This is your SolarWakeup for September 1st, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Hurricane Idalia is yet another test of America's aging power infrastructure
2 Canary Media:
Eos wins $400M DOE loan guarantee to build longer-lasting batteries
3 Bloomberg:
The Biggest Fossil Fuel Subsidies Are Indirect, and Bigger Than Ever
4 Utility Dive:
Treasury proposes regulations for IRA’s wage and apprenticeship requirements
5 Reuters:
Philippines to auction off 8-gigawatt power capacity in push for renewables
6 PV-Tech:
Clēnera signs PPA with Arizona Public Service for upcoming CO Bar solar and storage project
7 Energy Storage News:
Engie Chile starts building 418MWh BESS at solar PV plant
8 PV-Magazine:
Nexamp orders 1.5 GW of Heliene solar modules
Opinions:
9 Renew Economy:
AEMO says coal exits won’t trigger shortfalls if big batteries built on time
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 31st, 2023
It’s Open, All The Time. Last week, FlexGen officially opened its 24.7 remote operations center servicing energy storage asset owners for monitoring, reporting and performance analytics of those sites. This world class facility was purpose built for energy storage operations and one of the most exciting projects in my career. This comes in line with new product launches as the technology teams have shown innovation in ways that we weren’t expecting for years to come. Storage is driving grid reliance on the asset class faster than expected, meaning operators are having to keep up with new specifications and regulations, demanding more from batteries and the operating systems that keep them running. At the same time, revenues from batteries create a particularly important relationship between asset owners and the operations center. Over the past few months, I’ve learned that many systems are not actively monitored, reliably monitored and little to no analytics is performed on the data, and those systems deserve more.
News
1 Solar Builder:
FlexGen Power Systems opens 24/7 remote operations center in North Carolina
2 Canary Media:
Redwood Materials lands $1B to boost its battery recycling efforts
3 Energy Storage News:
US residential energy storage firm FranklinWH raises US$25 million
4 Utility Dive:
1 year later, EV and battery projects dominate Inflation Reduction Act-driven investment
5 Reuters:
German court throws out lower grid operator returns set by regulator
6 PV-Magazine:
Model procedures for fixing distributed solar and storage interconnection
Opinions:
7 Bloomberg:
Australia Sees Power Gaps Over Next Decade as 62% of Coal Operations Shut Down
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 30th, 2023
Project Sunroof Monetizes. Google announced that it will be offering an API for rooftop solar data which has the projection of creating $100million in annual revenues in year 1. The data is said to include access to 350million properties and introduce the overlay of 30 days of air quality history. Will this be a must have feature in proposal tools or will resi solar look at this as an unnecessary addition to the data set?
News
1 CNBC:
Google to begin selling maps data to companies building solar products, hopes to generate $100 million in first year
2 Utility Dive:
On clean energy tax credits, mayors want clearer federal guidance
3 PV-Tech:
SRE and HASI to build 250MW community solar projects in Illinois and Maryland
4 Bloomberg:
Texas Asked to Conserve Energy After Power Plant Outages
5 Axios:
Major Hurricane Idalia set to hit Florida's Big Bend coast as Category 4 storm
6 Reuters:
Fossil fuels' share in EU power mix at lowest level since records began -report
7 Washington Post:
What Gas Crisis? Europe’s Best Friend Is Also Its Worst Enemy
8 Energy Storage News:
US reached 12.7GW of BESS in Q2 but no ERCOT additions, says S&P
9 PV-Magazine:
Jaguar building large-scale storage system with second-life EV batteries
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
Why the Gulf of Mexico’s first offshore wind auction wasn’t a smash hit
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 29th, 2023
Don’t Let Facts Get In The Way. Of a good story, or political talking point. Ever since the 2014 era ITC extension, solar has had to trade molecular fuels subsidies for its own extensions. Today, the US develops as much oil and gas as the global markets allow them to, with little to no say from the US federal government. In many ways, Riyadh determines how much oil is drilled in the US more so than DC but I digress. Politically, there is only one thing I really care about here which is something that I’ve complained about a lot, somewhat mitigated by the transferability of the tax credits but that’s the passive income rules that solar has to abide by that oil and gas does not. Democrat votes may complain about this leading up to 2024 but I expect the Biden administration to brag about the oil production ahead of the election while knowing that renewables are taking off with the IRA and EV impact on transportation is at its highest ever.
News
1 Politico:
The U.S. is pumping oil faster than ever. Republicans don’t care.
2 Wall Street Journal:
Exxon Predicts World Will Miss Climate-Change Targets
3 Utility Dive:
The American power system is changing. How can electricity rates keep up?
4 New York Times:
There’s a Vast Source of Clean Energy Beneath Our Feet. And a Race to Tap It.
5 ABC News:
U.S. Secretary of Energy will visit Heliene & Nexamp on Aug. 30th
6 Axios:
FEMA allocates $3B for climate change as Congress stalls on disaster fund
7 Reuters:
MEDIA-Google to begin selling maps data to companies building solar products - CNBC
8 PV-Magazine:
Arizona approves cut to solar compensation rates
Opinions:
9 Bloomberg:
Bitcoin’s Dirty History Offers a Lesson for AI’s Future
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 28th, 2023
Newsflash, It’s Still Hot (And Great To Invest In Batteries). Texas hit market price caps again, many times this year and something that has become somewhat of a norm since Uri. That comes days after Engie announced the acquisition of the largest storage development platform, Broad Reach Power. With some of the earliest storage projects working in Texas, BRP has shown that having assets in market unlocks revenue streams in peak demands especially. That is the thing with storage in ERCOT, the assets need to be ready to push the limits and show that they can unlock opportunities 24/7/365 and projects ultimately will change hands and that’s where the operating software (EMS) and performance analytics are incredibly important to back up the performance data comes in. As you add storage to your pipeline and want to get more intel about storage operating systems, EMS and data analytics, reach out to meet with my team at RE+.
Grid Reliability (And Security). NERC is highlighting the overlap of energy policy with grid reliability but so does the importance of grid security. As the grid has to evolve to be more resilient and intelligent, security will undeniably be linked to grid reliability. It may be up to the market participants to set the standards thou as grid policy is oftentimes years behind the actual growth in the market.
The Problem With Physics. Germany has a grid physics problem. One of the highest penetrations of renewables, a desire to retire coal and nuclear plus a less than optimal supply of natural gas matched with increased energy demand from economic growth and a transportation sector quickly transitioning to electric fuel. Put all of that together and the grid needs flexibility but little to no storage is going onto the grid.
News
1 Reuters:
Texas heat wave spurs power prices to their highest since 2021 freeze
2 Utility Dive:
NERC assessment identifies new risk to grid reliability
3 Bloomberg:
Germany Delays Plan for Future-Proofing Its Electricity Grid
4 Axios:
The staying power of fossil fuel subsidies
5 PV-Tech:
IREC issues model to accelerate distributed resources interconnection in the US
6 Energy Storage News:
AEMO’s proposed must-run ancillary service rules ‘could harm BESS business case’
7 Canary Media:
Chart - Global renewables deployments to hit record levels in 2023
8 PV-Magazine:
Sunlight Financial struggles for survival
Opinions:
9 Solar Power World:
New SEPA CEO brings wide-angle view to decarbonizing electric grid
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 25th, 2023
The Friday Rundown. Some travel this week kept the regular column from getting together to you, apologies. This week, we’ve seen Arizona reup their attack on net metering, something that is taking advantage of the example set by California and a recent drag on the residential solar stocks which were already struggling with higher interest rates. The industry is going to have a renewed conversation about the importance of policy spend as companies underinvest in supporting the markets driven by regulatory pressures. In other news, we’re seeing picked up investment activities in energy storage coupled with a hot summer and more heat waves currently hitting the Midwest in a heat dome. Of course, the climate change talking points made the appearance at the RNC debate on Wednesday, not much talk about supporting solar on that stage unfortunately. Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you at RE+ in a few weeks.
News
1 New York Times:
What if Your Town Doubled as a Residential Power Grid?
2 Axios:
The GOP debate's energy moments
3 Utility Dive:
Democratic lawmakers urge TVA to set 2035 net-zero goal in upcoming IRP
4 PV-Magazine:
Arizona to vote on 37% slash to solar net metering
5 NBC NC:
Solar panel manufacturer eyeing Fort Mill facility
6 Bloomberg:
Engie Strikes $1.6 Billion US Battery Deal With Apollo, EnCap
7 Reuters:
SolarEdge not to cut inverter prices as panels become cheaper
8 Energy Storage News:
UK BESS revenues jump 53% in one month, Modo Energy says
9 Canary Media:
US offshore wind pushes ahead despite industry turmoil
Opinions:
10 PV-Tech:
Australia - slow Q2 for renewables generation investments is “concerning”, says CEC
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 24th, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
"Brutal" heat wave brings triple-digit temperatures from Chicago to New Orleans
2 Reuters:
Column - US power system gets gasier, but not much cleaner, in 2023
3 PV-Tech:
Canadian Solar lowers 2023 revenue guidance as solar module prices rapidly declined
4 Renew Economy:
Battery storage charges on as new wind and solar projects hit new low
5 NBC News:
AZ commissioner wants to further slash rooftop solar incentives
6 Energy Storage News:
Maldives launches tender seeking 40MWh BESS and EMS across 18 islands
7 GreenBiz:
Sysco, Genentech and Amazon share 5 power moves for electrifying fleets
8 Canary Media:
Will a planned ‘blue’ hydrogen hub in Appalachia help or hurt the climate?
Opinions:
9 PV-Magazine:
How to avoid solar antidumping tariffs
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 23rd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Exclusive - Northvolt raises $1.2 billion in latest funding round for factory build out - CFO
2 Canary Media:
Biden admin slaps more tariffs on several Chinese solar manufacturers
3 PV-Tech:
Biden admin slaps more tariffs on several Chinese solar manufacturers
4 PV-Magazine:
Investors, buyers losing interest in ‘speculative’ renewable projects
5 New York Times:
What Happens When Great Power Conflict and Climate Action Collide
6 Electret:
Tesla changes its solar strategy, lays off workers, bets on certified installers
7 Utility Dive:
Investors, buyers losing interest in ‘speculative’ renewable projects
Opinions:
9 Bloomberg:
How to Build a Giant Power Station Without Spending a Cent
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 22nd, 2023
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Hawaiian Electric eyes bankruptcy after Maui wildfires in ‘prudent scenario planning’
2 Wall Street Journal:
Solar Boom Spreads to Timberlands and Self-Storage Rooftops
3 Axios:
Tropical Storm Hilary's heavy rains flood California streets
4 PV-Tech:
“Allegations were meritless from the beginning”
5 Energy Storage News:
Sonnen’s German battery VPP reaches 250MWh, expects 1GWh in next few years
6 Canary Media:
Video - How the Inflation Reduction Act has transformed US clean energy
7 PV-Magazine:
California solar generation grew twentyfold in a decade
Opinions:
8 Reuters:
Renewables companies hit brakes on Alberta projects after govt delays approvals
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for August 21st, 2023
Disneyland versus Disneyworld. The unlikeliest of circumstances is leading to this headline, understanding that Disneyland is in Southern California and Disneyworld is in Central Florida. One of them has a hurricane emergency plan and the other has an actual hurricane coming its way. From the fire in Maui to the tropical storm hitting SoCal, this has been a crazy weather summer. My 100 degree days are a norm but I tell my friends I’m less worried about storms since the ocean is so warm, they’ve been straying north. Meanwhile doing what we can to keep up with the increased demand for energy is politicized to the point that the political divide makes solar not the obvious choice, and the obvious choice that needs to expand faster. The industry is doing great work, expanding manufacturing, retraining professionals from other sectors and leading the clean energy expansion but that isn’t getting through. So we need to say more about the individual stories and do more as a sector to expand the geographic impact across all of America in a way that changes hearts and minds.
News
1 Magic:
First Ever Tropical Storm Warning Issued for Disneyland Resort Area
2 Reuters:
US places tariffs on some big solar companies for dodging China duties
3 Politico:
Biden faces calls to declare climate emergency as he heads to Maui
4 Axios:
Maui wildfires spark new fears about outdated U.S. power grid
5 Utility Dive:
Google-backed white paper offers framework for deliverability in clean energy procurement standards
6 Bloomberg:
Bank of America’s $580 Million Renewable Tax Credit Deal Is One of Many
7 Energy Storage News:
Iron flow battery player ESS Inc improves revenue position, says IP safe for ‘years to come’
8 Canary Media:
New tax-credit transfer rules could unlock $1T in cleantech investment
9 PV-Magazine:
Clean energy jobs seeing growth across the U.S.
Opinions:
10 PV-Tech:
Supply crunch and manufacturing capacity will reverse recent US PPA price drop
Have a great day!
Yann
