Entergy turns on its
2nd state solar site
Entergy Arkansas is now operating its second solar facility, a 100-megawatt plant in Chicot County. The facility produces enough power to light up 18,000 homes.
"We are proud to be the largest provider of solar energy in the state, as utility-scale solar projects like Chicot Solar allow all of our customers to have access to clean, renewable power at the lowest reasonable costs," said Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas.
Entergy opened its first Arkansas solar plant in Stuttgart in 2017 and has two other 100-megawatt facilities under development in Searcy and in Lee County near Brinkley. The four resources combined will generate 381 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 61,000 homes.
Solar increases the electrical power supply and enhances voltage levels on the electric grid, contributing to improved service reliability and availability.
Entergy, Arkansas largest electric utility, has about 715,000 customers in the state.
-- Andrew Moreau
Solar seen usurping
coal power by 2030
Renewables are set to overtake coal this decade as the world's favorite fuel to generate electricity, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
Solar photovoltaics are now cheaper than plants fired by coal and natural gas in most nations, the Paris-based researchers conclude in their annual global energy trends report. Those cheaper costs along with government efforts to lower climate-damaging emissions will increasingly push coal off the grid and give renewables 80% of the market for new power generation by 2030, the report said.
The findings mark a shift away from fossil fuels in the world's energy supply at a time when governments are looking for ways to rein in the greenhouse gases. While hydroelectric plants will continue to be the biggest source of renewable power, solar is catching up quickly because the cost of manufacturing and installing panels has dropped so much.
"I see solar becoming the new king of the world's electricity markets," said Fatih Birol, executive director of the agency.
-- Bloomberg News
Index declines 3.72,
ends day at 446.52
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Tuesday at 446.52, down 3.72.
"Investors took a break on Tuesday, snapping a four-day winning streak in part due to news that Johnson & Johnson paused its clinical trials of a covid-19 vaccine candidate because of an unexplained illness in a study participant," said Chris Harkins, managing director at Raymond James & Associates.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.