Focus
BLM approves First Solar’s 450-MW project in Riverside County
SFGate – January 15
The U.S. Department of the Interior this Wednesday announced the authorization of a roughly 3,000-acre solar farm near Palm Springs after developers scaled back its size to help avoid threatened desert tortoises and cultural artifacts. First Solar Inc.'s 450-megawatt Desert Quartzite project in eastern Riverside County has been praised by some environmentalists for its careful design on lands teeming with protected species and relics. The project, being developed by Desert Quartzite, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Solar, is expected to be in operation by 2022. The Interior Department said it would produce enough electricity to power about 117,000 homes while providing about $2.7 million in annual rent and fees to the U.S. Treasury.
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News
75% of new U.S. generating capacity in 2020 will be renewable, EIA says
Greentech Media - January 14
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that wind and solar power will expand on their already-large share of new U.S. generation capacity in 2020. According to EIA data released this Tuesday, wind and solar will make up 32 of the 42 gigawatts of new capacity additions expected to start commercial operation in 2020, respectively, dwarfing the 9.3 gigawatts of natural-gas-fired plants to come online this year. The numbers also break records for both wind and solar in terms of annual capacity additions. The 18.5 gigawatts of wind power capacity set to come online in 2020 will surpass the 2012 record of 13.2 gigawatts and push total U.S. production well past the 100-gigawatt milestone set in the third quarter of 2019.
PepsiCo’s U.S. operations will be powered by 100% renewable electricity this year
Fast Company – January 15
At a Frito-Lay plant in Arizona, thousands of solar panels sit on land next to the factory providing electricity. At a Gatorade plant an hour away, the roof is lined with solar panels; the same is true for Tropicana and Pepsi plants in California. The plants, all owned by PepsiCo, are part of the company’s ongoing move to renewable energy. Now PepsiCo says that it will reach 100 percent renewable electricity in all of its U.S. direct operations, part of a global goal to cut emissions 20 percent by 2030. The company has on-site renewable electricity at seven sites in the U.S., and it will buy renewable energy credits, certificates of solar or wind generation at other sites, to help cover the rest of its electricity use. It will also begin creating new power purchase agreements, contracts that help finance new wind or solar farms.
San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay now receive cleaner energy for a lower price, officials say
The Tribune – January 9
Community choice energy has arrived in San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay, and it will significantly reduce carbon emissions while saving customers money, officials say. Monterey Bay Community Power, a nonprofit electricity provider serving Central Coast counties, began providing service to the two SLO County cities on January 1. Morro Bay Mayor John Headding said that a proposed offshore wind farm and a potential battery storage facility at Vistra Energy's decommissioned power plant could work in tandem in the future to supply carbon-free and renewable energy through Monterey Bay Community Power.
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Projects
Sunpin Solar begins construction on 98-MW California solar project
Solar Power World – January 14
Sunpin Solar held a groundbreaking ceremony on January 10, celebrating the start of construction on its 98-megawatt Titan Solar 1 Project in Ocotillo Wells, California. This is the company’s largest utility-scale solar project in California, following the successful completion of the 96.75-megawatt ColGreen North Shore solar project in Riverside County in 2018. Located on a 569-acre parcel between the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego Desert State Park, the Titan Solar 1 Project will include more than 260,000 panels and will generate over 218,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy each year, which is enough to power over 26,900 homes annually.
Salt River Project issues RFP to procure up to 400 MW of solar
AZ Big Media - January 15
Salt River Project (SRP) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for up to 400 megawatts of new solar energy. The RFP seeks proposals for up to 200 megawatts of solar to be sited on the Navajo Nation while the remaining 200 megawatts is not location-specific, but must deliver to SRP’s transmission system. Once contracted, the 400 megawatts will position SRP to achieve its goal of acquiring 1,000 megawatts of new solar energy by 2025. SRP and the Navajo Nation have been working together to develop this RFP, which supports the Nation’s Háyoołkááł (Sunrise) Proclamation announced by President Jonathan Nez last year and prioritizes the development of renewable energy on the Nation while also supporting SRP’s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 60 percent by 2035 and by 90 percent by 2050.
Sonoma Valley school district eyes energy microgrids
Sonoma Index-Tribune – January 13
Sonoma Valley Unified School District officials are exploring ways to bring each of its 11 district schools onto a smaller energy “microgrid” in order to be less energy dependent in the event of future widespread power shutoffs. Sonoma Valley Unified School District lost seven instructional days in October 2019 due to PG&E power shutoffs and fire threat. The district has already launched efforts to convert its bus yard to a separate microgrid, partnering with the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto to install a microgrid for the bus barn, which will provide power for the bus yard and for the district’s new electric buses.
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