The Northeast Energy and Commerce Association (NECA) will hold its thirteenth annual renewable energy conference on March 3, 2016.
NECA is New England's oldest and most broadly-based, non-profit trade association serving the competitive electric power industry. NECA facilitates an open forum among all electric power stakeholders to foster the development and maturation of competitive power markets.
NECA's 2016 Renewable Energy conference features panel discussions on hydropower imports, distribution network policy, reliability, transmission and storage, and emerging trends in renewable finance/economics. Of particular interest this year are state efforts to support large scale and distributed renewables like wind and solar, broad retirements of coal-fired and other central
generating power plants, proposed new infrastructure like electric transmission and natural gas pipelines, and shifts in the balance of resources New England relies upon for energy.
Registration for the event is available on the NECA website.
Energy powers society; society's choices shape energy policy. A blog about our energy resources and the choices they present for society.
Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts
Hydropower relicensing surge expected
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Hydropower industry experts are gathering near Worcester, Massachusetts, this week for a conference on hydropower re-licensing. Organized by EUCI and hosted by Alden Research Laboratory, the March 18-19 Hydropower Re-Licensing Conference features speakers from federal and state regulatory agencies, owners of hydropower projects, and consultants.
Hydropower currently accounts for about two-thirds of all renewable electricity generated in the U.S, with room for growth primarily by expansion of existing facilities at existing storage dams. Most hydropower projects fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, receiving either a license or an exemption pursuant to the Federal Power Act.
Before most existing projects may expand, they need to secure a license amendment from the FERC allowing changes to the project. Planned and upcoming project expansions will drive significant relicensing in the coming years.
The age of the nation's existing hydropower projects will also drive additional relicensing activity in the near term. Of roughly 2,000 existing hydropower licenses and exemptions issued by the FERC, nearly one-quarter will expire within the next 15 years. Since dams have relatively high construction and permitting costs and relatively long useful lives, since demand for renewable electricity remains relatively high, since most dams were built decades ago and since existing licenses typically run for 30 to 50 years, most of these existing dams will likely apply for new licenses before the terms of their existing licenses expire.
For these reasons, expect to see significant re-licensing activity around hydropower projects in the next decade.
Following this week's conference, EUCI will host a workshop on financing new and existing small hydropower projects. A panel of presenters, including Jon Petrillo of Gravity Renewables, Dana Hall of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, my colleague Peter Brown of Preti Flaherty, and me, will engage with attendees on the ever-important question of how to finance hydropower projects.
For more information about the event, contact me at 207-791-3000 or tgriset@preti.com.
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| The power of falling water. |
Hydropower currently accounts for about two-thirds of all renewable electricity generated in the U.S, with room for growth primarily by expansion of existing facilities at existing storage dams. Most hydropower projects fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, receiving either a license or an exemption pursuant to the Federal Power Act.
Before most existing projects may expand, they need to secure a license amendment from the FERC allowing changes to the project. Planned and upcoming project expansions will drive significant relicensing in the coming years.
The age of the nation's existing hydropower projects will also drive additional relicensing activity in the near term. Of roughly 2,000 existing hydropower licenses and exemptions issued by the FERC, nearly one-quarter will expire within the next 15 years. Since dams have relatively high construction and permitting costs and relatively long useful lives, since demand for renewable electricity remains relatively high, since most dams were built decades ago and since existing licenses typically run for 30 to 50 years, most of these existing dams will likely apply for new licenses before the terms of their existing licenses expire.
For these reasons, expect to see significant re-licensing activity around hydropower projects in the next decade.
Following this week's conference, EUCI will host a workshop on financing new and existing small hydropower projects. A panel of presenters, including Jon Petrillo of Gravity Renewables, Dana Hall of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, my colleague Peter Brown of Preti Flaherty, and me, will engage with attendees on the ever-important question of how to finance hydropower projects.
For more information about the event, contact me at 207-791-3000 or tgriset@preti.com.
Tide Mill Institute to hold conference November 8-9, 2013
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
The Tide Mill Institute will hold its 9th annual conference this week in Topsfield, Massachusetts. The event, to be held at the Topsfield Historical Society's Gould Barn on November 8 and 9, brings together people interested in the past, present, and future of tidal energy.
Tidal energy has been used to produce useful power since at least 619, based on archaeological finds at the site of Nendrum Monastery on an island off Northern Ireland. Tide mills came to the New World along with early European settlers, who captured the energy embodied in the rise and fall of tides and put it to use powering grist mills, lumber mills, and other industries. According to a 1979 paper, "Early Tide Mills: Some Problems", at one point over 300 tide mills operated in North America. As their functionality was supplanted by steam engines, electricity, and internal combustion energy, much of society's historic use of tidal energy has been forgotten.
Meanwhile, people still look to the tides to provide useful power. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has been home to a 20 megawatt tidal power plant since 1984, and is promoting even more innovative uses of tidal energy resources through incentive programs and policies. In the United States, the Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has developed the nation's first major grid-tied tidal electric generator, and has ambitious plans to bring more tidal and hydrokinetic projects online around the country.
This week's Tide Mill Institute event brings these themes together into a continuous narrative, from past through the present to the future. The Tide Mill Institute's mission is:
The 2013 conference kicks off Friday night with an informal reception, followed by a symposium and dialogues Saturday from 8 AM through 3:30 PM.
For more information about the Tide Mill Institute, please contact:
Tidal energy has been used to produce useful power since at least 619, based on archaeological finds at the site of Nendrum Monastery on an island off Northern Ireland. Tide mills came to the New World along with early European settlers, who captured the energy embodied in the rise and fall of tides and put it to use powering grist mills, lumber mills, and other industries. According to a 1979 paper, "Early Tide Mills: Some Problems", at one point over 300 tide mills operated in North America. As their functionality was supplanted by steam engines, electricity, and internal combustion energy, much of society's historic use of tidal energy has been forgotten.
Meanwhile, people still look to the tides to provide useful power. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has been home to a 20 megawatt tidal power plant since 1984, and is promoting even more innovative uses of tidal energy resources through incentive programs and policies. In the United States, the Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has developed the nation's first major grid-tied tidal electric generator, and has ambitious plans to bring more tidal and hydrokinetic projects online around the country.
This week's Tide Mill Institute event brings these themes together into a continuous narrative, from past through the present to the future. The Tide Mill Institute's mission is:
- to advance appreciation of the American and international heritage of tide mill technology;
- to encourage research into the location and history of tide mill sites;
- to serve as a repository for tide mill data for students, scholars, engineers and the general public and to support and expand the community of these tide mill stakeholders; and
- to promote appropriate re-uses of old tide-mill sites and the development of the use of tides as an energy source.
The 2013 conference kicks off Friday night with an informal reception, followed by a symposium and dialogues Saturday from 8 AM through 3:30 PM.
For more information about the Tide Mill Institute, please contact:
- Bud Warren - budw@myfairpoint.net 207-373-1209
- Earl Taylor - ERMMWWT@aol.com 617-293-3052
- Todd Griset - tgriset@preti.com 207-791-3000
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