Energy

Cash-strapped Spain is planning to tax homes that produce their own energy through solar power and store some of it using batteries, according to El Pais newspaper.

Amounts due will discourage the use of home solar panels. But off-grid consumers WILL be able to use batteries without financial penalties.

The Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism has drafted a decree that would discourage the use of solar charged batteries or other storage systems

Users of solar or photovoltaic panel systems that charge batteries will be targeted by the new rules. These self-reliant consumers will not be able to use products such as the Powerwall battery recently launched by car manufacturer and energy-storage company Tesla.

Moreover, they could find themselves being penalised additionally for the storage systems that come included with the latest generation of solar panels.

If you live in the country, however, you may escape the ´tax on Sunlight´ as only off-grid consumers who have their own, completely independent energy-production systems will be able to use batteries without being penalised.
The tax will only apply to systems that use batteries to store the sun’s power – direct usage, or instantaneous consumption equipment will not be affected.
This enormous U-turn in the Spanish government’s attitude toward solar energy policy in the last five years is in stark contrast to other European countries, such as Germany, which is encouraging the use of solar panels with batteries.

Business spared the worst effects

To rub salt in the wound, and to further discourage self-production by anybody who previously invested in solar systems for their home after being encouraged to do so, the draft legislation also makes it clear that any energy surplus that individual self-producers feed back into the grid will not result in any monetary benefits.
The exception to that rule being businesses who are high voltage customers, who will be allowed to turn a profit on their surplus.

Since 2010, when Prime Minister Rajoy upset the applecart with international investors by announcing cuts to subsidies for renewables as part of a review of energy policies, the government’s view towards solar power appears to have toughened.

In 2011 the Emirate of Abu Dhabi threatened to sue Spain over its reduction of premiums for solar thermal energy. Previously, a lawsuit from 14 photovoltaic renewable energy producers, who complained that the Spanish government had unfairly changed the rules of the game, was rejected by the Supreme Court.…

SEOUL JUNE 2ND – South Korea may have found an answer to its problems of energy shortages and an unstable power supply on an energy-independent island off the south coast, which could also help with its fight against climate change.

The country began developing energy-independent islands in 2009 as part of efforts to help ensure a stable supply of power in off-grid areas, mostly on small, offshore islands, but also to test its clean, renewable energy technology in real life.

One such island, which was completely off the country’s main grid but could generate enough electricity for its population through clean and renewable energy sources, was first realized in Gapado off the country’s southern resort island of Jeju in February 2014.

GASADO ISLAND

A second such island followed in Gasado just seven months later, but with more advanced technology and equipment, such as an energy management system that allows real-time adjustments to the mixture of energy sources, making it the country’s first true energy-independent island.

Gasado, located some 470 kilometers south of Seoul, uses wind and solar energy to generate about 81 percent of the power consumed by the island’s entire population of 168 households, or 280 people.

STORAGE ISSUES

The island still uses three 100-kilowatt diesel-powered generators as a backup power source in case the wind and solar power generators fail, but officials here from the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) said an island completely independent of fossil fuels was still possible.

“The only remaining issue is an economic one stemming from the high price of energy storage units,” said Song Il-keun, head of KEPCO’s microgrid research and business development center.

The island currently has an energy storage system with a capacity of 3 megawatt-hours, enough to supply the island’s entire consumption for one day.

An island completely independent of any fossil fuels will require at least two or three more such systems, each of which costs about 3 billion won (US$2.69 million), which currently is much more than the state-run power supplier or the island’s population can save from switching to clean, renewable energy.

However, such an island is not a far-off idea.

COST SAVINGS

Already, the cost of generating electricity with solar power has dipped to below that of generating power through diesel as of 2011, according to KEPCO.

In just seven months since switching to clean and renewable energy sources in September 2014, Gasado has saved some 150 million won ($134,600) as its use of diesel plunged more than 81 percent to 29,387 liters from the comparable period in the previous year.

The government is now moving to replicate such an apparent success on a much larger scale, starting on the eastern island of Ulleung that has a population of 10,673 people in some 7,900 households.

“Energy-independent islands are possible not only on physically isolated islands, but in any small areas or entities that may …

The First US Army base in the Continental USA to go completely off the grid has been announced, with huge cost savings.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for May 6 at Ft. Knox, KY, to celebrate the installation’s “complete energy independence,” the Army announced April 30.

Its a hugely symbolic moment because The United States Department of the Treasury has maintained the Bullion Depository on the post since 1937. This is the heavily guarded gold bullion stock of the US government.

Using natural gas mined from underneath the base, Ft. Knox is the first military post to go “completely off the grid,” according to the service. A 2009 ice storm in Kentucky helped spawn the project, as much of the state, including Ft. Knox, was without power for several days. The Army estimates that the base’s energy independence will bring annual cost savings of $8 million.

The United States Bullion Depository, according to Wikipedia, “is a fortified vault building located within the United States Army post of Fort Knox, Kentucky, used to store a large portion of United States official gold reserves and occasionally other precious items belonging or entrusted to the federal government. The exact contents of the United States Bullion Depository are unknown as there has never been an approved full audit since the early 1930s. It is estimated to have roughly 3 percent of all the gold ever refined throughout human history.”

The 109,000 acre (170 sq mi) site south of Louisville dates back to 1871.…