies, however, have shown a drop in the birth rate to record lows. More troubling, from a national health perspective is that the average age of death may have stopped rising. Those two factors point to lower population growth, especially if the government also restricts immi-gration. Thus, the US may be approaching a period of rather modest population growth.

All of the above factors point to minimal sales growth for electricity producers in the US--perhaps even lower than the seemingly conservative EIA estimates. But the cloud on the horizon has a silver lining in the shape of an electric car. Both the United Kingdom and France have set dates to end of production of automobiles with internal combustion engines. Several European car makers have declared that 20 percent of their output will be electric vehicles by the early 2020s. If we adopt automobiles powered by electricity and not gasoline or diesel, electricity sales would increase by one third. For the power indus-try, electric vehicles represent the next big thing.

We don’t pretend to know how electric car sales will progress. But assume vehicle turnover rates re-main at the current 7 percent per year and electric cars account for 5 percent of sales in the first five years (as op-posed to 1 percent now), 20 percent in the next five years and 50 percent in the third five year period. Wildly optimistic assumptions? Maybe. By 2030, electric cars would constitute 28 percent of the vehicle fleet. They would add about 10 percent to kilowatt hour sales by that date, assuming that battery efficiencies do not improved by then. Those added sales would require increased electric generation output, with low-emissions sources expected to cover almost all the growth globally. They would also raise long term growth rates for 2015-2030 from the present 0.3 percent to 1.0 percent. The slow upturn in demand should give the electric companies time to gear up so to speak.

In the meantime, weather will continue to play a big role in electricity consumption. Record heat-induced demand peaks are being set here in the US even as surging global demand puts power systems under strain worldwide.

Can we discern a pattern in weather conditions 15 years out? Maybe we can, but that is one topic we don’t expect a government agency to tackle in public right now. Meantime, weather will affect sales more than anything else and we cannot predict the weather. Or can we?

 

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Attacks on power substations are growing. Why is the electric grid so hard to protect?

Power Grid Attacks surge across substations and transmission lines, straining critical infrastructure as DHS and FBI cite vandalism, domestic extremists, and cybersecurity risks impacting resilience, outages, and grid reliability nationwide.

 

Key Points

Power Grid Attacks are deliberate strikes on substations and lines to disrupt power and weaken grid reliability.

✅ Physical attacks rose across multiple states and utilities.

✅ DHS and FBI warn of threats to critical infrastructure.

✅ Substation security and grid resilience upgrades urged.

 

Even before Christmas Day attacks on power substations in five states in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast, similar incidents of attacks, vandalism and suspicious activity were on the rise.

Federal energy reports through August – the most recent available – show an increase in physical attacks at electrical facilities across the nation this year, continuing a trend seen since 2017.

At least 108 human-related events were reported during the first eight months of 2022, compared with 99 in all of 2021 and 97 in 2020. More than a dozen cases of vandalism have been reported since September.

The attacks have prompted a flurry of calls to better protect the nation's power grid, with a renewed focus on protecting the U.S. power grid across sectors, but experts have warned for more than three decades that stepped-up protection was needed.

Attacks on power stations on the rise 
Twice this year, the Department of Homeland Security warned "a heightened threat environment" remains for the nation, including its critical infrastructure amid reports of suspected Russian breaches of power plant systems. 

At least 20 actual physical attacks were reported, compared with six in all of 2021. 
Suspicious-activity reports jumped three years ago, nearly doubling in 2020 to 32 events. In the first eight months of this year, 34 suspicious incidents were reported.
Total human-related incidents – including vandalism, suspicious activity and cyber events such as Russian hackers and U.S. utilities in recent years – are on track to be the highest since the reports started showing such activity in 2011.


Attacks reported in at least 5 states
Since September, attacks or potential attacks have been reported on at least 18 additional substations and one power plant in Florida, Oregon, Washington and the Carolinas. Several involved firearms.

  • In Florida: Six "intrusion events" occurred at Duke Energy substations in September, resulting in at least one brief power outage, according to the News Nation television network, which cited a report the utility sent to the Energy Department. Duke Energy spokesperson Ana Gibbs confirmed a related arrest, but the company declined to comment further.
  • In Oregon and Washington state: Substations were attacked at least six times in November and December, with firearms used in some cases, local news outlets reported. On Christmas Day, four additional substations were vandalized in Washington State, cutting power to more than 14,000 customers.
  • In North Carolina: A substation in Maysville was vandalized on Nov. 11. On Dec. 3, shootings that authorities called a "targeted attack" damaged two power substations in Moore County, leaving tens of thousands without power amid freezing temperatures.
  • In South Carolina: Days later, gunfire was reported near a hydropower plant, but police said the shooting was a "random act."

It's not yet clear whether any of the attacks were coordinated. After the North Carolina attacks, a coordinating council between the electric power industry and the federal government ordered a security evaluation.


FBI mum on its investigations
The FBI is looking into some of the attacks, including cyber intrusions where hackers accessed control rooms in past cases, but it hasn't said how many it's investigating or where. 

Shelley Lynch, a spokesperson for the FBI's Charlotte field office, confirmed the bureau was investigating the North Carolina attack. The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office reported the FBI was looking into the South Carolina incident.

Utilities in Oregon and Washington told news outlets they were cooperating with the FBI, but spokespeople for the agency's Seattle and Portland field offices said they couldn't confirm or deny an investigation.

Could domestic extremists be involved?
In January, the Department of Homeland Security said domestic extremists had been developing "credible, specific plans" since at least 2020, including a Neo-Nazi plot against power stations detailed in a federal complaint, and would continue to "encourage physical attacks against electrical infrastructure."

In February, three men who ascribed to white supremacy and Neo-Nazism pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to a scheme to attack the grid with rifles.

In a news release, Timothy Langan, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, said the defendants "wanted to attack regional power substations and expected the damage would lead to economic distress and civil unrest."

 

Why is the power grid so hard to protect?
Industry experts, federal officials and others have warned in one report after another since at least 1990 that the power grid was at risk, and a recent grid vulnerability report card highlights dangerous weak points, said Granger Morgan, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who chaired three National Academies of Sciences reports.

The reports urged state and federal agencies to collaborate to make the system more resilient to attacks and natural disasters such as hurricanes and storms. 

"The system is inherently vulnerable, with the U.S. grid experiencing more blackouts than other developed nations in one study. It's spread all across the countryside," which makes the lines and substations easy targets, Morgan said. The grid includes more than 7,300 power plants, 160,000 miles of high-voltage power lines and 55,000 transmission substations.

One challenge is that there's no single entity whose responsibilities span the entire system, Morgan said. And the risks are only increasing as the grid expands to include renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, he said. 

 

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Cost, safety drive line-burying decisions at Tucson Electric Power

TEP Undergrounding Policy prioritizes selective underground power lines to manage wildfire risk, engineering costs, and ratepayer impacts, balancing transmission and distribution reliability with right-of-way, safety, and vegetation management per Arizona regulators.

 

Key Points

A selective TEP approach to bury lines where safety, engineering, and cost justify undergrounding.

✅ Selective undergrounding for feeders near substations

✅ Balances wildfire mitigation, reliability, and ratepayer costs

✅ Follows ACC rules, BLM and USFS vegetation management

 

Though wildfires in California caused by power lines have prompted calls for more underground lines, Tucson Electric Power Co. plans to keep to its policy of burying lines selectively for safety.

Like many other utilities, TEP typically doesn’t install its long-range, high-voltage transmission lines, such as the TransWest Express project, and distribution equipment underground because of higher costs that would be passed on to ratepayers, TEP spokesman Joe Barrios said.

But the company will sometimes bury lower-voltage lines and equipment where it is cost-effective or needed for safety as utilities adapt to climate change across North America, or if customers or developers are willing to pay the higher installation costs

Underground installations generally include additional engineering expenses, right-of-way acquisition for projects like the New England Clean Power Link in other regions, and added labor and materials, Barrios said.

“This practice avoids passing along unnecessary costs to customers through their rates, so that all customers are not asked to subsidize a discretionary expenditure that primarily benefits residents or property owners in one small area of our service territory,” he said, adding that the Arizona Corporation Commission has supported the company’s policy.

Even so, TEP will place equipment underground in some circumstances if engineering or safety concerns, including electrical safety tips that utilities promote during storm season, justify the additional cost of underground installation, Barrios said.

In fact, lower-voltage “feeder” lines emerging from distribution substations are typically installed underground until the lines reach a point where they can be safely brought above ground, he added.

While in California PG&E has shut off power during windy weather to avoid wildfires in forested areas traversed by its power lines after events like the Drum Fire last June, TEP doesn’t face the same kind of wildfire risk, Barrios said.

Most of TEP’s 5,000 miles of transmission and distribution lines aren’t located in heavily forested areas that would raise fire concerns, though large urban systems have seen outages after station fires in Los Angeles, he said.

However, TEP has an active program of monitoring transmission lines and trimming vegetation to maintain a fire-safety buffer zone and address risks from vandalism such as copper theft where applicable, in compliance with federal regulations and in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

 

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3 Reasons Why Cheap Abundant Electricity Is Getting Closer To Reality

Renewable Energy Breakthroughs drive quantum dots solar efficiency, Air-gen protein nanowires harvesting humidity, and cellulose membranes for flow batteries, enabling printable photovoltaics, 24/7 clean power, and low-cost grid storage at commercial scale.

 

Key Points

Advances like quantum dot solar, Air-gen, and cellulose flow battery membranes that improve clean power and storage.

✅ Quantum dots raise solar conversion efficiency, are printable

✅ Air-gen harvests electricity from humidity with protein nanowires

✅ Cellulose membranes cut flow battery costs, aid grid storage

 

Science never sleeps. The quest to find new and better ways to do things continues in thousands of laboratories around the world. Today, the global economy is based on the use of electricity, and one analysis shows wind and solar potential could meet 80% of US demand, underscoring what is possible. If there was a way to harness all the energy from the sun that falls on the Earth every day, there would be enough of electricity available to meet the needs of every man, woman, and child on the planet with plenty left over. That day is getting closer all the time. Here are three reasons why.

Quantum Dots Make Better Solar Panels
According to Science Daily, researchers at the University of Queensland have set a new world record for the conversion of solar energy to electricity using quantum dots — which pass electrons between one another and generate electrical current when exposed to solar energy in a solar cell device. The solar devices they developed have beaten the existing solar conversion record by 25%.

“Conventional solar technologies use rigid, expensive materials. The new class of quantum dots the university has developed are flexible and printable,” says professor Lianzhou Wang, who leads the research team. “This opens up a huge range of potential applications, including the possibility to use it as a transparent skin to power cars, planes, homes and wearable technology. Eventually it could play a major part in meeting the United Nations’ goal to increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.”

“This new generation of quantum dots is compatible with more affordable and large-scale printable technologies,” he adds. “The near 25% improvement in efficiency we have achieved over the previous world record is important. It is effectively the difference between quantum dot solar cell technology being an exciting prospect and being commercially viable.” The research was published on January 20 in the journal Nature Energy.

Electricity From Thin Air
Science Daily also reports that researchers at UMass Amherst also have interesting news. They claim they created a device called an Air-gen, short for air powered generator. (Note: recently we reported on other research that makes electricity from rainwater.) The device uses protein nanowires created by a microbe called Geobacter. Those nanowires can generate electricity from thin air by tapping the water vapor present naturally in the atmosphere. “We are literally making electricity out of thin air. The Air-gen generates clean energy 24/7. It’s the most amazing and exciting application of protein nanowires yet,” researchers Jun Yao and Derek Lovely say. There work was published February 17 in the journal Nature.

The new technology developed in Yao’s lab is non-polluting, renewable, and low-cost. It can generate power even in areas with extremely low humidity such as the Sahara Desert. It has significant advantages over other forms of renewable energy including solar and wind, Lovley says, because unlike these other renewable energy sources, the Air-gen does not require sunlight or wind, and “it even works indoors,” a point underscored by ongoing grid challenges that slow full renewable adoption.

Yao says, “The ultimate goal is to make large-scale systems. For example, the technology might be incorporated into wall paint that could help power your home. Or, we may develop stand-alone air-powered generators that supply electricity off the grid, and in parallel others are advancing bio-inspired fuel cells that could complement such devices. Once we get to an industrial scale for wire production, I fully expect that we can make large systems that will make a major contribution to sustainable energy production. This is just the beginning of a new era of protein based electronic devices.”

Improved Membranes For Flow Batteries From Cellulose
Storing energy is almost as important to decarbonizing the environment as making it in the first place, with the rise of affordable solar batteries improving integration.  There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to store electricity and they all work to one degree or another. The difference between which ones are commercially viable and ones that are not often comes down to money.

Flow batteries — one approach among many, including fuel cells for renewable storage — use two liquid electrolytes — one positively charged and one negatively charged — separated by a membrane that allows electrons to pass back and forth between them. The problem is, the liquids are highly corrosive. The membranes used today are expensive — more than $1,300 per square meter.

Phys.org reports that Hongli Zhu, an assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University, has successfully created a membrane for use in flow batteries that is made from cellulose and costs just $147.68 per square meter. Reducing the cost of something by 90% is the kind of news that gets people knocking on your door.

The membrane uses nanocrystals derived from cellulose in combination with a polymer known as polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene.  The naturally derived membrane is especially efficient because its cellular structure contains thousands of hydroxyl groups, which involve bonds of hydrogen and oxygen that make it easy for water to be transported in plants and trees.

In flow batteries, that molecular makeup speeds the transport of protons as they flow through the membrane. “For these materials, one of the challenges is that it is difficult to find a polymer that is proton conductive and that is also a material that is very stable in the flowing acid,” Zhu says.

Cellulose can be extracted from natural sources including algae, solid waste, and bacteria. “A lot of material in nature is a composite, and if we disintegrate its components, we can use it to extract cellulose,” Zhu says. “Like waste from our yard, and a lot of solid waste that we don’t always know what to do with.”

Flow batteries can store large amounts of electricity over long periods of time — provided the membrane between the storage tanks doesn’t break down. To store more electricity, simply make the tanks larger, which makes them ideal for grid storage applications where there is often plenty of room to install them. Slashing the cost of the membrane will make them much more attractive to renewable energy developers and help move the clean energy revolution forward.

The Takeaway
The fossil fuel crazies won’t give up easily. They have too much to lose and couldn’t care less if life on Earth ceases to exist for a few million years, just so long as they get to profit from their investments. But they are experiencing a death of a thousand cuts. None of the breakthroughs discussed above will end thermal power generation all by itself, but all of them, together with hundreds more just like them happening every day, every week, and every month, even as we confront clean energy's hidden costs across supply chains, are slowly writing the epitaph for fossil fuels.

And here’s a further note. A person of Chinese ancestry is the leader of all three research efforts reported on above. These are precisely the people being targeted by the United States government at the moment as it ratchets up its war on immigrants and anybody who cannot trace their ancestry to northern Europe. Imagine for a moment what will happen to America when researchers like them depart for countries where they are welcome instead of despised. 

 

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Brenmiller Energy and New York Power Authority Showcase Thermal Storage Success

bGen Thermal Energy Storage stores high-temperature heat in crushed rocks, enabling on-demand steam, hot water, or hot air; integrates renewables, shifts load with off-peak electricity, and decarbonizes campus heating at SUNY Purchase with NYPA.

 

Key Points

A rock-based TES system storing heat to deliver steam, hot water, or hot air using renewables or off-peak power.

✅ Uses crushed rocks to store high-temperature heat

✅ Cuts about 550 metric tons CO2 annually at SUNY Purchase

✅ Integrates renewables and off-peak electricity with NYPA

 

Brenmiller Energy Ltd. (NASDAQ: BNRG), in collaboration with the New York Power Authority (NYPA), a utility pursuing grid software modernization to improve reliability, has successfully deployed its first bGen™ thermal energy storage (TES) system in the United States at the State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase College. This milestone project, valued at $2.5 million, underscores the growing role of TES in advancing sustainable energy solutions.

Innovative TES Technology

The bGen™ system utilizes crushed rocks to store high-temperature heat, which can be harnessed to generate steam, hot air, or hot water on demand. This approach allows for the efficient use of excess renewable energy or off-peak electricity, and parallels microreactor storage advances that broaden thermal options, providing a reliable and cost-effective means of meeting heating needs. At SUNY Purchase College, the bGen™ system is designed to supply nearly 100% of the heating requirements for the Physical Education Building.

Environmental Impact

The implementation of the bGen™ system is expected to eliminate approximately 550 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. This reduction aligns with New York State's ambitious climate goals, including a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, even as transmission constraints can limit cross-border imports. The project also demonstrates the potential of TES to support the state's transition to a cleaner and more resilient energy system.

Collaborative Effort

The successful deployment of the bGen™ system at SUNY Purchase College is the result of a collaborative effort between Brenmiller Energy and NYPA. The project was partially funded by a grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation. This partnership highlights the importance of international cooperation in advancing innovative energy technologies, as seen in OPG-TVA nuclear collaboration efforts across North America.

Future Prospects

The successful installation and operation of the bGen™ system at SUNY Purchase College serve as a model for broader adoption of TES technology in institutional settings, as OPG's SMR commitment signals parallel low-carbon investment across the region. Brenmiller Energy and NYPA plan to share the project's findings through a webinar hosted by the Renewable Thermal Collaborative on May 19, 2025. This initiative aims to promote the scalability and replicability of TES solutions across New York State and beyond.

As the demand for sustainable energy solutions continues to grow, the successful deployment of the bGen™ system at SUNY Purchase College marks a significant step forward in the integration of TES technology into the U.S. energy landscape, while projects like Pickering B refurbishment underscore parallel clean power investments. The project not only demonstrates the feasibility of TES but also sets a precedent for future initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy efficiency.

Brenmiller Energy's commitment to innovation and sustainability positions the company as a key player in the evolving energy sector. With continued support from partners like NYPA and the BIRD Foundation, and as jurisdictions advance first SMR deployments in North America, Brenmiller Energy is poised to expand the reach of its TES solutions, contributing to a more sustainable and resilient energy future.

 

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Vietnam Redefines Offshore Wind Power Regulations

Vietnam Offshore Wind Regulations expand coastal zones to six nautical miles, remove water depth limits, streamline permits, and boost investment, grid integration, and renewable energy capacity across deeper offshore wind resource areas.

 

Key Points

Policies extend sites to six nautical miles, scrap depth limits, and speed permits to scale offshore wind.

✅ Extends offshore zones to six nautical miles from shore

✅ Removes water depth limits to access stronger winds

✅ Streamlines permits, aiding grid integration and finance

 

Vietnam has recently redefined its regulations for offshore wind power projects, marking a significant development in the country's renewable energy ambitions. This strategic shift aims to streamline regulatory processes, enhance project feasibility, and accelerate the deployment of offshore wind energy in Vietnam's coastal regions, amid a trillion-dollar offshore wind market globally.

Regulatory Changes

The Vietnamese government has adjusted offshore wind power regulations by extending the allowable distance from shore for wind farms to six nautical miles (approximately 11 kilometers), a move that aligns with evolving global practices such as Canada's offshore wind plan announced recently by regulators. This expansion from previous limits aims to unlock new areas for development and maximize the utilization of Vietnam's vast offshore wind potential.

Scrapping Depth Restrictions

In addition to extending offshore boundaries, Vietnam has removed restrictions on water depth for offshore wind projects. This revision allows developers to explore deeper waters, where wind resources may be more abundant, thereby diversifying project opportunities and optimizing energy generation capacity.

Strategic Implications

The redefined regulations are expected to stimulate investment in Vietnam's renewable energy sector, attracting domestic and international stakeholders keen on capitalizing on the country's favorable wind resources, with World Bank support for wind underscoring the growing pipeline in developing markets. The move aligns with Vietnam's broader energy diversification goals and commitment to reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

Economic Opportunities

The expansion of offshore wind development zones creates economic opportunities across the value chain, from project planning and construction to operation and maintenance. The influx of investments is anticipated to spur job creation, technology transfer, and infrastructure development in coastal communities, as industry groups like Marine Renewables Canada shift toward offshore wind specialization.

Environmental and Energy Security Benefits

Harnessing offshore wind power contributes to Vietnam's efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. By integrating renewable energy sources into its energy mix, Vietnam enhances energy security, as seen in the UK offshore wind expansion, reduces dependency on imported fuels, and promotes sustainable economic growth.

Challenges and Considerations

Despite the promising outlook, offshore wind projects face challenges such as technical complexities, environmental impact assessments, and grid integration, as well as exposure to policy risk exemplified by U.S. opposition to offshore wind debates.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Vietnam's redefined offshore wind regulations position the country as a key player in the global renewable energy transition, a trend reinforced by progress in offshore wind in Europe elsewhere. Continued policy support, investment facilitation, and technological innovation will be critical in unlocking the full potential of offshore wind power and achieving Vietnam's renewable energy targets.

Conclusion

Vietnam's revision of offshore wind power regulations reflects a proactive approach to advancing renewable energy development and fostering a conducive investment environment. By expanding development zones and eliminating depth restrictions, Vietnam sets the stage for accelerated growth in offshore wind capacity, contributing to both economic prosperity and environmental stewardship. As stakeholders seize opportunities in this evolving landscape, collaboration and innovation will drive Vietnam towards a sustainable energy future powered by offshore wind.

 

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