Morning Brief: PG&E customers ready to ride out fire season with batteries, are EVs holding back stationary energy storage systems?
Also in the brief: Chinese EV startup Nio has secured a $1 billion investment, Kore Power has entered into a strategic partnership with ELM FieldSight, Nautilus Solar Energy has closed on a $90 million debt financing agreement and more.
Philadelphia-area transit agency expects six-figure annual savings from 44 MW solar project
The transit agency expects to save “several hundred thousand dollars a year, on average” through its fixed-price contract for solar power. The agency’s sustainability program “is a platform not just for environmental improvements, but for financial improvements,” said an executive.
Soros Fund Management, Siemens make a big bet on EV charging
The two companies have invested $13.2 million into Amply Power, a service that combines EV charging hardware distribution and fleet management software into one customer-focused package.
Abu Dhabi’s 1.5 GW tender draws world record low solar bid of $0.0135/kWh
The tariff is around $0.0021 lower than the $0.0156/kWh French oil giant Total and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp offered in Qatar’s 800 MW tender in late January. French energy company EDF and Chinese solar company JinkoPower reportedly submitted the record bid in the UAE exercise.
Utility-scale roundup: The days of big solar projects in the US are back
The number of large solar projects (say, 100 MW and bigger) is rapidly increasing in the U.S. — and pv magazine is keeping track. We’ve rounded up this week’s big news in big solar.
Morning Brief: Solar and wind are the cheapest new sources of electricity, Appalachian Power halts distributed projects
Also in the brief: Ohio regulators have approved an 80 MW array, Sierra Club responds to Duke’s climate report, Rhode Island funds brownfield projects and more.
Battery startup FreeWire raises $25 million in funding
The funding was led by an existing investor of FreeWire, BP, and will allow the company to commercialize its upcoming Boost EV Charger, as well as expand operations across the United States and into Europe.
Sweden joins European trend and exits coal — two years earlier than planned
The Nordic nation is now the third European country to wave goodbye to coal for power generation. Another 11 European states have made plans to follow suit over the next decade.
Morning Brief: Illinois’ largest project has a power contract, financing secured for 134 MW in North Carolina
Also in the brief: Solis has earned SunSpec rapid shutdown certification, EDF renewables has partnered with Cubic Corporation on a solar, storage and EV charging installation, NextEra Energy has raised $4 million in COVID-19 emergency assistance and more.
Storage companies raised $244 million in corporate funding to start 2020
A new report released by Mercom Capital shows that while funding is down from Q4 2019, it is up substantially year-over-year.
