Plus: Utility scale solar projects in Alberta; Amazon pledges 50% carbon neutral shipments; BMW & Daimler pair up on mobility
Hi Everyone,
No small amount of attention-getting headlines this week, with some impressive utility-scale solar in two separate announcements in my home province of Alberta.
Utility-scale battery projects continue to roll out, ever larger in size. I’ve been waiting to see when flow batteries start to take off as they have a lot of advantages for longer duration storage. Cost is a barrier, which is why this innovative angle in important to note: A New Path to Market for Flow Batteries: Rent an Electrolyte.
You’re all a pretty quiet bunch. Send me your thoughts directly or add your comments at the bottom of this post.
As always, spread this around – send to others you think would be interested.
Thanks,
Peter
Electric & Autonomous Vehicles
BMW and Daimler invest $1 billion on shared program for all-electric on-demand autonomous mobility – Electrek
Check out the five new joint ventures they are creating covering all mobility needs.
Seattle mayor proposes EV readiness requirement for all new buildings | Utility Dive
Excerpt: Atlanta and New York City are among the other cities that have made EV readiness a building requirement, having passed a requirement for new residential and commercial buildings. …more from Utility Dive
Driverless delivery startup Nuro gets $940 million SoftBank investment | Reuters
Excerpt: Autonomous technology startup Nuro said on Monday it raised $940 million from SoftBank Group Corp, which valued the Silicon Valley-based company at $2.7 billion. …more from REUTERS
FILE PHOTO – The unmanned delivery vehicle, Nuro, is seen during the Kroger annual shareholders meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., June 28, 2018. Picture taken June 28, 2018. Courtesy of Kroger/Handout via REUTERS
Now, even in Canada unsubsidised solar beats fossil fuels
Excerpt: The new Canadian solar projects – the 30 MW Hull and the 27 MW Vauxhall – were developed by local Solar Krafte Utilities, who transferred the project rights to innogy in February, and will be built in Southern Alberta, close to the town of Vauxhall, with construction expected to begin in the second quarter. …more from RenewEconomy
…separately, in another announcement…
New solar projects will double Alberta’s capacity, says government
Two things are noteworthy about this: the price – at 4.8 cents/kWh is the second lowest behind the previously awarded wind power contracts in the province, and that it involves an Indigenous business partner.
So it is clear from these two stories that utlity-scale solar is economic in Alberta.
Energy Storage
Both of these articles have great graphics that really help tell the story. I include a couple here for you, but encourage you to look a little deeper.
Utilities are starting to invest in big batteries instead of building new power plants | The Conversation
Arizona Utility Makes Biggest U.S. Bet Yet on Energy Storage – Bloomberg
Source: The Conversation
Ameren files $6.3B grid transformation plan with Missouri regulators | Utility Dive
Worth watching to see how regulators rule and whether the plan would keep electricity prices stable, potentially averting a possible ~10% increase.
Though there are likely to be questions about the economic case, I noted that the proposed plans include installing more than 800,000 smart meters in homes over the next 5 years. Another big line item in the budget: distributed solar.
Centrica: Residential solar-plus-batteries could mean 4.5GW more flexible capacity for the UK
Excerpt: The energy giant already has an established Connected Home business unit centred around its Hive product portfolio. Centrica has deployed more than 1 million connected home hubs worldwide, and in the first half of 2018 Centrica Connected Home reported a 31% increase in gross revenues. …more from Energy Storage News
Comment: Clearly I have not been paying attention as I confess to not realizing the significance of this company and what it’s up to. Wow. After seeing sonnen get snapped up by Shell, I can’t help wonder which big oil company will spring for this one. Centrica’s sheer diversity might be the drawback. Check out the wide span of business lines: Centrica – Yahoo Finance
Amazon Wants 50% of Its Shipments to Be Carbon Neutral by 2030
Excerpt: Amazon announced its new “Shipment Zero” initiative on the company’s blog. It asserts a long-term goal of using 100% renewable energy for all Amazon infrastructure globally, with a medium-term goal of making 50% of its shipments carbon neutral. …more from Fortune
Chicago sets goal for 100 percent clean, renewable energy by 2035
Excerpt: Chicago recently became one of the nation’s biggest cities to make a public commitment to achieving 100 percent renewable energy. The city aims to hit its target by 2035. …more from Electrek
Labor Party In New South Wales Promises 7 Gigawatts Of New Renewable Energy | CleanTechnica
The election is March 23 with it being a tight race that is too hard to call. Interesting campaign pledge nonetheless.
LA scraps plan to rebuild 3 gas plants, moves towards 100% renewable energy
Excerpt: The decision marks the end of a multi-year debate over the plan to invest $2.2 billion in gas-fired power plants, and follows a decision by state lawmakers last year to pursue an all-clean energy strategy by 2045. …more from Utility Dive
Comment: How many more of these do people need to see to realize that renewables combined with energy storage projects are now the go-to solution are out competing natural gas power generation (especially peakers) in many markets?
Researchers create residential solar panels nearly twice as efficient as existing panels
Excerpt: The new panels use a patented optical system to concentrate sunlight on a kind of mini photovoltaic cell normally used in satellites. Solar panels of the type used on satellites are generally very expensive, to keep costs down the team developed a protective glass that allows the placement of optical lenses that concentrate sunlight up to 100x and direct that sunlight to the very small surface of the high-performance cells. …more from Slash Gear
Comment: Keep in mind they are still working to make this technology commercially viable.