Genesis Energy Limited, formerly Genesis Power Limited, is a New Zealand publicly listed electricity generation and electricity, natural gas and LPG retailing company. It was formed as part of the 1998–99 reform of the New Zealand electricity sector, taking its generation capacity from the breakup of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) and taking retail customers from three local power boards in the Lower North Island.
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is the fourth largest retailer, with 14 percent of market share in terms of customers as of December 2015.
Penrhyn is an atoll in the northern group of the Cook Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. The northernmost island in the group, it is located at 1,365 km (848 mi) north-north-east of the capital island of Rarotonga, 9 degrees south of the equator. Its nearest neighbours are Rakahanga, and Manihiki, approximately 350 kilometres (220 mi) to the southwest. Once one of the most heavily populated atolls, it was almost completely depopulated by Peruvian slavers in 1864.
Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
Solar power in Australia is a fast growing industry. As of December 2020, Australia's over 2.66 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 20,198 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which at least 3,906 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 5.2% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2018.
Solar power represented a very small part of electricity production in the United Kingdom (UK) until the 2010s when it increased rapidly, thanks to feed-in tariff (FIT) subsidies and the falling cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels.
Wind power in New Zealand generates a small but growing proportion of the country's electricity. As of December 2017, wind power accounts for 690 MW of installed capacity and over 5 percent of electricity generated in the country.
Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station in San Luis Obispo County, California. Construction on the project began in November 2011 and ended in November 2014. It is one of the world's largest solar farms. The $2.5 billion project includes 9 million CdTe photovoltaic modules based on thin-film technology, manufactured by U.S. company First Solar. The company also built, operates and maintains the project for MidAmerican Renewables, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Pacific Gas and Electric will buy the electricity under a 25-year power purchase agreement. According to First Solar, it created about 400 construction jobs.
Worldwide growth of photovoltaics has been close to exponential between 1992 and 2018. During this period of time, photovoltaics (PV), also known as solar PV, evolved from a niche market of small-scale applications to a mainstream electricity source.
Renewable energy in Tuvalu is a growing sector of the country's energy supply. Tuvalu has committed to sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable energy. This is considered possible because of the small size of the population of Tuvalu and its abundant solar energy resources due to its tropical location. It is somewhat complicated because Tuvalu consists of nine inhabited islands. The Tuvalu National Energy Policy (TNEP) was formulated in 2009, and the Energy Strategic Action Plan defines and directs current and future energy developments so that Tuvalu can achieve the ambitious target of 100% renewable energy for power generation by 2020. The program is expected to cost 20 million US dollars and is supported by the e8, a group of 10 electric companies from G8 countries. The Government of Tuvalu worked with the e8 group to develop the Tuvalu Solar Power Project, which is a 40 kW grid-connected solar system that is intended to provide about 5% of Funafuti’s peak demand, and 3% of the Tuvalu Electricity Corporation's annual household consumption.
The energy sector in Hawaii has rapidly adopted solar power due to the high costs of electricity, and good solar resources, and has one of the highest per capita rates of solar power in the United States. Hawaii's imported energy costs, mostly for imported petroleum and coal, are three to four times higher than the mainland, so Hawaii has motivation to become one of the highest users of solar energy. Hawaii was the first state in the United States to reach grid parity for photovoltaics. Its tropical location provides abundant ambient energy.
Solar power in Florida has been increasing, as the cost of solar power systems using photovoltaics (PV) has decreased in recent years. Florida has low electricity costs compared with other states, which makes individual solar investment less attractive. Florida ranks ninth nationally in solar resource strength according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and tenth in solar generation by the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Solar power in Michigan has been growing in recent years due to new technological improvements, falling solar prices and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives, particularly a 30% federal tax credit, available for any size project. Although among the lowest U.S. states for solar irradiance, Michigan mostly lies farther south than Germany where solar power is heavily deployed. Michigan is expected to use 120 TWh per year in 2030. To reach a 100% solar electrical grid would require 2.4% of Michigan's land area to host 108 GW of installed capacity.
Solar power in New Zealand is on the rise, but operates in an entirely free market with no form of subsidies or intervention from the New Zealand Government. As of February 2020, New Zealand has 118 MW of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) solar power installed, of which 25 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months.
Energy in Hawaii is a mixture of fossil fuel and renewable resources. It is complicated by the state's isolated location and lack of fossil fuel resources. The state relies heavily on imports of petroleum and coal for power. Renewable energy production is increasing. Hawaii has the highest share of petroleum use in the United States, with about 62% of electricity coming from oil in 2017. As of 2016, 26.6% of electricity was from renewable sources, including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.
Mount Signal Solar, also known as Imperial Valley Solar Project, is a 794 MWp (614 MWAC) photovoltaic power station west of Calexico, California in the southern Imperial Valley, near the Mexican border. The facility is being developed and constructed by 8minutenergy Renewables in three phases, with two completed as of 2018. At full build-out, it will be one of the world's largest PV solar farms with a capacity of about 800 MWp (600 MWAC). The project has been supported by several environmental groups, as the power station was built on low productivity farmland.
The Moapa Southern Paiute Solar Project is a 250 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power plant located in Clark County, Nevada on the Moapa River lands of the Southern Paiute people. The project was commissioned in March 2017 and was constructed by First Solar and its sub-contractors in close consultation with the Moapa Band of Paiutes and federal agencies. It is the first utility-scale solar project to be located on north American tribal lands, and is anticipated to evolve as a model for similar future economic and environmental partnerships.
The Cook Islands is a net importer of energy, in the form of petroleum products. Total energy consumption was 1,677,278,000 BTU in 2017, of which 811,000,000 was in the form of oil. In 2012 47% of imported oil was used in the transport sector, 30% in aviation, and 27% for electricity generation. Electricity consumption is 31.6 GWh, from 14 MW of installed generation capacity, with most load concentrated on the main island of Rarotonga. Per-capita electricity consumption is approximately two-thirds that in the European Union. Greenhouse gas emissions total 88,810 t per year, or 10.36 t per capita.
Te Mana O Te Ra is a photovoltaic power station at Rarotonga International Airport in the Cook Islands. It is the largest solar power station in the Cook Islands. It is owned and operated by Te Aponga Uira.
Tukao is a village on Manihiki atoll in the Cook Islands. The village is at the northern tip of the islet of Ngake, which runs along the northern-eastern side of the atoll.
