Safe Travels. I hope everyone shares the excitement about SPI that I have right now. Here are some things I’m thinking about as I board the plane for Anaheim.
Supply, Supply, Supply. We’re entering a time of haves and have nots for development pipeline. With tricky supply chains and demand exceed manufacturing capacity, not every purchaser will be able to get what they need at the price they want. Keep in mind that the entire world is electrifying and adding renewable energy, plus the auto industry is interested in batteries as well.
News
1 Solar Power World:
California cities and counties now required to switch to instant, online residential solar permitting by 2024
2 Axios:
Hurricane Fiona brings "catastrophic" flooding, power outages to Puerto Rico
3 Solar Builder:
DroneBase debuts standardized solar asset ratings as part of nationwide service
4 PV-Tech:
SunPower invests in solar dealers Renova Energy, EmPower Solar
5 Canary Media:
How solar donors can cut the power bills of low-income families
6 Utility Dive:
US Senate passes bill to maximize EV battery recycling for federal fleet vehicles
7 PV-Magazine:
Start-up plans solar manufacturing in disadvantaged communities
8 Bloomberg:
The Affordable Electric Vehicle Is Still Mostly Fantasy
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
Nuclear Power Still Doesn’t Make Much Sense
Have a great day!
Yann
See You Next Week. For those of you coming to SPI next week, I look forward to seeing you. If you're so inclined, come say hello at the FlexGen booth at #2792.
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
Facing Budget Shortfalls, These Schools Are Turning to the Sun
2 Bloomberg:
BlackRock-Backed Biofuel Firm Says Timid Lenders Slow New Tech
3 Utility Dive:
Biden administration awards $900M to 35 states for EV charging network as automakers ramp up battery plans
4 Axios:
Shell taps new CEO amid transition push
5 PV-Magazine:
Goldman Sachs and Cleanhill Partners acquire majority stake in EPC Power
6 Reuters:
U.S. natgas drops 9% on rail deal, bigger than expected storage build
7 Energy Storage News:
Energy storage execs at White House celebration of Inflation Reduction Act
8 Canary Media:
Californians saved the grid again. They should be paid more for it
Opinions:
9 PV-Tech:
Renewables only means of ‘true independence’ says European Parliament as it ups deployment targets
Have a great day!
Yann
Market Dynamics. Unrepresented in market forecasts and the dynamics of the supply chain is the impact that a stand alone energy storage tax credit would have on the solar market. If you own a solar farm, there was little thought to adding storage to it due to the technical limitation of dc-coupling and having to make it work with the existing interconnect so you could charge the batteries with the solar generation without screwing up your PPA. With a stand alone storage ITC, it’s very likely that many if not all asset owners will think about adding batteries to their site either to augment their PPA or to just trade that asset merchant until someone wants to acquire that capacity. Likewise, solar developments in the pipeline had a 1x per day cycle in the storage forecast, less perhaps. The PPA you had for that as available plus PPA becomes a preforma that thinks about running it 2-3 cycles per day in addition to shifting the solar generation.
Where The Money Is Going. Pipeline are through the roof, forecast are already underestimating installations and now capital is pushing hard into recycling. The WSJ ran this reporting just days ago and some more firms are working on repurposing and repowering end of life battery cells. My point is that money is going into both ends of the project life, installing it and decommissioning the asset. Now the question to answer at SPI is what are you doing with the project while its running so that it makes you more money than you expect?
Opinion
News
1 PV-Magazine:
U.S. installed a record 2.6 GWh of grid-scale energy storage in Q2
2 Wall Street Journal:
Battery Recycling Race Heats Up After Inflation Reduction Act
3 Utility Dive:
EV sales are booming, but can battery production keep pace? Several factors could hamper growth, say experts
4 Reuters:
EU Parliament backs higher targets on renewables and energy savings
5 Bloomberg:
France Caps Electricity, Gas Price Hikes at 15% for 2023
6 PV-Tech:
US solar industry players celebrate Inflation Reduction Act at White House
7 Energy Storage News:
New Fluence CEO to focus on profitable growth and higher margin projects
8 Canary Media:
In Utah, thousands of homes feed the grid stored solar power
Opinions:
9 Renew Economy:
Fast transition to renewables will save the world $18 trillion, says Oxford study
Have a great day!
Yann
Opinion
Best, Yann
News
1 Washington Post:
This is your victory,’ Biden celebrates Inflation Reduction Act
2 Utility Dive:
Real-time pricing, new rates and enabling technologies target demand flexibility to ease California outages
3 Bloomberg:
JPMorgan Sees Oil Prices Climbing as Alternatives Fall Short
4 Reuters:
Germany, EU race to fix energy crisis
5 PV-Tech:
US residential solar owner and operator Spruce Power acquired
6 Energy Storage News:
California residential and C&I batteries in the fight to keep lights on
7 Canary Media:
Terawatt Infrastructure snags $1B for EV charging buildout
8 PV-Magazine:
Carbon intensity of energy in the U.S. is falling, but progress varies widely by state
Opinions:
9 New York Times:
Putin’s New Cold War
Have a great day!
Yann
