Renewables still shining bright

If there is one area which is not slowing down, despite the policies at the top - that is corporates purchasing and investing in renewable energy. I did a post earlier on Apple's new HQ which derives 100% of its energy from renewables.


Apex Clean Energy and GreenBiz have conducted an in-depth study of the state of direct renewable energy purchasing, with insights on why and how corporates buy renewables, and strategies to increase renewable energy project development. The intent of this report is to help corporate sustainability, energy and finance executives from Fortune 500 companies – and beyond – to plan and access renewable energy at an increased pace and scale.


Here are some highlights as reported by Guardian (link)

• 43% of corporations intend to be more aggressive in their pursuit of renewable energy in the next 2 years
• 87% of those actively pursuing renewable energy are not deterred by policy changes at the top
• Majority of these companies have renewable targets

Link available here for the full report if you want to dig deeper.


One shining example is Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System in California. The plant has a gross capacity of 392MW and is world's largest solar thermal power station. NRG energy and Google were the largest investors contributing almost $500M of this $2.2B investment. This is also a plant which is not fully carbon emission free. It burns natural gas each morning to commence its operation but the beauty is that the same amount of natural gas used in a combined cycle gas turbine would generate 124MW energy which is about 4 times lower than the installed capacity here.  (read here if you want to learn more about this solar plant)