The CSP pilot project will showcase CSP technology, which could be useful for various clean energy purposes,

DOE breaks ground on concentrating solar power facility in New Mexico

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that it has broken ground on the Generation 3 Particle Pilot Plant (G3P3), a concentrating solar-thermal pilot project, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The project will showcase concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) technology, which could be useful for various clean energy purposes, from producing power to providing long-term energy storage.

“Next-generation CSP has the potential to be a game-changer,” Alejandro Moreno, acting assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the Department of Energy, said in a statement. “This pilot facility will demonstrate how CSP systems can meet the challenges of providing long-duration energy storage while reducing costs and complexity for solar thermal technology. At the same time, it also provides a pathway to commercialization for industrial process heat.”

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Source: Eco Watch

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Arevon Energy and San Diego Community Power broke ground on the Vikings Energy Farm, a solar + storage power plant in Holtville, CA.

Unique solar peaker plant breaks ground in California

Arevon Energy and San Diego Community Power broke ground on the Vikings Energy Farm, a solar + storage power plant in Holtville, California. The project was first announced in May 2021.

The Vikings Energy Farm is among the first solar peaker plants in the United States. The facility’s unique 1:1 configuration — 137 MW of solar, coupled with 150 MW/600 MWh of battery energy storage — will allow it to shift daytime solar production to late afternoon and evening hours, providing on-peak energy whenever necessary. The Vikings Energy Farm will feature the Tesla Megapack for battery energy storage and First Solar thin-film solar modules.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Auckland Airport plans to power up its roofs with the country’s largest rooftop solar array on its new Mānawa Bay outlet centre.

Auckland Airport to build giant rooftop solar array

Auckland Airport plans to power up its roofs with the country’s largest rooftop solar array on its new Mānawa Bay outlet centre.

The array on the 35,000m² building under construction to the north-east of the airport precinct, would generate 2.3 megawatts of electricity. That was enough to meet the equivalent of 80% of the 100-store mall’s power usage when it opened next year, chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui​ said.

The $300 million transport hub under construction opposite the international terminal would support another solar array of 1.2MW on its 14,000m² roof, enough to power the attached office building and electric vehicle charging stations within the car park, she said.

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Source: Stuff

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Iconic Australian beer brand XXXX will be brewed using 100% clean energy from Lightsource bp’s 176 MW Woolooga solar farm.

Drinkers encouraged to ‘give a XXXX’ as brewer goes solar

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Lion-owned XXXX Brewery has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to satisfy 100% of the electricity needs for the 144-year-old XXXX brewery in Brisbane, Australia, from the AUD 130 million ($90 million) Woolooga solar farm.

The Woolooga project – under development near Gympie, Queensland, by oil giant bp’s renewables joint venture with UK solar company Lightsource – has already commenced generation. It is expected to achieve full production early this year.

Lion’s latest XXXX brand campaign asks Australians to “give a XXXX” about the world and environment, and claims the offtake agreement will see the company reach its target of 100% purchased renewable electricity by 2025 in Australia, two years ahead of schedule.

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Source: PV Magazine

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NGOs and governments have implemented renewable energy plans in different communities in the Amazon with positive results.

Electricity day and night: Solar power is changing isolated Amazon communities

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Growing up, Maria de Fátima Batista often studied in the dark, using a candle or lantern for light because the riverine community where she lives in Brazil’s Amazon did not have electricity.

Today, aged 58, Batista, her family and the rest of the Terra Firme community, which sits by the banks of the Madeira River in Rondônia state, now have 24-hour electricity via solar panels and batteries, installed last year by local firm (re)energisa, the renewables arm of Brazil’s Energisa Group.

Her grandchildren don’t need a candle or lamp to study when it gets dark; she freezes foodstuffs, including the baked goods she sells, and the community now communicates in real time with local authorities.

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Source: MONGABAY

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Spain-based water utility Miya has expanded its activities to the renewables sector with the acquisition of a stake in Xfloat.

Spanish water utility sets sights on floating solar

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Approved by the company and its shareholders, the acquisition is part of Miya’s growth strategy based on expanding its activities in the field of green energy and efficiency.

The transaction will allow Miya to build upon its experience in delivering more efficient water systems to develop projects in the renewables sector using a unique technology focused on maximizing efficiency in the operation of floating solar plants and to participate in future power generation projects

According to Miya, it sees the floating solar technology as an additional way to deliver better results to water utilities around the world ensuring all their assets including water reservoirs are utilized in the most efficient manner.

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Source: Offshore Energy

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The Home Depot is partnering with DSD Renewables to install 13MW of solar power on the rooftops at 25 store locations in California.

The Home Depot is installing 13MW of solar power across California

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The Home Depot is partnering with DSD Renewables (DSD) to install 13 megawatts (MW) of solar power on the rooftops at 25 store locations in California. This is a part of The Home Depot’s renewable energy goal to produce or procure 100 percent renewable energy equivalent to the electricity needs for all Home Depot facilities by 2030.

Construction is set to start early this year. These panels will generate more than 17 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean energy annually and provide direct power to the different store locations.

Currently, the company operates rooftop solar farms on more than 80 stores and electricity-generating fuel cells in more than 200 stores.

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Source: CSR Wire

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Lightsource bp has built a pair of solar farms in CO that double as carbon sinks and help to preserve 3,000 acres of shortgrass prairie, too.

New solar farm is a carbon sink & prairie preserver, too

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A movement is afoot to quash utility-scale solar development on farmland in the US, but the case for rural solar keeps expanding in new and different directions. In the latest example, Lightsource bp has built a pair of solar farms in Colorado that double as carbon sinks and help to preserve 3,000 acres of shortgrass prairie, too.

Solar developers like farmland because it is relatively flat, treeless, and exposed to sun. Roads and transmission infrastructure are pluses, too.

As for local opposition, that is a matter of local concern. However, if the objections come down to aesthetics and appropriate use of land, that is a matter of historical perspective. Farms look bucolic enough on the outside, but beneath those amber waves of grain is formerly virgin land that has been stripped of its natural state, robbed of its biodiversity, commercialized, and industrialized for generations with machines, herbicides and pesticides.

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Source: Clean Technica

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The first US pilot that will site solar panels over irrigation canals is going to deploy long-duration iron flow battery storage.

US’s first solar panels over canals pilot will deploy iron flow batteries

Project Nexus is a $20 million pilot in California’s Turlock Irrigation District that launched in October of last year. The project team is exploring solar over canal design, deployment, and co-benefits using canal infrastructure and the electrical grid.

India already has solar panels over canals, but Project Nexus is the first of its kind in the US.

The Turlock Irrigation District was the first irrigation district formed in California in 1887. It provides irrigation water to 4,700 growers who farm around 150,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley.

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Source: electrek

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Sunrun plans to create a 30-MW virtual power plant by enrolling up to 7,500 rooftop solar and battery systems in PG&E’s footprint.

Sunrun, PG&E to roll out 30-MW virtual power plant to support California grid in the summer

Solar and battery storage provider Sunrun announced plans on Monday to create a 30-MW virtual power plant by enrolling up to 7,500 existing and new rooftop solar and battery systems in Pacific Gas & Electric’s footprint.

Storage systems that enroll in the program will be asked to discharge power to the grid every day between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. from August through October, a period when electricity demand in California tends to be the highest. Customers will be compensated with a $750 upfront payment and be given a free smart thermostat.

While virtual power plants are not a new technology, this one is different in that it is laser-focused on the peak of the summer, said Scott Peattie, director of business development with Sunrun. “[I]t will be reliably dispatching every day, so we’re not going to be waiting for an emergency alert from [the California Independent System Operator,]” Peattie said.

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Source: Utility Dive

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