NextEra touts roughly 250 GW of renewable and storage pipeline

The nation’s leading clean energy developer deployed almost 1.9 GWac of solar, wind, and storage in the past quarter, expanded its project backlog to almost 20 GW, and secured interconnection queue positions for 145 GW of their projects.

July 31, 2023 John Fitzgerald Weaver

A 20 MW project in Ludlow, Vermont.

Image: NextEra Energy

During their Q2 earnings call, NextEra, the largest renewable energy developer in the nation, announced that they have roughly a quarter of a terawatt of clean energy capacity in their project pipeline.

Today, we have a pipeline of roughly 250 gigawatts of renewables and storage projects in various stages of development. This includes projects in early stage diligence in our current backlog and is supported by roughly 145 gigawatts of interconnection queue positions.

NextEra also discussed their unique approach to interconnection challenges. The company says that the 145 GW of their pipeline with secured interconnection positions is likely unparalleled in the nation. Moreover, the company noted that wherever it is feasible, they are taking control of these interconnection issues through their subsidiary, NextEra Transmission. The company disclosed a $400 million transmission development opportunity in the California ISO region.

As of the end of 2022, the total U.S. interconnection queue was approximately 1,700 GW.

NextEra noted that the pricing and supply chain challenges from 2022 have largely subsided, allowing projects that were held up in 2022 to be brought online in 2023.

The company further reported that two of their deploying entities, Florida Power & Light (FPL) and NextEra Energy Resources, have rolled out 225 MW of solar and 1.8 GW of renewable assets, respectively, since the first quarter presentation of 2023. Year to date, FPL has implemented nearly 1.2 GWac of solar capacity, and over the past two years, it has deployed 1.6 GWac. FPL plans to add approximately 3.1 GWac of solar through 2025.

NextEra also added 1.215 GWac of solar, 150 MW of wind, and 300 MW of energy storage to its project backlog, bringing the total to over 20 GW of capacity.

The company explained that its backlog is different from projects in the queue, as queue projects may become backlog projects if they become economically viable.

NextEra finalized the purchase of a 690 MW portfolio of operating wind and solar assets, which raised its operating portfolio of projects under NextEra Energy Partners to more than 10 GW, making it the world’s seventh-largest producer of electricity from wind and solar.

The company also closed the deal on its first standalone battery, a 65 MW unit, to be installed in the Southwest Power Pool region and co-located with a wind farm. The company emphasized that its national cumulative portfolio of 29 GW of capacity offers considerable potential for co-located storage deployment.

NextEra shared its ongoing communication efforts with the U.S. Department of Treasury regarding “green hydrogen.” The company is seeking annual rather than hourly accounting for clean energy under the Inflation Reduction Act. This method would enable an electrolyzer to operate continuously from the grid while being associated with a solar facility that offsets the total electricity used. In this scenario, the electrolyzer would not be 100% powered by emission-free electricity, but by the local power grid mix.

NextEra indicated that it maintains a substantial hydrogen pipeline.

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