In today’s EGEB:
- A 302 megawatt Texas wind farm reaches completion.
- A Japanese corporation invests in a blockchain platform that enables wind, solar purchases.
- Pakistan aims for 20% renewable energy capacity with new projects.
- Another new poll shows support for the Green New Deal.
Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.
Energy developer Invenergy announced it’s completed the Santa Rita East Wind Farm, a 302 MW project 70 miles west of San Angelo, Texas. The project was both developed and constructed by Invenergy, and the developer says it will generate enough electricity to power 120,000 American homes.
Most of the power, however, is going to corporations in virtual power-purchase agreements. Grupo Bimbo (100 MW), Merck (60 MW), and Novartis (100 MW) are all working to meet their own sustainability goals from the power generated by the wind farm.
The developer closed a Purchase and Sale Agreement with AEP Renewables for acquisition of a 75% interest in the project after its completion. Invenergy will retain a 25% stake in the farm, “and will provide operations, asset management, and energy management services as part of a 20-year agreement.”
Blockchain
Japan’s Marubeni Corporation is offering financial backing to WePower, a blockchain power-purchasing platform that looks to make it easier to buy wind and solar power, Reuters reports. Marubeni has offered WePower an unspecified loan, convertible to shares. The size of that loan is still undetermined.
WePower is a Lithuania-based blockchain developer that’s trying to get a foothold in Australia’s growing renewable market. The company’s website describes its “next-generation green energy procurement and trading platform” as a way to help users “connect directly with green energy producers so you can contract green electricity at competitive rates with full transparency through digitally enabled PPAs.”
This is meant to be a quicker, easier way of buying power without a lengthy contract. As Reuters notes, there’s demand for such a solution:
Australia is already running out of major power consumers to commit to large supplies of power from new projects. But tens of billions of dollars’ worth of power generation projects are on the drawing board, projects that will need to turn to smaller commercial and industrial businesses to line up enough PPAs to back a project.
Pakistan power
Count Pakistan among the many countries making a stronger push toward renewables, as a fresh mix of wind and solar projects aims to put the country at 20% renewable capacity by 2025.
Bloomberg reports on Pakistan’s plans, which is part of a soon-to-be-approved new energy policy. Pakistan doesn’t count hydroelectric in its renewable figures — the country is actually expected to get most of its power from hydroelectric by 2025.
As Nadeem Babar, head of Pakistan’s energy task force, told Bloomberg, there’s a need to reduce the country’s costs for imported power generation:
Last year, 41% of generation was on imported fuels. That is just way too high.
GND support
Polls have consistently shown American support for the Green New Deal, and though the GND hasn’t been in the news much recently, its ideas aren’t going anywhere — and a new poll shows that support continues.
A recent NewsHour/Marist poll taken by NPR/PBS surveyed 1,346 National Adults, with 38% identifying as Independents, 33% as Democrats, and 27% as Republicans. The respondents were asked, “Do you think a Green New Deal to address climate change by investing government money in green jobs and energy efficient infrastructure is a good idea or a bad idea?”
About two-thirds of those polled said it was a good idea. Unsurprisingly, 86% of Democrats said this, along with 64% of Independents. Just 26% of Republicans thought the same way, with 67% calling it a bad idea. The Green New Deal is particularly popular with younger generations, and every region surveyed showed positive support.
A previous survey noted that Republican support for the Green New Deal plummeted in early 2019 — especially among Fox News viewers.
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