Pattern Energy has signed a 220MW deal to supply Peninsula Clean Energy with power from the 3.5GW SunZia wind complex in New Mexico.
The 15-year power purchase agreement is due to take effect in 2026. Peninsula is the first community choice aggregator to buy electricity from SunZia Wind.
Distributed energy company Correlate Energy is to develop a solar and storage-powered microgrid project near Los Angeles - the first phase of which will cost $23 million - for an unnamed customer “representing one of California's largest privately-owned oil and gas corporations with an immense energy demand”.
“The client’s operation has a 100MW load spread across multiple locations that seek to reach net zero,” a statement said. “This is equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 75,000 households.”
Upon successfully completing underwriting and final permitting, Correlate Energy is expected to deploy up to 40MW of solar and storage capacity across twenty sites.
In addition to lowering energy costs, the on-site microgrids will lower emissions for the customer's oil and gas operations, which helps them comply with the California AB 32 Cap and Trade requirements. The client can also benefit from added low-carbon fuel standard credits (LCFS) for the associated projects.
Todd Michaels, CEO of Correlate Energy, said: "This Microgrid portfolio is a long-awaited milestone that we expect to be the first of many for our company. Having built up our team over the past year to fulfil such a project, we are extremely pleased to be in a position to complete our first Microgrid project and achieve this stated 2023 goal, which we communicated to our shareholders and financiers. This project not only marks our material entry into the oil and gas sector but also doubles our largest contract size to date.”
Energy storage system provider Convergent Energy and Power is to provide Massachusetts’s municipally-owned utility company West Boylston Municipal Light Plant (WBMLP) with a 3MW/9MWh utility-scale battery storage system.
Convergent will finance, own, and operate the system for WBMLP. The system is expected to come online in 2024.
Utilities are increasingly pursuing battery storage systems to reduce transmission and capacity costs for their customers, which are predicted to increase for the foreseeable future. In ISO New England, where WBMLP is located, the main transmission cost applied to customers is predicted to increase by almost 25% between 2024 and 2028..
WBMLP sources 56% of its energy supply from clean and renewable sources, putting it ahead of state-mandated Greenhouse Gas Emissions goals. The project will be co-located next to West Boylston’s existing solar and flywheel assets.
Jon Fitch, West Boylston Municipal Light Plant general manager, said: “West Boylston Municipal Light Plant is dedicated to keeping electricity rates stable for our customers while exceeding our greenhouse gas emission reductions goals. We expect to reach an 80% clean and renewable energy supply by 2030, with one of the lowest electricity rates in the commonwealth. We are thrilled to add a battery storage system to our clean and renewable energy mix and continue delivering cost-effective, sustainable electricity to our customers in partnership with Convergent Energy and Power.”
Johannes Rittershausen, CEO, Convergent Energy and Power, said: “Battery storage not only insulates communities against rising energy costs, it increases the sustainability and reliability of the grid, which is more critical than ever before. We are proud to partner with West Boylston Municipal Light Plant, which is exceeding state-mandated sustainability targets and demonstrating an impressive commitment to delivering cost-effective and clean power to its customers.” Founded in 2011, Convergent is one of the original players in the energy storage sector and has more than $500M invested in projects in operation or allocated to projects under development across North America.
Iberdrola subsidiary Avangrid has reached a $100m deal to transfer 2023 production tax credits (PTC) from eight US wind farms totalling 1.1GW to energy trader Vitol.
This is one of the largest PTC transfer deals since the transferability framework was created in the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in August 2022. The deal covers PTCs from eight Avangrid wind farms: Baffin Bay, Deerfield, Desert Wind, Klondike II, La Joya, Tule, Trimont and Twin Buttes II.
Italian oil giant Eni is in talks to sell a stake in its low-carbon subsidiary Plenitude ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) next year.
Claudio Descalzi, chief executive at Eni, said yesterday that the sale of a stake in Plenitude would help to set a value for the company before an IPO, which could happen in 2024. Last month, it was reported that Energy Infrastructure Partners was working on a potential bid for a minority stake in Plenitude.
John Laing Group has bought HICL Infrastructure's stakes in five UK infrastructure assets, including 37.5% of the Hornsea 2 offshore transmission line.
The £204m portfolio deal also includes stakes in four UK public-private partnership projects: two hospital schemes and two school-building partnerships. The five acquisitions are due to close before the end of March 2024.
After a decade of stunning growth, renewable energy producers in Chile are struggling to cope with low power prices, grid difficulties, and restrictive government policies. But new 'energy transition' laws may offer hope.
Renewable energy investment in Chile has rocketed over the last decade.
In 2013, there was 301MW of operational wind capacity, which grew twelvefold to 3.8GW in 2022, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Growth has been even more stunning in solar, from just 15MW in 2013 to 6.3GW in 2022. There are also around 7GW of projects being built in the country.
But this ten-year success story may now be coming to an end. Renewable energy operators in Chile are facing more financial strain, and the government has so far been unable to implement policies to improve the situation.
One reason for the problems facing operators is the country’s ‘marginal cost’ power market. This means power is dispatched to the grid based on the variable costs at the asset which, for wind and solar, are around zero because the wind and sun are free. Renewables are therefore first in line to get power onto the grid, but they will often receive little or no money for power produced during times of high production, because of power price ‘cannibalisation’. More generation results in lower prices.
Another reason operators are struggling is Chile’s transmission grid. The long and thin geography of the South American country makes it tough to supply power from where it is produced in the north of the country to where it is needed. Transmission lines can often be oversaturated when production is high, which means operators have to curtail production – and, in Chile, there is no compensation for curtailment.
Operators also do not have the option of switching off their projects, as they have to supply electricity when demanded by grid operator Coordinador Eléctrico Nacional.
Finally, the transmission system can cause problems for firms that need to dispatch power to customers in another region. Renewables operators can end up having to transmit power to the grid in one area for no return, and then pay to withdraw power in another area to supply their customers. Industry experts have argued that this is unfair because fossil fuel firms receive subsidies from everyone that withdraws power from the grid.
In short, operators are under pressure from a few directions, and it is causing problems for some of the industry’s best-known companies.
For example, Aker Horizons reported in its 2022 results that subsidiary Mainstream Renewable Power has been forced to make a $350m writedown due to the impact of “grid capacity limitations leading to increased costs”. Two other firms – Maria Elena Solar and Ibereolica Cabo Leones III – declared bankruptcy in 2022 too. Onlookers have warned that further insolvencies in wind and solar are likely in 2023 and 2024.
These problems have not gone unnoticed. Chilean trade association ACERA warned in July that wind operators in particular are facing a “complex financial situation”, and called on policymakers to find “ solutions that ensure the financial sustainability of companies”. It also highlighted the lack of renewable energy project finance deals in 2022 as a sign that lenders and investors are cooling on the Chilean market.
But operators and investors should not give up hope quite yet.
On 10th July, the Chilean government submitted an ‘energy transition’ bill to Chile’s Congress, with a focus on unlock investments in transmission projects to improve the reliability of the grid. This builds on the $2bn transmission project announced in late 2022 to connect Antofagasta in northern Chile to capital city Santiago.
The bill also includes a $2bn programme of support for large energy storage projects that could come into force by 2026. This would make it easier for individual operators to store power at times of high production, and supply it to the grid when production is lower and power prices are more attractive. The growth of energy storage could be especially beneficial in solar as it can help with load-shifting, but would be positive for wind farm owners too.
Chilean authorities released bidding terms in July for a 5,400GWh renewable energy and storage tender, in blocks of 1,800GWh and 3,600GWh that are set to come onto the grid in 2027 and 2028 respectively. Bidders have until 23rd December to submit bids. The tender is open to both domestic and international companies.
These changes cannot fix all of the problems facing renewables operators in Chile, but policymakers are trying to do so by increasing grid capacity; helping to operate the existing grid more flexibly; and changing power price mechanisms so renewable energy companies are not unfairly disadvantaged. These are all needed if Chile is to continue its energy transition and operate with high penetrations of renewables.
The upcoming tender will give a great indication of how companies in the private sector feel about these plans.
Anzu Partners, a US investment firm that provides capital and strategic support to early-stage technology companies, has raised more than $200 million at the close of its third venture capital fund, which will focus on investments in sectors such as energy storage, battery manufacturing and electric vehicle charging.
The fund was established to invest in companies developing “next-generation solutions in clean technology, industrial innovations, and life sciences”, a statement said. Investors in ‘Fund III’ include new and returning public and private institutions, single and multifamily offices, and “accredited investors” across the US and overseas.
The fund has deployed $123.1 million to 12 companies across the following sectors:
Clean Tech
Industrial
Life Sciences
EDF Renewables North America has entered into a 20-year solar-storage power purchase agreement (PPA) with El Paso Electric (EPE).
The PPA covers the output from the 150 MWac Milagro Solar and the 75 MW / 300 MWh Milagro Storage Project - located in New Mexico - which are slated for commercial operation in 2025.
It is anticipated that the Milagro solar-storage project, located on undeveloped private land in the Santa Teresa area of Doña Ana County, will create approximately 200 jobs during the peak construction phase.
Over the operating life of the project, approximately $7.9 million in tax revenue will be generated for three school districts and the Doña Ana flood control authority supported under the Industrial Revenue Bond.
In addition to its economic benefits, Milagro Solar+Storage expects to generate approximately 469,500 MWh of clean energy annually. This is equivalent to avoiding over 333,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually which represents the greenhouse gas emissions from over 74,000 passenger vehicles driven over the course of one year.
Matthew Beltz, director, origination & power marketing at EDF Renewables, said: “We are very pleased to partner with EPE and contribute to its commitment to provide responsible, sustainable, and reliable energy to its customers. We are excited to build our first solar-storage project in New Mexico and to support EPE as the project delivers long-term price stability, stimulates economic growth, and reduces emissions.”
Kelly Tomblin, EPE president and CEO, said:.“The Milagro Solar-Storage project reflects our commitment to transform the energy landscape and expand our renewable energy portfolio. Simultaneously, it furthers our overall plan to increase our generation resources in order to meet our region’s growing energy needs. We are determined to continue our legacy of reliability while we maintain affordability and minimise our environmental impact.”
Honeywell has entered a strategic collaboration with ESS to “advance technology development and market adoption” of iron flow battery (IFB) energy storage systems.
Honeywell has made an investment in ESS as part of the collaboration.
The relationship builds upon each company’s involvement in the development of energy storage systems, and brings together ESS’ patented IFB design with Honeywell’s advanced materials and energy systems expertise.
A Honeywell/ESS statement said: “As the shift to renewable energy accelerates, challenges associated with the intermittency of wind and solar energy are becoming more apparent. Safe and sustainable IFB technology enables the transition to clean energy using Earth-abundant materials – iron, salt and water – to provide energy storage without reliance upon limited minerals such as lithium, cobalt or vanadium.”
Bryan Glover, chief growth officer, Honeywell Performance Materials and Technology (PMT) group, commented: “The demand for long-duration energy storage represents a compelling market opportunity within the energy transition and the combination of Honeywell and ESS technology can accelerate decarbonisation for the commercial, industrial and utility sectors. Our strategic collaboration with ESS will accelerate Honeywell’s ability to bring comprehensive solutions to our customers while working to advance long-duration energy storage across all industries requiring expansive energy storage.”
Eric Dresselhuys, CEO of ESS, added: “Today, we are creating superior technology in the critical long-duration energy storage industry. Combining ESS’ innovative technology and deployment experience with Honeywell’s storage and control system expertise will enable us to drive the clean energy transition and deliver value to our customers, shareholders and communities.”
German developer VSB has secured a funding package totalling €211m for the 105.6MW Elster wind repowering project in Saxony-Anholt, Germany.
VSB has secured funding from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and DZ Bank for the project, which is due to be commissioned in the first half of 2025. Of the total €211m loan volume, €175m is in long-term loans of more than 20 years.
A fire broke out at the 50MW/100MWh Tesla Bouldercombe Battery Project near Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia on Tuesday evening (26 September).
The energy storage system –which uses 40 Tesla Megapack units – only began operation in July this year and was built at a cost of around A$60 million.
A statement from the QueenslandFire and Emergency Services said: “Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) crews remain on scene of a structure fire on Childs Avenue, Bouldercombe. The fire is currently contained with crews continuing to monitor the situation. Low-lying smoke is expected to persist in the area over the coming hours. Nearby residents are advised to keep doors and windows closed, and those suffering from a respiratory condition should keep their medications close by.”
The project was developed by Genex, which signed a connection agreement with Powerlink to enable the project to connect into the adjacent 275kV/132kV Bouldercombe substation. The project was connected into an available 132kV bay at the Bouldercombe substation, which is located in a key part of the Queensland electricity grid.
A report published earlier this month by Firetrace International, a supplier of fire suppression technology to the renewable energy industry, concluded that there was a real danger public opposition to energy storage could grow significantly due to fire risk fears, threatening critical battery deployment and, as a result, net zero goals.
The Irish government has backed just three wind projects totalling 148MW in the third tender round of its Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS).
Solar projects totalling almost 500MW also won support, but Wind Energy Ireland said this was a "disappointing" result after the RESS 2 tender in 2022 where 1.9GW of wind and solar projects were awarded support. The average strike price for winning RESS 3 projects rose to €100.47/MWh, which is up 2.6% from the average in RESS 2.
The winning wind projects were the 101MW Yellow River, the 43.2MW Farranrory and the 4.2MW Bradan developments.
UK developer Community Windpower is halting work on its 308MW Sanquhar II wind project in Scotland after an 80% surge in development costs.
The company said development costs have risen from £300m to £550m over the last two years because of inflation and the UK's windfall tax on renewable energy projects. This means the project cannot generate the return on capital that the developer needs to cover bank funding requirements.
Varco Energy has secured £58 million of debt financing facilities with NatWest to help fund its pipeline of battery energy storage systems (BESS).
With strategic advice from Carlingford, a division of GFI Securities Limited, Varco Energy approached NatWest to help with the funding of its Native River and Sizing John BESS projects, which are both forecast to be operational in the last quarter of 2024.
NatWest, as sole lender, provided a £50 million capex facility, as well as an £8 million VAT facility, and an interest rate hedging facility.
Native River is a 57MW/138MWh transmission connected BESS south of Liverpool, while Sizing John is a 57MW/138MWh transmission connected BESS south of St Helens.
Varco Energy, which is funded by Adaptogen Capital, was advised by law firm Watson Farley & Williams on the financing.
James Mills, director of Varco Energy, said: “The provision of flexible and specialist capital is essential to successfully decarbonise our economy and create a more sustainable future. NatWest’s financing package enables us to deliver our first utility scale battery-based energy storage systems.”
Jacob Lloyd, head of specialist asset finance at NatWest, said: “As the UK continues to transition to a net zero energy system, the BESS market continues to play an important part in balancing grid instability. NatWest continues to build on its support to the BESS sector, aligning to our commitment to provide £100 billion of climate and sustainable funding by 2025.”
Shanghai Electric Energy Storage Technology, the energy storage subsidiary of Shanghai Electric, has raised RMB400 million ($54 million) in series A financing with a view to developing its energy storage business.
Investors in the funding round included Huajiang Capital, Guojun Venture Capital, and Cornerstone Capital.
Shanghai Electric said the proceeds will be used to promote the research and development of new systems, boost its industrial supply chain structure, construct 100Mbps stacks that can be used in megawatt container-type vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) energy storage systems, deepen industrial cooperation, accelerate industrial upgrades, and stabilise its access to capital.
Once the financing has been completed, the post-investment valuation of Shanghai Electric Energy Storage will exceed 2.2 billion yuan ($300 million).
The company already has plans to launch a Series B financing campaign in 2024.
"Moving forward, Shanghai Electric Energy Storage Technology will continue to solidify its development positioning and step up as a global leader in long-term electrochemical energy storage," said Jin Xiaolong, vice president of Shanghai Electric Group. "Specifically, we must strengthen technological innovation and realise the transformation of our technological achievements, deploy 100-megawatt projects, and strengthen leadership of demonstration projects, as well as collaboration in the energy storage industry."
Shanghai Electric Energy Storage has recently formed strategic partnerships with several local governments and companies across China as part of its effort to “solidify industry synergy across the value chain to catalyse innovation and drive forward the energy storage industry”. Specifically, the company has formed partnerships with Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, the government of Chaohu Economic Development Zone in Anhui Province, Jiangsu Huadian Energy Company Limited, China General Nuclear Power Corporation (Sichuan), and Kaifeng Shidai New Energy Technology.
In May 2023, the company signed a framework cooperation agreement with the Baicheng Municipal Government in Jilin to develop a 100MW vanadium redox flow battery energy storage project, which is currently in the planning phase and expected to connect to the grid by 2024.
South Korean steelmaker Posco may move more of its steel production overseas if it cannot produce green hydrogen economically in its home country.
The company operates in 17 countries but produces most of its steel in South Korea; and has committed to making its steel production operations more sustainable by using green hydrogen.
However, producing green hydrogen in the Asian country may be too expensive due to local power prices, and Posco said this could prompt it to look overseas, including in Australia.
Vestas has won a 136MW order to supply 22 turbines for a project in Canada by an unnamed developer.
The turbine maker is set to supply 6.2MW EnVentus turbines from the third quarter of 2024, with commissioning due by the end of 2024.
US ports require $36bn of upgrades so they do not hinder the rollout of 110GW offshore wind in US waters by 2050, research has shown.
The US Business Network for Offshore Wind has reported that port infrastructure is one of the most significant bottlenecks hindering the growth of US offshore wind.
It said the US needs investment in 110 port development sites across the east coast, west coast and the Gulf of Mexico; but that only $2.5bn of the necessary $36bn has been invested so far.
Li-ion battery recycling company Blue Whale Materials has announced its first li-ion battery processing facility in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The facility - which is expected to begin operations in late 2024 - will be situated within a 35-acre campus including 150,000 square feet of warehouse space at the Bartlesville Industrial Park and encompasses multiple lots designed to facilitate comprehensive battery processing, testing, dismantling, and storage. The project is expected to create over 90 new jobs in Bartlesville.
The facility will use Blue Whale Materials' proprietary ‘Blacksand’ technology that processes spent li-ion batteries and production scrap into a highly concentrated dry product containing cobalt, nickel and lithium as well as copper and aluminium products.
“We are pleased to be able to contribute to the economic vitality of the region as we continue to reshape the battery industry,” stated Robert Kang, CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Whale Materials.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $325 million for a series of projects - across 17 states and one tribal nation - aimed at accelerating the development of long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies.
Projects selected will feature a range of intraday (10 to 36 hours) and multiday (36 to more than 160 hours) storage systems, which can minimise the frequency and length of power interruptions caused by events such as severe weather or cyberattacks on the grid. Some selected projects seek to pursue innovative approaches to the re-use and recycling of retired batteries, thereby supporting the growing domestic electric vehicle industry and creating new economic opportunities while providing environmental benefits to communities.
Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these demonstration projects will “increase community control of local power systems, mitigate risks associated with disruptions to the grid, and help communities develop reliable and affordable energy systems,” a DOE statement said.
The statement added that the funding will help the DOE “realise its ‘Long Duration Storage Shot’ goal of reducing the cost of LDES by 90% by 2030 and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to advance critical clean energy technologies, expand the adoption of renewable energy resources, and strengthen America’s energy security”.
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, said: “As we build our clean energy future, reliable energy storage systems will play a key role in protecting communities by providing dependable sources of electricity when and where it’s needed most, particularly in the aftermath of extreme weather events or natural disasters. Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is supporting game-changing energy storage projects across the nation—laying the foundation for the innovative solutions we need to ensure stronger, more resilient communities.”
Details of the projects are as follows:
Project Manager: Tobias Hecht, PhD
Locations: Red Lake Nation, Santa Fe, NM, and Petaluma, CA
Project Summary: Most decommissioned electric vehicle batteries languish in warehouses. The CARES project, proposed by ReJoule, a second-life battery diagnostics and reuse company, will use retired electric vehicle batteries to provide demand reduction, load shifting, and resilience to two affordable housing complexes and a Red Lake Nation workforce development campus.
Project Manager: Dr. Antoni Tong
Locations: Atlanta, GA, San Diego, CA, Denmark, SC, Orangeburg, SC, and New Orleans, LA
Project Summary: The retired electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion battery stockpile is growing, and there is great debate over how they should be disposed of. The batteries are made from cobalt, lithium, and nickel, which are scarce and nonrenewable resources. Smartville Inc. works to solve this issue by giving EV batteries a second life with a high value per kilowatt hour. Smartville has secured partnerships for the installation of lithium-ion battery long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems with a total of more than 7MWh to provide grid resiliency, bill reduction, and backup-up power at senior centers, low-income multi-family affordable housing complexes, and EV charging facilities. Repurposing retired EV batteries ensures that fewer minerals are mined and less carbon is generated from new battery manufacturing. Notably, this project will include high-tech career employment training at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs).
Project Manager: Gabriel Cowles
Locations: Oneonta, NY and County of Westchester, NY
Project Summary: Energy storage is critical to New York’s clean energy future. As renewable power sources like wind and solar provide a growing portion of New York State’s electricity, storage will allow clean energy to be available when it is most needed. New York aims to deploy 3,000MW of storage by 2030 and has convened an Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group to address battery safety issues. This project utilizes a fire-safe battery using low-cost and largely domestically available materials. Urban Electric Power aims to demonstrate the viability of its zinc manganese dioxide (ZnMnO2) batteries in large scale and long-duration energy storage systems (LDESS).
Project Manager: Michael Keyser
Locations: Tama, IA, Blair, SC, Hamlet, NC, Ewell, MD, and Waterville, IA
Project Summary: Rural areas are often the last to benefit from innovation, have lower household incomes, and have limited resources to invest in emerging technologies. Power outages are increasingly common in these areas, leaving communities and critical infrastructure more vulnerable. To address these challenges, the National Renewables Cooperative Organization (NRCO) and its project partners are developing 5 geographically diverse sites across the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States utilizing vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) with nominal discharge ratings of 700kW to 3.6MW and discharge capabilities of up to 20 hours.
Project Manager: Mike Gravely
Location: Madera, CA
Project Summary: During a power outage, hospitals require reliable back-up power to continue to provide essential services. This project will install a 34.4MWh behind-the-meter, zinc bromide flow battery system for the Valley Children’s Hospital, located in the underserved community of Madera, California. This long-duration energy storage (LDES) project will be a key demonstration of critical power backup of an acute care hospital in the US and will provide resiliency in a region that is increasingly at-risk for significant power outages due to fires, storm surges, floods, extreme heat, and earthquakes.
Project Manager: Jeffrey Plew
Locations: Morrow County, OR, Manitowoc County, WI
Project Summary: NextEra Energy Resources, LLC proposes development of several 10-hour duration battery energy storage projects that use aqueous zinc technology for an in-front-of-the-meter application at multiple existing renewable energy sites in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest.
Project Manager: Michael Bremel
Location: Columbia County, WI
Project Summary: This project would be the first to demonstrate, at a commercial scale, a closed-loop CO2-based energy storage system and could validate the technology for wide-scale deployment in the United States. Alliant Energy expects to extract additional value from renewable energy resources, significantly reducing CO2 emissions over the next several years and positioning itself toward success in achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The project will likely be located on a brownfield site with a two-unit coal-fired power station scheduled for retirement in 2026.
Project Manager: Holly Millard-Burns
Location: Healy, Alaska
Project Summary: Supplying reliable electricity to residents and businesses in Healy, Alaska presents challenges due to its remote location and extreme weather. Currently the area is served by a coal-fired power plant, one unit of which is slated for retirement. This LDES project pairs with planned wind power development in the region to demonstrate LDES firming renewable power at the grid scale while also providing enhanced grid resiliency. This site location also provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate the viability of high-temperature long-duration energy storage in a cold climate. This project will develop and deploy a Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES) system to assist in local and regional grid resiliency and stability, regional carbon footprint reduction, and improved reliability of electricity in Alaska’s Railbelt region, while demonstrating LDES’s support of renewable energy.
Project Manager: Steve Christensen
Locations: Becker, MN and Pueblo, CO
Project Summary: Multiday energy storage is essential for the reliability of renewable electricity generation required to achieve our clean energy goals and provides resiliency against multiday weather events of low wind or solar resources. Xcel Energy, in partnership with Form Energy, will deploy two 10MW 100-hour long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems at retiring coal plants in Minnesota and Colorado. This project aims to accelerate the commercialization and market development of multiday storage through strategic partnership, technology, and scale.
Cubico Sustainable Investments has bought two wind farms totalling 95MW and a 26MW solar farm in Uruguay from Brookfield.
The transaction includes the 52MW Carape I and 43MW Carape II wind farms in Maldonado; and the 26MW Alto Cielo solar project in Artigas. This deal grows Cubico's operational renewables portfolio in Uruguay to over 320MW installed capacity.
German delivery group DHL and South African fuels firm are partnering with German hydrogen company HH2E to produce 'green' aviation fuels in Germany.
The partners are initially set to produce 200,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuels to supply airports in eastern Germany, including Leipzig/Halle Airport, and will grow production to around 500,000 tonnes annually. Airbus is also poised to join the consortium and become an off-taker.
Portuguese multinational Galp and Japanese conglomerate Mitsui have set up a business to produce 'green' fuels for transportation, including planes.
Galp is set to own a 75% stake in the joint venture and Mitsui will hold the remaining 25%. The new company is set to produce 'green' fuels at a facility at Galp's Sines Refinery from late 2025.