This is your SolarWakeup for September 28th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Washington Post:
Some Chinese solar-panel manufacturers have stopped shipping to the U.S. over tariff concerns, installers say
2 Axios:
This week is crunch time for Biden's climate agenda
3 Reuters:
China calls WTO ruling 'dangerous' in solar cell row with U.S.
4 PV-Magazine:
SEIA warns of a solar industry ‘death blow’ as Commerce weighs tariffs
5 Utility Dive:
PPL makes 'small' investment to gain insight into 'innovative' $2.5B SOO Green transmission project
6 PV-Tech:
174 Power, Total Energies break ground on behind-the-meter solar plant in Texas
7 Solar Power World:
California conservation organizations continue pushing for net metering preservation
Opinions:
8 Energy Storage News:
‘UK gas price shock highlights need for energy storage’
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 27th, 2021
Infrastructure Bill, First Or Last? Pelosi went on the Sunday shows yesterday and said that the bipartisan infrastructure bill was going to pass the House this week. While the bill doesn’t have the ITC extension it has billions for energy transition funding including EVs and transmission. There will be a bit of a showdown between the progressives and the leadership, though some members of the republican caucus have said that they would support the bill. How Pelosi plans to put pressure on the caucus and Senate for the budget bill is the bigger trick, one which she has not telegraphed yet. With the debt ceiling in play, it would be the forcing issue within their own house to get something done.
FERC Reviews Texas Freeze. FERC published their report on what happened over the multi-day power stress event caused by freezing temperatures in mid-February. It also includes some 28 recommendations, some of which should be put in place prior to next winter.
Going Long Storage. It’s not just about investing in storage but also investing in long duration storage technologies. The technologies are coming to market and now getting support from the team at DOE that also lead the SunShot initiative over the past decade plus. With longer duration technologies showing early signs of success, their interoperability with storage software will create the first marks of their bankability. As we’ve seen with early solar tech, lab to reality is one challenge but also getting project capital approval is another.
Making Storage Run. Taking bankability into storage has multiple levels. The battery is only one part of the equation, getting it to run as desired to the designed use case with inverters and power electronics is another. The most underappreciated technical challenge is the controls and software that actually tell the battery what to do, based on what the trader/owner and grid operator want. This intersection between hardware and software is the energy storage tech bankability challenge that is just getting to the surface but we will talk about much more.
News
1 Politico:
Pelosi says infrastructure bill will pass this week — but hedges on timing
2 Axios:
Preventing the next Texas power crisis
3 PV-Magazine:
Long-duration flow battery tech wins DOE funding
4 Weather Channel:
PG&E Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in California's Zogg Fire that Killed Four People
5 New York Times:
How Democrats Could Shrink Their $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill
6 Reuters:
Fortum CEO - We can boost renewables expansion firepower
7 PV-Tech:
California’s US$15bn climate action package signed but spending on energy deferred until 2022
8 Energy Storage News:
Gore Street, Pacific Green prepare to build 156MW of UK grid-scale battery storage projects
Opinions:
9 Utility Dive:
PJM cities to FERC - It's time for the MOPR to go
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 23rd, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
EXCLUSIVE White House backs plan for renewable energy industry tax partnerships
2 PV-Magazine:
SRP signs PPA for 440+ MW of solar capacity
3 Bloomberg:
Top Oil Trader Vitol Jumps Into Electric-Vehicle Fleet Business
4 New York Times:
Here’s What’s Behind Europe’s Surging Energy Prices
5 Axios:
The road to COP26 gets slightly easier
6 PV-Tech:
Generac launches new microinverter line
Opinions:
7 Canary Media:
Should Google and Microsoft focus on sourcing their own 100% clean power or cleaning up the dirtiest grids?
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 22nd, 2021
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
California is sued over its rule on solar power installers.
2 BBC:
Record backlog of cargo ships at California ports
3 Axios:
China vows end to building coal-fired power plants abroad
4 Bloomberg:
China Appeals WTO Ruling Over Trump Era’s Solar-Panel Tariffs
5 Reuters:
India's Adani Group to invest $20 bln in renewables in 10 years
6 PV-Tech:
New York governor calls for expansion of NY-Sun scheme to support at least 10GW of solar
7 RMI:
RMI Reality Check - Appalachia Poised to Become Clean Energy Country
8 Energy Storage News:
New Mexico’s largest solar-plus-storage plant in utility coal retirement plan acquired by DE Shaw
9 PV-Magazine:
How long do residential energy storage batteries last?
Opinions:
10 Utility Dive:
US can meet Paris climate commitments but will need to rely heavily on electric utilities - report
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 21st, 2021
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
This Powerful Democrat Linked to Fossil Fuels Will Craft the U.S. Climate Plan
2 Axios:
First look - Real estate firms invest $140 million in climate tech
3 Reuters:
Special Report-BP gambles big on fast transition from oil to renewables
4 Solar Power World:
Private firm acquires Swinerton Renewable Energy and SOLV
5 GeekWire:
Amazon, Microsoft, Breakthrough Energy share climate news as ‘Climate Week’ kicks off
6 Reuters:
Vineyard Wind secures $2.3 bln loan, allowing construction to start
7 PV-Tech:
Dominion Energy Virginia proposes 15 new projects and PPAs with a combined capacity of 1GW
8 RMI:
Bringing Reliable, Renewable Energy to the People
9 Energy Storage News:
LS Power repurposing former New Jersey coal plant site into offshore wind integration hub
10 PV-Magazine:
IREC guide aims to help states deploy solar hosting capacity maps
Opinions:
11 Utility Dive:
Advancing the energy transition requires an honest discussion of costs, outages and land, analysts say
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 20th, 2021
Platform Money Comes For Energy Transition. The energy transition is kicking off this year and its focus is on delivering the infrastructure that enables a more resilient grid. Like our capital raise at FlexGen, investors are seeing that long term infrastructure enables by ClimateTech solutions means bringing exceptional talent and bankable solutions together for the capital that is looking to own the projects that create the change. Canary’s Julian Spector covers the latest funding and why the focus has arrived, including the 10x level up that these investors are pushing through.
Grid Resilience Isn’t About Either Or. One of the loudest undertones in energy policy inside renewables is the ‘fight’ between distributed and central generation players. I’ve long said that the rising tide is when everyone in the industry wins but the same is also true for the consumer. A grid without transmission isn’t feasible but during climate events, the power lines tend to be the weakest link. During hurricanes, snow or ice storms and floods, the centralized generation loses attachment to those that need energy and that’s when distributed generation with storage can add significant value. This is also true in a grid where we shape demand and generation in a coordinated effort. We need both to power through the energy transition.
21st Century Power Market. Spending most of my time looking at energy storage markets and projects, I am often reminded that the power markets have had very little evolution since their inception. FERC orders 2222 and 841 should be the impetus for markets to create more dynamic and faster price signals for the technology available in the 21st century.
The Sequoias Get Foil Wrapped. Wildfires are burning so consistently that they are barely getting covered anymore. Now with the KNP Complex fire at the edge of the Sequoia National Park, rangers are wrapping these national treasures with foil fire blankets so that they hopefully survive the fire. This is another reminder that our work can’t go fast enough.
News
1 Canary Media:
Investors are pouring money into grid storage startups
2 New York Times:
Why Louisiana’s Electric Grid Failed in Hurricane Ida
3 Utility Dive:
New York authorizes National Grid to serve retail, bid into wholesale market with upstate battery project
4 Bloomberg:
Winter Is Coming and Europe Is Running Scarily Low on Gas
5 Axios:
Huge wildfire reaches edge of Sequoia National Park
6 Reuters:
Analysis - Europe's power firms locked out of record price bonanza
7 PV-Tech:
BP, ADNOC and Masdar team up in multi-billion dollar investment deal for clean and low carbon energy
8 Solar Power World:
Delaware updates community solar rules to eliminate barriers
9 PV-Magazine:
Ohio approves more than 530 MW of solar additions
Opinions:
10 Slate:
The Missing Link in Biden’s Revolutionary Solar Energy Plan
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 17th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Energy Storage News:
Vistra says ‘extraordinary leadership’ enabling Illinois’ transition away from coal
2 Fox Local:
Activists, customers protest SMUD ahead of vote for new solar rates
3 Utility Dive:
'We're obviously in the middle of a dramatic transformation,' FERC's Glick says amid market reform talks
4 Axios:
Ford adds jobs to meet soaring demand for electric F-150 Lightning
5 Reuters:
China's JinkoSolar says some panels being held at U.S. border
6 PV-Tech:
Silfab Solar secures investment to support US module manufacturing expansion
7 PV-Magazine:
Sunpower agrees to be Toll Brothers’ exclusive California solar provider
Opinions:
8 GreenBiz:
Clearloop brings solar to rural minority communities
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 16th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 PV-Tech:
FTC Solar replaces CEO amid ‘tough operational environment’
2 Reuters:
Chevron would rather pay dividends than invest in wind and solar -CEO
3 Solar Power World:
Solar prices are up across all markets due to supply chain constraints, threat of new tariffs
4 Business Journals:
Wilsonville battery maker ESS looking at early October to complete SPAC IPO
5 Bloomberg:
Sunrun CEO Steps In Amid Blackouts, Trade Woes and Rising Prices
6 New York Times:
Climate Change Calls for Backup Power, and One Company Cashes In
7 Energy Storage News:
Illinois gets 100% clean energy policy, including ‘Coal to Solar and Storage’ funding
8 PV-Magazine:
Tracking the Sun report offers insight into distributed solar trends
Opinions:
9 Axios:
The precarious White House climate posture
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 15th, 2021
Opinion
News
1 Energy Storage News:
Wood Mackenzie - US battery storage deployments worth US$5 billion forecast in record setting year
2 Reuters:
Biden says in Colorado that extreme weather will cost U.S. over $100 billion this year
3 Bloomberg:
U.S. Solar Gets More Expensive in Threat to Climate Change Fight
4 Axios:
New coal-fired power projects dwindle worldwide
5 PV-Tech:
Illinois climate bill to support nearly 10GW of solar PV by 2030
6 RMI:
Don’t Take Existing Energy Transition Funding for Granted
7 PV-Magazine:
SMUD proposal would cut net metering credits, impose interconnection fees
Opinions:
8 Utility Dive:
FERC wants state help on transmission policy. It should also ask about wholesale market reforms.
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for September 14th, 2021
The House Legislation. Draft legislation for the budget reconciliation bill was unveiled showing some details of the clean energy related tax credit. Some highlights include a 10 year extension at 30% for the ITC including stand alone storage as long as prevailing wage levels were paid. There is an adder if local content is used that can increase the tax credit. Projects under 1MW appear to be exempt from the requirements and look at a solid 30% for the next decade. All of this comes under the shadow of the Senate, where Manchin and Synema are taking center stage on what this actually looks like. With the tax increases also included as a pay for for the cost of the bill, expect many things to move if and before this is signed by the President.
Gas Price Rising. Gas prices rose again in August, trending the line up and to the right in the US but also in Europe. With cost competitiveness of gas power plants declining, the argument for the energy transition gets stronger and beyond the climate impact alone.
b>Illinois Gets It Done. The Illinois legislature has passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which is sent to and expected to be signed by the Governor. The legislation is expected to add 4GW of wind, 4GW of utility scale solar and 5.8GW of rooftop and community solar. This comes after years of trying to expand the work done under the previous FEJA legislation that kicked off that local market.
The Auctions Like +Storage. Auctions, often used outside of the US, have been a good indicator of changes in the forward looking landscape. In Germany and the UK, generation plus storage is gaining major traction and adding significant pipeline. It is also expanding the growth of ancillary services for frequency regulation and other revenue stacking opportunities.
Gulf Coast Post Ida Coverage. See some of the post Ida coverage from the Gulf Coast. SPI may already have slipped your mind but remember the local community continues to rebuild. Solar and storage played a major role, where deployed, in keeping access to some utilities for those communities.
News
1 PV-Tech:
10-year solar ITC extension, standalone storage credit and PTC revival included in draft budget bill
2 Reuters:
High gas prices demand creative climate thinking
3 Solar Power World:
Illinois’s renewable energy overhaul bill passes Senate and moves to Governor’s desk
4 Energy Storage News:
Wins for solar-plus-storage in tender ‘prove energy storage is integral to greener Germany’
5 Utility Dive:
New York directs utilities to submit transmission proposals as decarbonization deadline looms
6 Axios:
Ad wars intensify as Democrats' green energy plans take shape
7 PV-Magazine:
The world’s largest solar power plants
8 CBS Local:
Regulators question Entergy's transmission upgrades after 'catastrophic' failure
9 New York Times:
New Orleans Built a Power Plant to Prepare for Storms. It Sat Dark for 2 Days.
Opinions:
10 NOLA.com:
Rooftop solar systems survived Hurricane Ida; in blackout, some powered neighbors, too
Have a great day!
Yann
