| Focus California utilities and clean energy groups urge CPUC to move quickly to free up energy supply Utility Dive – August 11Utilities and clean energy groups are urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to move quickly to address the state’s reliability changes in the wake of an emergency proclamation from Governor Gavin Newsom to free up energy supply in the state. In comments filed with the agency last week, stakeholders pushed for streamlined interconnection processes, expedited contract approvals, and other measures to quickly bring online more energy resources over the next few years. READ |
| News Caltech gifted $100M to develop space-based solar power tech Pasadena Now – August 3Caltech on Tuesday announced that the institution has been gifted more than $100 million by Irvine Company Chairman and Caltech Board of Trustees member Donald Bren to develop technology to collect solar power in space and beam it back to Earth. The endowment was made anonymously in 2013. But the source of the gift was disclosed this week, as the Space-based Solar Power Project approaches a breakthrough. Researchers are preparing to unveil “multifunctional technology-demonstrator prototypes” by next year according to Caltech. READ Hydrogen Optimized awarded $300,000 NGIF grant Renewable Energy Magazine – August 13 Hydrogen Optimized will receive $300,000 in funding from NGIF Industry Grants, a division of NGIF Capital Corporation, to optimize the operation of its unique RuggedCell™ water electrolyzers using an unstable electrical supply. The funding will be applied to a $900,000 project to demonstrate the company’s large-scale Green Hydrogen production technology under solar panel, simulated wind turbine, and intermittent electrical grid conditions. Green Hydrogen produced from renewable energy can be blended with natural gas for industrial and residential applications. In addition, Green Hydrogen when reacted with CO2 can produce Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) through the methanation process. According to a 2020 Goldman Sachs report, the Green Hydrogen market in Europe alone could reach $12 trillion by 2050 READ |
| Projects Public review launched into almost 1-GW of solar-plus-storage projects in California PV-Tech – August 10The U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has launched a public review on a draft environmental analysis (EA) for two solar-plus-storage farms in California, which will include 465 MW of solar and 400 MW of energy storage. The BLM also anticipates making available soon a draft EA for a third project — the Oberon solar project. If approved, the proposed 500-MW solar project on 2,700 acres of public land could generate up to 500 MW of renewable energy. READ Microsoft signs PPA with Ørsted to buy solar power in Texas Data Center Dynamics – August 10Microsoft has signed a power purchase agreement with Ørsted to purchase energy from a solar farm in Texas. The tech giant will buy power from the energy company’s 430-MW solar energy center Old 300 in Fort Bend County, which is expected to come online in Q2 2022. Some reports suggest Microsoft is buying the entire output of the farm, but details of how much power or how much the company is investing into the agreement haven’t been disclosed. READ NextEra plans $600M solar plant in Arizona Daily Independent – August 9NextEra Energy Resources is building their next solar energy project in Buckeye, Arizona. The facility would be the largest for NextEra in the state. The 3,000-acre facility, the Sonoran Solar Project, will have a capacity of up to 260 MW of solar combined with 260 MW of battery energy storage. Construction is expected to begin in October of 2021. READ |