Tag Archives: Corporate Buyers’ Guide to Wind Energy

BNEF: Corporations signed contracts for 8.6 GW of clean energy in 2019

By Michelle Froese, Windpower Engineering

U.S. corporations bought 5.95 GW of clean energy in 2019, closing in on the 2018 total, according to BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) recently published, 2H 2019 Corporate Energy Market Outlook. The report shows that companies are once again flocking to Texas – historically the largest corporate procurement market in the country – where 40% of the activity in 2019 has occurred. However, just 1 GW of deals in the U.S. have come from green tariffs with regulated utilities. It is unlikely to reach the 2.6 GW seen in all of 2018.

This may be a result of buyer apprehension, as several companies have been involved in highly publicized legal battles with regulated utilities over clean energy buying. Companies are instead favoring the virtual PPA model, which has made up 82% of all U.S. deals in 2019. Read more here.

Resources for Businesses

RE100: 191 RE100 companies have made a commitment to go ‘100% renewable’. Read about the actions they are taking and why.

Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA)
In 2018, four leading NGOS — Rocky Mountain Institute, World Wildlife Fund, World Resources Institute, and Business for Social Responsibility — merged their renewable energy programs, the Business Renewables Center, the Future of Internet Power, the Buyers Principles, and Green Tariff programs. This programmatic consolidation builds upon their collective success and offers a single streamlined solution.

REBA’s goal is to catalyze 60 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy by 2025, and expand the number of organizations buying clean power from dozens today to tens of thousands.

U.S. Renewable Energy Map: A Guide for Corporate Buyers,
World Resources Institute

Corporate Buyers Guide to Wind Energy, American Wind Energy Association
Virtual Power Purchase Agreement: Introduction to the Virtual Power Purchase Agreement, Rocky Mountain Institute
What is a solar power purchase agreement?, Solar Energy Industries Association Fact Sheet

Save the Date!
September 12, 2019 at 7 pm – Nebraskans for Solar’s September Speaker: David Bracht, Attorney With Kutak Rock and Former Nebraska Energy Office Director, UNO’s Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center, Rooms 201 & 205. Mr. Bracht will provide an overview of Nebraska’s wind and solar development and our state’s potential for future growth.

Specific topics will include:

power purchase agreements
virtual power purchase agreements
commercial and industrial use of solar
the potential for combined solar and battery installations
incentives and depreciation

GreenBiz Webcasts

August 13, 2019: Market Forces Supercharging Corporate Clean Energy Strategy
August 20, 2019: How to Participate in the Emerging Carbon Economy

Corporate customers show up for #AmericanWindWeek

By Hannah Hunt, Into the Wind, AWEA Blog

And there’s quite a lot to celebrate. Corporate and other non-utility customers have procured more than 10,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power to date, including more than 9,700 MW in power purchase agreements (PPA) through the second quarter of this year. That’s more than Oklahoma’s installed wind capacity, the country’s number two wind state.

#AmericanWindWeek coincided with a historic announcement this week that Apple, Akamai, Etsy and Swiss Re are partnering together to purchase 290 MW from planned wind and solar projects in Illinois and Virginia, respectively. Aggregating demand can help smaller demand customers access renewable energy projects with economies of scale. Just last week, Smuckers announced a 60 MW PPA with a planned Nebraska wind project; the following day, Facebook announced its most recent 139 MW PPA with the Headwaters II Wind Farm in Randolph County, Indiana. Read more here.

ALSO OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

US Corporate Renewable Energy Procurement Hits Record High

Corporate Buyer’s Guide to Wind Energy

AWEA’s newest primer introduces new corporate customers to the world of wind energy procurement.

View the Primer Here
Download a Free Copy

The primer explains the multiple ways that a buyer can purchase wind energy. For those interested in learning more about PPAs, it also provides detail on the common terms found in a PPA, the typical negotiation points that can be expected, and the ways in which buyers and sellers can allocate risks inherent to the negotiation points.

GreenBiz Webinar
The Next Frontier: Emerging Models in Renewable Energy Procurement
August 21^st from 12 to 1 pm Central Time

Electricity prices plunge with more renewables, study says

By David Ferris, E&E News, Wyoming Business Report

The study released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory modeled how high penetration of solar and wind power — from 40 to 50 percent — would affect system operators in New York, the Great Plains, California and Texas . . . The study looked at four system operators: the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the California Independent System Operator and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), all of which neatly cover their home states. It also modeled the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), which encompasses part or all of five wind-rich states: Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Click here to read more.

ALSO OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

What’s in store for the future of energy markets, day to day?, GreenBiz
Our research team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory decided to look at what effect a higher share of wind and solar will have on these questions. In our latest study, we found that high shares of these energy resources lead to several profound changes in electric power.
320 GW Of Non-Traditional, Untapped Rooftop Solar Potential In USA, CleanTechnica
Does 112% growth in 2017 mean community solar has finally solved its complexity problem?, Utility Dive. Solar developers and utilities are moving into the sector fast, writing new rules as they go.
Farm bill energy programs have earned bipartisan support, The Hill
Congress would be hard-pressed to find a more cost-effective way to build the rural economy. The energy title programs represent less than 1 percent of the federal government’s spending on agriculture and nutrition programs, but they generate a strong return on investment.
Indigenous communities moving away from government utilities, Phys.Org
Renewables boom is a bust for gas equipment suppliers like GE, Utility Dive
13 projects from the leading edge of the utility transformation, Utility Dive
Sonnen secures €60 million investment from Shell Ventures, PV Magazine
Germany-based PV-storage provider sonnen has closed a new funding round from a group of investors led by Shell Ventures. Sonnen has already begun to draw on the funds as it continues to expand market shares in the U.S. and in Australia.
Here’s how to move LEED forward on climate change, GreenBiz

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

Minnesota overhauls interconnection standards to streamline clean energy, Utility Dive
What is the future of Michigan’s energy infrastructure?, Michigan Radio
University of Texas develops new solar system integrating energy generation and storage, PV Magazine. Researchers at the University of Texas have been awarded $3 million by the Texan Department of Energy in a bid to accelerate research in battery storage technology to overcome the “Achilles heel” of solar power.
Governor Phil Murphy Signs Historic Measure to Revive Renewable Energy in New Jersey, Solar Energy Industries Association News Release
New Jersey joins the 50% by 2030 renewable energy club, PV Magazine
More than 2,400 solar projects completed through New York Sun’s Solarize Initiative, Solar Power World
Dedication held for Twin Buttes II wind farm in Prowers County, Lamar Ledger Editor
“The project is 75 megawatts,” commented Lee Boughey with Tri-State Generation. “What Tri-State does is we’ll purchase the power from this project over a 25 year power purchase agreement and that power will be put on our transmission network supplied to our 43 member systems across Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and New Mexico.”

MORE REPORTS

New Moody’s report: Wind power boosts local tax revenue across rural America, Into the Wind, AWEA Blog
AWEA’s Free Report: Corporate Buyers’ Guide to Wind Energy
Corporate sourcing of renewables growing, in 75 countries to date, Windpower Engineering & Development
Corporate demand for renewables put at 465 TWh in 2017, Renewables Now

MORE CORPORATE NEWS

Intel’s Latest Corporate Responsibility Report Details Commitment To Renewables & Water Conservation, CleanTechnica
Businesses are locking in huge savings with renewable PPAs, The Fifth Estate
Globally, companies are finding economic relief and price stability in wind and solar power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are driving corporate engagement on renewables in Australia, the US, Mexico, India and parts of Europe. As of Q1 2018, nearly 20 gigawatts of PPAs have been executed by corporations globally since 2008.

EV NEWS

CSU researchers working on an electric car that recharges itself on roads, Denver Business Journal
New Fast-charging EV Infrastructure Will Lessen Grid Strain with Batteries, Renewable Energy World