utility-scale

Clean energy in New York

March 14, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority – NYSERDA – recently issued a report on clean energy progress in the state during 2024. The report highlighted continued and increased growth in heat pumps, electric vehicles, and solar energy.

Heat pumps, which provide both heating and cooling, have outsold gas furnaces countrywide for three straight years. Air source heat pumps outsold gas furnaces by 37%. This does not include ground source heat pumps, also known as geothermal heat pumps. New York offers Clean Heat rebates to offset the cost of installing heat pumps.

2024 was a good year for electric vehicles in New York with 90,221 new registrations. More than 60 car models are eligible for New York’s Drive Clean state rebates.

New York achieved its Climate Act goal of having 6,000 MW of distributed solar power in October. The state is expected to have more than 10,000 MW of distributed solar by 2030.

Nationwide, solar energy represented 64% of all the new electricity generation capacity installed in 2024, up from 55.5% in 2023. Utility-scale solar generation in the lower 48 states was 36% higher in the summer of 2024 than in summer 2023.

NYSERDA’s report points out that converting to clean energy technologies can bring multiple benefits that include energy efficiency, cost savings, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

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Heat Pumps, Electric Vehicles, and Solar Scale Up Through 2024

Photo, posted April 6, 2017, courtesy of Stephen Yang / The Solutions Project via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A green battery from industrial waste

February 11, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Flow batteries are rechargeable batteries in which liquid electrolytes flow through one or more chemical cells from one or more tanks. The electrolytes are redox pairs, that is, chemical compounds that can reversibly undergo reduction and oxidation reactions. The most common redox electrolytes include elements like vanadium, chromium, iron, zinc, and bromine. Flow batteries can provide large amounts of both electrical power and stored energy based on the size of the electrolyte tanks. As a result, they can be scaled up far more readily than other battery technologies.

Flow batteries are safe, stable, long-lasting, and their electrolytes can easily be refilled. They have significant potential for use in utility-scale storage for renewable energy systems.

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a redox flow battery based on an organic industrial-scale waste product. The material – triphenylphosphine oxide or TPPO – is produced in the thousands of tons each year. It is byproduct of producing a variety of substances including some vitamins, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and other bulk chemicals. For the most part, TPPO is of little use and must be carefully discarded.

The current market for redox flow batteries is very small but is expected to grow over time as the need for utility-scale energy storage continues to expand. A battery technology based on a waste material that is already produced in high volume and that must otherwise be disposed of with caution would have significant advantages.

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Green battery discovery turns trash into treasure

Photo, posted January 12, 2015, courtesy of California Energy Commission via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar farms and pollinators

September 30, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Two important environmental challenges are finding some literal common ground: the need to reduce carbon emissions and the fight to stave off global biodiversity collapse. Both issues can be addressed at solar farms.

Solar energy is an important weapon in the battle against climate change. But utility-scale solar farms take up large amounts of land. Large-scale solar farms already take up nearly a thousand square miles of land in the US and will take up much more in the coming decades.

In the meantime, the biodiversity collapse is being driven in large part by habitat loss.

Given all this, solar farm operators, biologists, and environmentalists are teaming up to grow pollinator-friendly plants in and around solar farms. The plantings attract insects, birds and even mammals. The more plant diversity in the solar farms, the more environmental benefits can be achieved.

There are costs associated with creating pollinator-friendly solar farms. Ideally, solar panels need to be installed at greater height than otherwise in order to permit growing many of the plants that attract bees and butterflies. But there are economic benefits associated with attracting and sustaining pollinators. On a cautionary note, there have already been cases of greenwashing, where solar operators claim environmental benefits far in excess of the scope of the actual efforts they have made.

There are both governmental and non-governmental agencies seeking to assess and certify pollinator-friendly solar farms. There is considerable variability in the ecological value of existing farms. Pollinator-friendly solar farms are in their early days, but they have a lot to offer as a win-win strategy for the environment.

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Solar Farms Have a Superpower Beyond Clean Energy

Photo, posted December 4, 2014, courtesy of Juwi Renewable Energies Limited via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Solar grazing

September 16, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Agrivoltaics is the combination of solar power generation with agriculture. Generally, this has involved growing crops under and around solar panels harvesting both food and electricity. More recently, there has been increasing interest in grazing animals to manage lands used for solar power.

Enel North America, a large operator of solar farms and utility-scale battery storage facilities in Texas, has announced a partnership with Texas Solar Sheep Company to deploy more than 6,000 sheep to chow down on the greenery on eight large Texas solar sites. This is the largest known solar grazing agreement executed in the United States

Texas Solar Sheep’s flocks will graze on more than 10,000 acres of land being used for solar generation, an area roughly ¾ the size of Manhattan. Most of these sites are situated in areas with high rainfall and long growing seasons.

The American Solar Grazing Association, an organization with 950 members across 45 states, facilitates research, provides education, and develops best practices in support of a unique population of shepherds and solar developers. Their recent survey estimates that 100,000 acres of U.S. solar sites are currently being chewed on by sheep. Texas has the most installed utility-scale solar power in the country.

According to Enel, its existing solar grazing program has demonstrated substantial improvements in soil health by the additional of organic matter to the soil. Managing vegetation with sheep is also better for pollinators because sheep don’t cut down all plants the way mowing does.

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No more sheepless nights: Enel inks largest solar grazing contract

Photo, posted April 7, 2020, courtesy of Sean Nealon / Oregon State University via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A surprising drop in renewable power

March 28, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Renewable power – which includes wind farms, solar farms, and hydroelectric dams – constitutes over 21% of the country’s utility-scale electricity generation, behind only natural gas power plants at 43%. Nuclear power provides nearly 19% of our electricity and coal, which is gradually diminishing, is at 16%.

Both solar and wind power capacity have been growing rapidly in recent years and will be providing an increasing percentage of our electricity. That being said, it turns out that utility-scale renewable electricity generation actually decreased slightly in 2023 as a result of weather-related issues.

Utility-scale renewables generated about 894,000 gigawatt hours of energy last year, which was 0.8% less than the record amount generated in 2022.

The reasons? The biggest factor was slower wind speeds in the Midwest during the warmer weather months. In 2023, there were fewer warm fronts and cold fronts passing through the region. The passage of fronts is often associated with wind and precipitation.

The other factor affecting renewable generation was a 5.9% drop in hydropower in 2023. The main reason for the decrease was a drop in water levels at many hydroelectric dams in areas experiencing drought.

Experts explain that there is no reason to overreact to a one-year blip in renewables generation. All three major sources of power – sun, wind, and hydroelectric – are tied to natural forces and all of them fluctuate over time. Putting aside minor variations year-over-year, renewable electricity is on pace to more than double by the end of this decade.

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Federal Data Reveals a Surprising Drop in Renewable Power in 2023, as Slow Winds and Drought Took a Toll

Photo, posted July 5, 2014, courtesy of Patrick Finnegan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Powering Britain with sun and wind

November 8, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The United Kingdom is quite small in size compared with the US, but its population of 67 million makes it a fairly large country with substantial energy needs. A recent study by Oxford University looked at the ability of wind and solar power to provide for those energy needs over the course of time.

According to the study, Britain’s energy needs could easily be met entirely by the two sources of clean power. Wind and solar can provide significantly more energy than the highest energy demand forecasted for 2050 and nearly 10 times the current electricity demand.

Britain currently requires 299 TWh per year. The Oxford study found that wind and solar could generate as much as 2,896 TWh per year. Furthermore, the researchers stated that these estimates are intentionally conservative, taking into account concerns around land use and the visual impact of installations.

The analysis assumes that offshore wind would produce nearly three-quarters of the energy required. Onshore wind would contribute about 7%, while taking up only 0.07% of the country’s land. Utility-scale solar would add about 19% of the power. The small remainder comes from rooftop solar. The researchers do point out that the power grid would require significant upgrades to handle all this renewable energy and that there would need to be appropriate quantities of energy storage.

According to the authors of the study, achieving these results is a question of ambition rather than technical feasibility. So far, the UK government has not been aggressive in making the transition to renewable energy.

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Wind and solar power could significantly exceed Britain’s energy needs

Photo, posted November 4, 2021, courtesy of Steve Knight via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Large Solar Projects In The U.S. | Earth Wise

December 1, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The United States now has over 108 gigawatts of total solar generating capacity, which is enough to power about 19 million homes. There are more than 3 million solar installations across the country, the majority of which are residential systems.

The growth in solar power has been enormous over the past 13 years. In 2008, the total solar capacity in the U.S. was 0.34 gigawatts.

In recent times, utility-scale solar installations have been on the rise. At least 10 systems in excess of 100 megawatts have come online just in 2021. These systems have been built in Georgia, Ohio, California, Texas, and Nevada. Other large installations have come online in Virginia, Utah, Indiana, and Florida. Overall, Texas has had the most new installations, followed by California and Florida.

The largest utility-scale solar project completed this year is the Eunice Solar Project in Andrew, Texas. The 420-megawatt project is part of the Permian Energy Center which also features 40 megawatts of battery energy storage.

The pipeline for new utility-scale solar projects under construction includes more than 17 gigawatts, so there is strong continuing growth in the industry.

The Biden administration has proposed a blueprint for the nation to produce 45% of its electricity from solar power by 2050. Currently, solar energy contributes about 4% of the country’s power. Being able to produce almost half the country’s electricity from the sun by 2050 would require a vast transformation in technology and the energy industry. Whether there is the political will and the wherewithal to achieve this remains to be seen.

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U.S. Solar Market Insight

Photo, posted March 7, 2019, courtesy of Hedgerow Inc via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Grid-Scale Battery Storage is on the Rise | Earth Wise

February 4, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Driven by steeply falling prices and improving technology, grid-scale battery storage systems are seeing record growth in the U.S. and around the world. Battery storage is a way to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to renewable energy: the cycling between oversupply when the sun shines or the wind blows, and shortage when the sun sets or the wind drops. Storing excess energy in battery banks can smooth imbalances between supply and demand.

In California, a 300-megawatt lithium-ion battery plant is being readied for operation with another 100 megawatts to come online in 2021. The system will be able to power roughly 300,000 California homes for four-hour periods when energy demand outstrips supply. It will be the world’s largest battery system for a while until even larger systems in Florida and in Saudi Arabia come online.

Nationwide, a record 1.2 gigawatts of storage were installed last year and that number is projected to jump dramatically over the next five years to nearly 7.5 gigawatts in 2025.

The price tag for utility-scale battery storage in the U.S. has plummeted, dropping nearly 70% just between 2015 and 2018. Prices are expected to drop by a further 45% over the next decade. Battery performance has continued to improve dramatically with increased power capacity and the ability to store and discharge energy over ever-longer periods of time.

Favorable energy policies including renewable energy mandates coupled with continued price drops will drive the widespread expansion of battery energy storage.

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In Boost for Renewables, Grid-Scale Battery Storage Is on the Rise

Photo, posted November 17, 2016, courtesy of Steve Ryan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.