Solar and storage venture capital and finance roundup
Plus a bunch of investments in carbon capture.
Morning Brief: Duke, Dominion abandon pipeline, Berkshire Hathaway buys $10B of gas assets from Dominion
Also in the brief: Tepco to reuse Chinese EV batteries for energy storage, end of Chinese dam-building era,
Duke Energy Florida files for a new customer purchase program, hesitates to call it community solar
The program will allow customers to subscribe to blocks of energy generated by nearly 750 MW of new planned capacity in sunshine state. And while Duke has not yet called the program community solar, some partners have, which could prove to be a dangerous misnomer.
Bank of America becomes the latest customer of Duke’s Green Source Advantage Program
In a busy week of renewable purchases for the banking giant, Bank of America has come to terms with Duke on a power contract for a 25 MW project in North Carolina, set to go on-line in 2022.
More utilities bypassing natural gas bridge and going straight to renewables
Utilities that are transitioning away from coal are starting to view the creation of a natural gas “bridge” to renewable energy as an unnecessary step.
Morning Brief: Navajo Transitional Energy proposes 200 MW of Solar, Florida adds 150 MW
Also in the brief: battery energy storage is getting cheaper, but how much deployment is too much? GCube Insurance is issuing a renewed warning to renewable energy asset owners about cyberattacks, REC Group’s flagship REC Alpha solar panel has won the Intersolar Award 2020 for photovoltaics, and more.
Morning Brief: Tucson Electric Power aims to add 1.4 GW of storage, Standard Solar secures $105 million
Also in the brief: Bank of America signs its first PPA, CS Energy has completed a 33 MW portfolio of solar projects in Texas, RP Construction Services and RECON partner to build tracker projects and more
National Climate Bank amendment added to House’s pro-solar infrastructure bill
Congress has authorized more than $3 trillion in coronavirus relief, but none of this money has been for job creation. Supported by SEIA, a national climate bank can create millions of jobs, especially in low and medium-income communities.
Democrats’ ambitious climate action plan targets a clean US grid by 2040
With a timely focus on jobs and environmental justice, recommendations in the 538-page plan range from a solar ITC extension to a pushback on FERC’s ability to create wholesale market barriers to clean energy.
Real-time pricing that integrates more solar power is proven to work in California
Industry participants noted the significance of a real-time pricing project on a single distribution circuit in California. State officials are evaluating real-time pricing as a means to help integrate more solar and wind power on the grid.
