Focus
California ISO adopts energy storage-friendly market reforms
Energy Storage News – December 22
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has enacted market rule changes to make it easier for energy storage to provide grid ancillary services and help grid reliability. The Energy Storage Enhancements proposal, which CAISO’s governing entities adopted on December 16, will be implemented by summer 2023, when extreme heat threatens the stability of the grid. Battery storage has grown to become an increasingly important component of the CAISO grid and played a substantial role in averting energy crises amidst extreme heatwaves, notably in September this year and July last year.
News
S&P: Third-quarter U.S. wind installations fall to 501 MW, lowest Q3 since 2015
Utility Dive – December 21
Wind developers completed just three projects in the U.S. totaling 501 MW in the third quarter of 2022, according to new data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The S&P analysis reflects broader trends reported in a third quarter report by the American Clean Power Association, which said wind installations fell 78% year-over-year.
Oro Valley to adopt fast-track rooftop solar permit option
Arizona Daily Star – December 26
Oro Valley, a town of about 47,000 residents just north of Tucson, is in the process of adopting an expedited online residential solar permitting option, as one of a dozen communities nationwide selected for a competition to quickly put the program online. The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) Prize, a two-step competition sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, aims to help communities adopt automated processing of residential solar permits, to lower costs and make solar more accessible to homeowners.
Projects
California ISO approves TransWest Express transmission project
North American Windpower – December 23
The California Independent System Operator has approved TransWest Express LLC’s application to become an ISO participating transmission owner and to join the ISO’s balancing authority area. The TWE Project is a 732-mile high-voltage interregional transmission system that will deliver wind energy from Wyoming, home of the best winds in the continental United States, to California and other western renewable energy markets. The first stage of the TWE Project is expected to be completed in 2027.
Washington pumped storage project seen as threat to tribal resources
Capital Press – December 23
Tribes adamantly oppose a pumped storage hydro project in south-central Washington that otherwise received passing marks in the final environmental impact statement, which was released on December 21 by the Washington Department of Ecology. The Goldendale Energy Storage Project along the Columbia River in Klickitat County would not significantly harm wildlife, water quality, or aquatic life, but the development would block, disturb, or destroy hunting, foraging, and spiritual sites that the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes have used for longer than anyone can remember, the EIS reports. The Goldendale project would be Washington’s first large pumped storage power plant.
Munich Re acquires share of Riverside County PV, battery projects
ReNews – December 22
Munich Re has closed a deal with EDF Renewables to acquire a 50% stake in two projects in California totaling 310 MW of solar and 50 MW of battery storage. The projects are located in Riverside County on federal lands within a Solar Energy Zone and Development Focus Area, managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
McDonald’s move puts all of its logistics supply chain on renewable energy
Transportation Today – December 21
McDonald’s announced on December 14 that it had signed an agreement for it and all five members of its North American Logistics Council to purchase renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates from Enel North America. The agreement with Enel’s Blue Jay Solar project in Grimes County, Texas, would mean the electricity load of the fast food chain’s entire logistics supply chain for all of its U.S. restaurants would be supported by 100% renewable energy.
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