interconnection

Denying customers access to renewable energy, bribery, and fake dark-money campaigns are just a few of the purported abuses that more than 230 groups are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.

Government research shows that solar-plus-storage is coming to dominate the nation’s power grid queues, representing the majority of new power plant applications.

As Western and Southeastern utilities process 194 GW of solar interconnection requests, we asked 20 of them about the final cost studies they completed last year, which would permit projects to move forward. Then we turned to Berkeley Lab analyses for more insights.

NREL modeled solar-plus-storage as a mitigation tool to limit grid upgrade costs, and finds that for now, it’s still a better investment to build stand-alone solar. However, costs are close.

To speed interconnection of utility-scale solar and storage, “maybe we want somebody running the show that has more of an interest in getting all these resources in the grid,” said law professor Shelley Welton in a webinar for “100% clean energy states.”

Also on the rise: IREC aims to help 35 states speed interconnection of distributed storage. The second day at SEIA dove into the risks and rewards of solar leasing, as well as a slew of tax considerations. Washington reestablishes its solar incentive program. PECO utility to support commercial EV charging with rebate program. UC Berkeley digs 400 foot hole on campus in geothermal study. SEIA calls on solar workers to highlight impact of Auxin Solar Petition.

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council, lead developer of a toolkit to make it faster and less costly to interconnect distributed storage, now turns to helping states use the toolkit to update their interconnection rules.

Commissioner Phillips spoke of fixing interconnection dynamics that can result in only 20% of projects in a queue ultimately getting interconnected. He favors “substantial transmission,” he said, as well as near-term transmission improvements using grid-enhancing technologies and higher-capacity wires.

Also on the rise: Four Northeast states form consortium to develop regional clean hydrogen hub. NREL researchers work on developing high energy density cells to advance stationary storage. Discovery of “structural earthquake” in cathode formation may improve sodium-ion batteries 20-40%. Federal budget includes $500 million for promoting energy storage.

10GW/year of solar and 5GW/year of storage would be needed under that aggressive scenario, according to an analysis for the California Air Resources Board.