Accelerating renewable energy buildout faces big hurdles, even with Inflation Reduction Act: developers

“It's really important that everyone understand how contingent that capacity expansion is going to be on state-level decision making,” said Tyler Norris, Cypress Creek Renewables vice president of development.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 6, 2022

California exempts energy storage from subdivision rule to accelerate deployment

The formal subdivision process can add years to energy storage project timelines for developers and landowners, according to the California Energy Storage Alliance.

By Emma Penrod • Sept. 4, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Virtual Power Plants

Virtual power plants and their ability to balance energy supply and demand are increasingly sought by utilities as electricity demand increases, but their lack of standardization remains a barrier.

By Utility Dive staff

MIT-led researchers develop low-cost, aluminum-based battery, with startup Avanti eyeing commercial production

The batteries would suffer far fewer supply chain constraints and eliminate the risk of fire, according to one of the paper’s authors, suggesting they could be ideal for large-scale storage applications.

By Emma Penrod • Aug. 30, 2022

Inflation Reduction Act could shift EV battery composition: BofA Global

Global markets for critical materials are likely to remain tight. “We expect virtually every commodity to be undersupplied beyond 2025,” new research from BofA Global states.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 30, 2022

PG&E, Tesla virtual power plant delivers 16.5 MW to California grid amid calls for energy conservation

In a tweet, PG&E Corp. CEO Patti Poppe said that “the world’s largest distributed battery sure did put on a show!”

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 23, 2022

DOE to attack CO2 emissions with billions in funding from inflation reduction, infrastructure laws

The Energy Department wants big R&D spending to have CO2 reduction tools ready by 2030, but clean energy advocates see it delivering wealth and prolonged life to fossil fuels and slowing renewables deployment.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 22, 2022

Energy Vault, Jupiter Power enter contracts for storage projects totaling 220 MWh in California and Texas

The two projects, expected to come online 2023, will provide dispatchable capacity in two electricity markets that have experienced blackouts and faced other reliability-related challenges in recent years.

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 16, 2022

Utility leaders hail clean energy tax incentives as House sends historic climate bill to Biden’s desk

The bill's 15% minimum corporate tax could ding some investor-owned utilities, however.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 15, 2022

Solar-plus-storage: 3 reasons why they’re better together

Adding storage to your commercial on-site solar power asset is a numbers game. When you save on your overall electricity bill, you definitely come out ahead.

Aug. 15, 2022

Solar + storage breaks out in 2021 with installed hybrid systems surpassing standalone storage: LBNL

Hybrid photovoltaics and storage make up about 42%, or 285 GW, of interconnection queues, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers said in a report Wednesday.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 11, 2022

US on track to be a 27 GW annual storage market by 2031: Wood Mackenzie

While long-term growth looks strong, Wood Mackenzie expects a slowdown this year and in 2023 because of disruptions caused by the Department of Commerce’s solar panel antidumping investigation.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Aug. 9, 2022

Senate passes Inflation Reduction Act with $369B in energy and climate spending

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the bill, which includes major tax credit provisions to spur emissions-free energy, electric vehicles, nuclear power and clean hydrogen, among other things.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 8, 2022

DOE offers $26M for projects showing how grid can run on all renewables, storage

The Department of Energy aims to show how inverter-based resources can provide key grid services like voltage support and frequency stability.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 4, 2022

US storage providers increasingly use price arbitrage strategies to maximize income: EIA

Grid-scale storage arbitrage reflects an expanded market for storage providers, with the strategy playing the biggest role in California.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Aug. 3, 2022

NextEra’s ‘game-changing’ Real Zero emissions goal spurs questions about hydrogen, demand-side management

NextEra, the world’s biggest IOU by market cap, wants a “real” reduction of all carbon emissions by FPL, its regulated subsidiary, with solar, batteries and green hydrogen, but it will go without much help from the demand side.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 3, 2022

Energy storage strategies for island power

Islands boost grid resiliency with smart, actionable strategies for energy storage success. Holistic planning, system optimization, and future-proofing systems for extreme weather can maximize BESS revenue and ROI.

By Greg Weyl, VP of Business Development, and Nadja Gocek, Strategic Director of Energy Storage at DEPCOM Power • Aug. 1, 2022

With Manchin’s support, Democrats unveil bill with $369B in energy, climate spending

The legislation invests in hydrogen, nuclear and renewable energy, fossil fuel and energy storage technologies, according to West Virginia Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin.

By Ethan Howland • July 28, 2022

New Bloom Energy fuel cell factory expected to produce over 1 GW a year amid rising reliability threats

The $200 million facility will help Bloom meet the growing demand for its fuel cells to provide power during outages and periods of intense demand on the grid.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 26, 2022

DOE announces $2.5B loan to GM, LG Energy JV to support EV growth as US battery manufacturing heats up

The conditional loan commitment to General Motors and LG-backed Ultium Cells builds on a trend of automakers partnering to manufacture EV batteries.

By Robert Walton • July 26, 2022

A first look at the technology pushing battery storage forward

At Sungrow we are discovering new energy storage technology, allowing battery power to become a greater part of the grid.

July 25, 2022

Tesla energy storage deployments fall 11% in Q2 amid supply chain challenges

The drop in energy storage deployments year over year is mainly due to semiconductor-related challenges, according to the company.

By Kavya Balaraman • July 21, 2022

Intense heat pushing Texas grid to the brink highlights need for long-duration storage, experts say

A range of energy storage technologies is necessary to protect against grid instability across the U.S., with public and private funding as well as new tools offering much promise, panelists at an Our Energy Policy webinar said.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 19, 2022

Pending copper shortfall threatens energy transition, greenhouse gas reduction goals: S&P Global

Even assuming record levels of mining and recycling, there won’t be enough copper to meet the needs of electric vehicles and other components of the energy transition, according to a report released Thursday.

By Ethan Howland • July 15, 2022

Offshore wind developer Equinor to acquire battery company East Point Energy

Wind developer Equinor, based in Norway, says the acquisition will allow it to “build a portfolio of battery storage assets in the U.S.”

By Robert Walton • July 14, 2022

California ISO moves to enhance reliability, economic prospects for utility-scale energy storage

One proposed revision would protect the federal tax credit for batteries co-located with solar plants to keep them from being charged by the grid. Another aims to help storage projects replace local gas plants.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • July 12, 2022