From GE:

GE’s Digital Wind Farm Unlocks Higher Production for Two Aging Wind Plants in Japan

August 25, 2016

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• GE recently signed new service agreements utilizing Digital Wind Farm technology to boost energy output at two wind projects in central Japan
• Kinden’s 30 MW Shirama wind farm near Osaka expects to add up to five percent more annual energy production, while Kandenko’s 22 MW Chosi wind farm near Tokyo expects to boost production by up to two percent
• Projects will benefit from GE’s Prognostics and PowerUp* Services applications, part of its Digital Wind Farm ecosystem

SCHENECTADY, NY—Aug. 25, 2016—GE Renewable Energy (NYSE: GE) announced it has secured five-year Digital Wind Farm services contracts for two aging wind farms in central Japan. Kinden Corporation’s 30 MW Shirama wind farm, a seven-year-old project near Osaka, expects the digital solution will increase the site’s annual energy production (AEP) by up to five percent. A second contract, signed with Kandenko, is expected to deliver up to two percent higher AEP for the 22 MW Chosi project, a twelve-year-old wind farm near Tokyo.

Anne McEntee, President & CEO of GE’s Onshore Wind business said, “Our Digital Wind Farm concept is starting to gain traction all over the world. These two projects in Japan are great examples of our lifecycle approach to services—we are using data and analytics to create new value from older machines.”

Originally commissioned in 2004, the Chosi wind farm consists of 15 units of GE’s 1.5s product. Using GE’s Prognostics and PowerUp* Services software applications, the site will implement a turbine performance enhancement strategy that involves, among other adjustments, fine tuning the pitch angle according to the site’s real-world operating conditions. The resulting data will help the team analyze current and historical performance, plus it will help predict the remaining useful life of key components in the aging machines. The Kandenko team expects the new technology to boost revenue by up to $650,000 over the remaining lifetime of the project.

Kinden Corporation’s 30 MW Shirama project near Osaka is made up of 20 units of GE’s 1.5sle wind turbines. First commissioned in 2009, the site will also receive GE’s Prognostics and PowerUp* Services applications, implementing software and hardware enhancements that utilize a new blade clearance operation mode which will help the turbines run more efficiently and increase overall plant production by up to five percent.

GE’s Digital Wind Farm concept extends to a wide variety of existing turbine models, and the apps are also compatible with the company’s new 2 MW and 3 MW wind turbines. In May, the company unveiled anew suite of Digital Wind Farm applications that were developed to enhance production and improve wind farm profitability. The programs are built on the Predix* software platform, the foundation for all GE’s Industrial Internet applications, and include its specialized cyber security protection for operational technology.

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About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. www.ge.com

Developing Battery Technologies

From U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy:

The Energy Department supports developing #battery technologies that provide #energy storage to power electric vehicles and stockpile renewable energy resources. This photo shows Energy Department Secretary Ernest Moniz at Argonne National Laboratory in #Illinois, one of our national labs hosting some of the 43 businesses selected to participate in round 2 of our Small Business Vouchers pilot aimed at advancing #cleantechcapabilities: http://go.usa.gov/xDBpP.

EPA Recognizes U.S. Department of Agriculture Among Nation’s Leading Green Power USERS

From the #USDA:

Posted by Dean Johnson, National Facilities Energy and Water Program Manager, USDA Office of Procurement and Property Management, on August 11, 2016 at 10:00 AM

The 1.6 Megawatt solar farm, located at the George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland, helps position USDA to meet President Obama’s Executive Order goal to increase the share of electricity the Federal Government consumes from renewable.

In 2015, USDA launched the answer to President Obama’s Climate Action Plan challenge for food and forestry, with the Building Blocks for Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry. Ten building blocks span a range of technologies and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon storage and generate clean renewable energy.  Through the Department’s voluntary and incentive-based conservation and energy programs, USDA and its partners are moving forward to reduce net emissions and enhance carbon sequestration by over 120 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, or about 2 percent of economy-wide net greenhouse emissions, by 2025. This reduction is the equivalent of taking 25 million cars off the road or offsetting the emissions produced by powering nearly 11 million homes per year.

In keeping with these efforts, USDA too is working to reduce its own carbon footprint.  USDA is proud to be part of the Green Power Partnership, a voluntary program that encourages organizations to use green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with electricity use.  And USDA is even more proud to be recognized as number five on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Top 10 Federal Government list of the largest green power users from the Green Power Partnership. Additionally, USDA is number 43 on the National Top 100 list.

USDA is using more than 169 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which represents 35 percent of its total power needs. And USDA is generating green power from on-site renewable energy including: solar, wind, biomass, hydro and geothermal systems. Because USDA is using green power to advance the green power market and support clean renewable energy alternatives, USDA becomes more sustainable, while also sending a message to others across the United States that using green power is a sound business decision and an important tool in reducing one’s carbon footprint in the fight against climate change.

According to EPA, USDA’s green power use of more than 169 million kWh is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity use of nearly 15,500 average American homes annually.  USDA is leading by example for its green power use and for advancing on-site generation.

Green power is zero-emissions electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps build demand for the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and helps users reduce their carbon footprints.

In addition to purchasing green power, USDA employs various other sustainable strategies as part of the Department’s operations and practices; including, using alternative fuels in vehicles, designing and constructing high performance green buildings, green purchasing and promoting the use of biobased products. To learn more about USDA’s sustainable operations, please visithttp://greening.usda.gov/.

Currently, this Partnership has more than 1,400 partner organizations that voluntarily use billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500^® companies; small and medium sized businesses; local, state, and federal governments; and colleges and universities. For additional information, please visithttp://www.epa.gov/greenpower.

More information about USDA’s efforts and the results for How Food and Forestry Are Adapting to a Changing Climate is available at https://medium.com/usda-results/how-food-and-forestry-are-adapting-to-a-changing-climate-2f5b84bff9c0#.dn5gf01un.

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Tags: Climate Change, Energy, EPA, President Obama, Renewable Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency