Morning Brief: Glidepath to construct a massive battery portfolio in New York, NEXTracker Releases NX Navigator control system

Glidepath to construct 80 MW/320 MWh battery portfolio in New York: 80 MW and 320 MWh of storage are going to be coming to the state of New York, as developer Glidepath, a subsidiary of Quinbrook Infrastructure partners, has announced that it is “readying” for construction across the four-project portfolio. All four of the 20 MW/80 MWh projects in the Lower Hudson Valley have applied for the NYSERDA Market Acceleration Bridge Incentive program. The projects, with their $120 million total price tag, are set to begin construction later this year and be completed by the end of next year. Source: Energy Storage News

NEXTracker Releases NX Navigator control system: “NEXTracker has released NX Navigator, a software and smart control system that enables power plant operators to monitor and control their solar assets for increased production and reliable operation across a range of weather conditions. For monitoring, plant operators are provided timely information for key parameters at the site, subfield, and individual tracker levels, including precise array, angular values, and motor current. For control, NX Navigator allows authorized PV plant operators to schedule maintenance operations such as cleaning and mowing, and instantly command the tracker for extreme weather events such as hail, hurricanes, and heavy snow.” Source: NEXTracker

Soltage buys 40 MW Oregon portfolio: Soltage has acquired a 40 MW solar portfolio in Oregon from developer NewSun Energy. Of those 40 MW, 10 MW are currently operational, having gone on-line in December, while the other 30 MW are expected to reach operation before the summer. The 10 MW project is located in Harney County and is being delivered to Portland General Electric under a 16-year power purchase agreement. Source: Soltage 

Warburg Pincus to make a $300 million investment in startup Scale Microgrid: “Scale Microgrid Solutions today announced that it has secured an equity commitment of up to $300 million from Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm… In 2020, the company will be particularly focused on growing their Rapid Response Modular Microgrid offering, a technology that was developed and deployed to help California businesses deal with the growing threat of wildfires and public safety power shutoffs.” Source: Scale Microgrid Solutions

Study: Photovoltaics not a zero-emission source, producing more CO2 than geothermal: “Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells emit more carbon dioxide (CO2) than geothermal power plants during their lifetime, according to a recent study. The research, published in the journal Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources, said that total CO2 emissions during the lifecycle of a solar photovoltaic (PV) cell is about 3312 × 106 kg, which is far higher than a geothermal energy source emitting about 450 g/kWh. The research paper added that apart from the emissions related to the manufacture of solar PV cells, solar panels and solar cell waste management were also of great concern.” Source: Energy World