Sunrise brief: NREL ups its cybersecurity research capabilities

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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) launched a new Cybersecurity Program Office. The office aims to speed up NREL’s work in securing renewable energy technologies and distributed energy systems. The new office will be led by Jonathan White, former manager of NREL’s Secure Cyber-Energy Systems Group. White said the office will develop approaches that  “autonomously identify and respond within distributed energy systems comprising a hybrid mix of renewable energy technologies,” including  wind, solar, storage, and hydropower.

300 MW Indiana project

Reports say that Capital Dynamics and its Clean Energy Infrastructure business, in partnership with Nebraska-based Tenaska, plan to develop a 300 MW solar farm in the southwest part of Indiana.

Posey Solar Project will be located on up to 3,000 acres of land with construction set to begin in 2022. Reports say that Capital Dynamics unit Arevon Energy Management has signed leases with more than 60 landowners. If built, the Posey Solar Project is expected to begin operation in 2023.

Advocates appeal Alabama ruling

Energy Alabama, GASP, and the Southern Environmental Law Center are appealing the Public Service Commission’s recent approval of Alabama Power’s request for one of its largest capacity increases ever. The advocacy groups filed their appeal in state court challenging the Commission’s decision allowing Alabama Power to increase its natural gas capacity by more than 1,800 MW. The estimated $1.1 billion investment includes building a new gas-fired power plant at the Barry Electric Generating Plant in Mobile County. Regulators did not approve a proposal to add 400 MW of solar plus battery energy storage projects. In September, the groups petitioned the Commission to reconsider its favorable determination. The Commission denied that petition.

Rapid-deploy PV

Solar PV and wind power are rarely located at the same site, but this could change in the future, reports pv magazine Global.

Swiss mounting system manufacturer Smartvolt AG is working with German wind specialist Westfalen Wind to deploy a 96.8 kW pilot PV project in the parking area of ​​a wind turbine. The two companies used a Smartvolt mounting system to deploy pre-assembled solar module strings, which can be folded out on site.

The system can be erected in around three minutes per kilowatt, and dismantled in around six minutes, the company  said. The PV system can be  dismantled for maintenance work and reinstalled after the maintenance work has been completed. Thus far, Smartvolt has not subjected the system to a long-term load test.

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