Hydro Tasmania says it is accelerating detailed investigation of three key opportunities for pumped storage hydro development in the state as part of the Battery of the Nation initiative. Work has begun on a full feasibility assessment of pumped hydro development opportunities at Lake Cethana and Lake Rowallan in the northwest and near Tribute Power Station on the West Coast.

Last week, Houston, TX Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that Sunnyside Energy, led by developer Dori Wolfe of Wolfe Energy LLC, has won a competition to be considered to repurpose a 240-acre former landfill in Sunnyside. Subject to meeting certain terms and conditions, the team will construct one of the largest urban solar farms in Texas., if not the largest.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the U.S. has issued an original operating license to Kenai Hydro LLC for its proposed 5-MW Grant Lake Hydroelectric Project in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska.

California’s energy storage incentive program has been a great success, with more than 11,000 battery storage systems installed to-date. The problem is, it’s not reaching the state’s most vulnerable communities. A new proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) aims to fix some of the barriers preventing disadvantaged communities from participating in the program, and it allocates $100 million to a new program designed to offset the cost of battery storage systems for populations threatened by wildfires and related utility power shutoffs.

France’s Neoen SA has outlined plans to build a giant renewables complex in South Australia, including battery storage with up to nine times more capacity than the Tesla Inc. design at its nearby Hornsdale plant, which is billed as the world’s largest lithium-ion battery.

This week, Canadian Solar said that it has won three solar power contracts with Alberta’s Ministry of Infrastructure, for a total of 94 megawatts (MWp) of solar power system in southeast Alberta, with an average contracted PPA price of 48.05 Canadian dollars [US 36.27] per MWh. When in operation in 2021, these solar plants will provide 55 percent of the electricity needs for Alberta provincial government.

California-based solar developer Sunpin Solar said that Direct Energy Business, a subsidiary of Centrica PLC, signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the full output of the recently completed 96.75-MW DC / 74.8-MW AC ColGreen North Shore Power Plant.

Pennsylvania is promoting a new roadmap to electrify transportation by designing policies and setting targets to get more electric vehicles on the roads.

In early February, during DistribuTECH, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) hosted a workshop to discuss what requirements are necessary for successful distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) deployment.

A new paper is being launched today at the House of Lords in London that challenges government, regulators and companies working on clean energy to make gender diversity a key priority. The paper has been produced by the EWiRE network, set up by Regen to provide a vibrant network for women working in clean energy.

New Hampshire is preparing to follow the lead of other New England states and create a system for procuring renewable energy on behalf of residents.

Instead of a wall, build a first-of-its-kind energy park that spans the 1,954 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico to bring energy, water, jobs and border security to the region.

Idaho Power unveiled a goal Tuesday to provide 100-percent clean energy by 2045 on the heels of an announcement that it will purchase 120-MW of solar energy through a PPA with Jackpot Holdings at a price of less than US $0.022 cents per kWh.

After announcing nearly a gigawatt of new clean-energy projects in February, APS is now seeking proposals to build two of them in different parts of the state. The first request for proposals (RFP) seeks partners to add batteries to existing APS solar plants in rural Arizona, storing their power for use after the panels stop producing each day. A second partner is being sought to develop a large (100-MW) solar plant paired with an equal amount of storage, to bring more clean energy to customers after dark. Both of these projects will provide APS customers with more solar after sunset, serving their evening energy needs with an even cleaner resource mix.

Over the past week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced multiple funding opportunities to renewable energy research including $130M for early-stage solar and $28M for wind. Further, the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium announced up to $7M in funding for offshore wind.

Recently there has been a great deal of interest in a ‘Green New Deal’ for the United States. It is seen as a way to solve pressing environmental, employment and economic problems with a single comprehensive plan. Modeled on Roosevelt’s New Deal, which created jobs, invested in large infrastructure projects, and pulled the US out of the Great Depression, the Green New Deal is a modern version of that program, but with green energy investments, 21st century job training, and deficit reduction as the key components.

Mercom Capital Group released its report on funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity for the global solar sector in the first quarter of 2019 and found that total corporate funding (including venture capital funding, public market, and debt financing) into the solar sector in Q1 2019 came to $2.8 billion. Year-over-Year (YoY) funding in Q1 2019 was about 10 percent higher compared to the $2.5 billion raised in Q1 2018.

Just after the midnight hour of New Year’s Eve 2020, more than confetti will be abandoned on America’s sidewalks and parlors. Somewhere around $130 million dollars of Investment Tax Credit (ITC) from that year’s anticipated Commercial & Industrial solar projects will fall out from any hope of reaching the proverbial pocket books of the nation’s infrastructure investors (assuming 2000MW of C&I and Community solar, and a $2/w installation cost). On 1/1/20, the ITC drops to 26 percent, a first step to further decrease the following year.

kWh Analytics, a leader in solar risk management, this week announced the first refinancing supported by the Solar Revenue Put. The portfolio of 41 projects, owned by AES, totaling approximately 28 MW DC of capacity is located in Arizona and Massachusetts. The portfolio is being funded by Silicon Valley Bank and a Japanese financial services company. Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, a leading global corporate insurer, is providing capacity for the Solar Revenue Put.

This weekend at its “Earth Day Every Day Fair,” Green Mountain Power announced an energy vision to have a 100 percent carbon free energy supply by 2025 and 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. The utility said the move is among the most aggressive carbon targets for a utility of GMP’s size in the country.

Building solar and wind energy projects on potentially contaminated lands can be a golden opportunity, both effective and cost-effective, for developers. The 120-acre Reilly Tar & Chemical Corporation Superfund site was recently redeveloped with a utility-scale solar farm and is a prime example of the reuse potential inherent in thousands of Superfund sites, brownfields, retired power plants, and landfills.

Yuba College, a community college part of the Yuba Community College District, this week completed a 1-MW solar carport installation that it says could result in $10 million of avoided utility costs over the life of the system. The District purchased the solar outright, which resulted in optimal savings.

In their push to upend the economics of rooftop solar, Iowa’s major electric utilities are up against an opponent as politically potent as they are: the state’s pork producers.

The European Commission has approved a €385 million (US$429.7 million) renewable energy scheme to support renewables generation in Lithuania, including hydroelectric power.

SOHAR deep-sea port and free-zone has signed a 600-hectare lease agreement with Shell Development Oman (SDO) for land to set up industrial and commercial solar panels. The port is managed in a joint-venture between the Port of Rotterdam and the Sultanate of Oman.

Buildings account for nearly four-tenths of U.S. energy consumption through heating, cooling and other electricity use, according to the Energy Information Administration. And if that energy comes from fossil fuels, it releases more greenhouse gases that drive human-caused climate change.

Energy advisory and certification body DNV GL has launched a new digital platform for renewable energy power purchase agreements.

Developing carbon capture and storage technology and low-carbon hydrogen is “a necessity not an option” for the UK to achieve a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

ComEd sees a significant role for energy storage on Illinois’ electric grid as the state works toward realizing its ambitious renewable goals.

This week in Seattle, Washington, Senate Bill 5116 was signed into law in by Governor Jay Inslee after passing the state legislature earlier this month. This bill cuts out coal power by 2025 and requires an equitable transition to 100 percent clean electricity for the entire state by 2045.

This week, Enel S.p.A. announced the opening of its newest Innovation Hub in Boston at Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech startup incubator in the United States. The Hub will provide Enel, one of the world’s leading power companies, access to Greentown Labs’ startup community and innovation expertise.

This week, diversified real estate acquisition and development firm Commercial Development Company and transmission developer Anbaric said they plan to build a renewable energy center at Brayton Point Commerce Center in Somerset, Massachusetts. The site is the former home of the Brayton Point Coal Plant, the cooling towers for which were demolished two weeks ago. (video of demolition at the end of article at this link).

CleanChoice Energy on Thursday said it was opening an additional 20.51 MW of community solar capacity for residential customers of Xcel. The new capacity is being supplied by fifteen solar farms owned and operated by AltusPower America in various locations in Minnesota. CleanChoice Energy is the largest community solar provider in Minnesota with more than 85 megawatts of solar capacity.

This week, Xcel Energy announced plans to retire its last two coal plants in the Upper Midwest a decade earlier than scheduled. The acceleration of the coal closures is part of the company’s clean energy transition that includes expanding wind and solar, using natural gas and operating its Monticello nuclear plant until at least 2040.

Oil companies, automakers and consumer products manufacturers will unleash a campaign for a U.S. tax on carbon dioxide emissions even though it may lead to higher prices for their products.

Jeff Carpoff had a lot to celebrate as friends and business associates gathered at his company’s Christmas party last year.

Seattle, WA-based LevelTen Energy helps corporate buyers of renewable energy find and purchase energy from solar and wind projects within North America through its procurement platform. The company says its solution reduces the cost, complexity, and risk of renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs), by incorporating analytics, aggregation, and process best practices.

As the world responds to the challenges of climate change, energy systems are evolving, and evolving fast. The past 10 years have seen the rise (and dramatic cost reduction) of renewable energy such as wind and solar, to the extent that they are no longer considered alternative energy. They have become mainstream energy sources. Now, what will be the “next big thing” as the world shifts to a low carbon future?

As the sun sets on California’s solar farms, a backup energy source deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains springs to life.

JinkoSolar Holding Co., the world’s biggest solar panel maker, sees China’s photovoltaic power additions slumping this year and a greater share of its revenue coming from overseas amid uncertainties over Beijing’s new policies.

Hydrogen, which has been touted as the fuel of the future much of the past five decades, may finally be on the verge of converting its potential to reality.

Eos Energy Storage is manufacturer and supplier of the zinc-based Aurora 2.0 battery system for Duke Energy's McAlpine substation and as a behind-the-meter solution at the University of California, San Diego. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule and simultaneously repealed the Clean Power Plan (CPP).

The Clean Power Alliance (CPA) has signed three long-term power purchase agreements, including two new solar projects and one existing small hydro project.

According to a review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), within the past month, the agency has dramatically revised its three-year forecast for changes in the U.S. electrical generating capacity mix. Sharp declines are foreseen for fossil fuels and nuclear power while accompanied by even stronger growth in renewable energy (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) than earlier projected.

Installed solar capacity in the United States exceeded 10 GW for the third year in a row in 2018, and the pace of growth is expected to continue. The first quarter of 2019 was the strongest in the history of the U.S. solar market, according to a recent report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. Yet inefficient and costly project financing inhibits many solar developers from tapping into the market’s true potential.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its Short Term Energy Outlook for 2019 and we have summarized the key highlights for you below.

The round was led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund with participation from Equinor Energy Ventures and Evergy Ventures

It may be time to start building power plants in Texas again.

The Ford F-150, Ram 1500, and Chevy Silverado have been the best-selling light vehicles in America for a long time, but for the first time ever, the pickup truck segment as a whole outsold the car segment in the month of April, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. The difference was by a large margin, too, with pickups outselling cars by more than...