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Clean power deployments neared record in Q1, but development pipeline growth slowed: ACP
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. Eight of the top 10 states for utility-scale clean energy deployment in the first quarter of 2025 voted Republican in last year's Presidential election, the American Clean Power Association said on Thursday. Texas was the runaway leader with more than 1,700 MW of wind, solar and energy storage deployments and a 20% year-over-year increase in total clean energy capacity. Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Wyoming rounded out the top five, ACP said. The 7.4 GW of new clean power capacity in the U.S. was the second-strongest Q1 on record. Energy storage was the fastest-growing segment, with nationwide battery storage capacity increasing 65% year over year. Total utility-scale clean energy deployments in the first quarter of this year came in 9% shy of the record-setting first quarter of 2024, when developers commissioned 8,089 MW of wind, solar and storage capacity, ACP said. ACP's data reflects the increasingly broad geography of utility-scale solar and storage deployments. Indiana quadrupled its energy storage capacity, adding 435 MW, while Illinois, Mississippi, Wisconsin and Ohio all deployed far more solar than California. Total U.S. clean energy capacity sits at about 320.9 GW — of which, 80.7 GW is in Texas, ACP said. The clean power development pipeline expanded as well, growing 12% year over year to reach about 184.4 GW and an estimated $328 billion in completed value. But that marks a slowdown from a year ago, when fully permitted clean power capacity under construction or in advanced development rose 26% from Q1 2023. Developers have canceled more than $14 billion in clean energy projects so far this year amid uncertainty over the future of federal tax credits for clean energy investment, production and manufacturing, according to the consulting group E2. ACP's latest report hinted at the scale of the potential risk to state and local economies if the House GOP's proposed rapid wind-down of energy tax credits remains in the final budget reconciliation bill that now sits before the Senate. Domestic manufacturing and energy production investments now generate $3.4 billion in annual tax revenue and landowner payments in rural communities and have created nearly 650,000 jobs, ACP said. 'We have the technology, investment capital and workforce required to build the $300+ billion of clean energy projects in our development pipeline,' Grumet said, describing those projects as shovel-ready. 'The greatest threat to a reliable energy system is an unreliable political system.' Utilities and independent power producers across the South, Midwest and West have proposed dozens of gigawatts of new gas-fired generation projects since 2023, including an up to 4.5-GW project in western Pennsylvania that could begin operations next year and eventually become the United States' largest gas power plant. But utility-scale gas power plant developers that have yet to order turbines may not get them for years as executives for major turbine OEMs GE Vernova, Mitsubishi and Siemens Energy warn of multi-year backlogs. Solar installations with signed interconnection agreements are comparatively fast to deploy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In 2023, the median solar project took 25 months from interconnection signing to commissioning and only about 19% of solar projects had to delay commissioning — a decrease from 23% in 2022, they said Recommended Reading House's 60-day deadline for IRA eligibility would trigger 'scramble': EY experts
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2 days ago
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California could nearly double generation capacity using surplus interconnection: Berkeley report
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. California could accelerate the deployment of clean energy and save billions of dollars by adding more generation and storage at underutilized interconnections for existing power plants, according to a working paper by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission opened the door for new sources to use surplus interconnection with Order 845 in 2018. Several experts said the research was promising, but the California Independent System Operator said the report likely 'significantly overstates' commercial interest and feasibility. Like many states, California is facing a congested interconnection queue, costly transmission upgrades and rising retail electricity rates. The Berkeley paper, which has not been peer-reviewed, claims to have analyzed hundreds of existing renewable and thermal plants in California and identified potential for 53 GW of additional clean energy capacity, including wind and solar, as well as 23 GW of storage, through surplus interconnection. In total, it says that adding 76 GW of clean energy capacity could nearly double the state's installed generation capacity, which was 89 GW in 2024, according to the California Energy Commission. The report was published earlier this month along with an interactive map of surplus interconnection. The paper concludes that, in general, both renewable and fossil fuel generators underutilize their interconnections, but this is especially true of gas-powered peaker plants. Overall, the paper says about 16 GW of fossil fuel capacity is operating only 15% of the time or less. 'So for 85% of the time, the connection where that gas plant is sending electricity to the grid is essentially idle,' said Umed Paliwal, one of the report's authors and a senior scientist at Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. 'What if you could add solar and wind near these underutilized interconnections? … This is a very fast way to bring capacity online.' In an emailed response to questions, a spokesperson for CAISO said the grid operator currently has 230 GW of resources in its interconnection queue, and has 'awarded deliverability' to about 60 GW. They said a surplus interconnection service pathway is already available under the ISO tariff, however, 'we have not seen significant interest in this approach from developers.' Michael Davidson, an assistant professor at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Jacobs School of Engineering, called the report 'interesting,' but added that he would like to see more details of its methodology. 'I believe the authors propose a creative solution to partially addressing the interconnection bottleneck,' he wrote in an email. However, he continued, one cannot make a straightforward comparison between gas plants and renewables in terms of levelized costs. 'If a gas peaker plant is only operating 1% of the year, it is because those are the hours in which prices are high enough to justify operation,' Davidson said. 'In addition to capacity factor utilization, future analyses should examine how much the existing thermal plants are utilizing the interconnection during peak periods, and therefore how much additional supply can be put on the grid when it is needed most.' Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, wrote in an email that the paper's results are 'credible in principle, although it is hard to confirm the exact numbers.' 'There is bound to be low-hanging fruit' in terms of adding wind, solar and storage to existing interconnection sites, he said. Recommended Reading California targets up to 2 GW of long-duration storage as part of 10.6 GW clean energy procurement
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3 days ago
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Vistra solar, battery projects in MISO face supply chain delays
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. Vistra on Tuesday asked federal regulators for two-year extensions to interconnection deadlines for solar and battery storage projects in Illinois totaling 833 MW, saying the independent power producer faces multi-year wait times to acquire key equipment. The projects include 440 MW of solar and 106 MW of battery storage at the retired coal-fired Edwards power plant in Bartonsville and 287 MW of storage at the retired coal-fired Joppa power plant in Joppa, according to filings Vistra made at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The projects have been in development since at least 2022. 'The petitioners have been diligently pursuing the development of these resources, which can make an important contribution towards meeting resource adequacy needs in Illinois and the [Midcontinent Independent System Operator] region,' Vistra said in its requests at FERC. However, supply chain constraints, growing demand for electrical equipment spurred by Inflation Reduction Act incentives and rapid load growth have significantly increased the time it takes to get critical equipment, according to Vistra. 'These supply chain constraints have been compounded by uncertainty and disruption arising from recent increases in import duties and continued uncertainty regarding the future trajectory of U.S. trade policy,' the Irving, Texas-based company said. Vistra has signed contracts reserving capacity with an equipment supplier for needed transformers, but the supplier expects it cannot deliver them until the fourth quarter of 2029, according to the filings. Also, Vistra's suppliers expect it will take three years to deliver breakers for the projects rather than the 12 to 18 months that typically have been required to obtain the equipment, the company said. Vistra has interconnection agreements that set an Aug. 31, 2028, commercial operation deadline for the Joppa battery project and a Dec. 31, 2028, deadline for the Edwards project. The company asked FERC to extend the deadlines by two years. 'The petitioners will not have the certainty necessary to move forward with procurement and construction unless they have certainty that their [generation interconnection agreement] will not be terminated for failing to meet the existing deadline for achieving commercial operation,' Vistra said. Vistra said its waiver requests meet FERC's standards for issuing waivers from grid operators' rules, including that the waiver does not have undesirable consequences, such as harming third parties. The company asked FERC to approve its Edwards waiver request by June 27 and the Joppa request by July 23. Vistra's challenges in acquiring equipment for its projects comes as MISO, the PJM Interconnection and other grid operators face tightening power supply conditions, partly because of growing electric demand. Earlier this year, FERC approved a PJM proposal to speed the interconnection of roughly 11.8 GW of planned capacity. The Southwest Power Pool proposed a similar process at FERC on May 22 while the agency on May 16 rejected a proposal by MISO. Recommended Reading Transformer supply bottleneck threatens power system stability as load grows
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3 days ago
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Trump aims for 400 GW of nuclear by 2050, 10 large reactors under construction by 2030
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. The White House wants to deploy 300 GW of net new nuclear capacity by 2050 and have 10 large reactors under construction in the U.S. by 2030 while expanding domestic nuclear fuel supplies, according to an executive order President Trump signed Friday. Trump signed three other orders on Friday to accelerate Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviews of reactor license applications and reconsider strict NRC radiation limits; expand departments of Energy and Defense roles in nuclear power plant licensing and siting; and speed up deployment of new test reactors. Nuclear power advocates hailed the orders as a boon for the industry, but warned that staff cuts at NRC and DOE could slow progress. A representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists said the proposed reforms would make the public less safe. Shares of publicly-traded advanced nuclear and reactor fuel companies soared on Friday, suggesting investors see Trump's orders as more than just words on paper. Oklo, the advanced reactor developer previously chaired by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, was up more than 20% since Friday afternoon. Oklo's shares got another boost Tuesday morning as it announced a design and development partnership with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to accelerate deployment of its Aurora powerhouses. Shares of small modular reactor developer NuScale and uranium suppliers Centrus Energy and Uranium Energy also rose more than 20% in Friday and early Tuesday trading. Trump's 'Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base' executive order called on Wright and other cabinet secretaries to develop a national policy for spent nuclear fuel management. The order singles out recycling and reprocessing activities that could benefit companies like Oklo, which plans to build fuel reprocessing capabilities and is developing reactors that can run on recycled fuel. Another order, 'President Donald J. Trump Deploys Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security,' calls on Wright 'to release at least 20 metric tons of high-assay low-enriched uranium into a readily available fuel bank for private sector projects operating nuclear reactors to power AI infrastructure at DOE sites.' Congress last year banned Russian uranium imports from 2028, cutting off a key supply of HALEU in particular and adding urgency to ongoing federal efforts to expand domestic supplies. 'Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base' also calls for the DOE Loan Programs Office to prioritize support for construction of new large reactors and 5 GW of power uprates to existing reactors by 2030. It specifically mentions support for 'completing construction of nuclear reactors that was prematurely suspended,' signaling possible LPO support for the completion of the two unfinished AP1000 reactors at Santee Cooper's VC Summer site in South Carolina. Recent changes at DOE could undermine that goal, Nuclear Innovation Alliance President and CEO Judi Greenwald said in a statement. 'Recent DOE staffing reductions and proposed budget cuts undermine the Department's efforts and make it harder to implement these executive orders,' Greenwald said. 'We urge the Administration and Congress to adequately resource and staff DOE to meet this moment.' Greenwald said proposed NRC process changes in another executive order, 'President Donald J. Trump Directs Reform of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,' while well-intentioned, could also prove counterproductive. 'NIA has long thought it is important that NRC improve the efficiency of its activities,' she said. 'However …[o]ur assessment is that NRC is already making significant progress on reform in compliance with congressional direction including the 2024 ADVANCE Act. It is in everyone's interest that this progress continue and not be undermined by staffing cuts or upended by conflicting directives.' Greenwald added that the 'effectiveness, efficiency and independence' of the NRC is essential for public confidence in nuclear power and for ongoing efforts to commercialize and export nuclear technology. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, was more blunt in a statement that also criticized the administration's proposal to involve other federal departments in nuclear reactor siting, licensing and fuel supply. 'The U.S. nuclear industry will fail if safety is not made a priority,' Lyman said. 'By fatally compromising the independence and integrity of the NRC, and by encouraging pathways for nuclear deployment that bypass the regulator entirely, the Trump administration is virtually guaranteeing that this country will see a serious accident or other radiological release that will affect the health, safety and livelihoods of millions.' Setting aside potential safety risks, involving the departments of defense and energy could cause needless confusion for nuclear technology developers, said Atomic Canyon CEO Trey Lauderdale. 'New capabilities for the Department of Defense and DOE to license and oversee projects could actually create additional red tape as companies navigate between three new potential oversight bodies instead of one,' Lauderdale said. Recommended Reading Nuclear industry 'facing some headwinds' amid congressional budget fight: NEI CEO
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4 days ago
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ABB launches BESS-as-a-service business model
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. ABB announced last week that it will now offer a Battery Energy Storage Systems-as-a-service solution that allows companies to deploy battery storage without upfront investment, with ABB managing deployment, maintenance and optimization. 'The offer includes all hardware, software and lifecycle support,' ABB said in a Wednesday release, 'so businesses can focus on their core operations while improving energy efficiency, resilience and long-term sustainability.' ABB said it will offer BESS-as-a-service in partnership with GridBeyond, using GridBeyond's AI-driven platform to '[optimize] the performance of ABB's BESS-as-a-Service assets [and enable] real-time energy optimisation, demand-side response participation, and access to new revenue streams in global energy markets.' 'In addition, GridBeyond's platform will deliver accurate energy price forecasting to optimise energy storage operations enabling informed decision-making, allowing for strategic charging and discharging that aligns with market dynamics and prolong the life of batteries,' GridBeyond said in a Wednesday release. ABB said it designed BESS-as-a-service to be 'technology agnostic' and work with any type of battery technology. The company described the product as supporting a shift from capital expenditures, or upfront investments, to operational expenditures, or day-to-day costs. 'Customers tell us that while they want to deploy the latest technologies to improve energy security and reduce their emissions and costs, they face financial obstacles,' said Stuart Thompson, division president of ABB's Electrification Service Division. 'We see BESS-as-a-Service as not just a new offering but a strategic lever for the division's growth and innovation. We see significant potential to scale this globally.' GridBeyond said it and ABB will also collaborate with Tallarna, a climate tech and finance platform, which will '[bring] its data analytics software, insurance solutions, and financing expertise to de-risk BESS projects and provide visibility into the financial benefits of these initiatives.' Recommended Reading Electricity consumption is rising, driving solar, storage expansion: EIA
