The California Energy Commission (CEC) has adopted a strategic plan that will guide the state’s development of offshore wind energy. The plan outlines analysis and strategies to deploy floating turbines off California’s central and northern coasts with a planning goal of 25 GW of capacity by 2045, enough to power 25 million homes. Offshore wind stands out for its potential to generate vast amounts of electricity thanks to strong, consistent winds off California’s coast, CEC said.
On the heels of two fires in recent months at separate battery energy storage facilities, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on July 17 directed staff to establish standards for future projects in unincorporated areas of the county. “I think it’s time to pump the brakes a little bit here … to ensure that battery storage projects are designed and located in the safest way possible,” District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond said. As for what those standards entail, the board directed its chief administrative officer to come up with guidelines and options that could go before supervisors for a vote as early as late August. Staff will consider input from community members living near proposed sites, industry experts, and other stakeholders. Going into the meeting, Desmond called for regulations that, “at minimum,” make sure battery energy storage systems avoid being located in residential areas or near schools, day care centers, senior living facilities, and hospitals.
More than a dozen Democratic senators called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to relax guidelines around federal tax subsidies for the hydrogen industry in a letter last week. The current guidance requires eligible companies use new energy rather than preexisting energy from the grid, while also ensuring that new clean energy is produced at the same time and in the same geographic region as hydrogen projects. The letter calls for flexible alternatives to the standard, including allowing owners of “minimally emitting” electricity sources to provide power to hydrogen producers.
Offshore wind developer, Atlas Wind, has been granted a permit to map the seafloor in state waters near Morro Bay. On July 12, the California Coastal Commission voted 10-1 to approve a permit for Atlas Wind to take sediment samples and use sound surveys to learn more about the seafloor. The permit expires in two years. Atlas Wind is one of three corporations that hold leases to build floating wind turbines in the 376-square-mile Morro Bay Wind Energy Area about 20 miles away from Cambria and San Simeon.
Up to two additional offshore wind projects were proposed for the New Jersey coast, and the developers of a third project that already has preliminary approval sought to re-bid its terms. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities received three bids by the July 10 deadline in the state’s fourth round of solicitations for offshore wind farms. New Jersey has set ambitious goals to become the East Coast hub of the offshore wind industry. It built a manufacturing facility for wind turbine components in the southern part of the state to help support the growth of the industry here.
The University of California at Irvine campus launched its 20 MW microgrid several years ago to provide backup and islandable power for a number of buildings and other resources on and off campus. Now it’s being put to work powering an acceleration in the already fast-moving UCI fleet electrification program. Electric bus manufacturer PhoenixEV delivered five new 40-foot ZX5 battery-electric models to the school over this last spring term.
Renewables developer Elio Energy Group LLC and Italian energy and digital transition promoter Redelfi SpA have set up a new platform aiming to develop up to 2.4 GW of battery storage projects across the U.S. The platform already has a 920 MW pipeline of identified projects across the states of Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kansas.
Intersect Power has announced $837 million in financing commitments for three battery projects in Texas, totaling nearly 1 GWh of energy storage capacity. The financing includes portfolio-level construction debt and term debt financing from HPS and Deutsche Bank as well as tax equity financing from Morgan Stanley. It comes on top of the roughly $5 billion in project financing the Beaverton, Oregon, company has raised to date.
*This article may require a subscription to read.
[View source.]
See more »
DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
© Allen Matkins | Attorney Advertising
Refine your interests »
