Morning Brief: Spruce Finance acquires Clearway Energy’s residential solar portfolio, GM to go 100% renewable at Spring Hill
Also in the brief: Ginlong Technologies plans to raise over $100 million, the US–China trade war and COVID-19 have massively impacted coal financing, SunPower’s planned split and establishment of Maxeon Solar Technologies has received approval in China and more.
Morning Brief: DuPont Publishes 2020 Global PV Reliability Report, when will renewables pass coal?
Also in the brief: remembering the life of S. David Freeman, farmers in Rhode Island receiving solar grants, JA Solar’s upcoming webinar on the future of PV and more.
Overbuilding solar at up to 4 times peak load yields a least-cost all-renewables grid
The global energy firm Wartsila found a least-cost renewables mix for the U.S. that involves overbuilding renewable capacity, but requires no seasonal storage, and needs only four to ten days of multi-day storage capacity. The analysis modeled meeting current uses of electricity, based on projected technology costs for 2030.
Covid-19 wipes out twice as many US clean energy jobs as sector added in past three years
Industry leaders call on Congress for immediate, targeted support for sector
Morning Brief: a massive battery ready to break ground, Vectren looks to cut net metering
Also in the brief: expanding a community solar pilot in San Antonio and how to guarantee a just energy transition for indigenous communities.
Distributed storage could save Texas $344 million per year by deferring transmission and distribution costs
Adding enough distributed storage to reduce peak demand by 20% could defer up to one-fifth of the transmission and distribution expenditures in Texas for about 10 years, a study found. Other states may find the study’s analytical insights to be useful.
Analysis: California’s report on RPS costs and savings needs an update
A new report from the California PUC documents the uneven workings of the state’s 100% renewable portfolio standard — and the need for better data on cost savings.
SEIA calls for strengthening PURPA
About 9.3 GW of solar projects have come online thanks to the law known as PURPA. The national solar association argues that federal rules implementing PURPA “should be strengthened rather than weakened,” to ensure that solar facilities up to 80 MW may compete in every region of the country.
Regulatory developments shaping energy storage in 2020 so far
Customized Energy Solutions and the U.S. Energy Storage Association have released a new report analyzing the regulatory, legislative and market developments relating to energy storage across the nation’s RTOs and ISOs in the first quarter of 2020.
Dominion plans 16 GW of solar for Virginia by 2035
Under the utility’s latest IRP, Dominion plans to procure 16 GW of solar, 2.7 GW of storage and 5.1 GW of offshore wind in the next 15 years. Kicking off these new plans comes a request for proposals of 1 GW of solar or wind and 250 MW of energy storage.
