The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $20 billion in federal “green bank” grants to eight community development banks and nonprofit organizations to use on projects combating climate change in disadvantaged communities and helping Americans save money and reduce their carbon footprints. The money could fund tens of thousands of eligible projects ranging from residential heat pumps and other energy-efficient home improvements to larger-scale projects such as electric vehicle charging stations and community cooling centers, according to senior administration officials. Also part of the bank is the $7 billion Solar for All program, which will award states, tribes, and municipalities money for a variety of residential and community solar projects at a later date.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has finalized new energy efficiency requirements for distribution transformers, which the agency said would make the nation’s grid more reliable, help deploy clean energy resources, and support expanded steel production and manufacturing jobs. DOE sought a middle ground with its final rule, extending compliance timelines by two years relative to its initial proposal, and adjusting efficiency targets to require less amorphous electrical steel in favor of the grain-oriented electrical steel, known as GOES, which is commonly in use now.
For a decade, twin smokestacks loomed against the bright blue skies of Menifee, in Southern California’s Inland Empire. But the old gas combustion plant came down, and on the flat industrial site it left behind an army of batteries is now being assembled. When it comes online this summer, developer Calpine’s Nova power bank, with 680 MW and 2,720 MWh, will store more electricity than all but one battery plant currently operating in the U.S.
An energy project northeast of Klamath Falls will be one of the first new pumped storage hydroelectric systems in the U.S. in 30 years. The Swan Lake energy storage project will use two artificial lakes at different elevations, pumping water uphill when there’s extra power in the grid, and letting it run downhill through turbines when energy demand is high. Construction will begin this year, pending final approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
EDP Renovaveis SA has signed a 15-year energy storage service agreement (ESSA) to commercialize a 92 MW/386 MWh battery energy project in California. Under the agreement, community choice aggregator Redwood Coast Energy Authority, which serves California’s Humboldt County, will off-take the electricity stored in the Sandrini battery energy storage system, EDPR said. The lithium-ion BESS is expected to go online in 2025.
Investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has closed funding for its Valley of Fire Fund, raising $600 million in capital commitments from what it called “leading U.S. and European institutional investors”. The fund is the continuation of the company’s Low Carbon Power Fund, which raised $1.6 billion in 2019 to support a number of renewable projects, including the Gemini solar-plus-storage project in Nevada.
Alternus Clean Energy has formed a joint venture with developer Acadia Energy to co-develop 200 MW of microgrid projects in New York State. The joint venture will focus on developing and operating a portfolio of microgrid projects over the next two-to-three years, the company said. The projects in the joint venture are expected to begin achieving commercial operations within two years.
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