A recent report published by Photon International magazine has revealed that Germany's total photovoltaic installations could reach 10,000 megawatts (MW) by the end of 2009.
The magazine conducted the study based on responses from 119 grid operators and solar equipment manufacturers. The photovoltaic generating capacity installed during 2009 is reported to be between 3,000 and 4,000 MW, a much higher figure than the estimate provided by the Germany's Federal Ministry of Environment.
However, the figure is in line with an earlier estimate of 3,850 MW forecast by Photon Consulting. The study indicates that by 2011, electricity production from photovoltaic installations is expected to contribute about 2% to Germany's energy mix.
The report strongly recommends cutbacks on the country's feed-in tariff structure. Germany approved the Renewable Energy Sources Act in 2000, which introduced the concept of feed-in tariffs. Subsequently, the act, which was amended in 2004 and 2008, helped boost the domestic solar and photovoltaic industry. The act requires the grid operator to pay a fixed sum for surplus solar power fed to the national grid. The fixed remuneration varies depending on the size and type of the installation.
The study indicates that since the cost of producing photovoltaic equipment has come down 50%, it is critical to bring down the feed-in tariffs and make this popular renewable energy source an attractive option in the future. Analysts are concerned that if the feed-in tariffs are not revised, the cost of solar power will be considerably and unnaturally higher than other sources, which could hamper the growth of the solar industry.
Despite vociferous campaigns by industry bodies and agencies, only a marginal change in feed-in tariffs is expected in 2010. The previous government indicated a cutback of not more than 9% to 10% per year, which is much lower than the industry prediction of about 30%. After the new government came to power, fears of a hostile policy toward the photovoltaic industry were put to rest. The new administration has been soft-pedaling the issue and has stayed away from major changes.
However, there are reports that the government has pledged to reduce subsidies, which are in the range of 0.25 to 0.43 euros ($0.36 to $0.62) per kilowatt-hour.
From January through September 2009, about 1,500 MW of photovoltaic capacity was connected to the national grid. The German solar energy agency, Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft eV, indicates that despite the economic slowdown, photovoltaic equipment production increased 65% during this time. Sales turnover grew to between 6 billion and 10 billion euros ($8.6 billion and $14.3 billion), with 50% of the revenue coming from exports.
According to a research paper published by EuPD Research, during the next four years Germany is expected to witness investments of about 10 billion euros ($14.3 billion).
Experts indicate that this investment will account for 14% of the annual turnover. By 2013, an estimated 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) will be spent on research and development. Germany tops the list of solar power producers, followed by Spain, Japan, the U.S., India and China.
SaskPower-Manitoba Hydro Power Sale outlines up to 215 MW of clean hydroelectric baseload for Saskatchewan, supporting renewable energy targets, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and interprovincial transmission line capacity starting 2022 under a 30-year agreement.
Key Points
A long-term deal supplying up to 215 MW of hydroelectric baseload from Manitoba to Saskatchewan to cut emissions.
✅ Up to 215 MW delivered starting 2022 via new intertie
✅ Supports 40% GHG reduction target by 2030
✅ 30-year term; complements wind and solar integration
Saskatchewan's Crown-owned electric utility has made an agreement to buy more hydroelectricty from Manitoba.
A term sheet providing for a new long--term power sale has been signed between Manitoba Hydro and SaskPower which will see up to 215 megawatts flow from Manitoba to Saskatchewan, as new turbine investments advance in Manitoba, beginning in 2022.
SaskPower has two existing power purchase agreements with Manitoba Hydro that were made in 2015 and 2016, but the newest one announced Monday is the largest, as financial pressures at Manitoba Hydro continue.
SaskPower President and CEO Mike Marsh says in a news release that the clean, hydroelectric power represents a significant step forward when it comes to reaching the utility's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, aligning with progress on renewable electricity by 2030 initiatives.
Marsh says it's also reliable baseload electricity, which SaskPower will need as it adds more intermittent generation options like wind and solar.
SaskPower says a final legal contract for the sale is expected to be concluded by mid-2019 and be in effect by 2022, and the purchase agreement would last up to 30 years.
"Manitoba Hydro has been a valued neighbour and business partner over the years and this is a demonstration of that relationship," Marsh said in the news release.
The financial terms of the agreement are not being released, though SaskPower's latest annual report offers context on its finances.
Both parties say the sale will partially rely on the capacity provided by a new transmission line planned for construction between Tantallon, Sask. and Birtle, Man. that was previously announced in 2015 and is expected to be in service by 2021.
"Revenues from this sale will assist in keeping electricity rates affordable for our Manitoba customers, while helping SaskPower expand and diversify its renewable energy supply," Manitoba Hydro president and CEO Kelvin Shepherd said in the utility's own news release.
In 2015, SaskPower signed a 25 megawatt agreement with Manitoba Hydro that lasts until 2022. A 20-year agreement for 100 megawatts was signed in 2016 and comes into effect in 2020, and SaskPower is also exploring a purchase from Flying Dust First Nation to further diversify supply.
The deals are part of a memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 involving up to 500 megawatts.
Electricity used to be boring. Public utilities that provided power to homes and businesses were regulated monopolies and, by law, guaranteed a fixed rate-of-return on their generation, transmission, and distribution assets. Prices per kilowatt-hour were set by utility commissions after lengthy testimony from power companies, wanting higher rates, and consumer groups, wanting lower rates.
About 25 years ago, the electricity landscape started to change as economists and others argued that competition could lead to lower prices and stronger grid reliability. Opponents of competition argued that consumers weren’t knowledgeable enough about power markets to make intelligent choices in a competitive pricing environment. Nonetheless, today 20 states have total or partial competition for electricity, allowing independent power generators to compete in wholesale markets and retail electric providers (REPs) to compete for end-use customers, a dynamic echoed by the Alberta electricity market across North America. (Transmission, in all states, remains a regulated natural monopoly).
A recent study by the non-partisan Pacific Research Institute (PRI) provides compelling evidence that competition in power markets has been a boon for consumers. Using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), PRI’s researchers found that wholesale electricity prices in competitive markets have been generally declining or flat, prompting discussions of free electricity business models, over the last five years. For example, compared to 2015, wholesale power prices in New England have dropped more than 44 percent, those in most Mid-Atlantic States have fallen nearly 42 percent, and in New York City they’ve declined by nearly 45 percent. Wholesale power costs have also declined in monopoly states, but at a considerably slower rate.
As for end-users, states that have competitive retail electricity markets have seen smaller price increases, as consumers can shop for electricity in Texas more cheaply than in monopoly states. Again, using EIA data, PRI found that in 14 competitive jurisdictions, retail prices essentially remained flat between 2008 and 2020. By contrast, retail prices jumped an average of 21 percent in monopoly states. The ten states with the largest retail price increases were all monopoly-based frameworks. A 2017 report from the Retail Energy Supply Association found customers in states that still have monopoly utilities saw their average energy prices increase nearly 19 percent from 2008 to 2017 while prices fell 7 percent in competitive markets over the same period.
The PRI study also observed that competition has improved grid reliability, the recent power disruptions in California and Texas, alongside disruptions in coal and nuclear sectors across the U.S., notwithstanding. Looking at two common measures of grid resiliency, PRI’s analysis found that power interruptions were 10.4 percent lower in competitive states while the duration of outages was 6.5 percent lower.
Citing data from the EIA between 2008 and 2018, PRI reports that greenhouse gas emissions in competitive states declined on average 12.1 percent compared to 7.3 percent in monopoly states. This result is not surprising, and debates over whether Israeli power supply competition can bring cheaper electricity mirror these dynamics. In a competitive wholesale market, independent power producers have an incentive to seek out lower-cost options, including subsidized renewables like wind and solar. By contrast, generators in monopoly markets have no such incentive as they can pass on higher costs to end-users. Perhaps the most telling case is in the monopoly state of Georgia where the cost to build nuclear Plant Vogtle has doubled from its original estimate of $14 billion 12 years ago. Overruns are estimated to cost Georgia ratepayers an average of $854, and there is no definite date for this facility to come on line. This type of mismanagement doesn’t occur in competitive markets.
Unfortunately, some critics are attempting to halt the momentum for electricity competition and have pointed to last winter’s “deep freeze” in Texas that left several million customers without power for up to a week. But this example is misplaced. Power outages in February were the result of unprecedented and severe weather conditions affecting electricity generation and fuel supply, and numerous proposals to improve Texas grid reliability have focused on weatherization and fuel resilience; the state simply did not have enough access to natural gas and wind generation to meet demand. Competitive power markets were not a factor.
The benefits of wholesale and retail competition in power markets are incontrovertible. Evidence shows that households and businesses in competitive states are paying less for electricity while grid reliability has improved. The facts also suggest that wholesale and retail competition can lead to faster reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In short, competition in power markets is good for consumers and good for the environment.
Bernard L. Weinstein is emeritus professor of applied economics at the University of North Texas, former associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University, and a fellow of Goodenough College, London. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Canada Clean Electricity Regulations allow flexible, technology-neutral pathways to a 2035 net-zero grid, permitting limited natural gas with carbon capture, strict emissions standards, and exemptions for emergencies and peak demand across provinces and territories.
Key Points
Federal draft rules for a 2035 net-zero grid, allowing limited gas with CCS under strict performance and compliance standards.
✅ Performance cap: 30 tCO2 per GWh annually for gas plants
✅ CCS must sequester 95% of emissions to comply
✅ Emergency and peak demand exemptions permitted
After facing pushback from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and amid looming power challenges nationwide, Canada's draft net-zero electricity regulations — released today — will permit some natural gas power generation.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released Ottawa's proposed Clean Electricity Regulations on Thursday.
Provinces and territories will have a minimum 75-day window to comment on the draft regulations. The final rules are intended to pave the way to a net-zero power grid in Canada, aligning with 2035 clean electricity goals established nationally.
Calling the regulations "technology neutral," Guilbeault said the federal government believes there's enough flexibility to accommodate the different energy needs of Canada's diverse provinces and territories, including how Ontario is embracing clean power in its planning.
"What we're talking about is not a fossil fuel-free grid by 2035; it's a net zero grid by 2035," Guilbeault said.
"We understand there will be some fossil fuels remaining … but we're working to minimize those, and the fossil fuels that will be used in 2035 will have to comply with rigorous environmental and emission standards," he added.
Some analysts argue that scrapping coal-fired electricity can be costly and ineffective, underscoring the trade-offs in transition planning.
While non-emitting sources of electricity — hydroelectricity, wind and solar and nuclear — should not have any issues complying with the regulations, natural gas plants will have to meet specific criteria.
Those operations, the government said, will need to emit the equivalent of 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide per gigawatt hour or less annually to help balance demand and emissions across the grid.
Federal officials said existing natural gas power plants could comply with that performance standard with the help of carbon capture and storage systems, which would be required to sequester 95 per cent of their emissions.
"In other words, it's achievable, and it is achievable by existing technology," said a government official speaking to reporters Thursday on background and not for attribution.
The regulations will also allow a certain level of natural gas power production without the need to capture emissions. Capturing emissions will be exempted during emergencies and peak periods when renewables cannot keep up with demand.
Some newer plants might not have to comply with the rules until the 2040s, because the regulations apply to plants 20 years after they are commissioned, which dovetails with net-zero by 2050 commitments from electricity associations.
The two-decade grace period does not apply to plants that open after the regulations are expected to be finalized in 2025.
Jay Grewal Manitoba Hydro Appointment marks the first woman CEO at the Crown utility, amid debt, rate increase plans, privatization debate, and Metis legal challenge, following board turmoil and Premier Pallister's strained relations.
Key Points
The selection of Jay Grewal as Manitoba Hydro's first woman CEO amid debt, rate hikes, and legal disputes.
✅ First woman CEO of Manitoba Hydro
✅ Faces debt, rate hikes, and project overruns
✅ Amid privatization debate and Metis legal action
The Manitoba government has appointed a new president and chief executive officer at its Crown-owned energy utility.
Jay Grewal becomes the first woman to head Manitoba Hydro, and takes over the top spot as the utility faces mounting financial challenges, rising electricity demand and turmoil.
Grewal has previously held senior roles at Capstone Mining Corp and B.C. Hydro, and is currently president of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
She will replace outgoing president Kelvin Shepherd, who recently announced he is retiring, on Feb. 4.
The utility was hit by the sudden resignations of nine of its 10 board members in March, who said they had been unable to meet with Premier Brian Pallister to discuss pressing issues like servicing energy-intensive customers facing the utility.
Manitoba Hydro is also in the middle of a battle between the Progressive Conservative government and the Manitoba Metis Federation over the cancellation of two agreements that would have given the Metis $87 million.
The federation has launched a legal challenge over one deal and says its likely going to do the same over the second agreement.
Grewal also takes over the utility at a time when it has racked up billions of dollars in debt building new generating stations and transmission lines. Manitoba Hydro has told the provincial regulatory agency it needs rate increases of nearly eight per cent a year for the next few years to help pay for the projects.
The utility also exports electricity, with deals such as SaskPower's purchase agreement expanding sales to Saskatchewan.
"Ms. Grewal is a proven leader, with extensive senior leadership experience in the utility, resource and consulting sectors," Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer said in a written statement Thursday.
The Opposition New Democrats said Grewal's appointment is a sign the government wants to privatize Manitoba Hydro. Grewal's time at B.C. Hydro coincided with the privatization of some parts of that Crown utility, the NDP said.
The B.C. premier at the time, Gordon Campbell, was recently hired by Manitoba to review two major projects that ran over-budget and have added to the provincial debt.
NDP Leader Wab Kinew asked Pallister in the legislature Thursday to promise not to privatize Manitoba Hydro. Pallister would only point to a law that requires a referendum to be held before a Crown entity can be sold off.
"We stand by that (law)," Pallister said. "We believe Manitobans are the proper decision-makers in respect of any of the future structuring of Manitoba Hydro."
ITER Nuclear Fusion advances tokamak magnetic confinement, heating deuterium-tritium plasma with superconducting magnets, targeting net energy gain, tritium breeding, and steam-turbine power, while complementing laser inertial confinement milestones for grid-scale electricity and 2025 startup goals.
Key Points
ITER Nuclear Fusion is a tokamak project confining D-T plasma with magnets to achieve net energy gain and clean power.
✅ Tokamak magnetic confinement with high-temp superconducting coils
✅ Deuterium-tritium fuel cycle with on-site tritium breeding
✅ Targets net energy gain and grid-scale, low-carbon electricity
It sounds like the stuff of dreams: a virtually limitless source of energy that doesn’t produce greenhouse gases or radioactive waste. That’s the promise of nuclear fusion, often described as the holy grail of clean energy by proponents, which for decades has been nothing more than a fantasy due to insurmountable technical challenges. But things are heating up in what has turned into a race to create what amounts to an artificial sun here on Earth, one that can provide power for our kettles, cars and light bulbs.
Today’s nuclear power plants create electricity through nuclear fission, in which atoms are split, with next-gen nuclear power exploring smaller, cheaper, safer designs that remain distinct from fusion. Nuclear fusion however, involves combining atomic nuclei to release energy. It’s the same reaction that’s taking place at the Sun’s core. But overcoming the natural repulsion between atomic nuclei and maintaining the right conditions for fusion to occur isn’t straightforward. And doing so in a way that produces more energy than the reaction consumes has been beyond the grasp of the finest minds in physics for decades.
But perhaps not for much longer. Some major technical challenges have been overcome in the past few years and governments around the world have been pouring money into fusion power research as part of a broader green industrial revolution under way in several regions. There are also over 20 private ventures in the UK, US, Europe, China and Australia vying to be the first to make fusion energy production a reality.
“People are saying, ‘If it really is the ultimate solution, let’s find out whether it works or not,’” says Dr Tim Luce, head of science and operation at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), being built in southeast France. ITER is the biggest throw of the fusion dice yet.
Its $22bn (£15.9bn) build cost is being met by the governments of two-thirds of the world’s population, including the EU, the US, China and Russia, at a time when Europe is losing nuclear power and needs energy, and when it’s fired up in 2025 it’ll be the world’s largest fusion reactor. If it works, ITER will transform fusion power from being the stuff of dreams into a viable energy source.
Constructing a nuclear fusion reactor ITER will be a tokamak reactor – thought to be the best hope for fusion power. Inside a tokamak, a gas, often a hydrogen isotope called deuterium, is subjected to intense heat and pressure, forcing electrons out of the atoms. This creates a plasma – a superheated, ionised gas – that has to be contained by intense magnetic fields.
The containment is vital, as no material on Earth could withstand the intense heat (100,000,000°C and above) that the plasma has to reach so that fusion can begin. It’s close to 10 times the heat at the Sun’s core, and temperatures like that are needed in a tokamak because the gravitational pressure within the Sun can’t be recreated.
When atomic nuclei do start to fuse, vast amounts of energy are released. While the experimental reactors currently in operation release that energy as heat, in a fusion reactor power plant, the heat would be used to produce steam that would drive turbines to generate electricity, even as some envision nuclear beyond electricity for industrial heat and fuels.
Tokamaks aren’t the only fusion reactors being tried. Another type of reactor uses lasers to heat and compress a hydrogen fuel to initiate fusion. In August 2021, one such device at the National Ignition Facility, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, generated 1.35 megajoules of energy. This record-breaking figure brings fusion power a step closer to net energy gain, but most hopes are still pinned on tokamak reactors rather than lasers.
In June 2021, China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) reactor maintained a plasma for 101 seconds at 120,000,000°C. Before that, the record was 20 seconds. Ultimately, a fusion reactor would need to sustain the plasma indefinitely – or at least for eight-hour ‘pulses’ during periods of peak electricity demand.
A real game-changer for tokamaks has been the magnets used to produce the magnetic field. “We know how to make magnets that generate a very high magnetic field from copper or other kinds of metal, but you would pay a fortune for the electricity. It wouldn’t be a net energy gain from the plant,” says Luce.
One route for nuclear fusion is to use atoms of deuterium and tritium, both isotopes of hydrogen. They fuse under incredible heat and pressure, and the resulting products release energy as heat
The solution is to use high-temperature, superconducting magnets made from superconducting wire, or ‘tape’, that has no electrical resistance. These magnets can create intense magnetic fields and don’t lose energy as heat.
“High temperature superconductivity has been known about for 35 years. But the manufacturing capability to make tape in the lengths that would be required to make a reasonable fusion coil has just recently been developed,” says Luce. One of ITER’s magnets, the central solenoid, will produce a field of 13 tesla – 280,000 times Earth’s magnetic field.
The inner walls of ITER’s vacuum vessel, where the fusion will occur, will be lined with beryllium, a metal that won’t contaminate the plasma much if they touch. At the bottom is the divertor that will keep the temperature inside the reactor under control.
“The heat load on the divertor can be as large as in a rocket nozzle,” says Luce. “Rocket nozzles work because you can get into orbit within minutes and in space it’s really cold.” In a fusion reactor, a divertor would need to withstand this heat indefinitely and at ITER they’ll be testing one made out of tungsten.
Meanwhile, in the US, the National Spherical Torus Experiment – Upgrade (NSTX-U) fusion reactor will be fired up in the autumn of 2022, while efforts in advanced fission such as a mini-reactor design are also progressing. One of its priorities will be to see whether lining the reactor with lithium helps to keep the plasma stable.
Choosing a fuel Instead of just using deuterium as the fusion fuel, ITER will use deuterium mixed with tritium, another hydrogen isotope. The deuterium-tritium blend offers the best chance of getting significantly more power out than is put in. Proponents of fusion power say one reason the technology is safe is that the fuel needs to be constantly fed into the reactor to keep fusion happening, making a runaway reaction impossible.
Deuterium can be extracted from seawater, so there’s a virtually limitless supply of it. But only 20kg of tritium are thought to exist worldwide, so fusion power plants will have to produce it (ITER will develop technology to ‘breed’ tritium). While some radioactive waste will be produced in a fusion plant, it’ll have a lifetime of around 100 years, rather than the thousands of years from fission.
At the time of writing in September, researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion reactor in Oxfordshire were due to start their deuterium-tritium fusion reactions. “JET will help ITER prepare a choice of machine parameters to optimise the fusion power,” says Dr Joelle Mailloux, one of the scientific programme leaders at JET. These parameters will include finding the best combination of deuterium and tritium, and establishing how the current is increased in the magnets before fusion starts.
The groundwork laid down at JET should accelerate ITER’s efforts to accomplish net energy gain. ITER will produce ‘first plasma’ in December 2025 and be cranked up to full power over the following decade. Its plasma temperature will reach 150,000,000°C and its target is to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for every 50 megawatts of input heating power.
“If ITER is successful, it’ll eliminate most, if not all, doubts about the science and liberate money for technology development,” says Luce. That technology development will be demonstration fusion power plants that actually produce electricity, where advanced reactors can build on decades of expertise. “ITER is opening the door and saying, yeah, this works – the science is there.”
Iran Electricity Exports to Iraq address power shortages and blackouts, supplying 1,200-1,500 MW and gas for 2,500 MW, amid sanctions, aging grid losses, rising peak demand, and TAVANIR plans to expand cross-border energy capacity.
Key Points
Energy flows from Iran supply Iraq with 1,200-1,500 MW plus gas yielding 2,500 MW, easing shortages and blackouts.
✅ 1,200-1,500 MW direct power; gas adds 2,500 MW generation
✅ Iraq exempt on Iranian gas, but faces US pressure
✅ Aging grid loses 25%; $30B upgrades needed
“Iran exports 1,200 megawatts to 1,500 megawatts of electricity to Iraq per day, reflecting broader regional power trade dynamics, as Iraq is dealing with severe power shortages and frequent blackouts,” Hamid Hosseini said.
As he added, Iran also exports 37 million to 38 million cubic meters of gas to the country, much of it used in combined-cycle power plants to save energy and boost generation.
On September 11, Iraq’s electricity minister, Luay al Khateeb, said the country needs Iranian gas to generate electricity for the next three or four years, as energy cooperation discussions continue between Baghdad and Tehran.
Iraq was exempted from sanctions concerning Iranian gas imports; however, the U.S. has been pressing all countries to stop trading with Tehran.
Iraq's population has been protesting to authorities over power cuts. Iran exports 1,200 megawatts of direct power supplies and its gas is converted into 2,500 MW of electricity. According to al Khateeb, the current capacity is 18,000 MW, with peak demand of 25,000 MW possible during the hot summer months when consumption surges, a figure that rises every year.
Any upgrades would need investment of at least $30 billion, with grid rehabilitation efforts underway to modernize infrastructure, as the grid is 50 years old and loses 25 percent of its capacity due to Isis attacks.
In late July, Managing Director of Gharb (West) Regional Electricity Company Ali Asadi said Iran has high capacity and potential to export electricity up to twofold of the current capacity to neighboring Iraq, as it eyes transmitting electricity to Europe to serve as a regional hub as well.
He pointed to the new strategy of Iran Power Generation, Transmission & Distribution Management Company (TAVANIR) for increasing electricity export to neighboring Iraq and reiterated, “the country enjoys high potential to export 1,200 megawatts electricity to neighboring Iraq,” while Iraq is also exploring nuclear power plants to tackle electricity shortages.
