Enrico Viale

Enel North America, through its affiliate 3Sun USA LLC, is building an industrial-scale production facility in the U.S. for the manufacturing of innovative, sustainable and American-made photovoltaic (PV) modules. The proposed facility is expected to have a minimum production capacity of 3 GW with the possibility to scale production to 6 GW annually and is anticipated to create up to 1,500 new direct jobs by 2025.

Recent policy tailwinds from the Inflation Reduction Act have served as a catalyst for our solar manufacturing ambitions in the U.S., ushering in a new era of made-in-America energy,” says Enrico Viale, head of Enel North America. “With this announcement, it is our intention to bolster a robust domestic solar supply chain that accelerates and strengthens the U.S.’ transition to clean energy. In doing so, we are creating thousands of new jobs, supporting local economies and providing stability to the solar industry.”

Currently, Enel is evaluating possible sites for the new factory and expects to begin construction in mid-2023. It’s anticipated that the first panels will be available to the market by the end of 2024.  Fewer than five large-scale solar module manufacturing facilities (over 1 GW) are currently operating in the U.S., while annual U.S. solar PV installations are projected to grow from 16 GW in 2022 to 41 GW by the end of 2025, according to Wood Mackenzie. 

Enel will leverage its expertise and experience from its 3Sun Gigafactory in Catania, Italy, which is set to become Europe’s largest factory producing high-performance bifacial photovoltaic modules. Enel intends to replicate the Gigafactory factory in the U.S. to produce bifacial heterojunction (B-HJT) PV cells that capture more sunlight as the cells can respond to light on both front and rear surfaces.

3Sun is already producing high-efficiency cells, breaking a record in 2020 by achieving 24.63% efficiency. Through a R&D program, the PV panels will be further developed to also incorporate a tandem structure, which utilizes two stacked cells that allows for more light to be captured compared to single-cell structures, yielding higher overall cell efficiency. The combination of bifacial PV panels and tandem cell structure offers significant efficiency improvements, which will enable PV modules to exceed 30% efficiency, securing higher average energy production. The technology’s lower degradation ensures a longer useful life for modules, and the cells’ high density is conducive to a variety of applications, including land-constrained utility-scale installations or rooftops.

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Orsted’s Permian Energy Center solar project in Texas

Ørsted is opening a new engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) office hub in Texas for its portfolio of clean energy solutions. This latest investment by Ørsted expands the company’s presence in the state, which already includes an office in Austin and eight renewable energy projects.

“Texas is already home to many of our land-based wind and solar farms that are providing economic opportunity, investment and clean American-produced energy,” says David Hardy, EVP and CEO of the Americas for Ørsted. “Our growing team in Texas will continue to build our business and footprint in the region. With the largest offshore wind portfolio under development in the U.S. and one of the fastest growing onshore renewable energy businesses, we’re proud to build on the energy legacy that is foundational to Texas with the latest clean energy technologies in wind, solar, storage, green hydrogen and e-fuels.”

Ørsted’s new Texas office will be home to approximately 80 new full-time employees, adding to its approximately 115 employees in the Austin area. Through its projects and partnerships, Ørsted is building the first American-made offshore wind substation in Corpus Christi, Texas, and supporting the construction of a 472-foot offshore wind turbine installation vessel in Brownsville, Texas.

In the broader Gulf Region, Ørsted is developing a 675 MW Power-to-X facility to fuel a new fleet of 12 e-methanol-powered container vessels that will help to decarbonize the hard-to-abate transportation sector. Ørsted is also supporting the construction of the first American-flagged wind farm Service Operations Vessel, being built by Edison Chouest Offshore.

The new office is scheduled to open in the second half of 2023 with hiring already underway.

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First Solar Inc. has selected Lawrence County in Alabama as the location for its fourth American photovoltaic (PV) solar module manufacturing facility. The new factory is part of a previously announced investment in scaling First Solar’s American manufacturing footprint to over 10 GW DC by 2025.

The planned factory in Lawrence County’s Mallard Fox Industrial Park represents an investment of approximately $1.1 billion and is expected to be commissioned by 2025, with a planned annual capacity of 3.5 GW DC. The new fully vertically integrated facility will join three factories in Ohio, including one that is scheduled to come online in the first half of 2023, to form part of First Solar’s expanded domestic manufacturing footprint.

“First Solar is a world-class manufacturer, and its solar modules are poised to play an increasingly important role in U.S. energy self-sufficiency,” says Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. “I’m thrilled to see the company’s growth project headed to Lawrence County because I know it will create good jobs and have a major economic impact on this rural region.”

“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has firmly placed America on the path to a sustainable energy future,” states Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar. “This facility, along with its sister factories in Ohio, will form part of the industrial foundation that helps ensure this transition is powered by American innovation and ingenuity.”

Designed and developed at its research and development (R&D) centers in California and Ohio, First Solar’s advanced thin film PV modules set industry benchmarks for quality, durability, reliability, design, and environmental performance.

“Our commitment to responsible solar includes operating facilities that are among the cleanest, safest and most diverse in the country, and we’re pleased to bring our model of responsible solar manufacturing to Alabama,” Widmar adds. “We are proud of the role that this facility will play in creating stable, good-paying manufacturing jobs in the state, demonstrating the economic and social value that clean energy can deliver.”

“As it works to develop the next generation of solar technologies, First Solar represents the kind of innovative, technology-forward company that can help power Alabama’s economy into the future,” states Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield. “This investment supports sustainability and advances America’s energy security – and it’s great news for Alabama.”

“Our team, from the state down to the local level, has worked extremely hard to make this project a reality,” comments Tabitha Pace, president and CEO of the Lawrence County Industrial Development Board. “First Solar will have a tremendous impact on our economy and region. We look forward to building those relationships for a successful future.”

“First Solar and TVA share a commitment to sustainability and innovation, as well as supporting our local communities,” mentions Jeff Lyash, Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) president and CEO. “As the nation’s largest solar panel manufacturer, First Solar is bringing hundreds of quality jobs to the region. We are proud of our partnership with Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Corp., the State of Alabama and other economic development agencies to help make North Alabama the region of choice for First Solar’s newest location.”

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The utility-scale battery storage market in Germany is picking up this year. This project, Smareg
4, in
Eisenach,
Germany,
developed by
Smart Power, was
recently acquired
by BCP Battery. Image: Smart Power.

Munich-headquartered international banking firm Berenberg has provided debt financing for two battery energy storage projects in eastern Germany totalling 32MWh.

The energy storage facilities in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, two different states, are currently under construction and will be completed by the end of the year. They total 32MWh of energy storage with a combined grid connection of 27.6MW.

The bank has funded the purchase and construction costs via a subordinated promissory note loan and senior bank through its Berenberg Green Energy Junior Debt Funds, though didn’t reveal the developers behind the projects.

A press release indicated that the systems would primarily support the stability of the electricity grid through frequency response services like Primary Control Reserve (PCR), although Energy-Storage.news has previously written about the diversification of Germany BESS projects’ revenues into energy trading.

Torsten Heidemann, head of infrastructure and energy at Berenberg commented: “The storage projects play an important part in the energy transition, because the politically desired, massive expansion of renewable energies in Germany is only possible with storage projects.”

The utility-scale battery storage market in Germany has slowed in recent years with only 32MWh of 1MW-plus projects installed last year, but 2022 looks set to at least equal and most likely better its record for deployments, which stands at 200MW for 2018.

Returns on BESS projects have grown through increased revenues from frequency response services and energy trading, despite a major revenue source being phased out this year.

The two projects financed by Berenberg bring the total coming online this year that Energy-Storage.news has reported on to over 200MW alone, including major units by Smart Power and RWE over the last few months. Coupled with huge new project announcements from RWE and Fluence, of 220MW and 250MW each, it looks like the tide has started to turn.

But there is still some way for Germany to get to the 84GWh of new BESS capacity it needs to achieve an 80% renewable energy mix by 2030, according to Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems figures cited by ECO STOR CEO Georg Gallmetzer.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the eighth annual Energy Storage Summit EU in London, 22-23 February 2023. This year it is moving to a larger venue, bringing together Europe’s leading investors, policymakers, developers, utilities, energy buyers and service providers all in one place. Visit the official site for more info.

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Fluence Cubes at a customer’s BESS project. Image: Fluence.

Energy storage hardware and software technology provider Fluence has opened its third global testing facility, in Pennsylvania, US.

The new product testing centre will be the primary location for system-level tests of different configurations of Fluence energy storage products. The company said this type of testing provides quality assurance that is crucial in the development of products through different iterations.

Fluence is currently on its sixth-generation energy storage solution. Based around stacking the Fluence Cube battery energy storage system (BESS) units, the company has taken to developing more standardised, modular solutions.

A major driving principle behind that approach is that the more that BESS equipment can be preconfigured and fully tested even before it goes out into the field, the less expensive and time-consuming onsite work needs to be done.

It also reduces the amount of project-by-project customisation and tailoring work that has characterised the early years of the grid-connected battery storage industry, with the company hoping it will enable the rollout of systems at scale, and profitably.

The company’s latest quarterly financial results are thought to be due for release in the next few days. On the occasion of its previous quarterly announcement in August, Fluence chief product officer Rebecca Boll discussed another role for the new test centre in an earnings call with analysts.

Over the years Fluence has received some substandard components from certain suppliers and the Pennsylvania facility will be used to test out key equipment like battery cells and inverters from a range of vendors, Boll had said at the time.

“We believe this facility will be critical to fully testing our products leading up to product launch, as well as supporting product commissioning and field teams in providing world-class support to customers,” Boll said this week.

In August, the company announced that it will build a contract manufacturing facility to assemble products in Utah, US. While an existing factory in Vietnam will continue producing the Cube, the US site will be used for customising and configuring the products on their way to North American customers.

Part of the strategy behind putting more facilities in the US is to bring production closer to end demand and help Fluence control what elements of the supply chain it can. That’s particularly important given the constraint challenges the industry continues to see on cell and other component supply.

Fluence senior director of manufacturing Peter Silveira told Energy-Storage.news about the drive for “regionalisation” of production, in an interview with this site conducted as the Utah factory was announced. A similar move in Europe is expected within the next couple of years, Silveira said.

Silveira also said the company expects the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives on both domestic production and deployment of battery storage to boost demand to the point that major suppliers will accelerate their plans to make battery cells in the US.

The company continues to look globally for opportunities too, having opened a technology centre in India to support its product strategy, not just in the Indian market where the company is seeking to establish a presence through a major joint venture (JV), but worldwide. Its other two labs meanwhile are in the US and Germany.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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Research facility and observatory, within the Arctic Circle on the North Slope of Alaska. Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

A consortium led by the US Department of Defense (DOD) is developing a battery-integrated microgrid capable of withstanding harsh extreme cold weather conditions.

The DOD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) said earlier this month that it requires a high-performance standalone power solution combining batteries and generators suitable for operations in the Arctic.

The armed forces are already seasoned users of microgrids for sustaining power supply to mission critical and remote operations. Within that, batteries can reduce the frequency and amount of refuelling of diesel or other generation units that have to happen, which can be both logistically challenging and expensive.

The new initiative seeks to develop a microgrid capable of providing continuous power in temperatures as low as -51 degrees Centigrade. A “non-standard” battery solution is expected to be at least part of the answer, according to a DIU press release.

The aim of the Department of Defense project is to come up with a prototype of a standardised mobile microgrid unit which can meet high energy demands at high power ratings. The unit would be scalable and able to be flexibly deployed.

The DIU’s consortium partners include the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), US North Command (US NORTHCOM), Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory Testing and Demonstration of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), various other DOD offices and federally funded non-profit national security innovation group MITRE Corporation.

HDT Global, an Ohio-based company which provides engineering solutions for use in extreme environments for military and government as well as commercial and industrial (C&I) entities, has been hired to develop the energy efficient microgrid.

NORAD, US NORTHCOM and DIU picked out 13 different solutions for testing and analysis in October.

The project, called Arctic Grid Energy Solutions (AGES), aligns with the US’ National Strategy for the Arctic. Announced in October and an update of a 2013 predecessor strategy, it aims to enhance US capabilities to defend its interests in the region.

“The AGES system is a micro-grid composed of a battery coupled with generators in containers designed to withstand the brutal Arctic environment. The goal is to have a reliable and efficient micro-grid that is scalable and transportable, allowing various uses in supporting domestic and international missions,” US Navy commander Joel McMillan, said.

“The AGES system aims to provide reliable and efficient power to Arctic base camps, special operations, radar stations, communication nodes, and other critical Arctic applications.”

One of Saft’s Arctic BESS projects, at Colville Lake, Canada. Image: Saft.

The prototype is expected to be tested in the fall of 2023, for use in biennial Arctic Edge exercises in 2024, McMillan, who is with NORAD and US NORTHCOM, said.

By way of context, in March, battery and energy storage system maker and integrator Saft was awarded a contract for what has been claimed to be the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) within the Arctic Circle so far.

The company will provide a 6MW/7MWh BESS to Longyearbyen, a town on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, with Longyearbyen’s council project manager stating Saft was chosen for having experience with similar projects, such as a 1MWh system for an Arctic microgrid in Cordova, Alaska.  

Meanwhile, another US Forces project likely of interest to readers is the pilot deployment of Lockheed Martin’s proprietary grid-scale flow battery technology at the US Army’s Fort Carson, Colorado. A 1MW/10MWh Lockheed Martin Gridstar Flow system will be tested over two years. A ground-breaking event was held to mark the official start of the project at the beginning of this month.

Energy-Storage.news’ publisher Solar Media will host the 5th Energy Storage Summit USA, 28-29 March 2023 in Austin, Texas. Featuring a packed programme of panels, presentations and fireside chats from industry leaders focusing on accelerating the market for energy storage across the country. For more information, go to the website.

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Co-founder and CEO Jørgen Erdal with the firm’s battery storage product, which repurposes EV batteries. Image: Evyon.

Oslo-based second life battery storage solutions firm Evyon has raised €8 million (US$8.3 million) in a pre-Series A fundraising round, led by VC firm Sandwater.

The round includes €7 million in equity and €1 million in debt and will be used to bring the firm’s commercial and industrial (C&I) battery storage product from prototype to mass production over 2023.

Other participants in the pre-Series A, which brings Evyon’s total raised to-date to just over €10 million since being founded two years ago, were investment firms Antler, Wiski Capital and utility Skagerak Energi.

Torkel Engeness, Partner at Sandwater commented: “Evyon has impressed us from our very first meeting, especially the fact that they have been able to build a world-class team that has managed to move at lightning speed in a dynamic market. At Sandwater we want to accelerate ambitious impact companies, and we firmly believe that Evyon is exactly that.”

Skagerak Energi said it aims to become a leading player in mobile energy solutions and the two have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing and piloting Evyon’s C&I energy storage systems. 

The company mainly sources its batteries from Mercedes-Benz Energy, an arm of the large automotive OEM, which Energy-Storage.news recently wrote is one of the leading ones in providing its batteries to third parties for repurposing into second life stationary energy storage systems.

“We have signed a 26MWh purchase agreement with MBE in addition to longer term MoUs with MBE and Batteriretur here in Norway, and we are in discussions with other parties for the supply of batteries,” Evyon’s Chief Commercial Officer Ralph Groen told Energy-Storage.news.

The company is aiming to sell over 120MWh of its second life energy storage systems in 2025. Its energy storage product is a scalable integrated software and hardware platform that can take in a range of modules but uses one module type in a homogenous configuration.

Groen was speaking to Energy-Storage.news for an upcoming feature on the topic of second life battery storage solutions which will be published in the next edition of sister site PV Tech’s quarterly journal, PV Tech Power.

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An aerial view of the battery storage unit on the Portuguese island. Image:

A 15MW/16.4MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) provided by Fluence has been inaugurated on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Project manager Diogo Vasconcelos for Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira (EEM), the island’s main utility, announced the inauguration of BESS Vitória via Linkedin on 14 November.

The system sits on the main island of Madeira, a four-island archipelago which is an autonomous community of Portugal. The install is part of a project including another, 3.3MWh system on the smaller island of Porto Santo.

The project has been developed by EEM, which handed the contract to global battery storage system integrator Fluence and parent company Siemens (through its Smart Infrastructure arm).

As Energy-Storage.news wrote at the time the project was announced, the BESS will allow EEM to increase the island’s renewable energy mix to 50%, black start parts of the network and restore grid operations after outages.

The system is made up of Fluence’s lithium iron phosphate-based (LFP) modular energy storage product.

“With this asset, it will be possible to increase the RES (renewable energy sources) hybridisation of our regional electrical system leading to a better grid stabilisation and security of supply by improving key parameters of the electrical grid (frequency & voltage), thus keeping our electrical grid stronger and more resilient to support the regional energy transition that we all aim for,” EEM project manager Vasconcelos said on LinkedIn.

The project has been partly financed by the EU-funded €25 billion (US$25.8 billion) POSEUR programme – ‘Operational Programme for Sustainability and Efficient Use of Resources’. The programme was established in 2014 to support Portugal’s energy transition sustainable economic development.

The Iberian country has not announced a significant number of energy storage projects this year but those that have are sizeable. In July, a 40GWh pumped hydro storage facility from utility Iberdrola came online while in March, Enel Group was awarded the grid connection rights to develop a renewable enegy park with a 168.6MW BESS to replace the country’s last coal power plant.

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Eric McAfee

Construction has begun for the TotalEnergies and Schneider Electric solar microgrid system with a 2 MW photovoltaic (PV) array and a 1.25 MW battery energy storage system. Once construction has been completed, the microgrid will be integrated with the new Rockwell/Allen Bradley distributed control system (DCS) at the Aemetis Inc.’s Aemetis Advanced Fuels biorefinery in Keyes, Calif.

The solar array will generate approximately 3.2 million kWh per year. Foundations for the solar array are now under construction, with project completion expected in the second quarter of 2023. TotalEnergies serves as the project’s PV supplier as well as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor.

“The microgrid creates energy resiliency and will assist with off peak load shedding and energy efficiency,” states Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of Aemetis. “This microgrid, along with other energy saving technologies being implemented at our low-carbon ethanol facility, will further reduce the carbon intensity score of the fuel ethanol produced. Aemetis can also displace natural gas with carbon negative renewable natural gas (RNG) upgraded and injected at the same facility in Keyes, Calif.”

The AI-enabled control system will run on virtualized servers, reducing the amount of computer hardware by 80%, which will require less power to operate than traditional systems. Virtualized systems do not require changing hardware to upgrade obsolescent operating systems or security changes. The virtual environment will also help reduce planned and unplanned down time.

The $12 million solar microgrid, battery backup and AI-enabled energy system is supported by an $8 million grant awarded to Aemetis by the California Energy Commission.

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Electriq Power provides home and small business energy storage and management solutions. Image: Carlos Delgado / WikiCommons.

Electriq Power looks set to become the latest in a series of SPAC listings in the energy storage sector, with the US home energy storage firm set to hit a US$495 million valuation.

The California and Florida-headquartered firm will list on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with TLG Acquisition One Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in the first half of 2023.

The combined entity will be called Electriq Power Holdings Inc and trade under the ELIQ ticker symbol. Alongside the US$495 million pro-forma pre-money equity valuation, the transaction will also provide Electriq Power with up to US$125 million in cash proceeds.

The company, founded in 2014, provides intelligent energy storage and management solutions for homes and small businesses. It claims to have an innovative go-to-market model that makes solar plus storage accessible to all socio-economic groups.

Energy-Storage.news recently reported on one of its projects that was aimed at low-to-moderate income residents in Washington DC, while more recently it has won contracts to roll out its energy storage solution – the lithium iron phosphate-based (LFP) PowerPod 2 – to homes in Santa Barbara and Puerto Rico in partnership with local utilities.

Mike Lawrie, chief executive officer, TLGA said: “Our proposed merger comes at the right time to address the rapidly growing demand in the residential solar energy storage market, technology development and innovation, consumer and provider demand, and government policy and environmental initiatives.”

The companies said the transaction delivers on incentives contained within recent federal policy moves like the Inflation Reduction Act.

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