Lightrock Sells 37 MW Prairie Creek to Sol Systems Through LevelTen Marketplace

Patty Rollin

Sol Systems LLC has acquired a 37 MW DC solar development project in Morgan County, Ill. from Lightrock Power. Sol Systems acquired the project through an RFP process executed on LevelTen Energy’s Asset Marketplace and it is part of Sol Systems’ growth strategy to scale its Impact + Infrastructure platform across the US.

“This acquisition builds on Sol Systems’ significant utility-scale footprint in Illinois,” says Patty Rollin, senior vice president of development at Sol Systems.  “We are eager to kick off the construction phase of the Prairie Creek project, which will bring local clean energy and community opportunity to the region.” 

Sol Systems will develop, own and operate the project. Once complete, the project will produce enough solar energy annually to power over 5,000 homes and offset the equivalent of over 9,000 passenger vehicles’ emissions for one year. As long-term owner and operator, Sol Systems will work to enable local employment opportunities and additional community benefits.

“Over the last two years we have developed sites in the U.S. and U.K. totaling 1 GW. Our team remain focused on creating further opportunities to accelerate the transition to renewable energy” states Benjamin Davies, co-founder of Lightrock Power.

“Through the Asset Marketplace, LevelTen Energy provides a centralized platform for renewable energy project developers and financiers to easily buy and sell their projects,” comments Patrick Worrall, vice president of Asset Marketplace. “We are happy that our platform enabled the connection between Sol Systems and Lightrock Power, both of whom are doing pioneering work to accelerate the clean energy transition and build local resiliency.”

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Duke Energy Begins Jackpot Solar Construction with Idaho Power PPA in Place

Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions, a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy, has started construction of the 120 MW Jackpot Solar project in Twin Falls County, Idaho. This is the organization’s first utility-scale renewable energy project in the state and, once complete, it will be the largest solar facility in operation in Idaho. Jackpot Solar, which is expected to achieve commercial operation by the end of 2022, will provide energy to Idaho Power through a 20-year power purchase agreement.

Idaho Power is working toward its Clean Today, Cleaner Tomorrow goal of providing 100% clean energy by 2045. When the company buys certified renewable energy, it sells the associated renewable energy credits (RECs) to offset power supply costs and to keep customer prices low.

“We’re excited to enter into the Idaho market and be a part of the state’s transition toward a cleaner energy future,” says Chris Fallon, president of Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions. “Jackpot Solar will help diversify the state’s energy infrastructure, bring additional economic benefits to the state and Twin Falls County, while also supporting Idaho Power’s clean energy goals.”

“Providing 100 percent clean energy is an important goal for Idaho Power, and more and more customers are telling us it is important to them, too,” comments Lisa Grow, Idaho Power’s president and CEO. “We have a great head start, thanks to our clean hydropower plants that remain our largest source of energy.”

Swinerton Renewable Energy is doing the engineering and construction for the project, which will be located on 952 rural acres south of the city of Twin Falls. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions will own and operate the project.

The Duke Energy Foundation awarded a $15,000 grant to the Shoshone Basin Rangeland Fire Protection Association to support the organization’s efforts to enhance the safety of the citizens in rural areas of Twin Falls County, Idaho.

“Safety is a top priority for us,” adds Fallon. “We’re proud to be a part of this community and help fund the equipment and services that will enable the Shoshone Basin emergency responders to continue to maintain the safety of area residents and businesses.”

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DSD, Caesars Entertainment Start Installation of Solar Portfolio in Atlantic City, N.J.

DSD Renewables (DSD) and Caesars Entertainment have broken ground on an 8.4 MW solar portfolio spanning three Caesars properties in Atlantic City, N.J. The projects will help propel Caesars toward its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 100% before 2050.

The portfolio includes two solar canopies (1.7 MW and 886 kW) at Caesars Atlantic City, two canopies (1.93 MW and 1.94 MW) and a 913 kW rooftop system at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, and a 1.01 MW canopy at the Tropicana Atlantic City. Projected to be complete in late 2022, the installations are expected to generate 10,425,453 kWh of clean, renewable energy annually for the host sites.

“We’re thrilled to help a major player in the hospitality and casino entertainment industry reduce its environmental footprint and move one step closer to its ambitious sustainability goals,” says Dan O’Brien, vice president of commercial origination at DSD. “Our expertise in engineering and installing customized canopies, along with our in-house project financing capabilities, made us a perfect fit for these challenging and complex projects, and we look forward to working with Caesars on more projects in the future that will bring value to their business and the communities in which it operates.”

The existing structural layout, building height, wind speed, exposure and risk category of the sites created added complexity that required highly customized engineering and construction expertise. DSD’s in-house canopy team designed tailored structural connections that will be used to secure the solar arrays, allowing for all steel and electrical systems to be elevated and protected from future storms.

“We are committed to the communities we call home by exploring and implementing plans to reduce our environmental footprint,” states Eric Dominguez, SVP of engineering and asset management at Caesars Entertainment. “The heart of our CodeGreen environmental strategy is our ability to continuously improve our business and environmental performance and leveraging our expanding partnership with DSD enables us to do just that.”

DSD and Caesars Entertainment worked closely with the Casino Redevelopment Authority (CRDA) to ensure the projects would positively benefit Atlantic City and the surrounding community.

“We are excited to break ground on our new solar panel portfolio today at Tropicana, Caesars and Harrah’s Resort – a critical step in our CodeGreen strategy in Atlantic City region,” explains John Koster, regional president for Caesars Entertainment’s Eastern Division. “Our Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City resorts are committed to being leaders in environmental sustainability, as we work toward reducing our environmental footprint and aim to create more clean energy in the market.”

In addition to developing and financing the installations, DSD will serve as long-term owner and operator of the systems. DSD and Caesars Entertainment are exploring solar projects located at other Caesars destinations across California, Illinois, Maryland and Nevada.

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Tesla: Energy storage demand ‘remains significantly above’ production capacity

Tesla’s Megapack, which have a maximum capacity of 3MWh per unit, continue to be selected for projects around the world. Image: Courtesy of Arevon.

Tesla made 846MWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) deployments in the first quarter of this year and is looking ahead to the opening of a dedicated grid-scale BESS factory to meet demand.

The electric vehicle (EV) and energy technology company reported its Q1 2022 figures earlier this month. As reported by our sister site PV Tech, component shortages were blamed for a continued decrease in solar PV installs, which stood at 48MW for the period, its second worst quarter on record for solar.

Tesla earned US$1.279 billion revenues combined from its energy business, including solar PV and battery storage over the three-month period, significantly more than Q1 2021’s US$893 million and a little more than the US$1.064 billion reported for Q4 2021.

Cost of revenues in that energy generation and storage business division was counted as US$688 million. Total revenues across all of Tesla’s business lines were US$18.76 billion, an US$8.37 billion increase year-on-year.

Storage deployments enjoyed a 90% year-on-year rise, from 445MWh in Q1 2021, although they were slightly down from Q4 2021, when 978MWh were recorded.

The ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on logistics costs and timing were felt during the quarter, Tesla said in its Form 10-Q filed with the US SEC, with semiconductor shortages and shipping delays among the effects.

However, sales and demand for energy storage products and services appears to remain robust. Energy-Storage.news has reported on various large-scale battery storage projects over the past few months that Tesla has been awarded in markets including the US, UK and Australia.

Over Q1 2022, strong deployments were seen for the Tesla Powerwall BESS product, and the company said it is looking forward to opening and ramping up a dedicated factory making its Megapack grid-scale products – although the company does not report a breakout of sales figures by product.

Demand for battery storage “remains significantly above capacity,” the company said, with growth limited by ongoing supply chain challenges, which for batteries have been hugely exacerbated – although not entirely caused by – the pandemic.

It echoed what was said by Tesla when reporting its full-year 2021 results in January when executives stated demand was “substantially above capacity”. In 2021, Tesla deployed 3,992MWh of storage for the full year, 32% more than in 2020 and more than double what it did in 2019.

Tesla is now using the same battery chemistry, lithium iron phosphate (LFP) for about half of its range of vehicles as it does for BESS. Diversifying battery chemistries will be critical to the company’s long-term growth, to match products to use cases better and to expand supplier base, Tesla said.

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Convergent delivers three solar-storage projects in Maryland as state ups 2031 decarbonisation target

One of Convergent Energy + Power’s five solar-plus-storage systems in Maryland. Image: Convergent Energy + Power.

Energy storage solutions provider and project developer Convergent Energy + Power has brought three more solar-plus-storage projects totalling 8MWh of energy capacity online in the US state of Maryland, which just increased its decarbonisation goals for 2031.

Convergent has delivered the projects, whose storage totals 4MW of power and 8MWh of energy, for Choptank Electrical Cooperative, a non-profit utility cooperative operating in the coastal region of Maryland. The projects have a combined total of over 2MW of solar PV, which will charge the energy storage system.

“Adding an energy storage system to existing solar PV is one of the best ways to optimise solar performance, lower energy costs, and increase reliability,” said Frank Genova, Convergent’s Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

The three projects bring the total that Convergent has delivered for Choptank to five, since 2019. In a press release, Convergent said that the Mid-Atlantic state is home to various extreme weather conditions making solar-plus-storage much needed.

Maryland recently enacted the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022, which increased a 2031 target for economy-wide emissions reductions from 40% to 61% (compared with 2006 levels) effective June 1, 2022. The only reference the document makes to stationary energy storage is about vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology.

“A county board may enter into an agreement with an electric company to obtain monetary incentives in exchange for allowing the electric company to use the storage batteries of ZEV (zero-emission vehicle) buses owned or operated by the county board to access the stored electricity through vehicle-to-grid technology,” it reads.

Maryland is part of the grid operated by PJM, a regional transmission organization (RTO) responsible for electricity infrastructure across 13 states across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southern region of the US (PJM is an abbreviation of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland).

The state is one of the newer markets in the US for energy storage in terms of deployment. But it is noteworthy for having the first storage-based virtual power plant (VPP) to bid to participate in ancillary service markets in PJM, as announced in December 2021. The VPP aggregates battery energy storage systems (BESS) installed at households in the Elk Neck peninsula area of Cecil County totalling 2.2MWh.

Convergent is an energy storage solution provider with a pan-US presence. Last week it announced plans to deliver a 5MW/15MWh storage solution to a utility in Massachusetts, while in February it brought 60MWh of storage online in California.

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U.S. Tariff Case Could Jeopardize 100,000 Solar Jobs, States SEIA Analysis

Abigail Ross Hopper

Solar installation forecasts for 2022 and 2023 are being cut by 46% due to the Biden Administration’s circumvention case against solar imports from Southeast Asia. According to new analysis by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the case will result in a drop of 24 GW of planned solar capacity over the next two years, which is more solar than the industry installed in all of 2021.

“If tariffs are imposed, in the blink of an eye we’re going to lose 100,000 American solar workers and any hope of reaching the President’s clean energy goals,” says Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO. “This would be a monumental loss for our nation, which has the potential to lead our clean energy future, with the right policies. Instead, the Commerce Department is on track to wipe out nearly half of all solar jobs and force a surrender on the President’s climate goals.”

The lost solar deployment will cause the United States to emit an additional 364 million metric tons of carbon by 2035, missing the opportunity to effectively take 78 million internal combustion-engine vehicles off the road.

In addition to the new analysis, SEIA has collected more than 700 survey responses to capture project-level data and the impact felt by companies.

A total of 318 projects accounting for 51 GW of solar capacity and 6 GWh of attached battery storage are being cancelled or delayed. Fully $52 billion of private investment is at risk. In addition, 70% of survey respondents report that at least half their solar and storage workforce is at risk and more than 200 companies report that their entire workforce is at risk.

“This case is destroying clean energy, and needlessly taking down American businesses and workers in its wake,” adds Hopper. “It’s unfathomable that the President would allow his own administration’s actions to be the downfall of his clean energy vision.”

The gap to reaching President Biden’s clean energy goal has never been larger. By 2025, imposition of tariffs will cause solar capacity to fall 75 GW short of the pace needed to reach the president’s goal, equal to the size of the entire U.S. solar market prior to 2020.

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RWE solar-plus-storage project at German lignite mine nears completion

Inside RWE Renewables’ recently commissioned first lithium battery project in Europe, in Stephenstown, Ireland. Image: RWE / Shane O’Neill, Coalesce

A solar-plus-storage power plant, deployed at the site of an opencast lignite mine in Germany, is almost ready to go into action, RWE has said.

The Germany-headquartered multinational energy company said on 26 April that its project at Inden lignite mine in Duren, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, will go online in “just a few weeks” in late summer this year.

It will be RWE’s first project in Europe to include a hybrid of solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) technology, with 14.4MW of PV generation capacity and 4.8MW/9.6MWh of batteries.

The BESS will be used to enable the solar-generated power to be fed into the local grid smoothly, RWE said.

Germany needs to close its lignite coal mines in order to meet national climate objectives. In the case of Inden, RWE has committed to a 2029 closure date.

Although the opencast site’s rehabilitation will ultimately see it dominated by a lake, the water will take about two decades to reach and fill the pit and RWE saw the opportunity to site the solar-storage plant there in the intervening years.

The company plans to build at least 500MW of renewable generation assets in the Rhenish lignite mining district that surrounds Inden, including 200MW of wind farms already in construction.

RWE CEO for onshore wind and solar in Europe and Australia Katja Wunschel said that the Inden project represents EU11 million of RWE investment and that the North Rhine Westphalia region is “one of the centres in our growth and innovation strategy”.

“Here, we want to implement every wind and solar project possible and thus help to shape the enormous transformation, especially in the Rhenish mining district.”

RWE was awarded the project through a so-called Innovation Tender hosted by Germany’s federal network regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur.

These were first held in September 2020 alongside specific solar, onshore wind and biomass tenders, with the innovation tranches requiring proposed projects to combine at least two different clean energy technologies each. So far, all of the winning bids have been solar PV-plus-battery storage plant proposals.

German energy storage association BVES’ chief, Urban Windelen, told Energy-Storage.news last year that the tenders and the profiles of winning projects demonstrate the “inextricable” link between energy storage and the achievement of decarbonisation objectives.

Innovation Tenders award contracts for asset owners to receive a fixed Eurocents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) sum, in addition to market-based revenues they are able to earn. Volume-weighted average of the premiums awarded in a September 2021 round was €0.0455 (US$0.048)/kWh, while the figure for a previous round awarded in May last year was €0.053/kWh.

RWE has won Innovation Tender contracts for two more solar-plus-storage projects, which together add up to about 30MW of PV and 10MWh of battery storage. Each will be DC-coupled to the lithium-ion batteries and use bifacial PV modules.

The company is also building large-scale battery storage at two run-of-river hydro plants in Germany, while abroad it is building some much larger solar-plus-storage plants in the US.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis Vetoes Florida Net Metering Bill

Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed the recently passed CS/CS/HB 741 – Net Metering bill. The bill requires the Public Service Commission (PSC) to revise its rules on net metering of customer renewable generation, effective January 1, 2024. The revised rule must provide that excess electricity used by the customer is billed in accordance with normal billing practices; and electricity delivered to the utility’s grid during the customer’s regular billing cycle is credited toward the customer’s energy consumption for the next month’s billing cycle.

The bill provides for phases in which customers with renewable generation who have a net metering application approved will offset their energy consumption by a specified percentage of the amount credited. It also allows public utilities to recover lost revenue through their rate’s fuel and purchased power cost recovery charge.

“The Legislature passed CS/CS/HB 741, which, in part, authorizes public utilities to impose additional charges to recover lost revenues resulting from residential solar generation that exceeds the public utility’s estimate,” states Gov. DeSantis in his veto memo. “The amount that may be recovered under this provision is speculative and would be borne by all customers.”

“Given that the United States is experiencing its worst inflation in 40 years and that consumers have seen steep increases in the price of gas and groceries, as well as escalating bills, the state of Florida should not contribute to the financial crunch that our citizens are experiencing,” the governor continues. “For these reasons, I withhold my approval of CS/CS/HB 741 and do hereby veto the same.”

“Gov. DeSantis helped secure the livelihoods of thousands of solar workers and protected the rights of Floridians to lower their electricity bills with solar,” comments Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “Florida is one of the fastest-growing solar markets in the country with new businesses popping up all across the state. This veto signals that Florida’s energy economy is open for business, and that the rights of state residents should be placed ahead of monopoly utility interests.”

“SEIA worked tirelessly with our partners to beat back this bill, which would have raised electricity costs for millions of ratepayers during a period of historic inflation,” adds Hopper. “The solar industry is grateful to Governor DeSantis for making this decision in the interest of consumer choice and protecting businesses, which are now ready to keep investing in the Sunshine State and maintain Florida’s place as a national solar leader.”

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Largest BESS in Belgium, EStor-Lux, officially inaugurated

The EStor-Lux BESS project in Wallonia, Belgium. Image: EStor-Lux.

Belgian ministers cut the ribbon on the BESS project. Image: EStor-Lux.

EStor-Lux, Belgium’s battery energy storage system (BESS) at 10MW/20MWh, was officially inaugurated on Tuesday (26 April).

The inauguration ceremony for the BESS was attended by around 100 Belgian energy sector stakeholders including Tinne Van der Straeten, Federal Minister of Energy.

The 480-module lithium-ion BESS, which is in Bastogne in the Wallonia region, has been participating in grid frequency auctions issued by grid operator Elia since December 2021 as reported by Energy-storage.news.

This has mainly been in automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR), a recently-launched soon-to-be pan-European grid service. Since its launch, the BESS has provided over 30GWh of balancing capacity. Centrica Business Solutions is in charge of the optimisation.

Clean Horizon’s head of market analysis Corentin Baschet told Energy-storage.news in February that BESS projects could capture one-third of the aFFR market in the coming years.

The project was launched by a consortium comprising investment groups SRIW, Ackermans & van Haaren, BEWATT, SOCOFE and SOFILUX, engineering and construction firm CFE and Belgian government development organisation IDELUX. The project was not subsidised, the companies said, with up to 50% of financing provided by a non-recourse bank loan.

Other attendees at the inauguration included Willy Borsus, Vice-President and Walloon Minister of Economy, Philippe Henry, Vice-President and Walloon Minister of Climate and Energy, and Benoît Lutgen, Mayor of Bastogne.

The EStor-Lux consortium chairman Bruno Vanderschueren cited four reasons for the project’s success. These were the increased developed of renewable energies and resulting need for flexible resources, the evolution of BESS technology, favourable federal and regional regulatory frameworks and the quality of the consortium’s partners.

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Convergent Powers Additional Solar+Storage Systems in Maryland

One of Convergent Energy + Power’s five solar-plus-storage systems in Maryland

Energy storage solutions provider Convergent Energy + Power has begun operation of three more Maryland-based solar-plus-storage systems developed for Choptank Electrical Cooperative. These systems are in addition to the two systems Convergent has been operating for the utility since 2019. These new systems add 4 MW/8 MWh of storage and over 2 MW of solar PV to Convergent’s existing portfolio in the Delmarva peninsula.

“Adding an energy storage system to existing solar PV is one of the best ways to optimize solar performance, lower energy costs, and increase reliability,” says Frank Genova, Convergent’s COO and CFO. “Convergent has over a decade of expertise developing standalone storage and solar-plus-storage to advance the clean energy transition while maximizing the value and performance of solar for our partners and our customers.”

Beyond these five solar-plus-storage systems Convergent developed and operates in Delmarva peninsula, the company financed and is developing eight more solar-plus-storage systems totaling 37 MW/121 MWh of storage and 56 MW of solar PV in New York.

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