Advanced Energy Perspectives

This week, EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) went to court. A full panel of the 10 active judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard legal arguments from a coalition of 27 states, led by West Virginia, claiming that EPA has overstepped its legal authority, and from the Department of Justice, defending EPA’s rule. The hearing was the hottest ticket in town, complete with paid line standers, with excess onlookers steered into an overflow room, but we at AEE, as an intervenor in the case in support of EPA, had a front row seat. So… what does it all mean? Advanced Energy Perspectives is here to help you sort out the legal news and find out what matters.

Apple's new 50 MW solar farm, built in partnership with AEE member First Solar, will supply Apple’s data center in Arizona.

They say, “if you build it they will come,” but in the case of advanced energy, they might just build it themselves. Major companies are making major investments in renewable energy development: Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, and Apple are upping their commitments. Plus, energy storage (and particularly solar + storage) continues to change the game. That’s what in the news this week.

This week, the news is all about the complicated nature of industry. Neither good news nor bad in the advanced vehicles industry as electric vehicles continue to grow and the Dieselgate controversy continues to be, well, controversial. We’ll also check in with several states as they grapple with how to exactly to regulate (i.e., credit and/or charge customers for) distributed resources like rooftop solar.

This week we saw energy storage in the headlines as the market continues its meteoric growth. From news of another record-breaking quarter for storage, to utility partnerships, to updated battery technology, this week’s news round up is the opposite of Storage Wars.

Readers of Advanced Energy Perspectives know the market for energy storage is growing, and fast. As noted in last year’s Market Report, energy storage is transitioning from a large infrastructure market of pumped hydro and underground compressed air projects – which it still is, in much of the world – to a technology-driven market, with rising scale and falling prices. And it is taking off: global revenue from Energy Storage multiplied five-fold, from $462 million in 2014 to $2.1 billion in 2015, and in the U.S. more than ten-fold, from $58 million to $734 million. (See graph below.)

Working in the advanced energy field, we all know about the law of conservation of energy, which states that total energy remains constant but can be converted into new forms. Advanced energy takes advantage of that in a big way: turning sunlight, wind, tides, waste, and more into energy that is secure, clean, and affordable. There is a small but growing trend suggesting a new corollary. Call it “the law of conservation of energy sites.” Aging or outmoded power plants are being turned into advanced energy outposts, from energy storage taking over old coal and gas plants to a solar farm proposed for one of the most notorious abandoned power plants in the world. This week Advanced Energy Perspectives gets metaphorical as we apply the first law of thermodynamics to old power plants sites.