This is your SolarWakeup for April 4th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Yellen won't rule out more protections for US clean energy sector amid Chinese excess capacity
2 Axios:
America's solar and wind energy hotspots, mapped
3 Grist:
US experienced staggering growth in solar and wind power over the last decade
4 Politico:
Electric grid woes foretell risk of blackouts
5 Utility Dive:
Goldman renewables spinoff MN8 Energy secures $325M investment
6 Bloomberg:
India Coal Miner Plans $720 Million Sale of Renewables Unit
7 Solar Builder:
Federal funding for clean energy projects to strengthen U.S. farms
8 PV-Tech:
Malaysia launches 2GW large-scale solar tender
9 Energy Storage News:
California regulator approves export regime for PV, energy storage to avoid costly grid upgrades
10 Canary Media:
US Steel plant in Indiana to host a $150M carbon capture experiment
11 PV-Magazine:
Microsoft signs two large solar power purchase agreements
Opinions:
12 New York Times:
What Tesla’s Troubles Signal for the E.V. Revolution
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 3rd, 2024
What If. What if we permitted solar plus storage with the caveat that it only charged and discharged to the grid at the times that make the most sense as opposed to the worst-case scenario? How much of the interconnection queue could go through right away? Think of it like a flight plan that an airline would file to get in and out of an airport in orderly fashion. Then asset managers would get charge and discharge clearances with the words “operator, hold for a phone number for an asset deviation” whenever something happens outside of the plan.
News
1 Utility Dive:
DOE to invest $22M to improve planning, permitting of renewable energy, storage projects
2 Bloomberg:
Swing States Net Half of $114 Billion in Inflation Reduction Act Factory Investment
3 Axios:
Why Biden's climate law needs a permitting boost
4 Reuters:
US climate law has boosted solar, batteries; hydrogen, other initiatives lag
5 PV-Tech:
China calls for WTO to investigate IRA, alleging ‘discrimination against goods of Chinese origin’
6 Solar Power World:
First round of 48C Advanced Energy ITC dollars distributed by DOE
7 Renewable Energy World:
Interior approves two wind farms offshore Massachusetts
8 Canary Media:
California’s new rules allow solar and batteries to help out the grid
Opinions:
9 PV-magazine:
Portuguese utility says renewables covered 91% of demand in March
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 2nd, 2024
Farewell AEE Solar. Installers got a brief email yesterday stating that the distributor AEE Solar would be closing their doors in just over a month. With a slowing market and higher cost of capital, it ultimately got to be less than profitable. There’s also been an increase of competition from electric supply houses that leave the specialized company in a bind.
News
1 Utility Dive:
IRS direct pay framework opens doors for tax-exempt entities to access clean energy credits
2 PV-Magazine:
Solar equipment distributor announces business close, inventory clearance
3 Axios:
Granholm eyes talks with Big Tech on AI power needs
4 Reuters:
Virginia regulators approve Dominion Energy solar projects
5 PV-Tech:
Nordcell plans 1.2GW module plant in Sweden
6 Renewable Energy World:
Feds announce $4B in tax credits for supply chain, decarbonization
7 Canary Media:
New DOE-backed projects tackle factory emissions with heat pumps and more
Opinions:
8 Energy Storage News:
Friday Briefing
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 1st, 2024
Problems With Blame. I am on the more concerned side of many when it comes to the ever-present energy crunch that I see on the horizon. Both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal wrote about it over the weekend and in similar points of view brought in the climate goals as part of the equation which is this. The WSJ says the energy crunch is partly to blame on our climate goals whereas the NYT says the energy crunch hurts the climate goals. Both are mostly wrong and I’ll give you two concrete examples. First is a conversation I had with an ER doctor in 2008, who also happened to Chair the Energy Committee in the Florida State House at the time. (I point out that he’s a doctor so that you know his career wasn’t spent analyzing energy markets) He told me when we wanted to create an RPS (renewable portfolio standard) that it wasn’t the Government’s job to pick winners and losers but solar would have to compete in the free market. My other example is Texas, one of the largest users of solar and storage in the Country today, which I assure you have nothing to do with climate goals. Ultimately the energy crunch is caused by an overlap of two versions of the energy transition; solar and wind are cheaper than alternatives and electrification of everything (EVs, homes, and data) is massively increasing consumption. Climate goals aside, we simply are not doing enough to keep our grid reliable into the future.
A Thank You. Over the last few weeks there have been some big corporate offtake agreements which are always important for the market expansion and I’m glad those are happening. We’ve also seen a major expansion of the energy communities which is a major win by our policy teams, I know SEIA staff played a major role alongside other association and corporate teams. Thank you!
News
1 New York Times:
America’s Energy Needs and Climate Goals
2 Wall Street Journal:
The Coming Electricity Crisis
4 Reuters:
Canadian Solar denies patent infringement claims filed by Maxeon
5 PV-Tech:
Walmart inks solar PV PPA in Texas, invests in community solar across US
6 Renewable Energy World:
New England’s last coal plants to be shut down, replaced with renewables
7 Energy Storage News:
German mayor allocates land for 280MWh BESS after nuclear waste storage plan rejected
9 PV-Magazine:
California pivots to propose $24 average fixed fee to electric bills
10 Utility Dive:
MISO seeks FERC approval for new capacity accreditation process to
11 bolster grid reliability:
Opinions:
12 Bloomberg:
A Historic British Chapel Is Powering Easter Service With Solar Energy
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 28th, 2024
Guess Who’s Back!!! Stop the presses and get out your purchase orders! Suniva. Is. Back. In partnership with Heliene, a domestic content solution is in the market. On one hand, I guess the tariffs are doing their job as we’ve seen with other suppliers. On the other hand, will the brand survive starting the biggest trade war in solar since SolarWorld? Suniva really never went away, I’ve had multiple Suniva employees/e-mail address stay subscribed to this newsletter for the better part of 10 years. We’ll see how the market responds.
“Energy Pragmatism”. “In fact, in my nearly 50 years in finance, I’ve never seen more demand for energy infrastructure.” That’s Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, in his annual letter to shareholders as he coins the term ‘energy pragmatism’. The term encompasses the dual goals set by Countries around the world which originally started with decarbonization, i.e. energy transition, and now adding energy security. The pragmatism also brings in the additional issue of demand increase of markets due to economic growth in various sectors, Fink sites Germany and Texas as risks to suffer from outages. You can find the letter here
News
1 Solar Power World:
Heliene is first domestic silicon solar panel manufacturer to reach domestic content bonus
2 Axios:
BlackRock's Fink shows the realpolitik of the energy transition
3 Utility Dive:
A new era of price-based demand response emerges, but utilities and regulators need proof of its potential
4 Bloomberg:
Amazon Says Japan Isn't Meeting Corporate Needs for Clean Power
5 New York Times:
Yellen Warns China Against Flood of Cheap Green Energy Exports
6 Reuters:
US looks to reboot aluminium sector with a new smelter
7 PV-Tech:
Grid constraint “the fundamental challenge” for EU solar developers – LSS EU
8 Renewable Energy World:
Americans want residential solar, but trust and costs are still big concerns
9 Energy Storage News:
Rimac opens UK facility to manufacture first BESS units
Opinions:
10 PV-Magazine:
Californians could see up to $128 fixed charge added to their monthly electric bill
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 27th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
1100 GW solar and 1000 GW storage now await transmission interconnection
2 Solar Power World:
Sunnova to offer solar + storage services at Home Depots across the US
3 Axios:
Biden's "hush-hush" oil boom
4 Utility Dive:
Sonnen CEO aims to repeat company’s Utah virtual power plant success
5 Bloomberg:
China Grid Giants Seek Solutions for a System Flooded With Solar
6 Reuters:
Europe's clean power sources on a record roll in early 2024
7 Energy Storage News:
Texas BESS reliability issue is ‘not over’ for ERCOT despite NPRR 1186 state-of-charge rule rebuff
Opinions:
8 Renew Economy:
“No excuses -” Australia urged to exit coal, double rooftop solar by 2030 in accelerated push to net zero
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 26th, 2024
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
Hawaii Faces Lengthy Blackout Risk Amid Power-Plant Outages
2 Reuters:
Maxeon Solar files patent infringement lawsuit against Canadian Solar
3 Heatmap:
Biden’s Big Bet on Aluminum
4 New York Times:
Germany’s Solar Panel Industry, Once a Leader, Is Getting Squeezed
5 Utility Dive:
ISO/RTO Council urges FERC to nix NERC’s proposed cold weather reliability standard
6 Renewable Energy World:
REC Silicon delays restarting Moses Lake polysilicon plant
7 Energy Storage News:
ARENA funds microgrid trials for sodium-sulfur, zinc-bromine LDES tech in Western Australia
8 PV-Magazine:
DOE releases funds to streamline siting and permitting for renewables
Opinions:
9 Axios:
Why real estate websites are adding climate change data to home listings
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 25th, 2024
Slower, Faster Or As Expected. Every headline these days is about energy demand, even old statements are recirculating the internet. On a personal level, I am not sure that we are going to be meeting the moment. There is no doubt that power plants are reaching the end of their 3rd or 4th lives, coal plants from the 60s and 70s are still operating. Plants will have to retire and many of them will repower if the economic case can be made for it. That leaves a big hole in the generation side which we absolutely need to make up with all of the solar and wind that can get built. This means more interconnection throughput and faster paths to offtakes across the geographies that need the energy. Demand side changes must also be met with regulatory flexibility, particularly in data centers. As society advances with our ever growing desire to stream everything and how fast the growth in AI will impact everyone’s everyday lives, data centers are the center of that possibility. So here’s the big question for you, do you think the overlap of retirements of generation meeting demand for new power is coming at us slower, faster or as expected in forecasts?
News
1 Bloomberg:
From AI to Oil, Demand Dominates the Talk in Houston
2 Axios:
Americans' average commute distance, mapped
3 Reuters:
Europe's top utility to invest $45 billion with focus on US grids
4 PV-Tech:
Primergy signs ‘long-term’ PPA with San Diego Community Power for solar-plus-storage project
5 Renewable Energy World:
SunPower gets Nasdaq deficiency notice for late filing
6 Solar Power World:
IRS further defines energy community qualifications for IRA credit
7 Energy Storage News:
EU Batteries Regulation ‘will force energy storage industry to think more about end of life’
8 Heatmap News:
Suburbia Is the Real Battleground for Electric Cars
9 PV-Magazine:
IRA clean energy projects to create 30,000 North Carolina jobs, $10 billion to GDP
Opinions:
10 Wall Street Journal:
Rivian’s Delivery Van - Not Just for Bezos Anymore
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 22nd, 2024
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
California cuts interconnection costs for distributed solar developers that agree to export limits
2 Bloomberg:
EVs Are Much Lower-Emitting Than Combustion Cars
3 Utility Dive:
Granholm tells Congress ‘adjustments have been made’ to distribution transformer proposal
4 PV-Tech:
Iberdrola to invest US$17 billion in renewables by 2026
5 New York Times:
High Winds Fuel Wildfires in Virginia and Other Mid-Atlantic States
6 Renewable Energy World:
DOE launches $10M funding opportunity for interconnection solutions
7 Energy Storage News:
DOE - US energy storage pipeline up 300% since Inflation Reduction Act passed
8 Heatmap News:
The EPA's Final Auto Emission Rules Are Out
9 Canary Media:
Ohio greenlights massive solar, storage and agrivoltaics project
Opinions:
10 Reuters:
Biden's softer climate regulation shows big US bet on subsidies to decarbonize
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 21st, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Electrifying US trucking could cost nearly $1 trillion - Study
2 Axios:
Tensions between phaseout advocates and oil titans on display in Houston
3 PV-Magazine:
Booming U.S. energy storage installation grows 90% year-over-year
4 New York Times:
Biden’s Climate Law Has Created a Growing Market for Green Tax Credits
5 Bloomberg:
KKR, EIG to Invest $1 Billion in Solar Developer and Projects
6 Reuters:
Germany looks at special account for $488 billion power grid expansion
7 PV-Tech:
Chinese companies supplied half of US PV modules in 2023
Opinions:
8 Heatmap News:
Why Moving to 24/7 Clean Electricity Is Going to Be Really, Really Hard
Have a great day!
Yann
