Navitas Systems LLC, a leading provider of energy-enabled system solutions, energy storage products, and power electronics for commercial, industrial and government/military customers, has been awarded its first Department of Energy (DOE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant. The $1M SBIR Phase II award will support the development of innovative battery technology to reduce cost and extend range, overcoming …

Consumers Energy is providing Michigan students and their parents with a new, engaging way to learn how energy is generated and travels to their home with a new smartphone app and classroom program called EmPOWERed Kids. The EmPOWERed Kids app is free and available for all smartphone devices and iPads. It guides elementary school students and their parents through ideas …

Tesla Motors’ plan to build a new 35 GWh lithium-ion cell production facility – dubbed the Gigafactory – for electric vehicles that will bring about only a modest reduction in battery costs, and create significant overcapacity, given likely sales of less than half the targeted 500,000, according to Lux Research. Tesla and its partner, Panasonic, will contribute about 45% and …

Pacific Ethanol has announced it has purchased an additional 5% ownership interest in PE Op Co., the owner of the Pacific Ethanol plants, for a total cash purchase price of $6,000,000. The acquisition increased the company’s ownership interest in the Pacific Ethanol plants to 96%. ReneSola Ltd has announced that it will develop a 13MW solar project in Dorset, England. …

Officials from Xcel Energy, the EPA, and the Colorado State Land Board joined community solar developer Clean Energy Collective to officially open Denver County’s newest community solar facilities — two state-of-the-art 500 kW solar arrays that make affordable, locally-made clean power available to all Xcel Energy customers, residential or commercial, in Denver County. Developed on a 5-acre site at the …

The Maryland Energy Administration has begun accepting applications for its Natural Gas Refilling Station Grant Program. The Program is intended to boost the number of fast fill natural gas stations in the State that enable speedy refueling of natural gas vehicles at publicly accessible stations. This transportation program promotes greater energy independence throughout the state by encouraging investment in cleaner …

EPCE, the Energy Providers Coalition for Education, and its founding education partner, the Bismarck State College (BSC) National Energy Center for Excellence have announced the newest addition to their high-quality energy education resources – the Nuclear Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) online simulator. This simulator is integrated into BSC’s online Nuclear Power Technology curriculum designed to educate a pipeline of employees …

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized a pair of direct loans to two wind power projects in Peru for the export of wind turbines manufactured in Hutchinson, Kansas, and Fort Madison, Iowa, by Siemens Energy Inc. The financing, almost $65 million in total, represents Ex-Im Bank’s first renewable-energy transactions in Peru and will support approximately …

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. has announced that Win Inertia, an engineering firm specializing in power electronics, energy storage and control and communication systems, is using its ultracapacitors for a stationary wayside braking energy recuperation system at an electric rail system in Cerro Negro, Spain. Win Inertia designed and installed the system under a contract with the Spanish government’s Administrator of Railway …

The Court of His Majesty Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands, will attend the Grand Opening of POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels’ Project LIBERTY cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 3. The King will take part in the Grand Opening Ceremony to perform the formal opening activity, scheduled for 11 a.m.-12:20 p.m. and tour the plant. POET-DSM is a joint …