The financial challenges facing clean energy installations The path to the widespread adoption of renewable energy is littered with major technological legal, political, and financial challenges. Investing in the Renewable Power Market is a reality check for the mass roll out of green energy and its financial dominance of the world energy market, focusing on real energy costs and global energy needs over the next decade. If green energy is to be truly successful, the market must be properly understood, so that dreams of a green future do not lead to actual energy nightmares. The first book to cover the major investing challenges and monetary constraints placed on electric power companies as they race to meet their green energy requirements, Investing in the Renewable Power Market explains how generating electricity is totally different from other energy enterprises in that it is highly regulated and its product cannot be stored. This combination greatly affects the finances of renewable power and influences how investors should navigate the energy market. To help the reader better understand the current state of the alternative energy industry, the book:* Details the challenges facing green energy, such as the fact that it is priced compared to natural gas, which is currently at an all-time low* Analyzes real energy costs and the global demand for energy over the next decade* Describes why, in the short term, investment opportunities with renewable power will be with financial and operational restructurings The green energy market is currently facing enormous challenges, but Investing in the Renewable Power Market explains the real costs of energy, the future of the energy market, and how to profit in both the long and short term.
Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv CHAPTER 1 An Overview of Renewable Power 1 It's All About Natural Gas 2 Control of CO2 Emissions Is Not Currently Possible 3 Reality of Demand-Side Management 6 Summary 7 CHAPTER 2 Analyzing Power Project Economics 9 Regulated Utilities 9 Evaluating a Power Plant 12 Financing a Power Plant 15 Hedge Providers 17 Opportunities with Distressed Renewables 19 Summary 21 CHAPTER 3 The Challenges of Renewable Power Projects 23 Tax Issues 23 Special Exemptions 25 Summary 28 CHAPTER 4 Risk Assessment for Power Projects 31 Project Risk Assessment and Risk Mitigations 32 Precompletion Risks/Mitigants 32 Postcompletion Risks/Mitigants 39 Summary 39 CHAPTER 5 Exploiting Profitability of Distressed and Abandoned Municipal Power Plants 41 Waste-Fuel Projects Have Key Financial Advantages for Investors 42 Duties of Professionals in a Municipal Power Plant 42 The Professional Feasibility Study Engineer 44 Disclosures of Risks in the Bond Offering Materials 45 Calculation of Debt Service Coverage 50 Investment Opportunities at Troubled Municipal Power Plants 53 Summary 54 CHAPTER 6 Energy Storage 55 Cheap Energy Storage-TheMost Vital Game Changer in the World 56 Opening theMarket for Historic Energy Storage Financing 58 Categories of Energy Storage Technologies 60 U.S. Regional Multi-Energy Storage Collaborations 63 Flywheel Technology Energy Storage Has the Lowest Cycle-Life-Cost 65 Summary 67 CHAPTER 7 Shale Natural Gas and Its Effect on Renewable Power 69 Fracking 69 New Attitudes in Natural Gas 70 Cost of Production 72 Summary 76 CHAPTER 8 Solar PV and Solar Thermal Power Plants 77 The Economics of Solar Power 77 Financing Techniques 78 The Technology 80 Summary 82 CHAPTER 9 Wind Power Plants 83 Projects Overview 83 Wind Project Economics 85 Wind Project Power Contracting 87 Wind Energy Prediction 90 Summary 92 CHAPTER 10 Electric Power Transmission 93 Overview 93 Grid Input, Losses, and Exit 98 High-Voltage Direct Current 99 Controlling the Components of the Transmission System 99 Electricity Market Reform: Costs and Merchant Transmission Arrangements 100 Additional Concerns 102 Summary 104 CHAPTER 11 Natural Gas Power Plants 107 Gas Turbine Engines 107 Benefits of Gas Turbine Engines 109 Gas Turbines and CO2 109 Gas Turbine Operations 110 Summary 111 CHAPTER 12 Coal-Fired Power Plants 113 Coal's High Output Capacity 113 Life of a Coal Plant 115 Extending Coal Plant Operations 116 Coal Technologies 118 Summary 120 CHAPTER 13 Biomass Energy and Biomass Power Plants 123 Wood Waste 123 Economics of Biomass 125 Summary 126 CHAPTER 14 Nuclear Power Energy Plants 127 Global Impact of Japan's Three Nuclear Plant Meltdowns 128 Comparative Costs of Energy 130 Key to the EIA Cost Estimates 130 Nuclear Power Plants' 50 Years of Electricity Globally 135 Required Up-Front Payment for Nuclear Waste Disposal before a New Plant's Approval 136 Asia Will Lead the Next Shift to Nuclear Power Plant Development 137 China's New Nuclear Reprocessing Is a Vast Expansion of Atomic Fuel 139 Summary: Nuclear Power Faces a Capital Cost and Ongoing Local Approval Challenge 141 CHAPTER 15 Hydropower Plants 143 A Unique Renewable Technology 143 Hydropower and RECs 145 Hydropower Economics 149 Summary 151 CHAPTER 16 Geothermal Power Plants 153 Steam Technology 153 Geothermal Project Costs 155 Hydrothermal Power Systems 156 Ground-Source Heat Pumps 156 Standing Column Wells 158 Enhanced Geothermal Systems 158 Direct Use of Geothermal Energy 159 Summary 161 CHAPTER 17 Energy Efficiency and Smart Grid 163 Demand-Side Management 163 Advanced Meter Infrastructure 166 Increasing Energy Needs 167 Summary 169 Conclusion 171 Where Do We Stand Today in Terms of Renewable Energy? 175 Appendix A 177 Appendix B: DTC's Coal vs. Natgas Displacement Model Methodology, January 6, 2009 183 DTC's Coal/Natgas Displacement Model Methodology 183 How Much Natgas Is Needed to Displace Coal? 190 About the Authors 193 Index 195
