Residential Solar Tax Credit for Community Solar

Joanna Schroeder September 7, 2015

Community-shared solar had a win last week when the IRS ruled that an owner of offsite PV panels is eligible to take advantage of one of the primary incentives offered to homeowners – the 30 percent federal residential income tax credit, or the residential ITC. Community-shared solar allows electric customers to buy an interest in an offsite solar array and to receive credit on their electricity bills for their ownership interest. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recent Private Letter Ruling is only legally applicable to the individual taxpayer in question—a solar panel owner in Boardman Hill Solar Farm, a member-managed 150-kW off-site solar array in Vermont—the ruling will be taken as a positive development by community-shared solar participants and project developers.

The solar industry has been working through the issues of whether a residential owner purchasing power for a solar community project can qualify for tax incentives. Working with stakeholders in Massachusetts and Vermont, and with attorneys in the Boston office of law firm Foley Hoag, LLP, and the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), arranged for the submission of a Private Letter Ruling request to the IRS to help clarify this issue.

“This new Private Letter Ruling represents the first instance in which the IRS has publicly weighed in on the applicability of the residential ITC to an owner of solar panels in a shared, offsite array,” said Warren Leon, the executive director of CESA. “The ruling suggests that the IRS may be receptive to claims for the residential ITC when a project mirrors the structure used in this case.”

Foley Hoag attorneys Nicola Lemay and Adam Wade provided the legal work leading to the issuance of the private letter ruling request and facilitated discussions with the IRS.

“This letter ruling fills an important gap. It adds a previously unavailable written resource to the growing body of authority which can be used by courts, IRS personnel, and practitioners in structuring community shared solar projects,” added Adam Wade. “Pairing the 25D credit with the lower installed cost and economies of scale of mid-scale and larger-scale distributed solar holds tremendous potential in enabling direct ownership of community-shared systems by groups of individuals in utility territories with supportive net metering and bill-crediting programs.”

Clean Energy, Electricity, Solar

K2 Wind Farm Operating, Canada Exceeds 10GW

Joanna Schroeder September 4, 2015

The K2 Wind Power Facility located in Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW) in southwestern Ontario is official generating wind energy. The 270 MW facility was commissioned recently during an event hosted by Samsung Renewable Energy, Capital Power Corporation and Pattern Energy Group Inc. Canada now has more than 10 GW of installed wind energy capacity making it in the 7th country in the world to reach this lever of wind energy production according to the Canadian Wind Energy Association.

“On behalf of the Council of the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh I would like to congratulate everyone who had a part in this long and complex project that created one of Canada’s largest wind-energy facilities,” said Deputy Reeve Roger Watt. “We would especially like to thank K2 Wind for its commitment to the Community Benefit Fund. This will enable the Township to undertake infrastructure-improvement and community-development projects over the next 20 years that we otherwise simply would not be able to pursue.”

K2 Wind has created a Community Benefits Fund Agreement with the Township of ACW to deliver approximately $15 million in funding for community initiatives over the next 20 years. K2 Wind will also support local residents living near the facility through lease agreements and other benefits.

The facility’s wind turbine components were manufactured in Ontario. A total of 700 turbine tower sections were produced in Windsor by CS Wind and the 420 blades were built in Tillsonburg by Siemens, directly supporting over 800 manufacturing jobs in Ontario. K2 Wind expects to have approximately 20 full-time operations and maintenance employees, along with an additional 10 seasonal positions.

Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Energy added, “This event is to thank the community, the landowners and the local officials that worked to make this project possible. Going forward, K2 Wind will return many benefits to the community by providing ongoing funding for important community projects and initiatives at the same time helping to reduce pollution for Ontario and the globe.”

Clean Energy, Electricity, Wind

U2’s Bono Helps Celebrate Solar in Africa

Joanna Schroeder September 4, 2015

U2’s Bono with Gigawatt Global co-founders Yosef Abramowitz and Chaim Motzen, plus Electrify Africa Act co-sponsor US Senator Chris Coons at East Africa’s first solar field near Kigali, Rwanda. Bono and Abramowitz are both Nobel Prize candidates for 2015. (PRNewsFoto/Gigawatt Global)

Bono of U2 fame joined a delegation of U.S. Government representatives to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the first completed solar field under the White House’s Power Africa program. The 8.5 MW project, developed by Gigawatt Global and built by Scatec Solar, is on the grounds of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village near Kigali, Rwanda. Bono’s One.org backs the Electrify Africa Act, which is co-sponsored by Senator Chris Coons (far right) and advances power production as a strategy to combat poverty. Yosef Abramowitz and Chaim Motzen, co-founders of Gigawatt Global, an American-owned Dutch solar and social development enterprise, led the tour of the field. Bono and Gigawatt Global are both candidates for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced next month.

Clean Energy, Electricity, International, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder September 4, 2015

Innovative Solar Systems, LLC (ISS) has now announced that it will become an Independent Power Producer (IPP) in all 50 States. The company will become one of the largest independent power producers in the nation by selling the majority of the power produced from the company’s 2016 solar farm projects directly to the end user and provide a win/win situation for both ISS and well as the customers of the company’s power.
Panasonic has announced it was awarded a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The funding will be used to develop a technology that aims to lower the cost of solar photovoltaic systems, improve their performance and ultimately help to reduce use of fossil fuels.
Yingli Green Energy Europe GmbH and Namene Energy International Limited, a leading renewable energy solutions developer focused on West Africa, have formed a new joint venture, Yingli Namene West Africa Limited. The new venture aims to develop a total of MV of utility-scale solar projects and up to 50 MW of commercial rooftop projects in Ghana and neighboring countries over the coming years and Yingli Europe will serve as the JV’s preferred solar panel supplier.
UBM India will host the 9th edition of its flagship event, Renewable Energy India Expo (REI) from September 23-25th at the India Expo Center, Greater Noida. REI is a global platform where India’s green economy community including overseas participants will congregate to discuss industry trends, challenges and market insights including the Indian regulatory framework. The event aims to further upscale and mainstream the applications of renewable energy resources, showcase innovations, product launches and enrich the deliberation through international exhibition and conference platform.

Bioenergy Bytes

Algae Biomass Summit to Highlight Comm’l Potential

John Davis September 4, 2015

Scientists and industry innovators will be talking about the commercial potential of algae at the upcoming 9th Annual Algae Biomass Summit, taking place in Washington, DC. This news release from the Algae Biomass Organization says the summit happens Sept. 30th-Oct. 2nd and features nearly 30 oral presentations on the business strategies, technologies and sustainable production methods that are bringing to market algae-based products, such as fuels.

“The leaders of the algae industry and research community are gathering in Washington, DC for the very first time at this year’s Algae Biomass Summit to highlight the unprecedented progress we have seen in algae’s potential to impact a number of multi-billion dollar markets,” said Al Darzins, Program Chair for the Algae Biomass Summit. “Companies from around the nation, and the world, are unveiling new production and process technologies, new facilities, new purchase agreements and other milestones. The commercial potential of these projects in terms of revenues, jobs and production yields will be hot topics at this year’s summit.”

The summit will have four tracks and more than 100 live presentations.

More information is available here.

algae, biomass

Missouri Biodiesel Plant Coming to Life, Finally

John Davis September 3, 2015

After too many years languishing empty, a Missouri biodiesel plant is finally coming to life. This article from Moberly (MO) Monitor-Index says Chicago-based Lakeview Energy, LLC is re-opening what started as the Producer’s Choice Soy Energy biodiesel facility and will now be known in the northern Missouri town as Lakeview Biodiesel, LLC.

The new project will not come cheap for Lakeview. The company is estimated to devote $5 million to upgrade the facility.

Lakeview Energy, LLC CEO Jim Galvin mentioned that the Moberly Area offers a significant workforce pool to pull from including many people with work experience in the biofuels sector.

Galvin went on to say, “After looking at various locations, we decided to expand in Moberly due in part to the availability of the PCSE facility but also the abundance of quality employees in the area. We are excited about the opportunity to rapidly expand our operations and the necessary work on the Moberly facility has already begun. We have enjoyed working with the City of Moberly and MAEDC and look forward to a long and rewarding relationship in Moberly.”

Last month, Lakeview Energy got some help in the form of a U.S. Department of Agriculture $3.3 million loan guarantee to help acquire this Missouri biodiesel plant and make improvements to bring it online to produce enough biodiesel to run approximately 16,500 vehicles annually.

Biodiesel

Swedish Mill Dumps LPG to Put in Biomass Boiler

John Davis September 3, 2015

A pulp mill in Sweden is ending its use of non-renewable LPG in favor of a biomass boiler. This news release from Waggeryd Cell says it will invest about $7 million to run the flash dryer on biomass, expected to be up and running next March and reducing the mill’s fossil carbon dioxide emissions by 85 percent.

Waggeryd Cell produces bleached CTMP and ever since start-up in 1989 the whole production has been flash dried using LPG as heat source. When the new boiler has started in September 2016, LPG will be totally replaced by bioenergy. It is a grate boiler with an effect of about 12 MW. The supplier is Urbas, an Austrian company specialising in systems designed to extract energy from wet and coarse wood fuels from sawmills, woodworking factories and general forestry thinning. It is a turnkey project and Urbas is responsible for the whole delivery, including projecting, mounting and start-up.

“This is yet another of the environmental investments we have done since we began modernising the mill fifteen years ago,” says Ulf Karlsson, MD Waggeryd Cell. “By replacing LPG for our flash dryer with heat from the new biomass boiler we will reduce our emissions of fossil carbon dioxide by 85 % at the same time as we reduce our costs. The boiler will be fuelled by sawdust, oversized wood chips and fibre residuals from our process as well as bark and fuel wood mainly supplied from our owner ATA Group’s sawmills.”

Urbas has been designing, building and pioneering energy systems for use of biomass fuels for more than 20 years.

biomass, International

RFA Responds to Anti-Ethanol Boat Campaign

Joanna Schroeder September 2, 2015

This weekend marks the end of “summer” and boaters are expected to hit the waters for one last hurrah. In an effort to undermine the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and growth of biofuels, the Boat Owners Association of the United States (BoatUS) released a survey of its members that show half of them say ethanol free gas is not available to them at marinas and gas stations. In addition, the survey found that 91 percent of boaters want ethanol-free gas for their boat and more than half of the respondents claimed to have had to replace or repair their boat engine or fuel system parts due to suspected ethanol damage.

Interestingly, this past weekend, an ethanol-powered speed boat reached speeds of 208 MPH in an annual shootout.

In response, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), stated:

“The poll results are, unfortunately, a clear indication that the myths surrounding boating and ethanol continue to exist,” said Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association. “The National Marine Manufacturers Association has engaged in a relentless misinformation campaign regarding E15 and, in doing so, has confused the issue. It is simply not true that ethanol and boat engines do not mix. E10 is safe for boat engines. In fact, every boat manufacturer warrants the use of ethanol-blended fuel with up to 10 percent ethanol. So boaters should not have any worries about filling their engines with E10 over the Labor Day holiday.”

RFA has made available information related to ethanol use in boats. Click here to learn more.

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Nebraska Wants Clean Air

Joanna Schroeder September 2, 2015

Kim Clark, former director of biofuels development for Nebraska Corn spoke during the recent Ethanol Conference in Omaha, Nebraska hosted by the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) about their Clean Air for Nebraska campaign. Her focus is to educate consumers across the state about ways to improve air quality. The goal of the campaign is create awareness around how using ethanol in fuels is a small step to make a big impact in air quality. She noted that there is a good number of organizations supporting the efforts.

The multi-facted campaign includes adding additional biofuels infrastructure throughout the state with Nebraska Corn allocating $500,000 to adding more blender pumps. Next, the campaign is focusing on helping consumers understand what ethanol blends are and what cars can use what blends including E15 and E85. Much of the marketing is taking place at the pump but the campaign also included radio ads. Ultimately the clean air campaign supporters hope their tools can be used by other regions and states as a template for biofuel and air pollution education.

To learn more about the Clean Air for Nebraska campaign, listen to Kim Clark’s presentation: Kim Clark, Clean Air for Nebraska

2015 ACE Annual Meeting Photos

ACE, ACE Ethanol Conference, Audio, biofuels, E15, E85, Education, Ethanol

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder September 2, 2015

NextEra Energy and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. and Maui Electric Company Limited (collectively referred to as Hawaiian Electric), subsidiaries of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. have provided additional extensive details on NextEra Energy’s plans for its merger with HEI, including a comprehensive package of 85 commitments, of which more than 50 are new, that would accelerate the achievement of Hawaii’s goal of an affordable, 100 percent renewable energy future by 2045.
Hydro-Québec and Eversource Energy have underscored their firm commitment to help solve New England’s energy challenges through their long-standing partnership. The two companies are working together to build the Northern Pass Transmission project, which will export 1,000 MW of hydropower from Québec’s world-class generation fleet to New England, increasing clean energy trade between the Northeast U.S. and Eastern Canadian electricity markets, a primary goal of the New England Governors and the Eastern Canadian Premiers.
Canadian Solar has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, one of North America’s largest solar project developers, signed an agreement with Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. Southern Power will acquire a controlling interest in the 200-megawatt (MW) Tranquility Solar Power Project in California. The project, developed by Recurrent Energy, is currently under construction.

Bioenergy Bytes

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