EDP Renewables has secured power purchase agreements with Walmart for a collective 233 megawatts of wind energy from three projects. EDP Renewables says the deal will allow it to move forward with the 205-MW Bright Stalk Wind Farm, the 200-MW Broadlands Wind Farm in Illinois and the 200-MW Headwaters II Wind Farm in Indiana.
EDF Renewables North America has confirmed plans to use three MHI Vestas V164 8.3-megawatt turbines at its 25-MW Nautilus offshore wind project under consideration in New Jersey. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is reviewing the project, which could begin operations in 2020, pending approval.
The Oceti Sakowin Power Authority -- a coalition of six Sioux tribes -- and Apex Clean Energy are seeking buyers for a pair of wind farms that would be built on South Dakota tribal land and feature a total capacity of 570 megawatts. The projects, if approved, could begin operations in 2021 and would connect to the Southwest Power Pool.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has adapted its SG 8-megawatt 167 DD turbine model to meet federal standards for offshore wind sites along the US coasts or in the Great Lakes. It expects to model to be ready for installation in the US by 2021.
Iberdrola has unloaded $929 million worth of hydroelectric and gas assets in the UK, while confirming plans to add $6.9 billion worth of new wind projects over the next four years. President Ignacio Galan says the shift makes Iberdrola's UK energy portfolio 100% free of carbon emissions.
Siemens Gamesa has unveiled several leadership changes, including the appointment of Mark Albenze to the role of interim CEO for land-based wind. David Mesonero has been named chief financial officer, and current CFO Miguel Angel Lopez Borrego will shift to the role of nonexecutive chairman.
An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman has said that the agency will formally propose the year-round sale of E15 gasoline and changes to Renewable Identification Numbers trading by February and issue a final rule by June 1. The Trump administration issued several changes to RINs trading, including requiring the EPA to publicly disclose the surpassing of specified limits.
If year-round sales of E15 gasoline are established it would not have much of an impact on the US ethanol market, with overall sales expected to just have a slight increase, according to analysts. "The likely impact on US ethanol and corn demand in the foreseeable future is immaterial, in our view," said J.P. Morgan analyst Ann Duignan.
Argonne National Laboratory's System Assessment Group has updated its greenhouse gases, regulated emissions and energy use in transportation model, or GREET, an analytical tool used to review the life cycle of transportation fuels and vehicle technologies and their effect on energy and the environment. The 2018 GREET update include changes for bioproducts and biofuels, such as the addition of three bio-derived products, and carbon calculator adjustments for land use change from the production of biofuels.
Procter & Gamble is launching "Ambition 2030," a sustainability campaign that addresses finite resources and increased consumption. Company officials said 2020 goals have already been met or plans are in place to meet them.