RENEWABLE POWER Direct

Global engineering and construction group Bechtel said it will work with Doral Renewables to design and build a 430-MW solar power station in Texas. The Cold Creek Solar+Storage project, sited in Schleicher and Tom Green counties, also will include a 340-MWh battery energy storage system.

California-based Clearway Energy Group said it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), along with a 20-year deal to secure energy storage, with a utility organization in Washington state.

Ever since the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) first surfaced, it has been widely portrayed as an existential threat to the renewable energy transition. From boardrooms to project sites, developers braced for the worst—expecting a wave of regulatory shifts that could undermine years of progress in clean energy deployment. However, with the latest guidance from the Treasury Department released this August, uncertainty has been replaced by urgency—signaling that the time is now for decision-makers to get moving on their much-needed solar initiatives.

ENGIE North America said it has entered into additional power purchase agreements (PPAs) with technology group Meta that will increase the overall scale of the commercial relationship between the two companies to more than 1.3 GW across four Texas projects.

Technology group Wärtsilä said the company will deliver the largest DC-coupled hybrid battery energy storage system (BESS) in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in Australia, reflecting a growing trend toward hybridization of storage assets with co-located renewable generation.

BIO-UV Group has completed the first commercial deployment of its containerised BIO-SEA ballast water treatment system (BWTS) at Port-la-Nouvelle in southern France, supporting the installation of the pioneering EFGL floating offshore wind project in the Mediterranean.

After nearly nine years leading the Solar Energy Industries Association, Abby Hopper has made the decision to step down as president and CEO, effective January 30, 2026.

Trina Storage, a global energy storage solutions company and part of Trina Solar, said the Abydos BESS project was delivered ahead of its scheduled commercial operation date and provides a new benchmark for large-scale energy storage projects in North Africa. The BESS supports the solar power facility in Aswan Governorate in Egypt.

Industrial technology group Emerson said the company has completed a multi-year modernization project at four hydroelectric dams along the Salt River in Arizona. The upgrades, announced September 30, are at Salt River Project (SRP) facilities with combined generation capacity of 265 MW.

The global solar boom has introduced a new urgency around asset durability, performance, and risk. As utility-scale solar farms become more common, so do the invisible defects that compromise long-term generation and reliability. While traditional visual and infrared (IR) inspections are still a common practice, a more advanced diagnostic method is emerging as an invaluable […]

A new report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and Wood Mackenzie shows the U.S. energy storage market set a record for quarterly growth in April through June of this year. The latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor from the groups reports 5.6 GW of installations during the second quarter of 2025.

A Switzerland-based energy storage group with U.S. headquarters in California has joined with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to deploy a hybrid microgrid energy project in Calistoga, California.

Ofgem, the UK’s energy markets regulator, has deemed Highview Power’s proposed 3.2-GWh liquid air energy storage facilities at Hunterston and Killingholme eligible under its cap-and-floor regime, advancing them toward a final decision in Q2 2026. Alongside the 300-MWh Carrington project under development near Manchester, Highview’s portfolio is poised to provide more than 7 GWh of […]

Soluna Holdings, a developer of data centers powered by renewables, is set to break ground on Project Kati, a 166-MW wind-powered data center campus poised to support Bitcoin hosting and the rapidly growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. The project, a partnership with EDF Renewables, Masdar, and Spring Lane Capital, […]

An Oregon-headquartered developer and operator of utility-scale battery energy storage systems said it has acquired a major project in Arizona that will serve customers of Arizona Public Service (APS). GridStor announced the acquisition of the 100-MW/400-MWh White Tank battery storage project from Strata Clean Energy, a solar power and energy storage developer based in Durham, North Carolina.

Catalyze, an independent power producer and fully integrated developer of distributed renewable energy assets, said it has completed four community solar projects in central and western New York. The company said the installations were developed in partnership with CS Energy, a renewable energy company that develops, designs, and builds optimized solar, and energy storage. The […]

A global technology company focused on the hydropower sector has completed another turbine upgrade at the Roxburgh Hydropower Station in New Zealand.

Enel North America and Mars—a pet care, snacking and food company—announced the groups have completed a major power purchase agreement (PPA) transaction involving the full output of three solar plants in Texas. The deals represent Enel’s largest corporate PPA transaction worldwide. Combined, the agreements represent 851 MWac and are expected to yield 1.8 TWh of […]

Consumers Energy will sell its 13 hydroelectric dams along five Michigan rivers to Confluence Hydro, an affiliate of Hull Street Energy—for a price of $1 a piece. A Consumers Energy spokesperson confirmed the symbolic “technical sale” price of $1 for each dam, adding that the company has also entered into a 30-year agreement to purchase […]

Honeywell announced the company is supporting the commercial and industrial sector with the group’s Ionic Modular All-in-One, a compact, end-to-end battery energy storage system (BESS) designed for the commercial and industrial segments. The Ionic combines flexible battery storage with Honeywell’s advanced control system. The new BESS, announced September 10 and featured at the RE+ 2025 […]

AZZO, a global leader in energy integration and management technologies, announced the launch of a new offering of standardized, scalable microgrid solutions for the U.S. commercial and industrial market. This initiative is supported by Schneider Electric, whose EcoStruxure Microgrid Flex platform forms the foundation of the solution. The offering, announced September 9 at the RE+ […]

Solar technology major Nextracker announced the company would expand into the solar power frame market with the acquisition of Origami Solar. Origami is a pioneer in roll-formed steel frame technology. The deal, announced September 8, is an all-cash transaction of about $53 million, including future contingent earnout consideration. “The shift from aluminum to steel is […]

Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, and Controlled Thermal Resources (CTR) have entered into definitive agreements to collaborate on the development of up to 500 MW of baseload geothermal power at CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen project in Imperial County, California. The staged development, announced September 9, will deliver baseload geothermal energy at scale, providing reliable power […]

Sunraycer Renewables LLC, a developer, owner, and operator of clean energy power sites, on September 9 the execution of two revenue swap agreements with ENGIE Energy Marketing North America (EEMNA), part of ENGIE North America, to support its Midpoint and Gaia battery energy storage projects in Texas. The agreements will facilitate construction and operations of […]

A leading photovoltaic (PV) inverter and energy storage system (ESS) provider said it is bringing new products to the North American market. China-headquartered Sungrow on September 9 showcased the products at the RE+ 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The lineup of new products includes a second-generation modular inverter for utility-scale PV projects; the next-generation […]

Advances in horizontal drilling, adapted from the oil and gas (O&G) sector, are opening up deep geothermal resources once considered inaccessible. As a result, geothermal is emerging as a viable source of zero-carbon baseload power capable of delivering round-the-clock energy to a grid increasingly reliant on intermittent renewables. In a decarbonizing economy, geothermal is no longer an afterthought. It’s becoming essential infrastructure.

Using modeling through analytics, battery energy storage system operators can determine exactly what size system they need for their site with advanced predictive software.

With national electricity demand surging—driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and data center developments, widespread electrification, and challenging legislative and regulatory policy shifts—utilities are scrambling to keep pace. Add to that mounting supply chain strain and aging infrastructure, and it’s no wonder utilities are facing a costly balancing act.

Solar dominates new energy generation in the U.S., accounting for 69% of new capacity additions in Q1 of 2025. But although most of this added capacity comes from utility-scale projects, the engineering labor force hasn’t scaled to match this demand. Only a limited number of qualified engineers, particularly those with experience as Engineers of Record (EORs), can support the complexity and speed required for current utility-scale solar projects.

Utility-scale solar farms are essential players in the energy transition. But with growth comes more exposure, and large solar arrays are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, especially hailstorms. As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, utility executives, plant managers, engineers, and energy policymakers need proven, scalable methods for assessing and repairing solar farm damage quickly and effectively.