renewables

The global wind industry is entering a new phase of accelerated growth as both companies and countries adopt ambitious sustainable energy goals. 2023 was a record year for wind installations, with a 50%

The California Hydrogen Hub and the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub have garnered a combined $57.5 million in the first tranche of funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) $7 billion Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) program. H2Hubs, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), is backed by funding from the Infrastructure Investment and […]

Platte River Power Authority’s board of directors approved the utility’s 2024 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) on July 25, including the recommended “optimal new carbon” portfolio that adds 760 MW of new renewable energy projects between now and 2030. “We’ve heard from numerous community members throughout this process and I appreciate how transparent Platte River continues […]

Officials in India said that country’s energy transition plan will focus on developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), pumped energy storage projects, and more efficient coal-fired power plants. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, presenting the government’s 2024-2025 budget, noted the latest financial allocations outline a shift in priorities for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sitharaman on July […]

China’s central government has approved Shanghai’s plan to build 29 GW of offshore wind generation capacity, part of the city’s strategy to build more energy infrastructure and diversify the electricity mix. Reports said the plan was devised by the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission, with a goal to have offshore wind generate as much […]

One of the largest solar-plus-storage installations in the U.S. has entered commercial operation. Primergy Solar and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners on July 18 announced that the Gemini Solar + Energy Storage project, which will provide power to Las Vegas, Nevada, and other communities, is now fully online. Gemini has 690 MW of power generation capacity and […]

A group that assesses the effectiveness of actions by the European Union (EU), including how energy initiatives impact the economies of EU member states, said the current goals for EU hydrogen production are “overly ambitious” and not realistic. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) in a report published July 16 said targets to produce as […]

By now, with the most devastating effects of the pandemic behind us, it’s important to remember the key takeaway—there’s no such thing as “business as usual.” As a result, companies have learned that to be able to thrive are those that quickly adapt to sudden, unforeseen changes is essential. This is especially true for energy and […]

More than $106.5 billion in large-scale clean energy project investments have been announced in Republican-held congressional districts in the U.S. during the period from August 2022 through June 2024. The figure was released by E2, a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors, and professionals from every sector of the economy who advocate for “smart […]

Waste from end-of-life solar panels and other solar-related equipment provides an opportunity to recover valuable materials, along with other benefits. The International Renewable Energy Agency said that by 2030, the cumulative value of recoverable raw materials from end-of-life panels alone will be about $450 million worldwide, which the agency said is equivalent to the cost […]

A major concentrated solar power (CSP) project in China selected Sulzer, a global fluid engineering company, to supply both the hot and the cold molten salts pumps for the installation. The planned 100-MW solar project will feature technology designed to deliver electricity from solar energy 24 hours a day. Molten salts have been used in […]

Over the past week, the offshore wind power sector in the U.S. received two major federal approvals that could add nearly 5 GW to the grid. On July 1, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) approved a construction and operations plan (COP) for  Avangrid’s 791-MW New England Wind 1 project and 1,080-MW New England Wind […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 overturned the Chevron doctrine—a forty-year-old precedent—significantly curtailing the power of federal agencies to interpret ambiguous statutory provisions, even in areas of agency expertise. The landmark 6–3 decision could have far-reaching effects on the power industry, with specific impact on sweeping energy regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) […]

Colorado electric cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is proposing aid to coal communities in its service territory as part of an unopposed comprehensive settlement of the first phase of  the group’s recent Electric Resource Plan (ERP). The company on June 27 said the filing is an important milestone in the energy transition of the […]

Masdar, the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy major, said it has agreed to buy Greece’s Terna Energy in a €3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) deal. The agreement signed June 20 is one of the largest renewable energy transactions in the history of the European Union. Masdar—also known as Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co.—said Thursday it had a […]

As the solar industry matures, pressure for asset owners to deliver higher returns continues to mount.  Not surprisingly, so has the demand to improve operations and maintenance (O&M) efficiency – the single largest component of a utility-scale solar asset’s post-construction budget. Whether an asset owner performs O&M in-house, outsources to a third-party, or utilizes a […]

The second stage of one of the world’s largest wind farms is moving forward after developer TagEnergy announced it had closed financing for the project. The $2.6 billion Golden Plains Wind Farm in Australia, which when complete will have about 1.3 GW of generation capacity, will be the largest wind farm in Australia once fully […]

A leading renewable energy power transmission infrastructure company said it signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Canadian group for electricity from a wind farm project in Québec. Pattern Energy Group LP on June 18 announced a 30-year PPA with Hydro-Québec for the latter’s 150-MW Broughton Wind project, located in the municipalities of Saint-Pierre-de-Broughton, […]

Michigan’s major electric utility said it plans to build one of the nation’s largest standalone battery energy storage projects at the site of a retired coal-fired power plant. Detroit-based DTE Energy on June 10 said it would convert part of the closed Trenton Channel power plant into a 220-MW energy storage facility. DTE retired Trenton […]

A new report from two leading energy industry groups said a record 11 GW of new solar power module manufacturing capacity entered service during the first three months of this year, representing the largest quarter of solar manufacturing growth in U.S. history. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie in their U.S. Solar […]

The state-owned Power Construction Corp. of China has brought a 5-GW solar power plant into commercial operation, with the project taking over as the world’s largest operating photovoltaic (PV) facility. The solar park, which entered service on June 3, is located in a desert area of the northwestern China province of Xinjiang, near the provincial […]

Equinor on June 4 announced its has finalized an agreement with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for the renewable power generated by the 810-MW Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project. The deal comes after NYSERDA in February announced that Equinor had been selected as a conditional winner in New York’s fourth […]

In a significant push toward modernizing America’s aging grid infrastructure, the Biden administration, in partnership with 21 states, has launched the Federal-State Modern Grid Deployment Initiative. The measure marks the latest triumph for transmission and distribution (T&D), which has seen “lumpy” progress in recent decades. The initiative unveiled on May 28 essentially seeks to establish […]

Customers are souring on the idea of solar panels and that should spell concern for anyone with a solar business. Some 66% of homeowners in a recent survey shared that cost savings motivated them to install panels on their roofs, but 75% of homeowners with solar panels reported no change or an increase in their […]

A UK- based global research group said continued growth in wind and solar power increased power generation from renewable energy to nearly a third of worldwide electricity output last year. Ember, a think tank headquartered in London, in its “Global Electricity Review 2024” released May 8 wrote that the numbers show a goal to triple […]

IRENA: 70% Global Renewable Deployment Led by Asia in 2023. Global renewable deployment over 2023 reached a total capacity of 3,870 GW—a new record in the power sector, according to the International

There are numerous articles and studies warning of the fragile nature of America’s electric grid. The vulnerabilities will only become more apparent as we continue to undergo a fundamental shift in how

Energy ministers from seven of the world’s largest economies, including the U.S., said they would end the use of “unabated” coal by 2035, but also said countries could extend that deadline if circumstances warrant. The Group of Seven (G7) members, which also include Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy, published a communiqué on […]

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represents the largest incentive effort for clean energy in U.S. history. Its impact touches multiple sectors, including solar, wind, hydrogen, energy storage, and more. The IRA includes more than 70 investment, production, and excise credits designed to facilitate the transition to cleaner energy production. The legislation promotes advanced manufacturing, and […]

Food waste is an enormous environmental and economic crisis that demands urgent solutions. Each year, an astonishing 1.03 billion tons of food is wasted globally—enough to feed 1.26 billion hungry people. All that wasted food is responsible for a staggering 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions. As the world grapples with these mounting challenges of […]