U.S. solar industry week in review

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A seismic shift may be coming to U.S. energy sector and economy: FTI Consulting released a report reviewing renewable energy merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in 2023 and provided an outlook for 2024. FTI anticipates various factors will drive an increase in M&A activity in the renewable energy sector. The report sees an uptick in corporate renewables adoption as decarbonization and electrification continues to come to the forefront, and it expects oil and gas players to actively invest in the sector.

A microgrid community in California.

Image: KB Home

California rulemaking signals changes in energy policy: The California Energy Center must now assess costs and benefits related to health and environmental externalities of energy generation and transmission. The rulemaking decision marks the first positive development for distributed renewable energy in California, a state that has taken numerous regressive policy actions over the past eighteen months.

What might a new administration cut from the Inflation Reduction Act?: A live podcast by Norton Rose Fulbright discussed how a Republican administration might handle the Inflation Reduction Act. The panel noted that several provisions have bipartisan support, including carbon capture, hydrogen, fuel credits and possibly domestic manufacturing tax credits. The group said repeal of the IRA may not be an all-or-nothing scenario, but a potential new administration may tweak or remove the things they don’t like.

Experts deep dive into IRA tax guidance: At SEIA’s annual Finance, Tax, and Buyer’s Seminar, key topics included tax credit transferability rules, the process of filing for and monetizing “elective pay”, domestic content and brownfield tax adders, capital structures, and the evolving finance structures. Also covered was the risk of tax credit recapture by the IRS, which can occur when solar projects fail to meet the technical requirements that initially qualified them for tax benefits.

Giant solar project in Texas secures nearly $600 million: Primergy Solar closed commitments for $588 million in debt financing for the 408 MW Ash Creek solar project in Hill County, Texas, south of Dallas. Once complete, the project is expected to generate the equivalent electricity demand of 90,000 homes per year, though it will be fully dedicated to Microsoft through a power purchase agreement.

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