President Joe Biden’s budget proposal for 2024 includes billions of dollars spread across federal agencies to combat climate change, with a bulk of the investment going toward boosting conservation and disaster resilience, cutting pollution, and advancing clean energy technologies. The budget blueprint on climate spending will likely face strong opposition from House Republicans and prompt negotiations in Washington among House and Senate committees over various funding levels. The proposal includes $16.5 billion for climate science and clean energy innovation, $6.5 billion for energy storage and transmission projects, and $4.5 billion for jobs building clean energy infrastructure.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and partners seeking to speed the commercialization of long-duration energy storage have announced a two-year memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to support the development and domestic manufacture of technologies to meet all U.S. market demands by 2030. Parties to the agreement include DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions, the Edison Electric Institute, Electric Power Research Institute, and Long Duration Energy Storage Council. Partners will collaborate with long-duration energy storage experts to expand the marketplace, provide technical assistance, and seek solutions to nontechnical barriers to deployment.
InClime Inc., which the Public Regulation Commission contracted in 2022 to manage New Mexico’s new community solar program, is sifting through 404 potential projects submitted by developers. The proposals represent more than 1,700 MW of solar generation, or nearly nine times more power than is currently permitted in the first stage of program development, during which total community solar output will be limited to a combined cap of 200 MW. New Mexico is one of only five states that signed on last year with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Community Solar Partnership, which is working to broaden the availability of affordable renewable energy for consumers nationwide.
One of the biggest planned clean-energy storage projects in the country just moved one step closer to becoming reality. rPlus Energies filed for final licensing approval with federal regulators for the 1 GW/8 GWh White Pine pumped-hydro project in Nevada, the company announced last Wednesday. If completed, this project would store enough renewable electricity to meet about one-eighth of Nevada’s peak power demand single-handedly, according to the developer.
Terra-Gen is proposing to build the largest battery storage facility in Marin County to advance the state’s clean energy goals and provide reliability during outages. The lithium-ion batteries at the site would be capable of storing and delivering 300 MW of electricity for about four hours, or enough energy to power roughly 300,000 homes in the North Bay, said Mark Turner, Terra-Gen’s vice president. The proposal has prompted concern among residents in neighboring communities about the safety of the evolving energy technology and environmental impacts on nearby wetlands.
Allan Hancock College is continuing its efforts to create a more sustainable campus by installing solar panel canopies above parking lots at the college’s Santa Maria campus. The college partnered with ForeFront Power to develop a 2.4 MW solar energy system that contains 6,000 solar panels installed across multiple parking canopies. The canopies are expected to save the school $4 million in electricity costs over the 20-year lifespan of the solar energy system.
Avantus has agreed to sell an energy storage project in the Imperial Valley for $110 million. Avantus, formerly 8minute Solar, is selling the project, called Big Rock 1, to London-based Gore Street Energy Storage Fund. The project, which is set to begin construction later this year and possibly come online late next year, would have the capacity to store up to 200 MW of power that could be sent to the state’s electricity grid during periods of high demand.
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