Tag Archive for: renewables

The country’s most ambitious & expensive infrastructure project, with an estimated cost of more than $100B will connect LA and SFO in a 422-mile system.

California’s $100 billion electric bullet train will be fully solar powered

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Elon Musk unveiled his futuristic hyperloop concept in 2013 by taking swipes at California’s high-speed rail project, deriding it as “a bullet train that is both one of the most expensive per mile and one of the slowest in the world.” A decade later, his fanciful tube train remains science fiction while construction of the Golden State’s cash-strapped railway continues, with at least one feature the mercurial billionaire should like: it’s going to be solar-powered.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is preparing to begin discussions with potential suppliers of a $200 million utility-scale system it will own and operate. It will include 552 acres of solar panels generating 44 megawatts of electricity — enough for a city of 33,000 people — and batteries to store 62 megawatt hours of power. The system must be robust enough to provide powerful electrical bursts to propel trains at up to 220 miles per through the 171-mile Central Valley segment of the railway, withstand intense heat and keep passengers moving along — even if there’s a blackout at local utilities.

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Source: Forbes

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California produced 26% of the national utility-scale solar electricity followed by Texas with 16% and North Carolina with 8%.

California produces 26% of US solar power

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Electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Monday.

Renewables also surpassed nuclear generation in 2022 after first doing so last year.

Growth in wind and solar significantly drove the increase in renewable energy and contributed 14% of the electricity produced domestically in 2022. Hydropower contributed 6%, and biomass and geothermal sources generated less than 1%.

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Source: Patch

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California’s power grid operator says $9.3B in new projects is needed over the next decade to support the state’s shift to renewable energy and plug-in cars.

California grid needs $9.3 billion upgrade in renewables shift

California’s power grid operator says $9.3 billion in new projects is needed over the next decade to support the state’s shift to renewable energy and plug-in cars.

The California Independent System Operator on Monday identified 46 projects that will be needed to help planned solar plants and offshore wind farms plug into the grid while improving reliability in a state that has been plagued with blackouts. CAISO identified the projects, including new or upgraded power lines and substation equipment, in a draft transmission plan. Its board is expected to vote on the plan in May.

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Source: Bloomberg

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The CPUC approved a plan that will set the state on a course to adding 86,000 megawatts of new resources to the grid by 2035.

California ups renewables target again with new plan to add 85GW by 2035

California’s already hugely ambitious clean energy goals have just gotten even bigger. Now the state’s utilities, regulators, clean-energy developers and transmission grid planners must figure out how to achieve the colossal new buildout needed to meet these goals.

On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission approved a plan that will set the state on a course to adding 86,000 megawatts of new resources to the grid by 2035. That’s ​“more than a doubling of the nameplate capacity” of 75,000 megawatts that constitutes the state’s existing resource mix, CPUC President Alice Reynolds said during Thursday’s meeting.

The new integrated resource plan calls for 54,000 megawatts of new renewable resources, most of it solar power, as well as wind power built inside and outside the state’s borders. It also includes more than 28,000 MW of batteries to store that power when it’s produced so it can be used when the state’s grid needs it.

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Source: Canary Media

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Spain-based water utility Miya has expanded its activities to the renewables sector with the acquisition of a stake in Xfloat.

Spanish water utility sets sights on floating solar

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Approved by the company and its shareholders, the acquisition is part of Miya’s growth strategy based on expanding its activities in the field of green energy and efficiency.

The transaction will allow Miya to build upon its experience in delivering more efficient water systems to develop projects in the renewables sector using a unique technology focused on maximizing efficiency in the operation of floating solar plants and to participate in future power generation projects

According to Miya, it sees the floating solar technology as an additional way to deliver better results to water utilities around the world ensuring all their assets including water reservoirs are utilized in the most efficient manner.

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Source: Offshore Energy

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Meta Platforms Inc has agreed to buy renewable energy credits and other environmental attributes associated with Vitol’s 50-MW Ocotillo Wells solar project in San Diego County, CA.

Meta to buy RECs from 50-MW solar project in California

US technology conglomerate Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) has taken another step towards its goal of securing 100% of renewables for its operations by signing a multi-year contract with energy and commodities trader Vitol.

The Facebook and Instagram owner has agreed to buy renewable energy credits and other environmental attributes associated with Vitol’s 50-MW Ocotillo Wells solar project in San Diego County, California. Meta will be making these purchases in support of its operations in the region, a news release from Vitol says.

The Ocotillo Wells solar plant will benefit from a 4-hour battery energy storage system (BESS). It is expected to become operational in the summer of 2023.

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Source: Renewables Now

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CAISO has approved three reliability improvements for storage management that are set to take effect this summer.

CAISO adopts energy storage, imbalance market rules to improve grid reliability

The Energy Storage Enhancements proposal adopted by the board and WEIM governing body are intended to improve accounting of a battery’s state of charge, certifying resources are available when needed and providing better tools for exceptional dispatch.

With more than 4,700 MW of storage connected to the grid, CAISO said the real-time market requires that a resource with an ancillary service award be capable of delivering energy to the full amount for at least 30 minutes. For storage resources, they must have energy stored to meet an ancillary service schedule.

In addition, proposed co-located model improvements include an option to only charge storage from on-site renewables to avoid “grid charging” that CAISO said could have federal tax implications for solar projects.

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Source: Utility Dive

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Canadian Solar Inc announced on Tuesday that the huge Crimson energy storage system, started operations in California.

California’s 1.4-GWh Crimson battery goes online

Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ:CSIQ) announced on Tuesday that the huge Crimson energy storage system, partly owned by its subsidiary Recurrent Energy LLC, started operations in California.

The 350-MW/1,400-MWh complex is touted as the largest battery storage project in the world to reach operation in a single phase. It is also the second largest energy storage system currently operating, according to the Canadian renewables group.

Recurrent Energy holds a 20% stake in Crimson after the sale of 80% to independent portfolio management firm Axium Infrastructure about a year ago.

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Source: Renewables Now

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One of the biggest advances we can expect to see over the next decades is how we store and use power from solar cells and other renewables.

Solar cells: essential for a brighter future

You wouldn’t recognise the precursor to the modern solar panel if you saw it, and who knows what they’ll look like in the future?

The precursor to the first solar panel wasn’t really a panel, and it didn’t even use the sun’s light. But the physical processes first observed by French scientist Antoine César Becquerel, in his laboratory in 1839 and then in bars of selenium by Willoughby Smith when checking telegraph cables to be submerged under the Atlantic Ocean, are essentially the same as what happens in solar cells everywhere today.

In a nutshell: light shines onto a semiconductor material, which then produces an electric current – no moving parts, no steam, no turbines.

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Source: COSMOS

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Electricity-generating rooftop solar cells not only save on planet-warming carbon emissions, they also save a significant amount of water

Rooftop solar cells can be a boon for water conservation too

Electricity-generating rooftop solar cells not only save on planet-warming carbon emissions, they also save a significant amount of water, say a pair of Duke University researchers who have done the math.

A given household may save an average 16,200 gallons of water per year by installing rooftop solar, they found. In some states, like California, this saving can increase to 53,000 gallons, which is equivalent to 60 percent of the average household water use in the U.S.

You won’t see the savings on your home water bill, but they’re still important.

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Source: Duke Today

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