This is your SolarWakeup for January 31st 2025
Opinion
News
1 E&E News:
EPA cuts off IRA solar money already under contract
2 Utility Dive:
Trump’s executive orders cause hesitation, confusion for clean energy developers
3 PV-Magazine:
Global clean energy investment surpassed $2 trillion in 2024
4 Bloomberg:
A Shaky Time for Global Climate Diplomacy
5 Axios:
Exclusive — Advisory firm Teneo goes big on energy
6 Reuters:
Macquarie Asset owned Blueleaf to invest $400 mln in Jakson Green's India solar assets
7 PV-Tech:
Growing risk appetite is ‘very rational’ in solar investment, says Santander
8 Renewable Energy World:
Backing Texas grid resilience, investment firm acquires nearly 1 GWh battery energy storage portfolio
9 Energy Storage News:
Departing Washington governor Inslee approves solar-storage project; new bill proposed giving local authorities more say on approvals
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
Trump wants to end the $7.5B bipartisan EV charger buildout. Can he?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 30th 2025
Big Storage Goals. SEIA released their goal for energy storage additions based on the market opportunity and grid need, totaling a target of 700GWh by 2030. In an effort that spans over a year with some minor help by yours truly, I commend the SEIA team to continue the mission of expanding the solar market by leveraging an increasing capability set of energy storage. Building storage for resilience, time of use/production arbitrage and as grid assets allows for a smarter grid to serve consumers across the Country. I’ve always said that eventually we will see batteries at every point of interconnect from generation to substations, homes and businesses. We are on that track!
News
1 PV-Magazine:
SEIA calls for 700 GWh of U.S. energy storage by 2030
2 NPR:
Re-imagining the energy grid ... through batteries (Two Indicators)
3 Energy Storage News:
Year in Review - ‘Consistent, reliable operation,’ the true measure of BESS value, says FlexGen
4 Bloomberg:
Brookfield Invests $389 Million in Vermont Developer Encore
5 Reuters:
Plan to get electricity to more Africans wins $8 billion in new pledges
6 PV-Tech:
JA Solar UFLPA factory ‘ceased production in 2018’, SSI claims after investigation
7 Renewable Energy World:
White House rescinds memo freezing government spending
Opinions:
8 Axios:
Energy sector surveys the DeepSeek fallout
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 29th 2025
On The Road. Apologies for the smaller than usual commentary but 2025 has the solar industry heading in the right direction and me on the road. With the Deepseek sell-off from a few days ago adding to the directives from the White House there is a plethora of news and hot takes without a clear view of what it means. On the AI front, the reduction of energy use per model was forecasted and expected, probably with a different timeframe but ultimately whatever the data center need is going to be remains at least in the short term. Just think about how long we’ve been saying the term peak oil.
News
1 Los Angeles Times:
Boiling Point - Farewell to Ivanpah, the world’s ugliest solar plant
2 Axios:
DeepSeek shakes up the energy-AI equation
3 Utility Dive:
Calpine to sell 3.5 GW in PJM to avoid market power concerns from Constellation merger
4 Bloomberg:
Brookfield Offers to Buy Outstanding Shares in Neoen
5 Reuters:
US grid investments take off as power demand hikes
6 PV-Tech:
NextEra reports 2.2GW of solar additions in 2024 financial results
7 Renewable Energy World:
Trump freezes federal loan and grant programs, injecting further uncertainty into clean energy projects
8 Energy Storage News:
US - IRS modifies BESS domestic content cost proportions, number of suppliers increases
9 PV-Magazine:
U.S. solar power purchase agreement prices rise 3.3% in Q4
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
The US electric vehicle industry faces a bumpy road ahead
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 28th 2025
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
Oil Companies Embrace Trump, but Not 'Drill, Baby, Drill'
2 Bloomberg:
Germany Fears Battery Boom Will Aggravate Power Grid Congestion
3 Canary Media:
Why we don’t need to worry too much about the latest grid battery fire
4 PV-Magazine:
Greenbacker secures nearly $1 billion for New York’s largest solar project
7 Energy Storage News:
NineDot closes US$65 million for 20 New York BESS projects
Opinions:
8 Utility Dive:
Achieving AI dominance through competitive power markets
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 27th 2025
Power Plants Must Be Built. I agree with Trump on this, we have to use all of our available legislative and regulatory powers to build more power plants. If it has land and a customer for the energy, we need to build it. Over the past 2 decades our energy demand has increased 9% and over the next 20 years it will increase a projected 55%. That kind of growth with aging infrastructure is a deploy now, now, now time for our grid and economy. AI clusters, like Stargate, can’t be built without the infrastructure and power plants it will take to keep them operating and if we can advantage onsite power plants, then let’s push that forward. Here’s a great slide of what that looks like from NextEra Energy’s investor presentation this past week.
News
1 Utility Dive:
Trump plans to use emergency powers to fast-track generation co-located with AI
2 Bloomberg:
Trump Seizes Wartime Powers in Battle for More Fossil Fuels
3 Reuters:
Trump's high-wire act to transform US power grid won't be easy
4 PV-Tech:
JinkoSolar subsidiary files patent infringement lawsuit against LONGi
5 Renewable Energy World:
California just debunked a big myth about renewable energy
6 Energy Storage News:
China reaches over 70GW of BESS, DC block prices ‘stable’
7 Canary Media:
Chart - The biggest clean energy projects built in the US last year
8 PV-Magazine:
Loan guarantee of $1.7 billion to help U.S. producer scale clean hydrogen
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
Trump Has Now Made His Energy Project Clear
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 24th 2025
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
Republican Congress members support retaining clean energy tax credits
2 Solar Power World:
Solar Battle of the Bands returns to Intersolar next month
3 Bloomberg:
AI’s $100 Billion Stargate Venture Touted by Trump Will Tap Solar Power
4 Utility Dive:
State utility regulators, 4 governors urge FERC to lower PJM capacity price cap
5 New York Times:
The Dissonance of Climate Promises at Davos
6 Reuters:
US clean power groups turn to longer deals to finance growth
8 Energy Storage News:
FlexGen secures US$75 million financing, focuses on increasing bankability
9 Canary Media:
Illinois considers state incentives for transmission projects
Opinions:
10 Renewable Energy World:
A solar trade group is ‘deeply disappointed’ in New York’s latest budget proposal. Here’s what it wants
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 22nd, 2025
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
Trump taps Mark Christie to lead FERC, replacing Willie Phillips
2 Bloomberg:
China Solar Firms Face a Year of Reckoning as Losses Mount
3 New York Times:
Trump Says He Intends to Impose 10% Tariffs on Chinese Imports on Feb. 1
4 Reuters:
Australian government pledges $1.24 billion in green aluminium push
5 Renewable Energy World:
Treasury issued new domestic content bonus guidance just before Biden’s exit
6 Energy Storage News:
Modo
7 Canary Media:
Trump freezes Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure-law funding
8 PV-Magazine:
S&P Global
Opinions:
9 PV-Tech:
What Trump’s executive orders mean for US solar PV
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 21st, 2025
Opinion
News
2 New York Times:
Trump Promises Tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and Paves Way for Further Trade Action
3 Reuters:
Trump withdraws from Paris climate agreement, again
4 BLoomberg:
France’s 2024 Power Grid Was 95% Fossil Free as Nuclear, Renewables Jumped
5 PV-Tech:
PV downturn laid bare in Chinese preliminary 2024 financials
6 Solar Builder:
Palmetto raises over $1.2 billion to back LightReach financing
7 Renewable Energy World:
Doug Burgum, Trump’s pick for public lands boss, questions reliability of renewable power
8 Energy Storage News:
UK government considering non-firm grid access for energy storage as part of REMA
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
The 47th presidency offers hope for permitting reform
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 20th, 2025
Opinion
News
1 Bloomberg:
Giant Batteries Are Transforming the World’s Electrical Grids
2 Reuters:
Trump upended trade once, aims to do so again with new tariffs
3 Energy Storage News:
Fire at Moss Landing plant in California
4 Utility Dive:
FERC approves SPP’s Markets+ Western power market, plus 3 other open meeting takeaways
5 Axios:
Fed pulls out of global climate change group before Trump inauguration
6 ABC News:
Solar farms are booming in the US and putting thousands of hungry sheep to work
7 PV-Tech:
US attorneys urge leaders to safeguard IRA ahead of Trump inauguration
8 Solar Power World:
2025 solar, storage and electrification predictions
9 Canary Media:
Without enough utility power, California EV-truck depots try microgrids
10 PV-Magazine:
Energy Department closes $1.2 billion in loans to Puerto Rico power producers
Opinions:
11 New York Times:
As the World Warms, Davos Braces for Political Drama
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 17th, 2025
Much Ado About Hearings. Let’s start by saying what should be obvious, nominating hearings are not an indication of policy to come. At best they give you a glimpse of what a nominee thinks at the top of mind but it is left without influence and policy staff having vetted the intention. Governor Burgum made for an interesting hearing for the solar industry which he called intermittent, true but false with the side of batteries. But then he went to the problem, America needs more energy (1), in order to win the AI race (2), for national security (3), the grid is stretched and at a breaking point of instability (4) and permitting reform has to happen (5). "We've got to get to work in permitting reform and speeding permitting right now." I personally think he listened to my podcast episode of Good Energy with SEIA’s Stephanie Bosh and Colin Silver where I kind of (exactly) said these things.
News
1 Bloomberg:
US Needs More Electricity to Win AI Race, Says Trump Energy Czar
2 Axios:
Trump nominee Chris Wright to lay out top 3 goals as energy secretary
3 Reuters:
Trump's Interior Department nominee says boosting energy key to US security
4 New York Times:
Energy Dept. Backs $22 Billion in Loans to Reshape U.S. Power Grids
5 PV-Magazine:
Wholesale electricity prices lower and more stable in 2024
6 Solar Builder:
Domestic Content Safe Harbor cost percentage updates vs. original percentages
7 PV-Tech:
Leeward, Google sign 724MW solar PV PPA in Oklahoma
8 Energy Storage News:
Partners Group investing €400 million in German BESS platform ‘green flexibility’
9 Canary Media:
Sonnen, Solrite to offer free batteries and solar to Texas homeowners
Opinions:
10 Solar Power World:
New DOE roadmap calls for detailed interconnection queue data in every state
Have a great day!
Yann
