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DATES TO REMEMBER
| TREIA March 2014 Board Meeting
Friday, March 28, 2014 Austin, TX
Thu Apr 3 - Fri Apr 4, 2014
Corpus Christi, Texas
TREIA Member Discount 10% off registration
Sat., April 12, 2014 Houston, TX
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TREIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2014
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PRESIDENT
Hala Ballouz,
Electric Power Engineers
VICE-PRESIDENT
Mark Walker, NRG Energy TREASURER Richard Amato, Venti Energy SECRETARY Cynthia Redwine, Clean Power Professionals PRESIDENT EMERITUS B.J. (Billy J.) Stanbery, HelioVolt Corporation Steve Wiese, Clean Energy Associates, LLC BOARD MEMBERS Josh Grubaugh, Recurrent Energy Mitch Jacobson, Clean Energy Incubator Melissa Miller, Miller Wind & Renewables Jamie Mitchell, Austin Energy Terence Parker, SolarBridge Technologies John Pitts, SunPower Corporation Cyrus Reed, Sierra Club - Lone Star Chapter Carol Tombari, Carol Tombari Consultation |
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TREIA STAFF
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Executive Director:
Russel Smith
Manager of Operations: Scott Kornfeld 
TREIA CONTRACT ASSOCIATES Communications:
Debrah Dubay
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Welcome to the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association, TREIA 2014 newsletter. This newsletter is sent to you as a member or friend of TREIA. TREIA members should watch for notices in yellow type alerting you to special discounts and opportunities.
If you've got suggestions please let us know by hitting reply and giving us your feedback. Thanks for staying in touch!
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As I step into my role as President of TREIA, I embrace the success of the past years, and the promise of what is to come. For some of us, the current times may be challenging, however I would say relative to the times before passage of Senate Bill 7 and the Texas RPS, we have come a very long way.
Today two of our sectors, wind and solar, are closer to grid parity than many may have ever imagined. And biomass electric generation via landfill gas and wood waste have established a foothold of a few hundred megawatts.
A recent research at Texas A&M University indicates ...
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TREIA Co-founder Michael Osborne Departs Austin Energy
After more than a dozen years at Austin Energy, the City of Austin's electric utility, Michael Osborne, TREIA Co-founder, is "moving on to other duties and responsibilities." On February 27 he was honored in Austin City Council Chambers with the City's Distinguished Service Award. As of this writing he has not announced his next adventure.
Upon hearing the announcement in early February, longtime energy insider and writer Bill McCann penned the following article about Michael.
Click here to read the more> |
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Austin City Council Approves New Wind Contract To Reach Renewable Energy Goal
Austin, TX (February 27, 2014)
The Austin City Council approved a new wind energy contract today that posit  ions Austin Energy to achieve its goal of delivering 35% of all of its electricity from renewable sources four years ahead of its goal and making it the leader for all large public power utilities in the country.
When the three new projects are all online, Austin Energy will have about 1,350 MW of wind power in its portfolio - helping Austin Energy achieve its 35% renewable energy goal in 2016 - four years ahead of schedule. Austin Energy also currently has about 50 MW of solar power and 112 MW of biomass.
Click here to read more>
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Locating Closest Wind Farm To Central Texas - The Goldthwaite Project
by Russel Smith
County Road 2659 running east from Highway 183 looked promising. I was headed north and west of Austin past Lampasas in search of the Goldthwaite Wind Energy project near Goldthwaite, Texas. The wind farm, just over 90 miles from TREIA's north Austin office, had sprung up since the last time I took a trip on this route to Abilene. It was exciting to realize a plant had been built this close to the central part of the populous IH-35 corridor - the closest one to-date.
The project, constructed and owned by Invernergy, consists of 86 GE turbines including three GE 2.5-120 turbines. These turbines are said to be the first in the world that incorporate short-term battery storage into each unit. Invernergy rates the total wind farm capacity at 148.6 MW.
Click here to read more> |
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HelioVolt Seeking Strategic Investment Alternatives
SEOUL, Korea & AUSTIN, Texas (February 24, 2014)
HelioVolt announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the evaluation of strategic alternatives for the company's photovoltaic development and manufacturing business. In order to maximize value in its world leading CIGS technology, the company intends to consider a range of alternatives, including investments, joint ventures or an M&A transaction that fits its strategic objectives. The Company has suspended manufacturing operations to align its short-term cost structure with the objective of preserving maximum value in its intellectual property and demonstration facility while a suitable alternative is identified. HelioVolt will reduce personnel over the next 60 days as appropriate to support its evolving strategy.
"HelioVolt's technology and strength of its commercial ready manufacturing process have been greatly improved, having achieved new performance levels and reduced cost of ownership (COO), potentially becoming a world leader. We are devoted to continue developing relationships with potential partners/investors who will pursue the manufacturing initiative with HelioVolt technology."
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PowerFin Partners Rolls Into 2014 With 38 MW Of Solar Under Its Belt
PowerFin Partners reports a very successful 2013 and provides an update on some of their recent and upcoming activity.
"We have closed on and are in the process of completing construction of 38 MW of projects in California," says PowerFin president Tuan Pham. "These projects were the focus of our activities last year, and we are proud to say that we have now closed approximately $150 million of solar projects in aggregate."
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Principal Engages Carlyle, Continues Building "The World's First Distributed Solar UtilityTM"
Principal Solar, Inc.
(PSI) headquartered in Dallas, has launched a new partnership to help its development of "The World's First Distributed Solar Utility TM." The company has announced the engagement of Carlyle Capital Markets Inc. (CCMI) to serve as its financial consultant in this unique roll-up strategy. CCMI has extensive experience with alternative energy projects. Click here to read more>
Contact R. Michael Martin, EVP Business Development, 214-755-6384, Michael.martin@principalsolar.com.
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Austin Energy Issues Request For Proposals For Community Solar Project
Austin, TX (February 25, 2014)
Austin Energy has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to contract with a solar company to develop a local community solar project to allow residents the ability to purchase clean, renewable energy from the sun without installing panels on their homes. Learn more about the RFP.
The RFP seeks up to 4 megawatts of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic panels installed on a 26-acre site owned by Austin Energy that includes an existing distribution substation. The property is off of Sara Drive near Shady Lane in East Austin and adjacent to a Capital MetroRail line. The deadline to submit proposals is April 29, 2014.
Click Here to read more>
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Two Top Texas Windmen's Books Plus Handy Wind Energy Information Guide
Where are the best places to turn to when you need good information about wind resources, wind technology, and the wind industry? Below is a quick reference guide to major sources.
Where are the best places to turn to when you need good information about wind resources, wind technology, and the wind industry? Check out this quick reference guide to major sources. Click here for the guide>
Those wanting to delve deep into the topic in a comprehensive document may do so in a couple of very recent books by two of Texas' wind research, education, and information pioneers.
 Wind Energy, 2nd Edition, CRC Press, 2013 - by Vaughn Nelson, Retired Director, Alternative Energy Institute, West Texas A&M University
Small Wind, Academic Press, 2014 - by R. Nolan Clark, Small Wind Consultant & Certifying Commissioner, Small Wind Certification Council
Click here to read more>
QUICK REFERENCE WIND ENERGY INFORMATION SOURCE GUIDE
- State, Local
- United States
- International
There are also regional international wind energy associations; for example European and Latin American, and many individual countries have national wind energy associations with information on wind resource, wind projects, and reports.
Click Here to read more >
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DISCLAIMER: Reference to a specific company, product, or service, in TREIA's Renewable Energy Record, does not constitute or imply recommendation or endorsement by TREIA. TREIA is not legally responsible or liable for claims by third parties expressed herein or in links from this publication.
We hope the information in this newsletter was of value and easy to read. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for timely topics!
Sincerely,
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Russel Smith, Editor
Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association
Debrah Dubay, Layout & Design
Dubay Communications |
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