Local Trackers. The 45X credits are making a real impact to the supply chain in trackers, importantly partnering innovating tracker manufacturers with existing steel companies and allowing them to expand. This is allowing an even landscape between large incumbents and new entrants with innovative tech to benefit at the same level without massive capex disadvantages. Trackers have been on a 20 year innovation curve and it seems like it’s just beginning to gain hold.
The Oil Conundrum. How does a president that signed the largest clean energy infrastructure investment bill in history square the reality with the electorate that the United States is producing more oil than ever before. It seems that in this political era, you can’t do both things because you’re supposed to be all in on one side and against the other.
News
1 Heatmap:
Crypto Mining Consumes a Mind-Boggling 2% of U.S. Electricity
2 CNBC:
Nextracker CEO says ‘solar is unstoppable’ as market sees ‘unprecedented demand growth’
3 Politico:
Greens push for EU climate neutrality by 2040 in election manifesto
4 Utility Dive:
Texas to explore new grid recovery options after 82% of blackstart units failed during Winter Storm Uri
5 San Francisco Chronicle:
California slashed solar payments and blew up demand. How bad is the damage?
6 Bloomberg:
Germany Invests €1 Billion to Counter China on Raw Materials
7 PV-Tech:
Altus Power acquires 84MW community solar portfolio in north-east US
8 Energy Storage News:
‘Big expansion’ in battery manufacturing essential to global net zero goals, BloombergNEF says
9 PV-Magazine:
Solar EV developer Aptera crowdfunds $33 million
Opinions:
10 New York Times:
How the U.S. Became the World’s Biggest Gas Supplier
Have a great day!
Yann
Opinion
Best, Yann
News
1 Solar Builder:
Tracking the growth of domestic solar tracker manufacturing
2 Utility Dive:
FERC approves PJM capacity accreditation, modeling reforms aimed at boosting reliability
3 Nasdaq:
COLUMN-Rising US oil production frustrates OPEC⁺ cuts - Kemp
4 Energy storage News:
Storage a ‘key element’ for new 2040 renewable energy targets, leaked EU draft says
5 Bloomberg:
Mexico’s Top Court Voids Government’s Statist Power Reform
6 Axios:
The big challenges facing the U.S.'s new climate diplomat
7 PV-Tech:
Vesper Energy closes US$590 million on 600MW Texas PV project
8 Renewable Energy World:
Board clarifies solar siting restrictions for large solar facilities in New Jersey
9 PV-Magazine:
Solar tracker provider Nextracker amps up its 2024 earnings guidance
Opinions:
10 New York Times:
Coastal Cities Brace for Climate Change
Have a great day!
Yann
Opinion
Best, Yann
News
1 Axios:
John Podesta to succeed Kerry as lead U.S. climate negotiator
2 Energy Storage News:
‘Big expansion’ in battery manufacturing essential to global net zero goals, BloombergNEF says
3 New York Times:
Teach About Climate Change With 30 Graphs From The New York Times
4 Bloomberg:
Texas’ Wobbly Power Grid Spurs DFW Airport to Map Backup Plans
5 Reuters:
Lender CIF to kick-start nearly $300 mln in funds for Kenyan renewables
6 PV-Tech:
Germany’s latest PV auction ends 3.5 times oversubscribed
7 Renewable Energy World:
Energy transition investments hit record $1.8 trillion in 2023
8 PV-Magazine:
Tribes to sponsor 1 to 3 GW of renewables to help retire dams and restore salmon
Opinions:
9 Heatmap:
The New Climate Laws’ Tax Credits for Homeowners Are Crazy Powerful
Have a great day!
Yann
Get What We Expect. My frustration with policy is that it rarely states the intention or goal of the legal words that go into the bill. The reason for that is some version of diplomacy or political nature of not wanting to offend anyone. This leads to investments being made to meet customer demand with the expectation of some underlying support and yes, I’m talking about domestic supply chains. Europe’s manufacturers need support from governments because local content isn’t finding enough demand in the market. Of course, as projects get built, demand is going to balance price, quality and other factors. While the individuals may desire to support domestic content, the price also has to be there which causes the rub between trade policies and/or local support of domestic content. Solar panels and batteries have some similarities in that respect but also some large differences. Solar panels will not degrade at nearly the same pace of battery containers, which are largely made to order. At the same time, battery containers weigh over 70 thousand pounds and shipping them is it’s own major challenge, giving local supply a built in benefit. We’ll see how markets evolve, but in the meantime if Europe wants any domestic supply chain, they’ll have to decide if that goal is worth building policies around.
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Europe's solar panel manufacturers ask EU for emergency support
2 PV-Magazine:
Solar power purchase agreement prices rise 15% year-over-year
3 Utility Dive:
Energy storage venture capital funding soared to record $9.2B in 2023, Mercom reports
4 Bloomberg:
Global Clean Energy Spending Surges to $1.8 Trillion. It’s Not Enough
5 New York Times:
U.S. Will Pay to Add Solar Panels to Hospitals, Schools After Disasters
6 GreenBiz:
As US electric bus market expands, manufacturers struggle to keep up
7 PV-Tech:
Sunrun reports successful residential solar-plus-storage programme in California
8 Solar Power World:
FEMA includes solar microgrids in net-zero disaster response program
9 Heatmap:
We Fact Checked Everything Trump Has Said About Climate Change Since 2021
Opinions:
10 Energy Storage News:
Long-duration energy storage is ‘better option than gas to back up Ontario renewables’
Have a great day!
Yann
