Procurement

$40 million is coming down the pipeline via an agreement between New Columbia Solar and Franklin Park Infrastructure. The money will not only help New Columbia to expand its team, but also bring 30 MW of distributed solar to the area with the nation’s most aggressive renewable energy standard.

16 project winners totaling 460 MW in capacity have been chosen by Hawaiian Electric Company to fill its most ambitious renewable procurement yet. The move will bring jobs to one of the areas hardest-hit by virus-related unemployment.

The Oakland-based developer is focused on solar-plus-storage and will be developing the massive, new 690 MW Gemini solar project with its 380 MW/1,400 MWh lithium-ion battery.

The Gemini project will be the largest solar plant in the U.S. and among the top-ten worldwide when completed on BLM land near Las Vegas. We spoke with the project developer to get some details on “one of the purest forms of time shifting you’ll ever see.”

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.

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.

Given Hawaii’s audacious renewable energy goals it seems logical that industries such as solar can help be a big part of that recovery.

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.

Also in the brief: Alchemy Renewable Energy has closed on deal to acquire a 44.5 MWdc solar energy portfolio, Ormat Technologies has begun the commercial operation of the Rabbit Hill Battery Energy Storage System, Kansas’ largest solar project ever has officially gone live and more.

In an era of plunging battery costs, these awards point to the end of intermittent renewables and the dawn of dispatchable solar and wind.