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Juwi is commissioning the largest American PV project in the history of the company in Colorado

January 17, 2025 ryansheehanrts

At the beginning of January, the two US companies Deriva Energy and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced the start of commercial operation of the Spanish Peaks Solar project, which has a module output of 180 megawatts (DC) in Las Animas County, Colorado. The power generated by the facility will be sold to the utility-owned Tri-State cooperative under two long-term power purchase agreements. Spanish Peaks Solar is expected to produce over 370 million kilowatt-hours annually.

“This project will provide the community with affordable and reliable solar power while contributing to the transition to renewable energy. We are grateful for the support of all who have helped make this possible and look forward to continuing to provide Colorado with renewable energy,” said John Clapp, CEO of Deriva Energy.

Solar farm generates tax revenue

“Tri-State members will benefit from low-cost power from Spanish Peaks Solar while helping put us on track to achieve 50% renewable energy use by the end of 2025,” said Duane Highley, CEO of Tri-State. ”Deriva Energy and Juwi have been great partners in supporting our mission of delivering reliable, affordable, and responsible power to our members.”

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The 180 MW Spanish Peaks Solar project is located in the Tri-State member San Isabel Electric Association (SIEA) service territory, near the San Isabel Solar Project, which also provides power to Tri-State members. The solar farm will also generate tax revenue. The revenue from the Spanish Peaks Solar project also supports the Ambulance District in Trinidad, Colorado, the Reorganized School District in Aguilar, Colorado, the Spanish Peaks-Purgatoire River Conservation District and the Fire Protection District in Spanish Peaks-Boncarbo, Colorado, among others.

Also see: Juwi sells largest portfolio to date with 267 megawatts of solar capacity

“Spanish Peaks Solar showcases the benefits that new energy projects provide to both Tri-State’s member utilities and the rural communities where the projects are located,” said Don Keairns, SIEA board member and Tri-State board vice chair. “Spanish Peaks Solar is part of Tri-State’s reliable, affordable, and diverse portfolio of resources serving San Isabel Electric Association and the other members, and brings new investment and taxes to southern Colorado.”

Deriva Energy and Juwi share operations and maintenance

Deriva Energy acquired the Spanish Peaks Solar project from Juwi in January 2024. The commercial operation of Spanish Peaks underscores Deriva Energy’s commitment to providing economical solutions for the energy transition, but also positions the company as a key developer for the clean energy landscape in the region. Spanish Peaks is Deriva Energy’s sixth renewable energy project in Colorado. The plant began commercial operation on Thursday, December 26, 2024.

Also see: Juwi builds 500 megawatts of solar power in Colorado

Juwi was responsible for the development and engineering, procurement, and construction of the Spanish Peaks Solar Project, with the Boulder, Colorado-based JSI Construction Group serving as the primary general contractor. The projects began construction in late 2023 and created more than 230 jobs on site at peak periods. The solar photovoltaic modules used in the projects were procured by Deriva Energy. Deriva Energy will share operations and maintenance responsibilities with Juwi, as the plants will employ nine full-time staff. In total, Juwi has now realized 25 projects in the USA with a total capacity of almost 700 megawatts (DC) since 2009, and a further 300 megawatts (DC) are currently under construction.

Low-cost financing from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

“We are pleased with the timely completion of Spanish Peaks Solar. This achievement underscores our commitment to implementing cost-effective, high-quality solar projects. The timely completion of the project is a result of close collaboration with Deriva Energy, Tri-State, SIEA, and the local community and government in Las Animas County. The dedication and hard work of the Juwi team, coupled with our reliable subcontractors, were essential to the success of the project,” said Michael Martin, CEO of Juwi Inc.

The Spanish Peaks Solar projects are supported in part by low-cost financing from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program. This program empowers Tri-State members and rural communities in four states to provide reliable, affordable energy to meet growing demand. (hcn)

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Solar Energy

Desert Blume project: long-term storage for solar parks

November 6, 2024 ryansheehanrts

This is the first time that the battery storage manufacturer Cmblu Energy has delivered an organic large-scale storage system of this size to an energy utility in the USA.

The company, along with Arizona-based Salt River Project (SRP), announced the successful launch of the joint pilot project “Desert Blume,” which will integrate a 5-megawatt, 50-megawatt-hour capacity organic solid-flow battery into an existing and expanding solar farm near the major U.S. city of Phoenix by the end of 2025.

SRP’s Copper Crossing Energy and Research Center is already home to a 20-megawatt solar farm, which will be joined by another 55 megawatts of photovoltaics, a 99-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant and several heat-resistant long-term battery storage systems without lithium-ion technology by 2026.

“Desert Blume” aims to prove performance and efficiency of SolidFlow battery

The project will serve as a pilot to demonstrate the performance and efficiency benefits that the non-flammable, solid as well as liquid electrolyte-based Organic SolidFlow batteries can deliver in the challenging environment of the Arizona desert. At the same time, they provide over 1,000 homes with a maximum of ten hours of excess clean energy from Arizona’s solar farms. Cmblu Energy expects its recyclable battery system, based on environmentally friendly materials, to be able to store and re-inject energy two to three times longer per cycle than conventional lithium-ion technology, which is typically designed to store energy for one to four hours.

“Desert Blume” is expected to make a correspondingly clear case for the cost-effectiveness of the innovative and sustainable technology once it starts operating. Storage operation will be monitored by the renowned Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which will validate the battery’s performance data under the hot and dry environmental conditions in Arizona. As recently as July 2023, Arizona had experienced several heat records.

SRP and Cmblu Energy are optimistic about their future collaboration

“We are excited about the privilege of working with Cmblu and gaining experience with this highly innovative technology,” said Jim Pratt, CEO of SRP. “The SolidFlow battery will be a useful addition to SRP’s energy system, helping to provide stored power for longer periods of time, especially during periods of high and fluctuating energy demand from customers in the Valley of the Sun. It will be a helpful addition to SRP’s many renewable systems and storage projects, which typically can only store energy for up to four hours.”

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“Desert Blume is an important project to validate large-scale Organic SolidFlow batteries and promote safe, sustainable, long-term energy storage in the United States,” explained Ben Kaun, president of Cmblu Energy’s U.S. subsidiary. “We are very excited to partner with SRP to help the utility rapidly transition to clean energy and to have the opportunity to demonstrate our technology in the southwestern United States. Phoenix is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country with large solar potential, making it an ideal environment for next-generation long-term storage.”

U.S. market with huge potential for Cmblu Energy – exhibtion in September

SRP had decided to collaborate with Cmblu Energy after an RFP for long-term storage from emerging energy storage companies. Production of battery storage for the Desert Flower project is scheduled to start in early 2025. Following the announcement of a pilot battery storage project in cooperation with Milwaukee-based WEC Energy, the cooperation with SRP is now the second major entrepreneurial milestone for Cmblu Energy in the US. The U.S. market is particularly attractive for storage companies in view of the high energy demand, rather unstable power grids and government subsidy programs, and the demand for scalable storage without conflict raw materials is particularly high here.

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At the industry’s leading trade fair RE+, which will take place in Las Vegas from September 11 to 14, Cmblu Energy will present the “Desert Blume” project in detail to experts and many thousands of visitors. (hcn)

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Solar Energy

Plastics from the sun – Total Energies produces plastic in the USA with solar power

November 5, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The French company Total Energies operates three huge production plants for various plastic and petrochemical products in La Port and Port Arthur in Texas and in Carvill, Louisiana. These plants need a lot of energy to produce polypropylene and polystyrene, for example.

Reducing emissions from production

To minimise emissions from plastic production, Total Energies built the huge Myrtle Solar Farm south of Houston, Texas. This will at least allow the company to reduce the CO2 emissions generated for energy production. The refining of petroleum into various petrochemical products such as fossil fuels continues to produce immense CO2 emissions. But with solar energy, at least its production is climate-neutral, which makes it only marginally better in view of the climate crisis.

70 per cent for self-consumption

Total Energies has installed about 705,000 solar modules to supply the three plants on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. These have a combined output of 380 megawatts. About 70 per cent of the solar power generated is sufficient to supply the production facilities with electricity.

Total Energies markets the remaining approximately 30 per cent to the real estate company Kilroy Reality under a power purchase agreement (PPA). The latter will purchase the profit from the solar power for the next 15 years at a fixed price and use it to supply its commercial properties.

Storage unit provides grid service

In addition, Total Energies has installed 114 containers full of battery storage on the site of the solar farm south of Houston. These were made by the subsidiary Saft. They can hold as much as 225 megawatt hours of the Myrtle solar power plant and feed it into the grid when needed. This enables it to take over grid stabilisation services from the Texas grid operator Ercot.

Tax subsidised by the IRS

The Myrtle solar power plant is, according to Total Energies, the largest project of its kind built in the USA to date. It is part of a strategy by the group to establish integrated production based on self-supply in the USA, as Vincent Stoquart, head of Total Energies’ renewable division, points out.

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Times are good for such a strategy in the US. This is because the project benefits from tax credits as provided for in the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) industrial incentive programme. Based on the benefits of the IRA tax credits, Totals Energies will actively expand its portfolio of renewable energy projects in the USA. In total, this includes a green power capacity of 25 gigawatts, part of which is already in operation. (su/mfo)

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Solar Energy

Juwi builds 500 megawatts of solar power in Colorado

November 4, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Project developer Juwi from Wörrstadt in Rhineland-Palatinate is to build three new solar plants in the US state of Colorado. Together they will have an output of 506 megawatts. While the Spanish Peaks project in Los Alamos County in the south of the state with an output of 179 megawatts has been under construction since the end of last year, Juwi has now concluded negotiations on the sale of two further projects to the energy supplier Tri-State.

One of the two solar parks is Axial Basin Solar. This is a 186-megawatt project in Moffat County in north-west Colorado, around 250 miles north-west of Denver. The plant is being built in the White River Electric Association service territory. The second plant operates under the name Dolores Canyon Solar. This generator will have an output of 141 megawatts and is being built in Dolores County, around 400 kilometres southwest of Denver. The plant will be connected to the Empire Electric Association grid.

Customers in four states

The two solar parks are due to be connected to the grid at the end of 2025. They will be operated by the non-profit wholesale electricity supplier Tri-State, based in Westminster, Colorado. The utility serves electric distribution cooperatives and members of public power districts in the four states of Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska and Wyoming. Together with its member-owners, Tri-State supplies more than one million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles in the western US with sustainably generated electricity.

The goal: 50 per cent green electricity in the mix

The purchase of the two projects is a new path for the cooperative. This is the first time that the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has purchased renewable energy projects to sell the electricity to its members.

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However, the purchase is an important milestone on the way to decarbonising Tri-State’s electricity mix. The goal is 50 per cent renewable energy in the supply area. ‘Our members now have ownership of solar at a competitive cost,’ explains Duane Highley, Managing Director of Tri-State.

Purchase made possible by IRA

The opportunity to purchase the solar systems is part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which the government in Washington passed in 2022. This allows non-profit electric cooperatives to receive a direct payment of federal tax credits for renewable energy. This enables the cooperatives to invest directly in the ownership of renewable generation capacity. Prior to the passage of the IRA, Tri-State and other electric cooperatives generally could not directly benefit from federal renewable energy tax incentives. This was previously only available to for-profit, investor-owned utilities and independent power producers.

Plant ownership for cooperatives

‘I’ve worked for years to give rural electric cooperatives like Tri-State access to federal clean energy tax credits,’ said Michael Bennet, Democratic Senator for the state of Colorado. “The passage of the historic Inflation Reduction Act made this possible for the first time, finally allowing them to own their own renewable energy projects. This progress will help Tri-State provide tremendous benefits to the rural communities it serves and support Colorado’s continued leadership in our nation’s transition to a clean energy economy.”

Additional PPAs finalised

In addition to the purchase of the two projects in Moffat and Dolores County, Tri-State has entered into three additional direct power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar projects that will be connected to the grid by the end of 2024. These include the Spanish Peaks solar farm, which is already 50 per cent complete. By the end of 2025, Tri-State will supply its members with electricity from eight plants with a combined DC capacity of 870 megawatts and AC capacity of 680 megawatts. (su/mfo)

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Solar Energy

Habitat for Humanity/Carter Work Project

October 26, 2024 ryansheehanrts

A few wooden row houses are already standing, wooden frames and prefabricated wooden walls are being erected next to them, excavators are hoisting pallets of insulation material and busy hands with grinders, drills or hammers are at work everywhere on this sunny October day: 4,000 volunteers are involved in the Carter Work Project in Saint Paul, the capital of the US state of Minnesota, for a week. They are helping to build the first 30 houses in the new district of The Heights.

The largest urban renewal project to date in the city is being built on a 45-hectare former golf course. By the summer of this year, 147 affordable and ecologically oriented residential units are to be built on almost five hectares in an initial construction phase, mainly semi-detached, three- and four-family houses as well as some detached houses.

PV and LEED Platinum certification

All buildings will be awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award for highly efficient buildings. To generate electricity, they will each be equipped with 8 kW photovoltaic systems or solar shingles, which are designed to generate 60% of their own electricity, with the remainder being covered by grid power (battery storage is not yet planned in the current construction phase).

Also see: Land O’Lakes cooperative and C2 Energy Capital join forces for community solar projects

In addition, there will be air heat pumps for the heat supply – supplemented by geothermal energy, charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and other measures to reduce the burden on the environment, such as water-saving measures.

Hans-Christoph Neidlein

The volunteers who helped with the Carter Work Project are a colorful mix.

Community spaces and facilities, parks, public art installations and links to public transport and nearby hiking trails are also planned. Once the entire new district of The Heights has been completed, around 1,000 apartments and around 1,000 new jobs will be created there.

Focus on low- and middle-income households

In addition to the city administration, the project is backed by the internationally active US non-governmental organization (NGO) Habitat for Humanity with its regional branch in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul), various sponsors and the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2024, an initiative of the former US President and former First Lady of the USA.

The concept for The Heights was developed in an intensive participation process in which the residents of an adjacent existing neighborhood were also closely involved. The houses will be available to first-time buyers on low and middle incomes.

“This project is a great opportunity to expand the supply of housing and homeownership in our city,” emphasized Melvin Carter, Mayor of St. Paul. This is especially true for households of color. Their share of home ownership in Minnesota is only 42 percent, compared to 76 percent for white households.

A diverse mix of volunteers

The Carter Work Project volunteers were a diverse mix of skin color, age and gender. Many of the more than 4,000 volunteers were employees of corporate sponsors, including from the construction, energy and insurance industries, as well as several hundred volunteers from all over the world. However, the electrical installations, e.g. the photovoltaic systems, were carried out by professionals without exception.

Also see: Community solar innovation in Minnesota despite Trump

One of the highlights of Volunteer Week was the 100th birthday of Jimmy Carter on October 1. In his honor, country music greats Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who have supported the Carter Work Project, which has been held annually at different locations since 2007, performed in the evening.

Hans-Christoph Neidlein

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Solar Energy

Global energy transition – IEA: Three times more renewables by 2030

October 10, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Due to supportive policies and favourable economics, the world’s renewable power capacity is expected to surge over the rest of this decade, with global additions on course to roughly equal the current power capacity of China, the European Union, India and the United States combined, according to a new IEA report.

The Renewables 2024 report, the IEA’s flagship annual publication on the sector, finds that the world is set to add more than 5 500 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity between 2024 and 2030 – almost three times the increase seen between 2017 and 2023.

According to the report, China is set to account for almost 60% of all renewable capacity installed worldwide between now and 2030, based on current market trends and today’s policy settings by governments. That would make China home to almost half of the world’s total renewable power capacity by the end of this decade, up from a share of a third in 2010. While China is adding the biggest volumes of renewables, India is growing at the fastest rate among major economies.

PV as the most important growth driver

In terms of technologies, solar PV alone is forecast to account for a massive 80% of the growth in global renewable capacity between now and 2030 – the result of the construction of new large solar power plants as well as an increase in rooftop solar installations by companies and households. And despite ongoing challenges, the wind sector is also poised for a recovery, with the rate of expansion doubling between 2024 and 2030, compared with the period between 2017 and 2023. Already, wind and solar PV are the cheapest options to add new electricity generation in almost every country.

Also see: Solar continues on its growth path – challenges remain

As a result of these trends, nearly 70 countries that collectively account for 80% of global renewable power capacity are poised to reach or surpass their current renewable ambitions for 2030. The growth is not fully in line with the goal set by nearly 200 governments at the COP28 climate change conference in December 2023 to triple the world’s renewable capacity this decade – the report forecasts global capacity will reach 2.7 times its 2022 level by 2030. But IEA analysis indicates that fully meeting the tripling target is entirely possible if governments take near-term opportunities for action. This includes outlining bold plans in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement due next year, and bolstering international cooperation on bringing down high financing costs in emerging and developing economies, which are restraining renewables’ growth in high-potential regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia.

Renewables the cheapest option

“Renewables are moving faster than national governments can set targets for. This is mainly driven not just by efforts to lower emissions or boost energy security – it’s increasingly because renewables today offer the cheapest option to add new power plants in almost all countries around the world,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

„This report shows that the growth of renewables, especially solar, will transform electricity systems across the globe this decade. Between now and 2030, the world is on course to add more than 5 500 gigawatts of renewable power capacity – roughly equal the current power capacity of China, the European Union, India and the United States combined. By 2030, we expect renewables to be meeting half of global electricity demand.”

Also see: Global boom in renewables by almost 50 per cent to nearly 510 gigawatts

Renewables are on course to generate almost half of global electricity by 2030, with the share of wind and solar PV doubling to 30%, according to the forecast. However, the report emphasises the need for governments to ramp up their efforts to securely integrate variable renewable sources such as solar PV and wind into power systems.

Recently, rates of curtailment – where renewable electricity generation isn’t put to use – have been increasing substantially, already reaching around 10% in several countries today. To address this, countries should focus on integration measures such as increasing power system flexibility. Making a concerted push to address policy uncertainties and streamline permitting processes – and to build and modernise 25 million kilometres of electricity grids and reach 1 500 GW of storage capacity by 2030, as highlighted in previous IEA analysis – would enable even larger shares of generation from renewables.

Renewable fuels lagging behind

Overall, led by the massive growth of renewable electricity, the share of renewables in final energy consumption is forecast to increase to nearly 20% by 2030, up from 13% in 2023. Meanwhile, renewable fuels – the subject of a special chapter in the report – are lagging behind, underscoring the need for dedicated policy support to decarbonise sectors that are hard to electrify.

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Meeting international climate goals would require not only accelerating the rollout of renewable power, but also significantly speeding up the adoption of sustainable biofuels, biogases, hydrogen and e-fuels, the report notes. Since these fuels remain more expensive than their fossil counterparts, their share in global energy is set to remain below 6% in 2030.

The report also looks at the state of manufacturing for renewable technologies. Global solar manufacturing capacity is expected to surpass 1 100 GW by the end of 2024, more than double projected demand. While this supply glut, concentrated in China, has supported a decline in module prices – which have more than halved since early 2023 as a result – it also means that many manufacturers are seeing large financial losses.

Global diversification in PV manufacturing

Given the growing international focus on industrial competitiveness, solar PV manufacturing capacity is forecast to triple in both India and the United States by 2030, helping global diversification. However, producing solar panels in the United States costs three times as much as in China, and in India, it is twice as expensive. According to the report, policymakers should consider how to strike a balance between the additional costs and benefits of local manufacturing, weighing key priorities such as job creation and energy security. (hcn)

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