The last coal-fired power plant in Hawaii closes in 2022, emitting 1.5 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. Energy storage farms could replace it, with potential uses such as battery storage, solar and wind power. The state's largest stand-alone energy system, with 565 megawatt-hours of storage capacity, was developed by San Francisco-based Plus Power. Hawaii has mandated a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2045.
BPCL has approved ethylene cracker project, downstream petrochemical plant and Bina refinery expansion with capital expenditure of Rs 49,000 crore. It has also invested in two 50 MW wind power plants as well as POL and LOBS installations to ensure energy security and sustainability. The investment will strengthen BPCL's position and contribute to economic growth.
The European Green Deal will lead to greater energy security and economic prosperity, with wind and solar becoming the main sources of electricity, heat pumps installed, electric passenger cars on European roads, natural gas consumption falling and coal phased out. The European Green Deal protects households and businesses from the high cost of living by offering solutions to reduce energy bills and move away from gas, oil and coal.
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd will begin a feasibility study for a 130 MW floating solar power plant on Dumbur Lake in the Tripragomati district. TREDA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NTPC to carry out the study, which will cost Rs 450 crore within a few months. TREDA has also initiated a process to provide solar energy to interior tribal settlements where traditional electricity supply is not profitable. The advantage of floating solar plants is that the land requirements for the associated evacuation arrangements are minimal. The PM-KUSUM program has successfully implemented 1,659 solar water pumps at a cost of Rs 1.12 billion to ensure energy security for farmers and increase the share of installed non-fossil fuel power generation capacity by 2030.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has highlighted the government's priority to incentivize and facilitate investment in India through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. She invited Japanese investors to invest in India and eased restrictions to ensure it was easier to do business. India has achieved 175 GW of installed solar capacity and now aims to expand it to 300 GW by 2030.
The World Health Organization declared an official end to the Covid-19 global emergency earlier this month, but supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic may take longer to subside. That's the prediction of Henrik Andersen, CEO of Vestas Power Systems, one of the world's largest wind turbine manufacturers. While supply chains are stretched, the cost of key items like steel — the main material used in wind turbines — has soared during the pandemic. As a result, profits at Vestas' wind turbine business will roughly halve in 2021 compared to 2020. Getting fully back on track will require continued easing of global supply chains, especially in China, which only eased its Covid-zero policy in December.