Recent ArticlesEmerging solar markets will come of age in the 2020 as countries from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan to Malaysia join the “gigawatt club.” Outside of the OECD, there are now auctions planned in 44 countries, and a solar project pipeline of 180 gigawatts in almost 120 countries, according to Wood Mackenzie. However, new markets will bring new kinds of challenges for solar. These include the risk of weak offtaker finances leading to power-purchase agreement renegotiations (as in South Africa and Indi...
Long-duration grid storage company Highview Power announced Tuesday it had raised a major equity investment to support its journey to market. Global industrial conglomerate Sumitomo Heavy Industries invested $46 million in Highview, becoming the largest minority shareholder in the company. The money will support Highview’s quest to commercialize large-scale energy storage plants, a crucial component for a power system with large amounts of renewable generation. “For Sumitomo Heavy Industries,...
The global energy storage market quadrupled last year to 4 gigawatts of new installations and will surge to a 15-gigawatt annual market in 2024, even as system price declines slow down, according to Wood Mackenzie. The energy storage industry begins the new decade in the midst of a rapid transformation from a niche market to one at the center of the global energy transition. Most grid-scale projects built over the past decade were limited to shorter-duration applications, such as ancillary ser...
Solar technology is getting cheaper and more efficient. That winning combination means that many of the oldest projects in the global solar fleet may be set for a facelift. Throw in sunsetting subsidies, worthless warranties and a smattering of poorly built projects, and repowering and revamping (the latter involves changes that don’t increase capacity) will be an obvious choice for many developers in the years ahead, creating a big new subsector of the global solar industry. More than 67 gig...
New York state is moving to add an Office of Renewable Energy Permitting to ease the approval process for new renewables projects in the state, under a proposal outlined by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Recently passed legislation requires New York to add 6 gigawatts of solar by 2025 and 3 gigawatts of energy storage by 2030 to help the state reach a zero-carbon electricity mix by 2040. The governor’s office said the new agency would “ensure permitting decisions are predictable, responsible and deliv...
