Cheap gas and renewables are making merchant power untenable (w/ charts)
A new report by Power Research Group and Wilkinson Barker Knauer finds that cheap natural gas, wind and solar make it impossible for merchant plants to recover invested capital, and threaten the basic operation of wholesale power markets.
Business as usual: Energy Department awards $32 million in small-business grants
Despite having the sword of Damocles hanging over the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), it is still doing its job – encouraging small businesses to innovate in the clean-energy economy so that if the industry is ever no longer under siege, it will not have fallen irreversibly behind the rest of the world.
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Spruce sells $250 million in solar and energy efficiency loans
This is the second sale of loan assets for the company, which has experienced significant staff reductions and turnover in its executive positions.
Optimism and concern at the REFF Wall Street conference
While there were many good indicators at ACORE’s 14th REFF Wall Street conference, there are worries around the Suniva Section 201 trade case.
Shoals Technologies earns investment from Oaktree Capital
The company announced an investment partnership with the Power Opportunities Group of Oaktree Capital Management that will help the company expand its international business on its current portfolio in addition to joining the energy-storage market.
Silicon Ranch to build 200 MW-AC of solar for Georgia Co-ops
The portfolio of four solar projects will provide low-cost electricity for 38 co-ops in the state, and builds on existing projects developed by the two companies.
PURPA finds itself under siege in Wyoming
Rocky Mountain Power is asking the Wyoming Public Service to slash severely the reimbursement rates it is required to pay to qualifying facilities under the 1978 law, arguing falling solar and natural gas prices mean those rates are too high to sustain long term. (READ THE FULL FILING HERE)
Enphase Energy signs license agreement with manufacturing partner Flextronics
Deal sees the U.S. microinverter specialist license its marketing, sales and manufacturing rights to Flextronics, one of the world’s largest global electronics manufacturers and a longstanding partner of Enphase.
Army all in on PV solar, awarding a $6.5 million contract
Four research partners have won a contract from the Army Research Laboratory’s Army Research Office to develop flexible, more powerful solar modules to provide soldiers in the field reliable electricity.
