Author: cindy k
Bowman Consulting Group recently announced the purchase of SEI Engineering. Headquartered in Paonia, Colorado, and operating as SEI Professional Services, the company provides a full range of technical services to developers and owners of utility and commercial scale solar energy facilities. The SEIE team is made up of solar and battery storage system designers, engineers and technicians. “Our renewable energy business is growing at a rapid pace and the acquisition of SEIE will serve to accelerate that growth,” said Gary Bowman, CEO of Bowman. “Planning, engineering and commissioning related to the energy transition is a key focus of our growth…
The Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has approved the nation’s first pilot program to determine if closed coal ash storage areas are suitable for utility-scale solar projects. Pending environmental review and regulatory approval, the $216 million pilot project will explore a new approach to reuse a closed coal ash site at the Shawnee Fossil Plant to improve TVA’s clean energy efforts. “The space between implementation and aspiration is where innovation lives,” said Jeff Lyash, president and CEO of TVA. “Achieving a net-zero clean energy future is critical to our nation’s energy security goals and requires new…
Almost a year after the first proposed NEM 3.0 decision sent the state’s solar industry into turmoil, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has released a new version. Today’s proposal includes a transition to net billing, a glide path to slowly transition to the new plan and non-bypassable charges. NOT 3.0 history The CPUC’s initial proposed decision in 2021 includes a shift from net metering to net billing, which allows the dollar value of credits to be set at a different level than the price of energy imports; a Grid Participation Charge for solar customers and a long-term Market Transition…
The International Code Council and FEMA released preliminary results of proposed code changes Friday that would add solar technology to the highest possible hazard category in the 2024 International Building Code. Backed by 300 companies, the Solar Energy Industries Association issued countermeasures to prevent solar technology from moving from risk category I to risk category IV. The ICC has reportedly approved the proposed move to risk category II. “We are grateful to the ICC voters for recognizing how impractical it is to include solar and storage projects as Risk Category 4,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO and president of SEIA.…
Small energy storage provider Electriq Power will merge with TLG Acquisition One, a special purpose public buyout company. Upon closing of the transaction in 2023, the combined company will operate under the name Electriq Power Holdings and will be led by existing Electriq management with Mike Lawrie joining the board as Chairman. “The Electriq team has achieved significant technology and customer milestones over the past two years, and we are ready for the next step in our journey,” said Frank Magnotti, CEO of Electriq. “The success of our new residential energy storage and management platform, combined with the rapidly evolving…
Translucent Energy, a US solar technology company, has entered into a joint-venture with Jordan-based solar panel manufacturer Philadelphia Solar to bring solar modules to the US market. The company, which currently operates as Trading Philadelphia Solar, plans to establish a US manufacturing arm of Philadelphia Solar modules by the end of this year, with full production in the US by 2024. PHENEX module from Philadelphia Solar Phillip Martin, COO of Translucent Energy, said World of Solar Power that the joint-venture has narrowed its US location search to three states and plans to announce its official location in December before ordering…
Hugh McDermott Michigan energy provider Consumers Energy has selected ESS Inc., a manufacturer of long-duration iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications, to provide battery systems for solar and storage microgrids. Consumers Energy will deploy ESS’s Energy Warehouse platform as part of a microgrid powering a gas compression facility in Michigan. The project, which includes the first iron flow battery to be used for a gas compression plant, highlights the capabilities of ESS’s Energy Warehouse to deliver affordable, long-term energy storage over a 20+ year operational lifespan. When paired with solar photovoltaics, the Energy Warehouse provides a…
Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune has awarded Duke Power a $22 million utility power service contract (UESC) for the design and development of a microgrid on the navy base. The microgrid answer consists of upgraded electrical infrastructure; 5 MW of on-site pure gas-fired technology; a 5.4 MW battery power storage system; integration into an present photo voltaic photovoltaic system; and a microgrid controller to supply built-in demand administration, black begin and islanding functionality. “We’re excited to deliver extra power reliability and stability to Camp Lejeune,” stated Melisa Johns, vp of distributed power options at Duke Power. “This challenge affords…
NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) formally accepted a report, entitled Grid Modernization Study: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, which included a comprehensive set of recommendations, and authorized the public release of the report. In recommending the board’s acceptance of the report, staff indicated that the report lays out a framework for modernizing the grid, and its recommendations would greatly improve interconnection rules in New Jersey. The state grid modernization initiative includes research on both state programs and new technologies, organization and implementation of a comprehensive series of stakeholder meetings, and data…
NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) formally accepted a report, entitled Grid Modernization Study: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, which included a comprehensive set of recommendations, and authorized the public release of the report. In recommending the board’s acceptance of the report, staff indicated that the report lays out a framework for modernizing the grid, and its recommendations would greatly improve interconnection rules in New Jersey. The state grid modernization initiative includes research on both state programs and new technologies, organization and implementation of a comprehensive series of stakeholder meetings, and data…