Focus
Utility-scale solar projections now exceed pre-tariff forecasts
■Greentech Media - March 13
Projections for utility-scale solar growth from 2020 to 2022 now exceed forecasts drafted before the Trump administration’s announcement of Section 201 tariffs, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. Many external factors, including global oversupply, a spike in corporate procurements and the passage of California’s SB 100 law mandating 100 percent clean energy, have helped shift the market since the January 2018 tariff announcement. Colin Smith, a senior solar analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, said the firm’s Q1 2019 utility-scale forecast for 2020 is 8 percent higher than its Q4 2017 forecast, released before the administration finalized tariffs. The 2021 forecast is 19 percent higher than the pre-tariff projection.
Read More
News
Trump administration’s budget again seeks deep cuts to EPA and DOE renewables research
■Utility Dive - March 11
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and renewable energy programs at the Department of Energy (DOE) are slated for deep cuts in the Trump administration's annual budget proposal, released Monday, while fossil fuels and nuclear energy would get a boost. The budget would cut funding for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 70 percent and would eliminate the DOE Loan Programs Office and the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy. It would set aside $6.1 billion for the EPA, a 31 percent cut from enacted 2019 spending levels. The proposed cuts are similar to proposals from the White House in each of the past two years. In both cases, Congress rejected the president's proposed spending cuts and funded EPA and DOE near or above their previous appropriation levels.
Read More
A wet winter will likely lead to a whale of a year for hydro in California
■San Diego Union-Tribune - March 9
Plenty of snow in the Sierra and a rainy winter have helped alleviate drought conditions across California. But there’s also another positive byproduct of the wet winter — a likely boost in the amount of hydroelectricity in California’s energy mix. While that may lead to slight downward pressure on electricity prices for ratepayers across the state, the biggest impact would be seen in the amount of natural gas used in California. Natural gas has long been California’s largest single source of electric generation. “If hydro is in abundance then it will be displacing natural gas,” Ghassan Alqaser, chief of the State Water Project Power and Risk Office at the California Department of Water Resources said.
READ MORE
Nevada to join U.S. Climate Alliance
■Windpower Engineering - March 12
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak announced that the state would join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of state governors pledging to reduce carbon emissions and support renewable energy growth throughout the country. Clean-energy advocates in the state are working to encourage lawmakers in Carson City to continue building upon the governor’s action and increase the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 50 percent by 2030. A 50 percent RPS is critical for Nevada to meet the alliance’s goals.
READ MORE
Researchers tout hybrid approach for corporate PPA risks
■PV-Tech - March 8
The renewables industry could start moving towards PPAs covering both solar PV and wind given their potential to help offset intermittency, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The WBCSD report shows a PV-wind hybrid PPA can help alleviate imbalance charges, set by grid operators for power providers producing more or less than the volumes they had forecast. It can also reduce the need for top-up purchases when solar and wind don’t deliver.
READ MORE
Sierra Club announces residential solar incentives with SunPower
■Solar Industry Magazine - March 12
The Sierra Club is providing an opportunity for its more than 3.5 million members and supporters to go solar with SunPower Corp. As part of the new program, participating Sierra Club members or supporters who purchase or lease a SunPower home solar system can receive a $1,000 mail-in rebate, and SunPower will give the Sierra Club $1,000 to support the organization’s mission.
READ MORE
Projects
Cattle grazing gives way to big solar farm leases in Central Washington
■NW News Network - March 6
A Portland-based energy developer has signed property leases for a big solar farm, known as the Lund Hill Solar Project, in Klickitat County near the Columbia River. When completed, the solar project will be the largest in Washington state. The Avangrid Renewables solar farm is sited partly on private ranch land and partly on state-owned land. Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said the long-term lease with the solar developer is the first of its kind for her agency. It's far more lucrative than the cattle grazing lease it replaced.
Read More
Oregon’s small-scale nuclear company looks to build first plant in Idaho
■OPB - March 11
As coal plants retire across the country, Portland-based NuScale Power wants to replace some of that electricity with its small-scale nuclear reactors. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems wants to build a 720-megawatt nuclear plant at the Idaho National Laboratory site in Idaho Falls using 12 of the small, modular reactors developed by NuScale. Chris Colbert, chief strategy officer at NuScale, said the project plans and the regulatory approvals needed to build it are moving forward at a good pace, though the plant isn’t scheduled to be operational until 2026 — even if everything goes according to plan.
Read More
