A Bridge To Prosperity. Natural gas was the political bridge that let politicians take money from the rich gas industry while advocating for a renewable energy future by ending coal with natural gas. The last 10 years were basically about that trend, utilities across the Country rate based the end of coal power generation in favor of the gas plants. If anything, the natural gas bridge to a renewable future cost utility consumers 100’s of millions of dollars in new generation. The bridge has essentially reached the other side of the transition because solar plus storage is competitive in almost every market.
Exhibit A. Using demand response, the CPUC is showing utilities how they can avoid building new generation. The interesting aspect of this is that it shows how the natural gas bridge ends and more importantly why our sector is important. Oil, auto and utility companies are buying companies that focus on the distributed space, not just because of their business model but because the intersection of DERs, EVs and generation will need teams that build that distributed ecosystem.
Exhibit B. Here is more NV solar for you, this time a whopping 690MW project. The most obvious omission from this announcement is the size of the storage associated with the project which would likely be the world’s largest announced after last week’s 1.2GWh project from Vistra. Storage will absolutely be built on this plant, not just an option as it is outline to have. This is a big project but we’ll need many of them to make up for the fossil power plants that will be replaced by this type of generation.
More Solar Manufacturing. JA Solar is adding more manufacturing in Vietnam. For $68million, the company will add 1.5GW of wafer capacity for shipment of products not made in China. The plant will start to operate this year and deliver 500MW in 2018.
Presented by Sunrun. Sunrun is the largest residential solar, storage and energy services company in the United States with a mission to create a planet run by the sun. Since establishing the solar as a service model in 2007, Sunrun continues to lead the industry in providing clean energy to homeowners with little to no upfront cost and at a savings to traditional electricity. Sunrun is excited to expand its solar offerings to Illinois residents.
- Vox: Clean energy is catching up to natural gas
- Renewable Energy World: California Decision Means SCE Could Use Solar, Storage to Offset New Gas Generation
- NBC Las Vegas: New 7,100-acre solar project announced for Las Vegas area
- CleanTechnica: JA Solar Secures $68 Million Loan For 1.5 Gigawatt Vietnam Factory
- Renew Economy: AEMO – Cheapest way to replace coal is solar, wind, storage
- Utility Dive: As corporate PPAs surge, consultants aim to bring lower prices
- Reuters: India ministry urges duty on Chinese solar cells, modules
- Greentech Media: South Carolina Solar Companies Seek Compromise Deal as Net Metering Caps Hit
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann