Tag Archive for: california

GSCE and MCE agreed to collaborate toward California's clean energy future by developing solar+battery storage projects in Fresno County.

MCE signs on for up to 400 MW of new solar + storage in Fresno County

Golden State Clean Energy (GSCE) and MCE have agreed to work together toward California’s clean energy future, building much needed solar + battery storage resources in Fresno County. The master-planned development program known as the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan aims to repurpose up to 130,000 acres of drainage-impaired or water-challenged lands within Westlands Water District in Fresno County to develop transmission infrastructure, solar generation and storage.

At full buildout the plan will include up to 20 GW of solar and 20 MW of energy storage, potentially providing up to one-sixth of California’s electricity requirements in 2035. MCE has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GSCE for up to 400 MW each of solar and battery storage.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Tesla’s virtual power plant (VPP) in California delivered 100 MW of power to help the grid not use gas peaker plants yesterday.

Tesla’s California virtual power plant delivers 100 MW to help the grid

Tesla’s virtual power plant (VPP) in California delivered 100 MW of power to help the grid not use gas peaker plants yesterday.

It’s peaker plant season in California. Heat waves are hitting the region, people are cranking up their ACs, and it is putting quite a load on the electrical grid.

Tesla has been using virtual power plants to aggregate its distributed energy systems, rooftop solar and Powerwall, to provide grid services and get more value for their customers.

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Source: electrek

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New study in the journal Risk Analysis finds that strategically placing resilience hubs in CA could generate up to 8GW of solar energy

New research shows that solar-powered ‘resilience hubs’ in California could generate up to 8GW of power

Power outages are on the rise nationwide as climate change brings more frequent wildfires, heat waves, and severe weather events. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the state of California have both recently established funding to help communities create “resilience hubs” that rely on solar+battery systems to provide emergency power for residents.

A new study in the journal Risk Analysis finds that strategically placing resilience hubs throughout California could generate up to 8 GW of solar energy and lower the state’s carbon emissions by 5 million tons per year.

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Source: Tech Xplore

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For part of almost every day this spring, California produced more electricity than it needed from renewable sources.

California is showing how a big state can power itself without fossil fuels

Something approaching a miracle has been taking place in California this spring. Beginning in early March, for some portion of almost every day, a combination of solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower has been producing more than a hundred per cent of the state’s demand for electricity. Some afternoons, solar panels alone have produced more power than the state uses. And, at night, large utility-scale batteries that have been installed during the past few years are often the single largest source of supply to the grid—sending the excess power stored up during the afternoon back out to consumers across the state. It’s taken years of construction—and solid political leadership in Sacramento—to slowly build this wave, but all of a sudden it’s cresting into view. California has the fifth-largest economy in the world and, in the course of a few months, the state has proved that it’s possible to run a thriving modern economy on clean energy.

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Source: The New Yorker

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California is selected to receive $60M in federal funding as part of a significant effort to build a nationwide climate-ready workforce.

As Earth warms, California gets federal funding to train climate-ready workforce

California is among nine U.S. states and territories selected to receive $60 million in federal funding as part of a significant effort to build a nationwide climate-ready workforce.

The investment from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will support job development efforts in coastal and Great Lakes communities around the country, including $9.5 million to establish the Los Angeles County Climate Ready Employment Council at Long Beach City College.

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Source: Los Angeles Times

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CAISO board approved a proposal to revamp the grid operator’s interconnection process, aiming to clear out a massive queue.

CAISO board approves ‘transformational’ grid interconnection reforms

The California Independent System Operator board on Wednesday approved a proposal to revamp the grid operator’s interconnection process, aiming to clear out a massive queue by favoring projects that it believes are most likely to succeed.

Under what it calls the “transformational reforms,” which federal regulators must approve, CAISO will assess three criteria — commercial interest, project viability and system need — when determining whether a project should move into the interconnection study phase, according to a CAISO staff memo to its board.

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Source: Utility Dive

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About 60% of customers have included battery energy storage with their rooftop solar installation, up from roughly 10% prior.

California is now a batteries-included rooftop solar market

California transitioned its rooftop solar policy on April 15, 2023, eliminated net energy metering (NEM) and moving toward a net billing tariff (NBT) structure. The change essentially cut the rate paid to customers for exporting their excess solar production to the grid by about 80%. On year later, Lawerence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) has released a report evaluating changes in the state’s rooftop solar market.

LNBL found that rooftop solar installations in California were roughly equal in 2023 to 2022. However, 80% of the systems installed were NEM 2.0 installations rushing into interconnection queues before the April 15, 2023 deadline to secure the more lucrative rate structure. To date, about 50,000 systems have been interconnected under the new NBT structure, in addition to 200,000 NEM systems interconnected over the same period.

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Source: PV Magazine

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In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California’s main grid for 69 of the past 75 days.

California exceeds 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 30 days

In a major clean energy benchmark, wind, solar, and hydro exceeded 100% of demand on California’s main grid for 69 of the past 75 days.

May 21 update: Stanford University professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Z. Jacobson continues to track California’s renewables performance – and it’s still exciting. In an update today on Twitter (X), Jacobson reports that California has now exceeded 100% of energy demand with renewables over a record 45 days straight, and 69 out of 75:

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Source: electrek

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Let’s make it easier and cheaper for farmers with dwindling water supplies to convert their lands to solar energy generation.

California farmers are low on water. Why not help them go solar?

It sounds like a climate solution everyone should be able to support: Let’s make it easier and cheaper for farmers with dwindling water supplies to convert their lands from crop production to solar energy generation, if that’s what those farmers want.

So what’s stopping such a bill from sailing through the California Legislature?

“Change can be difficult,” said Shannon Eddy, executive director of the Large-scale Solar Assn.

Tell me about it.

Even as coal, oil and gas combustion fuel an ever-deadlier rise in global temperatures, finding a spot to build a solar or wind farm where no one will object is damn near impossible. Some concerns are legitimate, such as safeguarding wildlife habitat and sacred Indigenous sites. Others, not so much. Take, for example, false claims that living near renewable energy projects can cause health problems — claims that have been spread by groups with ties to the fossil fuel industry, and by former President Trump.

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Source: Los Angeles Times

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In efforts to move towards using clean energy, Watt EV chose Bakersfield to launch their 115-acre electric truck charging depot.

Watt EV launches nation’s first solar-powered truck charging depot in Bakersfield

In efforts to move towards using clean energy, transportation service Watt EV chose Bakersfield to launch their 115-acre electric truck charging depot.

CEO and Co-founder Salim Youssefzadeh said this hub will pave the way for the future of transportation.

Youssefzadeh said, “Having electric truck stops along the way is definitely a step to reducing emissions, and we chose this site initially because it’s on the I-99 corridor and it caters to a lot of the distribution center around us.”

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Source: BakersfieldNow

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