The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a $4 billion loan guarantee program for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

The Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects Loan Guarantee program is intended to support the first commercial-scale deployments of the next wave of innovative clean energy technologies. Through the program, the Energy Department solicits applications for loan guarantees. When a successful applicant borrows money for project finance from a commercial bank, the federal government promises to assume the borrower's debt obligation if that borrower defaults. This guarantee serves as a credit backstop for the borrower, ultimately reducing its cost of financing because the lender knows it has resort to federal funds if the borrower cannot repay the loan.

The current program follows a series of previous Energy Department loan guarantee programs. These programs have helped finance projects including the NRG Solar, LLC's 290-megawatt Agua Caliente solar photovoltaic array (the world's largest), NRG Energy, Inc.'s 392-megwatt Brightsource concentrating solar power (CSP) plant (also the world's largest), the 845-megawatt Caithness Shepherds Flat wind project, and Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC's cellulosic ethanol plant. While not all of the previous programs' awardees have been successful -- for example, failed solar panel maker Solyndra -- the Department touts the programs as aligned with President Obama's Climate Action Plan, by supporting investment in domestic energy resources and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

To be eligible for the present solicitation (48-page PDF), a project must be located in the United States and meet both of the following criteria:

1. Use renewable energy systems; efficient electrical generation, transmission, and distribution technologies; or efficient end-use energy technologies; and

2. Meet both of the following requirements : a) Avoid, reduce, or sequester anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases; and b) employ new or significantly improved technology as compared to commercial technology in service in the United States. Beyond these general criteria, the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office has identified five target areas for awards:

Advanced Grid Integration and Storage: mitigating issues related to variability, dispatchability, congestion, and control of renewable energy systems by incorporating technologies such as demand response or local storage, enabling enhanced integration of renewable energy into the grid.

Drop-In Biofuels: developing biofuels that are more compatible with today’s engines, delivery infrastructure and refueling station equipment, enabling nearly identical bio-based substitutes for crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel.

Waste-to-Energy: projects using waste materials which are otherwise discarded, such as landfill methane and segregated waste, as energy sources.

Enhancement of Existing Facilities: incorporating renewable generation technology into existing renewable energy and efficient energy facilities to significantly enhance performance or extend the lifetime of the generating asset. Efficiency Improvements: projects incorporating new or improved technologies to further improve on energy efficiency that would substantially reduce greenhouse gases.

Under the solicitation, the first round of application materials is due on October 1, 2016. For more information on the opportunity, contact the Energy Department, or consult a professional experienced with financing and developing energy projects.

DOE Announces Two Programs Supporting Renewable and Clean Energy

(04-18-14) -- Last week the United States Department of Energy (the DOE) announced two programs supporting the Obama administration’s commitment to renewable energy development.1 On April 16, the DOE released a draft solicitation for up to $4 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects and energy efficiency projects (the Loan Guarantee Solicitation). Just one day later, on April 17, the DOE announced the $15 million Solar Market Pathways program for community solar development.

Loan Guarantee Solicitation

Under the Loan Guarantee Solicitation, up to $4 billion in DOE loan guarantees will be available for innovative renewable or energy efficiency technologies that reduce or capture greenhouse gas emissions and would have difficulty obtaining traditional commercial financing. The loan guarantees will be administered under the Section 1703 loan guarantee program under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which to date has only been used to fund nuclear projects. It is the first solicitation for loan guarantees for clean energy projects since a hiatus after the expiration of the Section 1705 loan guarantee program in September 2011, which offered $16 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy and bio-fuels projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Loan Guarantee Solicitation is focused on innovative technologies that “will have a catalytic effect on the commercial deployment” of the technology in future projects. While the DOE will consider any eligible project, the Loan Guarantee Solicitation identified five key categories:

• advanced grid integration and storage;
• drop-in biofuels;
• waste-to-energy;
• enhancement of existing facilities (such as retrofitting existing wind turbines); and
• efficiency improvements that improve or reduce energy usage or recover, store or dispatch energy from underutilized renewable sources or waste energy or stabilize intermittent power to transmission lines, smarts grids or micro grids.

In order to be eligible for a DOE loan guarantee under the Loan Guarantee Solicitation, a project must meet all of the following requirements:

• The project must be located in the United States;
• The project must be a renewable energy project or use energy efficiency technologies;
• The project technology must avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gas emissions;
• The project must use new or significantly improved technology that is not currently used in three or more commercial projects in the U.S. in the same general application and that have been in operation for at least five years;
• The project likely could not be financed with traditional bank financing without the support of the DOE loan guarantee;
• The project has an expected revenue stream that will support repayment of the principal and interest;
• The project will have sufficient funds from the guaranteed loan and all other financing sources;
• The project has undergone National Environmental Policy Act review (which, depending on the project, requires an Environmental Impact Statement, Environmental Assessment or Categorical Exclusion) and has been determined that the project will not have adverse environmental impacts;
• The project complies with Davis-Bacon Act requirements to pay prevailing wages; and
• The project complies with the Cargo Preference Act of 1954 regarding use of U.S. flagged vessels carrying cargo in international waters.

Applications will be evaluated in two phases before being selected to negotiate with the DOE. Phase I will determine whether a project meets the eligibility requirements set out above. Projects that pass Phase I will be invited to submit applications for Phase II. In Phase II, projects will be evaluated based on a variety of factors, including financial aspects (if the project could be financed without the DOE loan guarantee, the guaranteed loan will be senior secured debt, and if there will be co-lenders or partial guarantors), if the project would be the best use of the loan guarantee based on efficiency and competitiveness, the sponsor’s experience and the DOE’s due diligence on the project.

The DOE is holding informational public meetings about the Loan Guarantee Solicitation in Austin, TX, Denver, CO, Arlington, VA and Twin Cities, MN. The draft Loan Guarantee Solicitation is available here and is open to public comment for 30 days. The final solicitation is targeted to be issued in June.

Solar Market Pathways

The second program announced by the DOE last week, Solar Market Pathways, focuses on assisting communities develop plans to promote affordable solar installation for homes and businesses. It is being launched under the DOE’s SunShot Initiative of 2011 – a national effort to make unsubsidized solar cost-competitive with traditional energy sources.

Under the Solar Market Pathways initiative, the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is requesting case studies of community development plans for solar that have a primary goal of cost reduction and eliminating barriers to entry and are likely to be implemented and replicated by other communities. The development plans do not have to be implemented during the award period. Examples of development plans sought by the EERE are those focusing on developing public-private partnerships, streamlining regulatory processes and/or creating shared solar programs.

The Solar Market Pathways announcement is available here. Concept papers are due May 28, 2016, followed by full applications on July 3, 2016. The EERE anticipates that awards will be issued in August 2016.

1 On December 5, 2013, President Obama issued a presidential memorandum announcing a goal to obtain 20% of U.S. energy from renewables by 2023.

Electrify Africa Act

On February 27, 2016, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed H.R. 2548, the Electrify Africa Act, to improve access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, through a comprehensive U.S. government approach to electricity projects in the region. The bipartisan legislation would establish a U.S. strategy to support affordable, reliable electricity in sub-Saharan Africa in order to improve economic growth, health and education in Africa, while helping job creation in the United States through greater exports.

The main purpose of the Electrify Africa Act is to make government-backed credit more accessible to the private sector in order to deliver access to energy for more than 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. This important development could help interested investors access a $300 billion energy market in sub-Saharan Africa and tap into the demand for an additional 20,000 megawatts in the region.

Changing How the United States Does Business in Africa

If enacted, the Electrify Africa Act will declare that it is the policy of the United States to encourage access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. It will also require that the administration create a comprehensive strategy to help increase electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. More important, the Electrify Africa Act would change how certain U.S. agencies do business in Africa:

• Direct the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to prioritize existing tools like loan guarantees, partnerships and grants to increase electricity in sub-Saharan Africa while also encouraging USAID to develop national, regional and local electricity policy plans.
• Instruct the U.S. Department of Treasury to direct its Director at the World Bank and African Development Bank to increase electricity investments in Sub-Saharan Africa and to coordinate with the private sector.
• Direct the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to prioritize electricity projects and expedite review and approval of loans, guarantees and insurance by investors in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Instruct OPIC to increase loans, guarantees, insurance programs and commitments in sub-Saharan Africa, including the creation of an advisory council to assist its board.
• Direct the U.S. Trade and Development Agency to promote US private sector participation in energy sector development and to seek opportunities to fund project preparation activities including power generation.

Opening a $300 Billion and 20,000 MW Energy Market

The Electrify Africa Act would assist investors in accessing sub-Saharan Africa’s untapped $300 billion energy market and demand for more than 20,000 additional megawatts of electricity. If enacted, the Electrify Africa Act will:

• Encourage the installation of an additional 20,000 megawatts of power in sub-Saharan Africa by 2023
• Promote first –time access to electricity for 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2023
• Promote efficient institutional platforms to provide electrical service to rural and underserved areas.
• This U.S. government assistance is critical to sub-Saharan Africa:
• Sub-Saharan Africa requires more than $300 billion in investment to achieve universal electricity access by 2030
• In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 589 million people, or 68 percent of the population, do not have access to electricity
• Africa’s consumer base of one billion people is rapidly growing and creating demand for U.S. goods, services and technologies.

Holding the U.S. Government Accountable for Electrification Projects in Africa

Putting policy into practice, the U.S. government will closely monitor the expenditure of funds and associated projects under the Electrify Africa Act. After three years from enactment, the president would be required to report to the Committee on Foreign Relations with a list of power sector and electrification projects the USG is supporting. The report would include:

• A description of the project and the partner country
• The total cost of each project
• A breakdown of the project cost among USAID, OPIC, Treasury and other USG agencies
• Certain outputs like MW, environmental and social impact, number of beneficiaries.

Bipartisan Support for Electrify Africa Act

When the House Committee on Foreign Affairs reported H.R. 2548 to the full House, it represented a rare moment of bipartisanship during the 113th Congress. Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) intends to solicit additional Member support in the coming weeks with anticipated consideration by the full House as early as April or May of this year. Even without action by the House Financial Services Committee, which shares jurisdiction over the bill, House leadership is expected to proceed with the bill's consideration. In June 30, 2013, the Obama administration announced the Power Africa Initiative which similarly dedicates federal resources to the development of sub-Saharan Africa's electrification. Although the Power Africa Initiative includes different targets and additional private-public partnerships, President Obama will likely support any bill similar to H.R. 2548 that comes out of Congress.

What Does the Electrify Africa Act Mean for Investors?

The main purpose of the Electrify Africa Act is to make government-backed credit more accessible to the private sector in order to deliver access to energy for more than 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. This means easier access to credit for those investors who are not only interested in exploring projects in the region, but who also understand African development and working with U.S. agencies. It also means a likely increase in the number of privatized power projects within sub-Saharan Africa as the U.S. government works with partner countries to reform and open energy markets.

END

2017 EFF Article -Digital Privacy and Crossing the Border

Sep 1859- Telegraph wires burst into flames, touching off fires .Telegraph machines scorched paper printouts, stunned operators with electric shocks, transmitted gibberish, and continued working for hours even after being unplugged from the batteries that powered them. The Earth itself was no longer "grounded"!

November 1882- another massive solar flare lit lamps, disrupted telegraph communications, and set off several fires on the Chicago telegraph switchboard, melting instruments.

November 1903- solar storm not only disrupted telegraphs and the transatlantic cable; it even shut down Swiss streetcars.

March 1940- severe solar storm burnt out fuses and damaged hundreds of miles of telegraph and telephone networks.

March 1989- a major solar flare shorted out Quebec's power grid. Circuits also overloaded in Great Britain, New York and Virginia. A critical transformer melted in New Jersey.

Solar storms tend to disturb the entire magnetic field of the Earth and can affect both sides. Because of a solar storm on 13 March 1989, Hydro-Quebec lost electric power, cutting the supply of electricity to 6 million people for several hours. This happened at 2:44 a.m. in complete darkness, so Quebec was on the side opposed to the Sun.

November 2003- an "X" solar flare, the strongest of solar storms, temporarily disabled many satellites, killed one satellite completely and and burned out an instrument on a Mars orbiter. The crew of the International Space Station took shelter, reporting elevated radiation readings and "shooting stars" in their own eyes.

September 2005- a string of "X" solar flares caused lesser disruptions to major power grids and knocked out the GPS system completely for ten minutes.

June 2011- a moderate solar flare caused minor satellite disruption, unusual amount of static on phone lines.

http://greekgeek.hubpages.com/hub/ma...lar-flare-1859

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