This Week's News - Energy

October 11, 2024

A weekly newsletter mainly on renewable and digital energy related news. If you find this interesting, I’d really appreciate it if you could share the love and pass it on to others who might enjoy it as well!

• FT editorial board advocates for physical grid upgrades, more energy storage and better digital grid management? The world’s renewable energy potential is gridlocked (Financial Times $)
• More forecasts of load growth?
• US power use forecast to reach record highs in 2024 and 2025, EIA says (Reuters)
• India numbers Peak power demand to grow at 7 per cent CAGR in next five years: CEA (Financial Express)

• “Speed to market is vital for data center providers. They have options and will move on to other locations or behind-the-meter solutions (such as on-site renewable energy and energy storage) if a utility moves too slowly in delivering generation or transmission and distribution (T&D) connections”? Utilities Must Reinvent Themselves to Harness the AI-Driven Data Center Boom (Bain & Company)
• Both a Google-related company and NVDIA announce AI related tie ups with US utilities
• “Southern California Edison, NVIDIA launching ‘intelligent grid collaboration’ (Smart Energy International)
• Tapestry and AES map how ‘autonomous AI agents’ will shape a digital grid (Latitude Media)
• Grids continue to be a target ? Exclusive: Finnish utility Fortum reports pick up in cyberattacks and surveillance (Reuters)
• “Nearly 90% of utilities view AI and machine learning as crucial for overcoming operational hurdles during the energy transition…with safety, cybersecurity, and predictive maintenance as the top use cases” ?Will AI help with electrification and load growth? Most utilities seem to think so (Renewable Energy World)
• “...households with installed heat pumps reduce their average energy demand by 40%, and their carbon dioxide emissions by 36%”? We have more data on the energy benefits of heat pumps — and they’re big (Latitude Media)
• Further movement by battery manufacturers to focus on the energy storage market? LG Energy Solution aims to double revenue, reduce reliance on EV segment (Automotive Dive)
• Includes support for V2G? SAE J3400 Helps Define the Future of EV Charging in North America (CleanTechnica)
• Includes V2H capability for “certain GM cars.” ?GM’s PowerBank home battery is now available (The Verge)
• There’s some concern that the lack of grid support for data centers could encourage them to defect from the grid and Texas is encouraging it? Texas Welcomes AI If Data Centers Build Their Own Power Plants (OilPrice.com )?
• Suggestions are increased reliance on microgrids and solar islanding, concepts that are applicable in many places beyond North Carolina? Hurricane Helene brought devastation — and an opportunity — to Appalachia’s power grids (Grist)
• Clean energy tales from two different towns
• A New 200 kW Solar PV, 915 kWh Battery Minigrid Brings Electricity To Hakwaka Village In Zimbabwe For The First Time! (CleanTechnica)
• A Massachusetts town uses batteries to help its grid — and its schools (CleanTechnica)

• More good news on the clean energy front
• Global energy-related CO2 emissions set to peak this year, consultancy DNV says (Reuters)
• Chart: World could triple renewable energy by decade’s end (Canary Media)
• IEA forecasts over 4,000 GW of new solar by 2030 (PV Magazine)
• The Cost Of EV Batteries Will Hit A Key Milestone In 2026, Says Goldman Sachs (CleanTechnica)
• Inflation Reduction Act 2 Years Later: Building Clean Electricity Faster Than Ever (Forbes $)
• Britain sets out funding model for renewable energy storage projects (Reuters)
• US energy storage deployments jumped 86% year over year to 10.5 GWh in Q2: ACP/WoodMac (Utility Dive)
• Canada refinances funding stream for renewables, grid modernization tech (PV Magazine)
• Mexican Administration Offers Boost to Clean Energy, Infrastructure Under New Leadership (National Law Review)
• More than 100 CEOs call for climate action even as divide emerges (Financial Times $)
• Wind power, Agreement with EIB to support EUR8 billion investment (MarketScreener)
• Norway plans $3.3 billion floating wind subsidy cap (Reuters)
• Cambodia opts for wind over coal to power national grid by 2026 (Borneo Bulletin)
• Renewable energy generation capacity in Jordan rises by 2.1 percent in 2023 (MENAFN)
• New Zealand steps up approvals process for large-scale PV projects (PV Magazine)
• Uber’s EV ridehailing business is maturing (The Verge)

• And some headwinds for clean energy
• Renewable energy to fall short of UN goal to triple by 2030, IEA says (Reuters)
• Exclusive: BP abandons goal to cut oil output, resets strategy (Reuters)
• Booming power demand is slowing climate progress for US utilities (Canary Media)
• Wind power held back by grid capacity (Energy Central)
• The solar supply chain runs through this flooded North Carolina town (Grist)

• The good and the bad for clean energy
• US energy transition path currently in line with 2.6 degrees Celsius temperature rise: BNEF (Utility Dive)

Miscellaneous

• Climate change and increasing electricity costs come together to create a political issue? Arizona Voters at Breaking Point Over Cost of Electricity (Wall Street Journal $)?
• Several energy reporters get together to come up with “teams” for addressing the data center energy crisis? The 2024 data center fantasy draft (Latitude Media)?

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