Focus
U.S. energy storage market grew by nearly 45 percent in 2018
Utility Dive – August 6
The U.S. energy storage market interconnected a total of 760.3 megawatts-per-hour last year, an increase of 44.9 percent over 2017, according to a new report published Tuesday by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA). Utility-supply storage remained the industry’s largest market segment at 394.8 megawatts-per-hour, representing double-digit growth of 11.3 percent year over year. SEPA also unveiled the 10 U.S. utilities that interconnected the most new energy storage capacity in their service territories, with Southern California Edison at the top of the list, after interconnecting 154.3 megawatts-per-hour of energy storage in 2018.
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News
EDPR makes California PV-storage power play
ReNEWS - August 7
EDP Renewables North America will sell 110 megawatts of electricity to San Jose Clean Energy from the Sonrisa solar farm and battery storage facility in California. The 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) covers 100 megawatts of solar energy and 10 megawatts of storage capacity. EDPR said the facility already had a PPA with East Bay Community Energy for 100 megawatts of photovoltaic and 30 megawatts of storage, which was secured in June 2019. The new deal means that all the output from Sonrisa, when it comes online in 2022, is covered by PPAs.
Capital Dynamics acquires part of Gigawatt 1 solar project in Nevada
Solar Industry Magazine - August 6
The clean energy infrastructure business of Capital Dynamics, an independent asset management firm, has acquired the Townsite Solar Project, a 180-megawatt (AC), 231-megawatt (DC) solar project in Boulder City, Nevada, through the acquisition of Skylar Townsite LLC. The solar project is part of Gigawatt 1, announced by Capital Dynamics, Tenaska Power Services Co., and Switch in February 2018. Gigawatt 1 aims to generate the lowest-priced solar power in Nevada, with enough clean energy to power nearly 1 million homes.
Energy Department wants to build nuclear test reactor
Los Angeles Times – August 5
A new nuclear test reactor is needed as part of an effort to revamp the nation’s fading nuclear power industry by developing safer fuel and power plants, the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday. The federal agency said it would prepare an environmental impact statement as part of the process to build the test reactor in Idaho or Tennessee by the end of 2025. The Versatile Test Reactor would be the first new test reactor built in the United States in decades and give the nation a dedicated “fast-neutron-spectrum” testing capability. Reducing spent nuclear fuel, federal officials say, is also an objective of the new test reactor. The United States has no permanent repository for about 77,000 tons of radioactive spent fuel, stored mainly at the commercial nuclear power plants where they were used to produce electricity.
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Projects
Ormat starts operation at hybrid geothermal-solar power plant in Nevada
Think GeoEnergy - August 5
Ormat Technologies Inc. has commenced commercial operation of the company’s first-ever geothermal and solar hybrid project, a 7-megawatt solar expansion of its Tungsten Mountain geothermal project in Churchill County, Nevada. The electricity generated from the Tungsten solar power plant will be used to offset the equipment’s energy use at the Tungsten geothermal facility, thus increasing the renewable energy delivered by the project under the Southern California Public Power Authority portfolio contract.
Washington Prime Group embraces rooftop solar systems
Commercial Property Executive – August 2
Washington Prime Group has entered into agreements with Safari Energy to install solar panels on the rooftops of Jefferson Valley Mall and Weberstown Mall in Yorktown Heights, New York, and Stockton, California, respectively. These systems mark the first rooftop solar installations the REIT is using, but it is exploring additional solar opportunities at other town centers. The Jefferson Valley Mall in Stockton will host an approximately 1,100-kilowatt rooftop solar system.
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