This is your SolarWakeup for January 5th, 2023
FERC Moves. President Biden has named FERC commissioner Phillips as the acting chair of the commission and the task to review the recent outages across the country kicks off at the same time. Within days of unscheduled outages, plant operators must notify FERC of the outage. ERCOT and other utilities had high profile reductions in available capacity during the recent winter storm.
Executive Moves In Tracking. Friend of SolarWakeup and former guest on our podcast, Jenya Meydbray, makes a leap from a company he founded and sold to join the innovative tracking company Nevados Engineering. Nevados is best known for the leading all-terrain tracker that eliminates grading on utility scale solar projects. The move by Jenya, announced on his Linkedin, follows former SunPower executive, Jack Bennett, joining the company as President and COO.
The Lender You Can Depend On. In a market that is full of uncertainty, you can rely on Dividend Finance to bring you white glove service to help you reach your long-term goals. Apply Here
News
1 Utility Dive:
Duke Energy apologizes for winter storm outages as FERC, NERC open investigation into grid failures
2 New York Times:
Why Are Energy Prices So High? Some Experts Blame Deregulation.
3 PV-Tech:
SolarEdge acquires UK IoT company Hark Systems
4 Energy Storage News:
Hawaii Island’s biggest solar-plus-storage plant will soon deliver power at 9 cents/kWh
5 Reuters:
Biden names Phillips acting head of energy regulator
6 Canary Media:
What’s next for grid storage after a booming but chaotic year?
7 PV-Magazine:
New York to add 25 GWh of energy storage for less than the cost of a slice of pizza
Opinions:
8 RMI:
Reality Check - Keeping the Lights on in Extreme Winter Weather
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 4th, 2023
The Lender You Can Depend On. In a market that is full of uncertainty, you can rely on Dividend Finance to bring you white glove service to help you reach your long-term goals. Apply Here
News
1 Canary Media:
What’s next for grid storage after a booming but chaotic year?
2 Utility Dive:
Federal cybersecurity focus grows as distributed resources expand grid risks
3 Vox:
How you can take advantage of tax breaks in the Inflation Reduction Act
4 PV-Tech:
Maxeon appoints new CEO to lead global manufacturing expansion
5 Energy Storage News:
New York proposes grid-scale energy storage tenders in roadmap to meet 6GW target by 2030
6 PV-Magazine:
Michigan utility doubles distributed generation cap
Opinions:
7 Bloomberg:
These Are the Climate Numbers to Watch in 2023
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for January 3rd, 2023
The Grid, Grid, Grid. Welcome back and welcome to 2023! It has been a busy week away and we slide ride into the top story from the holiday break. Winter Storm Elliot, struck across the Country with even my temperatures reaching the low 40s. While many people were handling it fine, the grid was strained across many power markets. PJM called a system wide emergency, first one since 2014 and ERCOT once again underestimated capacity need with several power plants going offline. The short duration of the weather event saved the day as 24 hours later, most everything went back to normal. Looking forward it shows that the grid is the central point of risk and opportunity for the energy transition, when the transition is defined by the electrification of everything. We’ll talk a lot about this going forward.
Year Of Batteries. Somewhat obvious given the above need for grid resilience and inertia but also with regulatory changes coming at the end of the year in residential solar like NEM 3.0 in California. Because batteries will be so important to everyone’s work, I’ll do my part to help you segment who is who and what is what. Battery companies are not all created alike and not all batteries are meant to do the same thing. I’ve said it before and will offer it again, part of our work at FlexGen is building out the most robust energy storage innovation lab and we will look to host many of you to learn more about what it takes to configure, control and analyze your batteries.
The Lender You Can Depend On. In a market that is full of uncertainty, you can rely on Dividend Finance to bring you white glove service to help you reach your long-term goals. Apply Here
News
1 Bloomberg:
Eastern US Power Grid Orders Cuts Amid System-Wide Emergency
2 Power Magazine:
Bulk Power System Deficiencies During Winter Storm Elliot Prompt Inquiries
3 Vox:
Winter storms put the US power grid to the test. It failed.
4 Solar Builder:
Will California NEM 3.0 boost home energy storage installations?
5 Utility Dive:
Energy Dept. to invest up to $72M to expand clean energy workforce efforts
6 Energy Storage News:
New York climate plan has ‘major role’ for energy storage across different sectors
7 PV-Magazine:
Global solar capacity additions hit 268 GW in 2022
Opinions:
8 Canary Media:
Fixing the US power grid - A challenge for 2023 and beyond
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 22nd, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
CAISO adopts energy storage, imbalance market rules to improve grid reliability
2 Bloomberg:
High US Power Prices Risk Squeezing Coal in Grid Auction
3 New York Times:
Clean Energy Quest Pits Google Against Utilities
4 Washington Post:
This little-known bottleneck is blocking clean energy for millions
5 Axios:
"Life-threatening" cold, bomb cyclone blizzard to sweep U.S. this week
6 Reuters:
Bill Gates upbeat on climate innovation, even if 1.5C goal out of reach
7 Solar Builder:
Georgia PSC approves Georgia Power’s $100 interconnection fee for new solar customers
8 Energy Storage News:
EU body - Action needed now ‘to prevent outflow of investment’ from Europe’s battery ecosystem
9 PV-Magazine:
The U.S. Postal Service to deploy over 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
With new tax credits, clean energy beats gas plants almost every time
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 21st, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Utility Dive:
CAISO adopts energy storage, imbalance market rules to improve grid reliability
2 Bloomberg:
High US Power Prices Risk Squeezing Coal in Grid Auction
3 New York Times:
Clean Energy Quest Pits Google Against Utilities
4 Washington Post:
This little-known bottleneck is blocking clean energy for millions
5 Axios:
"Life-threatening" cold, bomb cyclone blizzard to sweep U.S. this week
6 Reuters:
Bill Gates upbeat on climate innovation, even if 1.5C goal out of reach
7 Solar Builder:
Georgia PSC approves Georgia Power’s $100 interconnection fee for new solar customers
8 Energy Storage News:
EU body - Action needed now ‘to prevent outflow of investment’ from Europe’s battery ecosystem
9 PV-Magazine:
The U.S. Postal Service to deploy over 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028
Opinions:
10 Canary Media:
With new tax credits, clean energy beats gas plants almost every time
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 16th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 New York Times:
California Reduces Subsidies for Homes With Rooftop Solar
2 PV-Tech:
CubicPV plans 10GW silicon solar wafer factory in the US
3 Energy Storage News:
European Union votes to accelerate standalone energy storage deployment
4 PV-Magazine:
U.S. grid-scale and residential energy storage hit installation records in Q3
5 Utility Dive:
New clean energy investments have topped $40B since the IRA passed, report says
6 Reuters:
EVs and crypto mining seen as emerging risks for U.S. power reliability
7 Solar Builder:
Utility resource plans reveal impacts of IRA incentives in Midwest
8 Solar Power World:
Tigo acquires energy data analytics software company FSIGHT
Opinions:
9 Axios:
Historic redlining has enduring impact on power plant siting
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 15th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Reuters:
Germany's half-a-trillion dollar energy bazooka may not be enough
2 Axios:
Major storm sweeping U.S. brings blizzards, flooding and tornadoes
3 Deutsche Welle:
Small Morocco punches above its weight on renewables
4 Utility Dive:
Texas clean energy megaprojects get underway
5 Bloomberg:
Australian Startup 5B Gets BP Backing to Install Solar Farms in Minutes
6 PV-Tech:
Scatec hires ex-Equinor executive as new CFO
Opinions:
7 PV-Magazine:
First Solar becomes third clean energy company to join S&P 500 Index
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 14th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 PV-Tech:
US solar deployment falls due to trade restrictions, supply bottlenecks
2 Bloomberg:
NIMBYs Warm to Renewables in Europe’s Most Polluting Economy
3 Canary Media:
As California guts solar net metering, batteries emerge as a moneymaker
4 Politico:
U.S. inflation slowed sharply to 7.1 percent over past 12 months
5 Utility Dive:
New Jersey launches competitive solar incentive program, aiming for 300 MW annually through 2026
6 Axios:
Major storm sweeping U.S. brings blizzard, flooding and tornado threats
7 Energy Storage News:
PV Tech Power 33 out now
8 PV-Magazine:
Solar carport tax incentives suggested in California
Opinions:
9 Reuters:
The year Russia turbocharged a global energy crisis
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 13th, 2022
Opinion
News
2 Solar Builder:
DOE lends $2.5 billion to GM, LG joint venture to build three lithium-ion battery plants
3 Utility Dive:
Long duration energy storage has attracted more than $58B in global commitments since 2019
4 Bloomberg:
How a Solar Microgrid Became a Town’s Lifeline in Blackout-Prone Puerto Rico
5 Reuters:
U.S. agriculture agency extends climate funding to small farmers
6 PV-Tech:
European Solar PV Industry Alliance launched, targets 30GW of manufacturing capacity by 2025
7 Canary Media:
What to expect from California’s new rooftop-solar plan? More batteries
Opinions:
8 PV-Magazine:
Ranking the top 15 nations for solar energy capacity
Have a great day!
Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 12th, 2022
Opinion
News
1 Axios:
Climate tech's parity challenge
2 Bloomberg:
Why US Power Stations Are Vulnerable Targets for Attacks
3 Reuters:
Canada aims to speed up new projects with critical minerals strategy
4 New York Times:
Qatar Extends Its Natural Gas Dominance at Russia’s Expense
5 PV-Tech:
Air Products, AES to build Texas green hydrogen project powered by 1.4GW of solar and wind
6 Energy Storage News:
NREL
7 PV-Magazine:
American-Made Solar Prize round 6 semifinalists announced
Opinions:
8 Utility Dive:
Federal legislation completely changed the energy landscape. How do states take advantage of it?
Have a great day!
Yann
