Renewable Energy Update

This Renewable Energy Update covers the following topics:

• California Approves Feed-In Tariffs, More U.S. States to Follow?
• Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: Renewables Offer Implicit Hedge Against Natural Gas Price Volatility
• Innovative Thin-Film PV and Central Solar Thermal Technologies Move Toward Commercial Production
• The Onset of Commercial Wave Energy in the United States
• U.S. Wind Power Up 45% in 2007, but the Industry's Domestic Future Hinges on PTC Extension
• New Hampshire Utility Installs 1.8kW Wind Turbine Atop Utility Pole

In this Update we examine the recently approved California feed-in tariffs and the potential for future adoption of the incentive mechanism by other U.S. states. We then detail recent findings from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory confirming the largely unrecognized utility value of sourcing renewables as a fixed-price hedge against natural gas price volatility. Next, we examine recent market and regulatory activities in the thin-film solar, central solar thermal power, and wave energy sectors that appear to signal advancing commercialization. Also, we evaluate the outlook for utility- and small-scale wind. Though Big Wind experienced another banner year of growth in 2007, its future remains integrally tied in the mid term to the fate of the federal Production Tax Credit. Meanwhile, a unique pilot utility project in New Hampshire potentially portends much greater growth in the small wind turbine market.