Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a plan that will set the state on a course to adding 86,000 MW of new resources to the grid by 2035. That amounts to “more than a doubling of the nameplate capacity” of 75,000 MW that constitutes the state’s existing resource mix, CPUC President Alice Reynolds said. The new integrated resource plan calls for 54,000 MW of new renewable resources, most of it solar power, as well as wind power built inside and outside the state’s borders. It also includes more than 28,000 MW of battery storage.
Earlier this month, the boards that oversee the Western Energy Imbalance Market approved the creation of a new day-ahead power market, known as the Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM). Modeling estimates that the EDAM will generate an additional $1 billion per year in benefits if fully adopted throughout the West. This comes from further cost optimization of power plant operations, the elimination of certain transmission fees, and the sharing of back-up reserves. The next opportunity, under discussion in state capitals throughout the West, is the establishment of a Regional Transmission Organization.
In Odessa, Texas, workers at a startup called SolarCycle unload trucks carrying end-of-life photovoltaic panels freshly picked from commercial solar farms across the United States. The panel components will be extracted and sold, as will the lower-value aluminum and glass, which may even end up in the next generation of solar panels. Solar panels have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years, but they contain valuable metals, including silver and copper. With a surge of expired panels expected soon, companies are emerging that seek to recycle the reusable materials and keep the panels out of landfills.
The U.S. utility-scale battery storage sector achieved its highest-ever annual deployments in 2022, a year in which solar PV and wind underperformed against expectations. According to the latest quarterly report from the American Clean Power Association, 4,027 MW and 12,155 MWh of battery energy storage was deployed in the country last year. California remains the leading state for battery storage, with 4,938 MW of cumulative installations to the end of 2022, and in fact more battery storage than solar PV was commissioned in the Golden State for the year.
A solar farm that is slated to be built just east of Holtville (Imperial County, CA), Vikings Energy Farm, will be one of the nation’s first solar “peaker” plants, meaning its daytime solar production will be available during peak hours in the late afternoon and evening hours. The project is named in homage to the Holtville High School mascot and has committed to long-term support of the nearby community. Once operational, Vikings Energy will produce 137 MW of solar energy, coupled with 150 MW and 600 MWh of battery energy storage.
AVANGRID says it has achieved commercial operation at its 150 MW Lund Hill solar farm in Klickitat County, Washington. The new PV plant – the largest in Washington – will supply Puget Sound Energy’s Green Direct program, which gives large commercial and governmental participants the ability to purchase 100% of their energy from dedicated, local renewable energy resources.
Three cutting-edge technologies are being eyed for pilot projects in and around the massive geothermal field straddling Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino counties. The Sonoma Clean Power board on March 2 is set to consider cooperation agreements with Eavor Technologies, Chevron New Energies, and Cyrq Energy. Eavor and Chevron’s proposals involve closed-loop technologies, which circulate fluid inside tubes going down into the hot rock and coming back up with heated fluid. That limits the amount of new water that has to be added for moisture lost in traditional geothermal plants before reinjection down into the rock.
CSI Energy Storage, part of Canadian Solar, will supply 487 MWh of its battery energy storage solution (BESS) Solbank to developer Aypa Power. The solution will go towards a BESS project in Los Angeles being developed by Aypa Power, which is part of Blackstone. The project, called Cald, will be a standalone system and is expected to come online in the first half of 2024.
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© Allen Matkins
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