SOLAR+STORAGE,SUSTAINABILITY
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions | November 23, 2022
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is expanding its solar energy portfolio by acquiring the 100-megawatt (MW) Wildflower Solar project from Clearway Energy Group. The solar project will generate enough energy to power approximately 21,000 homes.
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions* is a non-regulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK).
The site, which is expected to begin full construction in late 2022 and achieve commercial operation in late 2023, is located in Desoto County, MS. It will be the first Mississippi based renewable energy project for Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions.
Toyota North America has signed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement for up to 80 MWs of the solar energy produced by the project. The agreement will financially settle on an as-generated basis tied to the project's real-time energy output.
Wildflower Solar, which is located in proximity to Toyota's manufacturing facility in Mississippi, will help the automotive manufacturer replace the high emission electricity used in its operations with zero emissions renewable electricity on the grid. The move represents another major step towards Toyota's goal of achieving carbon neutrality in its operations by 2035.
"We're excited to continue to expand our commercial solar portfolio and enter into the Mississippi market, which will build upon the area's clean energy resources, Once complete, Wildflower Solar will further diversify Mississippi's energy infrastructure, while also reducing Toyota's emissions from its North American operations."
-Chris Fallon, president of Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions.
Our collective future depends on clean mobility, clean air, clean water and biodiversity, said Kevin Butt, director of sustainability for Toyota Motor North America. Renewable energy sources, like solar, are a key to achieving our goal of carbon neutrality and our purchase from Wildflower alone has the potential to reduce Toyota's carbon footprint in North America by as much as 8 percent.
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions will own and operate the project, which is expected to employ 300 at peak construction. Along with indirect economic benefits that accompany solar project development, such as increased local spending in the service and construction industries, the Wildflower Solar facility will also have a positive economic impact on the local community by providing significant tax revenues for the Mississippi public schools.
As one of the nation's top renewable energy providers, Duke Energy has more than 10,500 MW of solar and wind energy.
About Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a leader in sustainable energy, helping large enterprises reduce power costs, lower emissions and increase resiliency. The team provides wind, solar, resilient backup power and managed energy services to over 1,000 projects across the U.S., with a total electric capacity of more than 5,100 megawatts of nonregulated renewable energy.
Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company and one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S., headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.
The brand includes the following subsidiaries of Duke Energy Corporation that are registered to transact business in various states and may be branded as Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions for marketing purposes: Duke Energy One, Inc.; Duke Energy Commercial Enterprises, Inc.; Duke Energy Renewables, Inc.; Duke Energy Renewables Commercial, LLC; Duke Energy Renewable Services, LLC.; Duke Energy Renewables Storage, LLC; Duke Energy Renewables Wind, LLC.; Duke Energy Renewables Solar, LLC.; and REC Solar Commercial Corporation.
About Clearway Energy Group
Clearway Energy Group is leading the transition to a world powered by clean energy. Along with our public affiliate Clearway Energy, Inc., we own and operate more than 8 gigawatts of renewable and conventional energy assets across the country. As we develop a nationwide pipeline of new renewable energy projects for one future, Clearway's 5.7 gigawatts of wind, solar and energy storage assets offset the equivalent of more than 10.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions for our customers today. Clearway Energy Group is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Carlsbad, California; Scottsdale, Arizona; Houston; and Princeton, N.J. For more information, visit clearwayenergygroup.com
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands. Over the past 60 years, we've built more than 40 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.4 million cars and trucks (more than 2.1 million in the U.S.) in 2020.
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STRATEGY AND BEST PRACTICES
IUCN | June 07, 2022
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Huawei, and conservation project partners joined forces to urge for a greater global push to develop and implement innovative technologies to better safeguard the environment.
The two partners held an online summit called "Tech for a Better Planet" to show how technology may dramatically improve nature conservation outcomes, as well as to introduce new digital technologies that are poised to become critical enablers of environmental protection.
The process of responding to environmental concerns has raised awareness of the importance of technology in nature protection.
"We believe that digital technology is a key enabler of environmental protection, All sectors of society should work together within an open and collaborative market environment to apply technological innovations to industries and transform new technologies into solutions and services that can help build a green planet."
-Tao Jingwen, Director of the Board and Director of the Corporate Sustainable Development Committee for Huawei.
Huawei supports the worldwide zero-carbon journey by promoting green development in industries through ICT breakthroughs. To speed the development of renewable energy, the company has merged power electronics and digital technology on the energy supply side. In terms of energy consumption, Huawei will continue to develop energy-saving technologies to improve the energy efficiency of ICT infrastructure, saving energy and lowering emissions in the process.
Huawei has also created long-term partnerships to improve nature conservation outcomes by developing technology solutions that can better comprehend nature and lead to more effective biodiversity protection measures in a variety of environments. IUCN and Huawei started the global Tech4Nature project in 2020, and have since launched pilot programs in Switzerland, Spain, China, Mexico, and Mauritius based on the IUCN Green List Standard.
IUCN, Huawei, and the Ecomode Society deployed the first underwater system in the Western Indian Ocean to monitor coral reef ecosystems in real time off the coast of Mauritius. The project's goal is to rebuild seriously threatened coral reef ecosystems by growing live coral in nurseries, transplanting it, and tracking growth, water conditions, and dangers such as algae.
Underwater cameras with unique lenses, sensors, a 4G network to transport data, and AI to analyse the results are all part of the solution. Nearly 10,000 coral fragments have been transplanted to deteriorated reefs to date, with a total of 25,000 expected by the end of 2022.
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SOLAR+STORAGE
Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure | March 03, 2022
Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure (GSI) announced it has taken a step towards providing more affordable, reliable, and clean access to energy for Americans. The North American solar energy investment and development subsidiary of the Libra Group announced that it has acquired a scalable portfolio of solar developments from AquaSan Network-subsidiary CMDAJ Holdings LLC (CMDAJ). This acquisition positions GSI to provide up to 233 megawatt (MW) in affordable, utility scale solar energy to new markets, including Minnesota, Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Initially, GSI will develop 40 MW of early-stage utility scale solar developments in Minnesota, with the option to build an additional 193 MW in Colorado, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, doubling its current footprint to 10 U.S. states. Following this transaction, Libra Group subsidiaries, including GSI, will be close to reaching the one-gigawatt development mark, proving 950 MW in solar, wind and waste-to-energy with over 220 projects owned, currently under development, or previously developed in six countries.
These developments will provide power to a combination of regulated utilities, investor-owned utilities and U.S. businesses allowing them to purchase solar energy to meet clean energy goals and lock in reduced electricity costs. The portfolio will increase access to reliable, clean energy and promote local job creation and the provision of clean, reliable and renewable water.
We were proud to partner with CMDAJ, a team of experienced renewable energy and water project developers in Denver Colorado, to complete this deal which will increase access to reliable, clean energy and promote local job creation. The company and this transaction represent a key part of the Libra Group's commitment to renewable energy in the Americas and around the world."
Camilo Patrignani, Libra Group EVP of Energy
The U.S. renewable energy market is a multibillion-dollar sector. A global focus on clean power, where many U.S. developers lead the field, has given rise to new solutions with improved technology offering greater efficiencies year upon year. The assets from this deal will be co-owned and co-developed by the GSI and CMDAJ partnership. Once the projects are ready to build, GSI plans to construct and operate the power plants.
"This is a very exciting announcement that will cement GSI's growth plans hand in hand with CMDAJ, and continue to support and advance the nation's transition to a reliable, clean energy future," said Mazen Turk, GSI CEO. "Since the start of operations in 2010, GSI has developed and built over 32 renewable energy assets and this acquisition furthers our exposure to the utility scale energy segment."
"CMDAJ's team has developed over 2 gigawatts of thermal, solar, biomass and wind projects over the last 20 years and this partnership will enable us to expand our development portfolio and vertically integrate our efforts in renewable energy and water" said Carmine Iadarola, CEO of CMDAJ and AquaSan Network, Inc.
About Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure and Libra Group
Greenwood Sustainable Infrastructure is one of the clean energy subsidiaries of the Libra Group, a privately-owned international business group spanning 35 countries across six continents and active in renewable energy, aviation, hospitality, real estate and shipping as well as selected diversified investments.
GSI is focused investment, development, and operation of both distributed generation and utility-scale solar energy projects in North America. As of January 2022, the company developed approximately 200 MW in 32 renewable energy projects, many of which are still owned or operated by GSI. Recent partners include DTE Energy, Delmarva Power, and Duke Energy.
Its sister company, Greenwood Energy Latinoamérica, is currently developing or managing close to 100 MW of on-site solar energy systems for public and private sector organizations wishing to offset their energy costs in Latin America, including the first utility-scale project in Panama. The Libra Group also owns Convergen Latvia, operating three biogas plants in Latvia and EuroEnergy, which operates solar and wind farms across Europe.
About CMDAJ and AquaSan
AquaSan was formed in 1983 by its current CEO Carmine Iadarola to provide administrative and technical services for the water infrastructure business. Over time, Aquasan got involved in the development of renewable energy projects as well and since then had developed 1,100 MWs of natural gas power, 1,000 MWs of wind, and 500 MWs of solar. AquaSan is a family owned business that employs 5 people and has rendered services to companies like Nextera, GCL, Xcel, Dominion, Pine Gate, Candela, Google, Kiewit and others.
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