Monthly Archives: August 2017

Tesla and wind farm developer Deepwater Wind are planning to team up to create the largest project in the world that combines an offshore wind farm with large-scale electricity storage, the companies announced Tuesday.

The project, called the Revolution Wind Farm, would generate electricity about 12 miles off the shore of Marthas Vineyard, Mass., and store some of it in large batteries built by Tesla. The project would have the capacity to generate 144 megawatts of wind power, or enough electricity to power 80,000 homes, according to Deepwater Wind.

The Block Island Wind Farm, America's first offshore wind farm, was built by Deepwater Wind and began operating in 2016. Credit: NREL/flickr

If approved by the state, the wind farm would begin operating in 2023. It is expected to be built next to another wind farm proposed by Deepwater Wind called the South Fork Wind Project. That project would serve Long Island, N.Y.

The companies proposed Revolution Wind as part of a call in Massachusetts for new sources of renewable energy across the state. The state hopes to generate more clean energy to meet its climate goals by cutting the states greenhouse gas emissions. Electric power plants running on coal and natural gas have historically been Americas largest source of carbon pollution contributing to climate change.

Revolution Wind brings together two new industries in the U.S. offshore wind and electricity storage. The expansion and scalability of renewables depends in part on new ways to store wind and solar power, which today can only be used when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. Big batteries are seen as a solution to that problem because they allow renewable energy to be used whenever its needed.

So far, batteries are most often used to store solar power. Tesla has teamed up with electric companies in California to build batteries to help them use more solar, but it has not used the batteries for offshore wind power anywhere in the U.S.

Tesla has not said what kind of batteries it plans to use for Revolution Wind, but the large batteries it currently builds, including the Tesla PowerPack, are composed of 16 pods that together weigh more than 3 tons and are 7 feet tall. The pods are daisy-chained together and provide hundreds of kilowatts of power. Tesla declined to comment.

If approved, the Revolution Wind Farm will be built by Deepwater Wind, which switched on Americas first offshore wind farm in Rhode Island last year. That farm lead to the shutdown of a diesel-fired power plant on Block Island.

In a statement, Deepwater Wind said the offshore wind-battery storage pairing will provide clean energy during the times of highest electricity demand. The project will prevent the need for new power plants that operate only when power demand is at its daily peak.

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources said he had not seen the proposal and was unable to comment.

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Tesla Joins Effort to Pair Batteries With Offshore Wind - Climate Central

BBC News

Probe after men board offshore platform in Cromarty Firth BBC News Two men boarded a deserted offshore platform parked in a Highlands firth and filmed themselves exploring it and cooking food in its galley. The pair, who describe themselves as "urban explorers", took a dinghy to the Ocean Princess, one of several ... and more »

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Probe after men board offshore platform in Cromarty Firth - BBC News

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Beijing to 'Strengthen Oversight' of Offshore Loans Backed by Domestic Collateral Wall Street Journal (subscription) China is stepping up scrutiny of the practice of borrowing overseas by putting up collateral back at home, seeking to stanch capital outflows swollen by companies' aggressive pursuit of deals abroad. The country's forex regulator says it will ...

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Beijing to 'Strengthen Oversight' of Offshore Loans Backed by Domestic Collateral - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Submitted News

Sens. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, recently introduced the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act, which would provide critical financial incentives to encourage investment in offshore wind energy.

This bipartisan bill would create an investment tax credit that is redeemable for the first 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind facilities placed into service, amounting to about 600 wind turbines.

In the past, Congress has offered a temporary credit for investments in wind power, but the last extension of this credit will expire before Dec. 31, 2019. This credit has been a lifeline to the nascent offshore wind industry. The Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act would give the industry the certainty needed to plan investments and maximize deployment of this clean power technology.

Offshore wind energy has the potential to power every home, school and business from Florida to Maine with clean, renewable energy, Carper said. Investing in new offshore wind projects spurs economic growth and has the potential to create millions of good-paying American jobs. It also helps enhance our national security by encouraging domestic energy production and protects our environment and public health by deploying a cleaner source of energy. Im proud to partner with Collins to provide this growing industry the certainty it needs to draw private sector investments in new offshore wind facilities across the country. Making smart investments to move us closer to energy independence is a win-win-win for our economy, our security, our health and our planet.

The legislation defines offshore facilities as any facility located in the inland navigable waters of the U.S., including the Great Lakes, or in the coastal waters of the U.S., including the territorial seas of the U.S., the exclusive economic zone of U.S. and the outer Continental Shelf of the U.S.

The University of Delaware Special Initiative on Offshore Wind estimated that the Atlantic coast holds 330 gigawatts of offshore wind power enough to meet the electricity needs of the East Coast. The expansion of Americas offshore wind industry would provide an opportunity to protect the environment, grow the nations economy and create jobs for people living in areas near the coast.

A detailed summary of the legislation is available at bit.ly/2tWK1Xe.

Originally posted here:

Carper, Collins introduce bipartisan legislation to spur emerging offshore wind industry - Dover Post

*This content is brought to you by Brenthurst Wealth

By Brian Butchart*

Time is running out for those who have not as yet considered the implications of what is required for disclosure or the possible implications of non-disclosure of offshore assets.

In the 2016 Budget, the now ex-finance minister Pravin Gordhan, announced the Special Voluntary disclosure programme (SVDP) for those individuals that did not previously utilise the opportunity to disclose undeclared offshore assets in the 2003/2004 amnesty.

It was estimated that approximately R65 billion was disclosed in the 2003/2004 amnesty with an estimated R200 billion or more still undeclared.

Treasury has made it clear that the SVDP is the last opportunity for those who have not declared any historical offshore assets to the local tax authorities and the Reserve Bank if these assets were in contravention of any exchange controls or the Tax administration act.

As from October 1 2016 to August 31 2017 taxpayers have been given an opportunity to disclose these assets and pay certain penalties in order to legitimise these assets and bring them into the tax net of Sars for any future tax liabilities.

Taxpayers who do not utilise this opportunity to come clean risk being taxed on the full amount that has not been taxed before, with no limitation on how far back Sars can raise assessments. So while properly disclosed applications under the SVDP will provide full immunity, those who do not come clean will be at the mercy of the revenue service with regards to the taxable period.

In addition, Sars could impose understatement penalties of 150% or 200% of the tax payable, together with interest. From an exchange control perspective the authorities are mandated to, where appropriate, recover the full amount of the contravention. A contravention of the exchange control regulations can lead to criminal prosecution.

As from September 2017 this year the first set of countries which include the G20, including South Africa and several others have agreed on the terms of the common reporting standards (CRS) to disclose information of tax payers who hold financial instruments in their country to the tax authorities in which they are tax resident.

This includes all financial instruments held by individuals and entities including trusts and foundations.

The SVDP is intended to encourage taxpayers to come forward on a voluntary basis to regularise their tax affairs with Sars and the Reserve Bank to avoid the imposition of under-statement or administrative penalties.

Sars has confirmed that any person may apply for SVDP. However, a person that is aware of a pending audit or investigation or is the subject of a not yet concluded audit investigation, may not use the scheme.

Individuals and companies may apply. Trusts may not. However, beneficiaries of trusts may apply provided they deem the assets and income of the trust as their own.

The SVDP consists of an application to the Reserve Bank for exchange control transgressions and an application to Sars for any tax transgressions.

The exchange control levy is 10% of the value of the assets as at 28 February 2016 if you opt to keep these funds offshore or 5% of you opt to bring them back to SA. If you pay for the penalty form SA sources rather than the offshore source an additional 2% is levied.

There are two disclosure options for tax transgressions. Voluntary disclosure programme (VDP) and SVDP.

The voluntary disclosure programme has been in existence for several years already, allowing all tax payers an opportunity to voluntarily disclose any tax contraventions to Sars on which the tax liability would be calculated and interest applied to that liability. The one disadvantage is that if this route is selected Sars has the right to go back to the inception of the investment in order to calculate the exact tax liability since inception with interest applied to each respective tax period.

The SVDP is for a limited period until 31 August 2017 and is calculated using the capital value of all assets in contravention of the of the tax administration act at the end of every tax year from 28 February 2011 to 28 February 2015. 40% of the Highest value of the aggregate of all assets over these 5 years will be included in the taxable income of the individual in the 2015 tax period and tax payable thereon.

In addition Sars also charges interest on the outstanding tax due to them.

This ensures that all donations tax, dividends tax, capital gains tax and any income tax or estate duty liabilities will be exempt from the past.

However you need to clearly understand the implications of both the SVDP as well as the VDP in order to determine which route will be more beneficial.

I would suggest seeking professional advice and assistance in order to make an informed decision, but wouldnt wait too much longer as August 31 2017 is fast approaching.

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Deadline looms for undeclared offshore assets - BizNews