Algaepreneurs?

I have to admit, that’s a new one for me, Ralph……

Let’s not overlook the persistence and incredible efforts made by Bill and Lanny Sinkin and Solar San Antonio over many years to make this happen

Their alliance with CPS and the San Antonio Credit Union has resulted in a very dynamic market, this didn’t happen by itself

    I note that San Antonio has moved a step closer to building 400 M-Watts of 

PV. What would it take to promote such an undertaking in Houston?  The 

difference in insolation, between Houston and SA favors SA by only 14%. Is that 

a deal breaker? See<http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Solar-deal-for-CPS-set-to-bring-805-jobs-3728060.php#ixzz21YdcGEEn>

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v CALENDAR LISTING v CALENDAR LISTING v

FLEETS AND ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES THE FOCUS OF 2012 CLEAN FLEET TECHNOLOGIES CONFERENCE

WHAT:                 As part of its Clean Cities/Clean Vehicles initiative, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is hosting the seventh annual Clean Fleet Technologies Conference:  Fueling the Choice. This year’s event offers interactive panel discussions and learning sessions focused on the latest and greatest in alternative fuels and fleet technologies.

                                Attendees will convene at CFTC to explore a broad range of topics, including but not limited to: funding opportunities for advanced vehicles, fleet maintenance and transportation, alternative fuel infrastructure developments and energy/transportation policy.

Additional CFTC offerings include exhibit hall displays, a vehicle “Ride & Drive” experience, alternative fueled equipment displays and a networking reception.

WHEN:                 Thursday, October 18, 2012

Registration: 7:30 a.m.

Conference: 8:30 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.

Reception: 3:45 p.m.

WHERE:               George R. Brown Convention Center (Downtown Houston)

                                1001 Avenida De Las Americas

                                Houston, TX 77010

COST:                    $50 per attendee until Sept. 30; $75 starting Oct. 1.

School district staff and elected officials’ fees are waived.

REGISTER:           To register for CFTC, visit https://www.h-gac.com/taq/airquality/citiesvehicles/cftc_info.aspx.

Sponsorship opportunities available at http://www.houston-cleancities.org/2012_CFTC_sponsor.htm.

For sponsorship information call Claire Quinn at 713-970-2112 or email Claire.Quinn@...

MORE:                  About Clean Cities/Clean Vehicles

The Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Clean Cities/Clean Vehicles Program serves the Houston-Galveston area, including Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties. The primary goal of the Clean Cities/Clean Vehicles Program is to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. This program also seeks to maximize the use of clean fuel vehicles (low emissions) operating within the Houston region in order to improve air quality, achieve energy independence and stimulate economic growth.

http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/solar/article319310.ece

Ralph Parrott

President

http://www.txses.org/hreg

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This transmission (including all attached pages) is intended only for the use of the named address(es), and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not a named addressee, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distributing or copying of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please destroy all copies and notify us immediately at this telephone number: (713) 595-6375. Thank you!

You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to receive Advocacy Alerts from the American Wind Energy Association.
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Members

Please note that our next quarterly meeting is Sunday August 19^th from 3 till 5 PM at the University of Houston School of Architecture lecture hall.

The highlight of this meeting is the unveiling of our new website.  Although the site is not yet completed this will be your chance to get a first look at the outstanding content and layout of our first class website.

Please mark your calendars now.

Regards,

Ralph Parrott

President

http://www.txses.org/hreg

Members

HREG has secured Mr. Donald Williams of M-CoGen to be our guest speaker this quarter. M-CoGen designs and manufactures residential, and light commercial Micro Combined Heat and Power (MCCHP) systems that are capable of taking a typical home of the grid, while driving an HVAC compressor using natural gas and many other optional fuels. The M-CoGen is twice or more efficient than a conventional standby generator or the central power grid’s combined cycle generators.

Our next quarterly meeting is this Sunday August 19^th from 3 till 5 PM at the University of Houston School of Architecture lecture hall.

An additional highlight of this meeting is the unveiling of our new website.  Although the site is not yet completed this will be your chance to get a first look at the outstanding content and layout of our first class website.

Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend to learn more about MCCHP and what’s happening in HREG.

Regards,

Ralph Parrott

President

http://www.txses.org/hreg

Subject: Legal Update: Recent US Department of Defense Solicitation for Up To $7 Billion of Renewable or Alternative Energy Utilizing Power Purchase Agreements
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Legal Update | August 13, 2012

Recent US Department of Defense Solicitation for Up To $7 Billion of Renewable or Alternative Energy Utilizing Power Purchase Agreements

RELATED AREAS Government Renewable Energy United States   Your Subscription Details Under mandates that require the US Department of Defense (DOD) to produce or procure from renewable resources at least 25 percent of its total facility energy needs by 2025, the DOD, through the US Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Alabama (CEHNC), has recently issued1and posted2 a solicitation (RFP) for up to $7 billion of renewable or alternative energy (RAE) generation over 10 years. The RFP calls for a two-step process.  As the first step, CEHNC intends to award multiple indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts to qualified and responsible respondents whose offers receive minimum acceptable evaluation ratings and whose price is realistic and reasonable. As the second step, task orders will be awarded using fair opportunity procedures discussed in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505 in addition to the competitive source selection procedures identified in DFARS 216.505-70. Task orders will be firm fixed-price. Prospective respondents should note that an award of a contract does not assure the recipient of any particular work, Only the second step task order does so. Respondents should expect to expend significant time and efforts in the first step without assurance of resulting task orders. The government intends only to purchase energy produced, and not to acquire assets—contractors are to develop, finance, design, build, operate, own and maintain the energy plant. The government will contract to purchase the energy for up to 30 years in accordance with site/project specific agreements resulting from task orders awarded. The RFP states that the RAE sources that will be considered include solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and other alternative energy technologies, and provides the government with significant flexibility among these resource types. The RFP includes small business set-asides for generation facilities less that 4 megawatts (MW) and for facilities between 4 and up to 12 MW (unless fewer than two letters of interest are received from small businesses, in which case the related task order will be open to unrestricted competition). For purposes of the RFP, a small business is a firm which, together with its affiliates, has less than 4 million megawatt hours (MWh)total electric generation in the prior fiscal year. For generation facilities greater than 12MW, the RFP requires unrestricted competition. Notably, the multiple ID/IQ contracts will be awarded for a base three-year term, with seven one-year optional term extensions (for a maximum term of 10 years if all extension options are exercised). In addition, the DOD will evaluate the related market at least every 18 months during the term of the ID/IQ contracts to determine if the DOD should open an “on-rampâ€� or an “off-ramp.â€� During a contact on-ramp, the DOD will invite new proposals to “refreshâ€� the technology and provide the DOD with better buying power. During an off-ramp, the DOD may elect to remove a poor performing firm from the ID/IQ contract pool. However, such removal will not affect previously awarded task orders. The RFP states that the task orders will include a power purchase agreement or equivalent (PPA) that may include the following: Asset ownership identification; Fixed unit rate; Fixed escalation rate Period of performance; Energy supply start date; Minimum annual purchase amount; Maximum demand limitation; Metering; Payment terms; Maximum maintenance down time allowance; Termination for convenience value schedule for each year of the contract (if necessary). Termination value schedules may include both termination settlement floors and ceiling amounts. The termination floor and ceiling will normally decrease in value each fiscal year. A termination for convenience value schedule should include the type of foreseeable damages anticipated by both parties. In the event of a termination, no anticipatory profits will be compensable; Real estate access terms and conditions; and Site security, protection and end of contract restoration responsibilities. The task order and accompanying real estate access agreement will specify what is to become of the contractor-owned energy plant and associated equipment at the end of the contract term if there is no follow-on PPA or lease agreement extension. The government intends to retain the option to require the removal of the facility and the restoration of the property to its original condition or to purchase the facility at fair market value or to renew the real estate access agreement if a follow-on contract is awarded to the incumbent contactor. The DOD may incorporate whatever terms, conditions, economic price adjustment provisions, etc., it finds appropriate in power purchase agreements for a particular RAE technology application to achieve a fair and reasonable agreement consistent with applicable laws, regulations and agency policies; however, these terms and conditions will not conflict with the terms and conditions of the basic contract. Such details may be decided or negotiated at the task order level. It is the DOD’s intent to determine on a case-by-case basis for each task order whether to retain all or a portion of the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) associated with or offered as a replacement to achieve federal mandates. Questions regarding the RFP are due by August 24, 2012, and are required to be submitted through the ProjNet website. Firms must be registered or must self-register in order to submit questions or other comments. Instructions regarding self-registration are included in the RFP. The RFP states that the DOD intends to hold a pre-proposal conference, tentatively to be held in Chicago, with further details to be made available on the FedBizOpps website when available. If you have any questions, please contact David F. Dowd, J. Paul Forrester, Cameron S. Hamrick or Marcia G. Madsen. Learn more about our Government Relations and Renewable Energy practices. Visit us at mayerbrown.com 1 The DOD issued a pre-solicitation notice for W912DY-11-R-0036 on July 26, 2012. 2 The notice was updated with the final solicitation on August 7, 2012.

If you would like to update your details and preferences, or would prefer not to receive future mailings from Mayer Brown, please update your details. If you forward this email please bear in mind that person will be able to access your basic details and preferences from the link above. This email is for James Perry Cargas. If you are not James Perry Cargas and would like to be informed of legal developments and Mayer Brown events that would be of interest to you please fill out our new subscription form. Mayer Brown is a global legal services provider comprising legal practices that are separate entities (the “Mayer Brown Practices�). The Mayer Brown Practices are: Mayer Brown LLP and Mayer Brown Europe – Brussels LLP, both limited liability partnerships established in Illinois USA; Mayer Brown International LLP, a limited liability partnership incorporated in England and Wales (authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and registered in England and Wales number OC 303359); Mayer Brown, a SELAS established in France; Mayer Brown JSM, a Hong Kong partnership and its associated entities in Asia; and Tauil & Chequer Advogados, a Brazilian law partnership with which Mayer Brown is associated. “Mayer Brown� and the Mayer Brown logo are the trademarks of the Mayer Brown Practices in their respective jurisdictions. IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE. Any tax advice expressed above by Mayer Brown LLP was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any taxpayer to avoid U.S. federal tax penalties. If such advice was written or used to support the promotion or marketing of the matter addressed above, then each offeree should seek advice from an independent tax advisor. This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Mayer Brown LLP, 71 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago Il, 60606, Tel: +1 312 782 0600 © 2012. The Mayer Brown Practices. All rights reserved. This publication provides information and comments on legal issues and developments of interest to our clients and friends. The foregoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers should seek legal advice before taking any action with respect to the matters discussed herein. See our privacy policy and important regulatory information.

 

Ralph Parrott and APS are very experienced and reputable, and I’m a curmudgeon…….

While US wind construction is booming ahead of the expiration on 31 December of the production tax credit (PTC), equipment manufacturing capacity far exceeds likely demand in the coming years.

The potential absence of the PTC in 2013, "in concert with continued low natural gas prices and modest electricity demand growth... threatens to dramatically slow new builds". That's the conventional wisdom summed up in the latest Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Technologies Market Report for 2011.

The 93-page report [PDF] – authored primarily by Ryan Wiser and Mark Bolinger of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and required reading for anyone in the industry – distills much of the information made available by trade and market research groups such as the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), but also provides a wide-angle view of US wind.

While the AWEA has yet to publish a 2013 market forecast, citing uncertainty about the extension of the PTC, the DOE report gathers forecasts from seven government and private-sector entities. Assuming the PTC is not extended, these estimates for the 2013 market range from 1GW to 2.4GW. If it is extended, the 2013 market would be significantly larger – though still shrunken from the potentially record-setting 2012 – ranging from 1.2GW to 7.5GW.

Supply chain faces uncertainty

That uncertainty is already wracking the US supply chain, parts of which are significantly over-built for the coming market downturn. Many manufacturers have invested in US factories in the last three years, helping boost the domestic content of the US wind fleet from about 35% for installations in 2005-06 to 67% last year.  But this investment, combined with a market slowdown in 2010 and 2011, created a significant over-supply situation. For example, at the end of 2011, US nacelle assembly capacity exceeded demand by an estimated 5GW. That's compared to a 4GW under-capacity in 2009. The over-capacity is expected to worsen in the next two years.  "As a result of this over-supply, coupled with increasing competition, including from new entrants from China and Korea, a wide range of turbine manufacturers have reported weakened financial results, with companies throughout the US wind industry’s supply chain announcing cuts to their US workforce," according to the report.  Vestas, which has already warned of up to 1,600 layoffs in absence of the PTC, cut jobs earlier this week at its Pueblo towers factory. LM Wind Power Blades has also recently announced job cuts related to falling sales.

Vestas and GE lead market

Vestas and General Electric each claimed about 29% of the 6.8GW 2011 US wind market. Siemens took 18%, followed by Suzlon and Mitsubishi (5% each), Nordex and Clipper (4% each), REpower (3%) and Gamesa (2%).  Twenty manufacturers installed at least 1MW of turbines in 2011, up from only five in 2005. These new entrants include several Chinese and South Korean manufacturers. In 2011, Sany Electric installed 10MW of turbines in the US; Samsung installed 5MW; Goldwind, 4.5MW; Hyundai, 3.3MW; Sinovel, 1.5MW; and Unison, 1.5MW.  Competition among manufacturers has helped push down the average price of wind turbines sold in the US from more than $1,500 per kW of nameplate capacity in 2008 to $1,150-1,350/kW in 2011, despite continued technological advancements. More recent price quotes range from $900-1,270/kW. This is starting to translate into lower project costs, which were $2,100/kW in 2011, down nearly $100 from 2009 and 2010 levels. Preliminary estimates suggest further declines for 2012 projects as turbine prices continue lower.  But this did not translate to lower wind power prices. Projects built in 2011 had an average power price of $74/MWh, compared to an average of projects built from 1998-2011 of $54/MWh. The report notes that many projects built in 2011 actually signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) in earlier years, when equipment prices were at or near their peak. PPAs signed in 2011 brought an average price of $35/MWh – with significant regional variation – suggesting 2012 wind power prices will be lower. And they must be lower to compete with wholesale power prices depressed by abundant natural gas and slack demand.

Manufacturers look to exports

Many manufacturers hope to keep their US factories in business during the 2013 market downturn through exports. While trade data for blades, towers and other components is uncertain, there has been a marked uptick in exports of wind generating sets from $15m in 2007 to $149m in 2011. The top export markets from 2005 to 2011 were Canada, Brazil, Mexico and China.  The US remained the second-largest wind energy market, behind China, representing 16% of total installs in 2011. Its end-of-2011 cumulative capacity of 47GW made the US the second-largest market by that measure, with about a fifth of all the world's wind power.  Wind energy provides about 3.3% of total US electricity demand in an average year – a penetration rate far lower than European wind energy leaders Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Germany.  Individual states, however, have reached globally competitive levels of penetration. South Dakota had wind capacity sufficient to generate 22% of its in-state electricity at the end of 2011. Iowa could get 20%, and four more states could exceed 10%.

Ralph Parrott

President

http://www.txses.org/hreg

08/08/2012

By Louise Poirier

A new permit by rule recently approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality could lead more commercial and industrial facilities to use combined heat and power (CHP) technologies for their power needs.

Existing permitting regulations state that a CHP system – regardless of building site or its megawatt capacity – falls under the strict rules for electric generating units, requiring a permit that critics say is very restrictive on emissions.

“So even if you were putting in a small one or two megawatt facility on your site, you had to follow the permitting rules that were set up for huge power plants, and it’s become problematic as they required a lot of pollution control devices which can be cost prohibitive for small systems,� says Paul Cauduro, executive director of
 the Texas Combined Heat & Power Initiative.

This latest move by the TCEQ could usher in greater use of smaller CHP facilities.

Texas already has one of the largest CHP capacities in the United States, and is home to 137 CHP sites with a combined installed capacity of nearly 17,000 MW, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Gulf Coast Clean Energy Application Center reports. That’s compared to 59 CHP sites with a combined installed capacity of nearly 6,000MW in neighboring Louisiana, for example.

“If you look out at the existing fleet of CHP [in Texas] today, the average size of those units is probably larger than 100MW; so they’re very large,� says Dan Bullock, director of the GCCEA. “Those big projects are not going to be impacted by this PBR, so the new rule only pertains to projects that are less than 15MW.�

The new PBR makes for a much faster way of attaining air permit compliance for smaller CHP facilities, and reduce regulatory delays, being attainable within ten days, Cauduro says.

More specifically, the PBR states that it allows permitting of natural gas-fired CHP units up to a capacity of 8MW without additional controls and up to 15MW with additional controls, without the expansive emission control requirements that large power plants must meet. Instead, “the PBR includes emission limits for pollutants of concern, and appropriate monitoring, testing, and recordkeeping requirements to allow TCEQ to verify compliance,� the rulemaking states.

The PBR is also expected to eliminate some equipment cost associated with CHP systems, according to the TXCHPI. That includes expensive pollution control systems required under the past, expansive CHP regulations.

Bullock says the PBR will open up some new market areas for smaller projects, which may not have been pursued in the past for a variety of reasons, such as economy of scale, limited staff and skill sets to evaluate such projects at smaller installations and lack of capital.

Ralph Parrott

President

http://www.txses.org/hreg

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This transmission (including all attached pages) is intended only for the use of the named address(es), and may contain information that is privileged or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not a named addressee, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distributing or copying of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please destroy all copies and notify us immediately at this telephone number: (713) 595-6375. Thank you!

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