An Investor's Guide to Renewable Power
Our 1-day commercial briefing on the technologies for generating clean electrical power
3 July 2012, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Introduction | Enquiry | Registration | Download Brochure
Course objectives
- Understand how renewable energy capture and power conversion works
- Quantify the availability and limits of renewable power resources
- Compare renewable to conventional power generation, in terms of technology and cost structure
- Understand how different technologies bring different risks and rewards; and impact the economics of renewable power
Whether you are working within one of the “green power” sectors or evaluating investment into it, this comprehensive, time-effective training course ensures you are brought up-to-speed with the key aspects of the various renewable energy solutions. Explaining key technologies in a clear and business-focused manner, the course is particularly valuable to those in non-technical positions, such as finance, legal, marketing or other commercial functions.
You will learn how the different technologies convert and generate renewable electricity, discuss the potential of each to contribute to current large-scale power generation and gain an independent view of the project challenges and risks they face.
Level & Style
The course explains key concepts and terminology in energy, power, technology and finance, but assumes no prior technical knowledge. Indeed the course is specifically designed to be of value to those who need to understand the technology fundamentals, market developments and applications; but not the nuts-and-bolts of engineering or hands-on installation.
The course runs in a friendly, informal manner, encouraging discussions and questions to ensure that participants get the most out of their time. In order to better understand and illustrate the various topics, some simple calculations and other explanatory exercises will be incorporated.
Approximate Timings
(include lunch plus morning and afternoon refreshment breaks):
09:00 - 17:00
About your trainer
Dr John Massey is Green Power Academy's founder, Training Director, in-house renewables expert and lead trainer.
Combining a strong academic science background with over fifteen years commercial experience of industry research, analysis and training across a variety of “new technology “ industries (including conventional and renewable energy, telecoms and IT), Dr Massey is expert in demystifying the terminology and workings of new technologies, and presenting their commercial and business context.
He delivers training globally, to senior executives from a range of organisations from project development to finance and has also developed educational material for both live and distance learning courses.
He holds a 1st Class Honours degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, a PhD in Earth Sciences and a Diploma in Economics, Innovation and Sustainability.
“Very solid introduction from a very knowledgeable instructor”
“Rich in discussion”
“Good balance between theoretical and interactive”
Agenda Details
Key concepts in understanding Renewable Power
- Energy, work and power
- Forms of energy and energy conversion
- Conventional power generation and grid distribution
- The physical and practical limits on available natural energy resources
The market context of Renewable Power
- The basic economics of power projects and the influence of different technology choices
- The importance of regulatory frameworks and incentives in the growth (or otherwise) of renewable power technologies
- Evaluating risk in renewable power projects
- The impact of renewable technology on other power market aspects, such as supply, grid capacity and storage
Solar Power - Photovoltaics (PV)
- How it works and the efficiency of solar energy conversion
- Different types of PV material (Silicon, Thin-film& emerging, including concentrating PV)
- Other key components of a full solar PV system, and why these are increasing in importance
- Solar resources and the scalability of PV in practice
- Large vs. small-scale PV
Geothermal Power
- Mechanisms for deep geothermal heat extraction and power generation
- The different types of geothermal power plant, including flash, binary and hybrid
- Enhanced geothermal (EGS) for “non-traditional” locations
- Drilling methods and the vital importance of understanding drilling risk in deploying geothermal energy
Wind Power
- Wind turbine basics: how they work, what the limitations are, and technology trends
- Resource evaluation, project planning, siting, operation and control issues
- The variability of wind and problems of grid transmission at large-scales
- The particular challenges of Offshore wind
Biopower (power from biomass)
- The wide range of sources of biomass feedstock, including forestry, energy crops and a variety of wastes (including farm, agricultural and municipal)
- The diverse range of processes to convert biomass to power: understanding the multitude of technological options, how they differ and where they overlap
- Challenges in the scalability of biopower: large vs. small-scale projects
Ocean (Wave & Tidal) Power
- Emerging solutions and current technology progress in wave machines, tidal barrages and tidal stream capture devices
- Why ocean energy might have a role, despite its current costs and early-stage state of development