EGEB: US government will green-light largest solar farm, more

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• A Nevada solar farm — set to be the country’s largest — will be approved by the BLM.
• Denmark sourced nearly half its power from wind in 2019.
• Danish energy company Ørsted has sold its liquid natural gas (LNG) unit.
• A new Stanford study says green energy would create 30 million jobs.

The Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB): A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Largest US solar farm

A $1 billion solar farm in Nevada, the Gemini project, is set to be approved by the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The farm will be 7,100 acres in size and provide 690 megawatts. It will also feature energy storage of at least 380 megawatts of four-hour lithium-ion batteries.

Gemini needs approval from the US government because it will be on federal land, 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The solar farm will supply NV Energy, which will pay “pay an average of $38.44 per megawatt-hour for the combined output of the solar panels and batteries at the Gemini project under a 25-year contract,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Gemini is expected to be up and running by December 2023.

In 2019, Nevada governor Steve Sisolak signed a bill that requires utilities to get half of their electricity from green energy sources by 2030, and set a goal of 100% net zero by 2050.

Denmark sets new wind record…

Denmark sourced 47% of its power from wind in 2019, setting a new wind energy record for the country. That’s up from 41% in 2018 and 43% in 2017.

Denmark leads Europe in wind energy, with Ireland coming in second, sourcing 28% of its power from wind in 2018. In the EU, wind power made up 14% of energy consumption in 2019.

Offshore wind turbines provide 18% and onshore turbines provide 29% of Denmark’s power.

Reuters reports:

Denmark aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030, with a new climate law passed late last year targeting an increase in the share of electricity sourced from renewable power to 100%.

Denmark, home to wind turbine giant Vestas and the world’s largest developer of offshore wind Orsted, has favorable wind conditions and began investing heavily in wind power in the 1970s.

… and Ørsted sells LNG unit

Speaking of Ørsted, the Danish energy company has transferred its loss-making liquid natural gas (LNG) unit to Swiss trading and mining company Glencore in return for a payment from Ørsted. However, it will keep its gas-trading arm, which makes up less than 5% of its business.

According to Greentech Media, an Ørsted spokesperson said:

‘There’ll be a long transition period leading up to a 100% green energy system, during which society can’t do without gas. Gas is the least harmful fossil fuel available to support the transition to green energy, and we’ll continue to trade gas for years to come.’

According to this year’s Q3 financial results, natural gas sales contributed around a quarter of the Ørsted’s revenue, down from more than a third in the same period last year.

The two biggest money makers for the company are offshore wind development and power sales.

Ørsted aims to reach 99% green energy production by 2025.

Green New Deal = millions of jobs

A new study out of Stanford University, “Impacts of Green New Deal Energy Plans on Grid Stability, Costs, Jobs, Health, and Climate in 143 Countries,” finds that if the world makes a transition to green energy, nearly 30 million jobs will be created.

The researchers define green energy as wind, solar, and water power. The researchers say it’s possible to achieve a transition by 2050. It would cost around $73 trillion. By 2050, the world will spend around $17 trillion per year on energy if we’re still using fossil fuels, but $6.8 trillion if we’re using renewable energy.

Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford and one of the authors of the study, told Inverse:

You reduce your energy costs each year by 60%. Worldwide, you save about $30 trillion per year in health costs. Seven million people die from air pollution every year, and hundreds of millions more are ill. Climate costs are reduced, too.

When you have renewables providing power, because there’s more distributed energy, that makes the energy infrastructure less prone to horrible weather events, terrorist attacks and things like that. Plus, you don’t rely on foreign oil or gas or anything else when you have renewables in your country, which reduces international conflicts over energy.