Building An Intelligent Grid. FlexGen is the most exciting company I’ve had the pleasure of working for and the past 18 months of watching the energy storage market take off has been incredible. Yesterday, we announced our Series C investment round of $100million anchored by Vitol. Our mission is the help our customers to build the most intelligent and resilient grid possible while maximizing the revenue opportunity for battery asset owners. While today’s environment is a challenging one, FlexGen is creating stability and bankability to build out the infrastructure of the future. Thank you to many of you on giving us the ability to work together and if you’re looking for guidance and support with you storage projects, I hope you reach out. We’ll be at RE+ (SPI) and look forward to many partnerships around the solar market.

• Energy Storage News: Energy trader Vitol leads US$100 million funding round for BESS system integrator FlexGen
• The Hill: Solar power is helping Texas keep its air conditioning amid brutal temperatures
• Bloomberg: India Plans $10 Billion Electric Bus Contract to Curb Emissions
• New York Times: Delay as the New Denial: The Latest Republican Tactic to Block Climate Action
• Axios: Biden to expand climate push with heat readiness, offshore wind moves
• Reuters: As EVs go mainstream, a rush for share of home charger market
• Electrek: Tesla stops scheduling solar roof installations in most markets
• Solar Builder: Community solar is a path to the future if policymakers plan for it

Opinion

• Politico: Declaring a climate emergency could unlock potent tools for Biden — at a steep cost

Best, Yann

• Utility Dive: Texas heat wave could mean big payday for Vistra in ERCOT market – Morgan Stanley
• Bloomberg: White House Considers Emergency Declaration to Fight Climate Change
• New York Times: Trying to Salvage His Climate Agenda, Biden Weighs Remaining Options
• Axios: 100 million under heat warnings in Plains
• Reuters: U.S. to seek dispute settlement talks with Mexico over energy policy-sources
• Solar Power World: Aurora Solar releases AI-driven PV sales and design services

Opinion

• Energy Storage News: UK needs at least 50GW of energy storage for net zero by 2050, National Grid ESO says

Best, Yann

Why Climate Remains Partisan Policy. It’s not lost on me that climate is a bipartisan polling topic but remains deeply partisan when it comes to passing in Congress. The conservative or libertarian argument for energy policy is clearly obvious while also being a great tool to offset inflation. Energy inflation topped 40% in the latest release and when it comes to solar, the fuel cost remains consistently free for the life of the asset, passing that cost through to consumers is good for everyone. Ultimately there are two things I see as the most pressing for Congress on solar and storage policies, first is a robust and permanent tax credit structure. Second is consistent and predictable supply chain systems that eliminate volatility as much as possible. Biden could do something about the latter, using some version of emergency proclamation that grants the executive branch legitimate powers to act. It’ll be up to Congress to act on the tax credit.

• Reuters: U.S. Senate Democrats urge Biden to declare climate emergency
• Axios: Europe heat wave turns deadly as France and U.K. brace for hottest days on record
• Utility Dive: Puerto Rico’s electricity rates have nearly doubled since 2020 – IEEFA
• Solar Power World: GAF Energy to start second solar shingle manufacturing plant in Texas
• Energy Storage News: Massachusetts authorities host public comment hearings for 800MWh of battery storage
• PV-Magazine: Solar panels power the James Webb telescope

Opinion

• Canary Media: Smart electric panels in homes could prevent overtaxing the grid

Best, Yann

We’re  Back! Thank you for letting SolarWakeup go on a brief break last week, back to our regular programming. Like many of you, I read the news brought to us by Senator Manchin. I’ll have some thoughts for your consideration tomorrow and would love to hear from you on the topic.

• CNN: White House economic adviser says Biden will pursue climate agenda ‘with or without Congress’
• Politico: Manchin disputes claims he rejected Dems’ climate and energy spending
• New Yorker: For the Third Time in Three Decades, Congress Punts on Serious Climate Legislation
• Bloomberg: Texas’ Power Grid Is Straining — And It’s Not Even August
• Axios: A GOP generation gap on climate change
• RMI: The Solution to Grid Reliability? Go Bigger and Bolder on Renewables and Energy Storage
• Solar Power World: Illinois Commerce Commission approves detailed roadmap to reach 40% renewables by 2030
• Energy Storage News: CEOs call on European policymakers to do more to accelerate rollout of ‘proven and scalable’ energy storage technologies
• PV-Magazine: Californians will still get burned under solar killer proposal

Opinion

• Canary Media: 5 things to know about the Supreme Court’s recent climate ruling

Best, Yann