Home > News > featured news > California's renewable energy glut has a silver lining

California's renewable energy glut has a silver lining

The Economic Times | June 25, 2019

NEW YORK: California wants half its electricity needs to come from renewables by 2025. Yet last month it reduced solar and wind production by the most on record. That's because the Golden State is building so much solar power that there's increasingly more available than can be used - and storage remains expensive. It's a similar story from Beijing to Berlin. It's not a bad problem to have, though. The cost of producing solar power has dropped by more than 80% over the past decade, according to the Department of Energy. That's thanks to both technological improvements and increased economies of scale. It's likely to continue. In many areas of the country wind and solar are already among the cheapest sources of energy; they account for around a fifth of California's electricity needs. Grid demand must match supply, though - or risk damaging equipment or even causing blackouts. So when there's a surfeit of power, prices go negative and force supplies to be taken offline. Last month, California curtailed about 225,000 megawatt hours of electricity from wind and solar. That's a record, equivalent to about 1% of the state's electricity demand and some 25 times as much as was switched off a year earlier.

Spotlight

Decarbonizing Operations is a Business Opportunity for Partners | Schneider Electric

We must re-think and re-invent how we do business to combat climate change. That’s why sustainability is at the heart of Schneider Electric’s purpose, business, culture, and operating model: we walk the talk, and we invite you, our partners, to do the same. By partnering for sustainability, together we can help decarbonize our own operations while helping our mutual customers succeed on their decarbonization journeys, too. Our Sustainability Impact Awards celebrate partners who embrace sustainability. 

More featured news

Spotlight

Decarbonizing Operations is a Business Opportunity for Partners | Schneider Electric

We must re-think and re-invent how we do business to combat climate change. That’s why sustainability is at the heart of Schneider Electric’s purpose, business, culture, and operating model: we walk the talk, and we invite you, our partners, to do the same. By partnering for sustainability, together we can help decarbonize our own operations while helping our mutual customers succeed on their decarbonization journeys, too. Our Sustainability Impact Awards celebrate partners who embrace sustainability. 

Related News

INDUSTRY UPDATES

EDF Renewables North America Executes Agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific

EDF Renewables | February 07, 2023

EDF Renewables North America recently announced that it had signed a 20-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Thermo Fisher Scientific, one of the world leaders in serving science. The VPPA covers the entire output of the 200-megawatt ac/256-megawatt direct current (MWac/MWdc) Millers Branch Solar Project, which is in Texas and will begin commercialization in the year 2025, December. The addition of Miller's Branch to renewable energy procurement portfolio of Thermo Fisher has resulted in the company purchasing enough renewable energy to cover 100% of its present annual electricity consumption in the United States by 2026. According to U.S. (EIA) Energy Information Administration after completion, the project is expected to produce 545,000 MWh of renewable energy annually, sufficient to supply the needs of approximately 51,000 average homes. This will avoid the equivalent the greenhouse gas emissions from 83,000+ gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven in one year, as calculated by the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. As North America's largest renewable developers, EDF Renewables, is committed to offering solutions that meet the carbon-reduction goals of the customers. EDF Renewables, with 35 years of experience and 24 gigawatts of solar, wind, and storage projects developed, offers integrated energy solutions ranging from grid-scale power to electric vehicle charging. About EDF Renewables North America Based in San Diego, California, EDF Renewables one of the North America's market leaders in producing independent power and scale power. Established in 1987, the company has expertise in renewable energy with 35 years of experience. It provides grid-scale power: wind (onshore and offshore), storage projects and solar photovoltaic; distribution-scale power: solar and storage; asset optimization: operational, technical, and commercial expertise to increase the performance of creating projects, and onsite solutions, through its PowerFlex subsidiary. In addition, it offers a full suite of onsite energy solutions for industrial and commercial customers: solar, storage, energy management systems, EV charging, and microgrids.

Read More

INDUSTRY UPDATES

RatedPower Predicts Solar and Renewable Trend in Its Annual Report

Enverus | March 03, 2023

RatedPower (a part of Enverus company), a SaaS platform for the green energy sector, has recently released its annual findings from different industry experts and simulations worldwide and predicted the trends in the solar and renewable energy sector for 2023. According to the findings, renewable energy companies would focus on enhancing the adoption of renewable energy power generation, energy storage investment, reducing the levelized cost of electricity, and fuel diversification at geographical and energy source levels. The green energy industry has faced challenges like supply chain disruption, pandemic influence, increased equipment prices and reduced availability in 2022. During the pandemic, there was an energy crisis, and governments and businesses increased investments in clean energy and decreased reliance on fossil fuel imports along with increasing new global capacity installations. VP of Power & Renewables at Enverus and Co-founder of RatedPower, Andrea Barber said, "In the year ahead, we expect the green transition to provide a massive boost to investments in solar photovoltaics(PV) — for residential, commercial and industrial, and for utility-scale installations. The industry is increasingly looking at ways to incorporate battery storage and clean, green hydrogen into renewable installations to maximize supply." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) General Manager of Power & Renewables at Enverus, Bernadette Johnson said, "The energy evolution is not clearly mapped out for us; it is a winding, twisting road full of potholes. All these twists, turns and bumps make the market one that is full of risk but, more importantly, of opportunity as well. At Enverus, we continue to work endlessly to eliminate the gaps and help you make intelligent connections between all parts of the project lifecycle from siting through operations, so you can minimize investment risks and maximize returns." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) About Enverus Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Enverus, a software development company, provides a single platform for management, development, and acquisition within the whole energy value chain. It offers in-depth analysis, real-time access, insights, benchmark costs, and revenue data and enhances support to the energy strategy with actionable intelligence. It helps green energy companies from early-stage investment to full-scale development. It discovers unseen insights, opportunities, and actions for extraordinary outcomes. Many financial institutions and energy companies count on its analysis, intelligence and technology for capital investment decisions and to increase investor ROI.

Read More

TRANSPORTATION

Stem Integrates with ChargePoint for Joint eMobility Offering

Stem | February 02, 2023

Stem, a global leader in AI-driven sustainable energy solutions and services, recently announced its combined eMobility offering with ChargePoint Holdings, Inc., a major EV charging network. The two companies are collaborating to enable EV charging station owners, developers, and operators to achieve economic, environmental, and resilience benefits. The joint offering will aid asset holders with state and federal procedures for securing National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program funding incentive and the high energy demand EV charging sites to increase operational savings and backup power. In addition, the integration will reduce costs, increase resilience, minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, facilitate data sharing, and improve user experience. CEO of Stem John Carrington said, “Stem is excited to partner with ChargePoint to help customers quickly design, develop, and operate cost-effective EV charging infrastructure projects that deliver real value. Electrification of transportation is creating a new load category that is expected to equal one-third of all U.S. electrical load. For Stem, eMobility is expected to represent approximately 50% of our behind-the-meter activity in three years, representing a multi-billion opportunity with our Fortune 500 customers.” (Source – Business Wire) Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, stated, “An integrated ChargePoint and Stem solution broadens the number of sites that can support high-speed charging economically at scale.” (Source – Business Wire) About Stem As the first public pure-play smart energy storage company, Stem delivers and runs battery storage solutions that maximize renewable energy generation and construct a cleaner, more resilient grid. Project developers, utilities, Fortune 500 corporations, and independent power producers are its clientele. Stem's Athena software is used by the largest network of distributed energy storage systems in the world to lower energy prices and make renewable energy less unpredictable.

Read More

INDUSTRY UPDATES

EDF Renewables North America Executes Agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific

EDF Renewables | February 07, 2023

EDF Renewables North America recently announced that it had signed a 20-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Thermo Fisher Scientific, one of the world leaders in serving science. The VPPA covers the entire output of the 200-megawatt ac/256-megawatt direct current (MWac/MWdc) Millers Branch Solar Project, which is in Texas and will begin commercialization in the year 2025, December. The addition of Miller's Branch to renewable energy procurement portfolio of Thermo Fisher has resulted in the company purchasing enough renewable energy to cover 100% of its present annual electricity consumption in the United States by 2026. According to U.S. (EIA) Energy Information Administration after completion, the project is expected to produce 545,000 MWh of renewable energy annually, sufficient to supply the needs of approximately 51,000 average homes. This will avoid the equivalent the greenhouse gas emissions from 83,000+ gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven in one year, as calculated by the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. As North America's largest renewable developers, EDF Renewables, is committed to offering solutions that meet the carbon-reduction goals of the customers. EDF Renewables, with 35 years of experience and 24 gigawatts of solar, wind, and storage projects developed, offers integrated energy solutions ranging from grid-scale power to electric vehicle charging. About EDF Renewables North America Based in San Diego, California, EDF Renewables one of the North America's market leaders in producing independent power and scale power. Established in 1987, the company has expertise in renewable energy with 35 years of experience. It provides grid-scale power: wind (onshore and offshore), storage projects and solar photovoltaic; distribution-scale power: solar and storage; asset optimization: operational, technical, and commercial expertise to increase the performance of creating projects, and onsite solutions, through its PowerFlex subsidiary. In addition, it offers a full suite of onsite energy solutions for industrial and commercial customers: solar, storage, energy management systems, EV charging, and microgrids.

Read More

INDUSTRY UPDATES

RatedPower Predicts Solar and Renewable Trend in Its Annual Report

Enverus | March 03, 2023

RatedPower (a part of Enverus company), a SaaS platform for the green energy sector, has recently released its annual findings from different industry experts and simulations worldwide and predicted the trends in the solar and renewable energy sector for 2023. According to the findings, renewable energy companies would focus on enhancing the adoption of renewable energy power generation, energy storage investment, reducing the levelized cost of electricity, and fuel diversification at geographical and energy source levels. The green energy industry has faced challenges like supply chain disruption, pandemic influence, increased equipment prices and reduced availability in 2022. During the pandemic, there was an energy crisis, and governments and businesses increased investments in clean energy and decreased reliance on fossil fuel imports along with increasing new global capacity installations. VP of Power & Renewables at Enverus and Co-founder of RatedPower, Andrea Barber said, "In the year ahead, we expect the green transition to provide a massive boost to investments in solar photovoltaics(PV) — for residential, commercial and industrial, and for utility-scale installations. The industry is increasingly looking at ways to incorporate battery storage and clean, green hydrogen into renewable installations to maximize supply." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) General Manager of Power & Renewables at Enverus, Bernadette Johnson said, "The energy evolution is not clearly mapped out for us; it is a winding, twisting road full of potholes. All these twists, turns and bumps make the market one that is full of risk but, more importantly, of opportunity as well. At Enverus, we continue to work endlessly to eliminate the gaps and help you make intelligent connections between all parts of the project lifecycle from siting through operations, so you can minimize investment risks and maximize returns." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) About Enverus Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Enverus, a software development company, provides a single platform for management, development, and acquisition within the whole energy value chain. It offers in-depth analysis, real-time access, insights, benchmark costs, and revenue data and enhances support to the energy strategy with actionable intelligence. It helps green energy companies from early-stage investment to full-scale development. It discovers unseen insights, opportunities, and actions for extraordinary outcomes. Many financial institutions and energy companies count on its analysis, intelligence and technology for capital investment decisions and to increase investor ROI.

Read More

TRANSPORTATION

Stem Integrates with ChargePoint for Joint eMobility Offering

Stem | February 02, 2023

Stem, a global leader in AI-driven sustainable energy solutions and services, recently announced its combined eMobility offering with ChargePoint Holdings, Inc., a major EV charging network. The two companies are collaborating to enable EV charging station owners, developers, and operators to achieve economic, environmental, and resilience benefits. The joint offering will aid asset holders with state and federal procedures for securing National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program funding incentive and the high energy demand EV charging sites to increase operational savings and backup power. In addition, the integration will reduce costs, increase resilience, minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, facilitate data sharing, and improve user experience. CEO of Stem John Carrington said, “Stem is excited to partner with ChargePoint to help customers quickly design, develop, and operate cost-effective EV charging infrastructure projects that deliver real value. Electrification of transportation is creating a new load category that is expected to equal one-third of all U.S. electrical load. For Stem, eMobility is expected to represent approximately 50% of our behind-the-meter activity in three years, representing a multi-billion opportunity with our Fortune 500 customers.” (Source – Business Wire) Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint, stated, “An integrated ChargePoint and Stem solution broadens the number of sites that can support high-speed charging economically at scale.” (Source – Business Wire) About Stem As the first public pure-play smart energy storage company, Stem delivers and runs battery storage solutions that maximize renewable energy generation and construct a cleaner, more resilient grid. Project developers, utilities, Fortune 500 corporations, and independent power producers are its clientele. Stem's Athena software is used by the largest network of distributed energy storage systems in the world to lower energy prices and make renewable energy less unpredictable.

Read More

More featured news