NIPSCO's first two Indiana solar projects now online

Generating electricity and tax dollars for the local community.

NIPSCO has brought online its first two Indiana solar farms, which are now generating more than 465 megawatts of electricity.

Indiana Crossroads and Dunns Bridge I Solar, NIPSCO's first two Indiana solar farms, are now operating and producing cleaner energy.

“The addition of our first solar parks to our electric generating portfolio represents meaningful investments in the state of Indiana and a direct benefit to our customers,” said NIPSCO President Mike Hooper. “These completed projects are a crucial step in advancing our long-term energy transition plan, providing sustainable, reliable and cost-effective energy now and into the future.”

The Merrillville-based utility estimates customers have gotten $60 million in direct benefits from credits it's sold from excess renewable energy it has generated thus far.

EDP Renewables North America developed Indiana Crossroads Solar, a 200-megawatt solar farm in in White County. It's expected to generate $42 million in property tax payments over the next 35 years, also contributing $2.6 million in Economic Development Agreement funds to the county.

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Dunns Bridge I Solar generates 265 megawatts of electricity. It's in Jasper County near the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station, which will be retired in 2025 if NIPSCO's renewable energy transition goes according to plan. It will be followed by the construction of the Dunns Bridge II Solar Farm in Jasper and Starke counties, which will be able to produce 435 megawatts of solar energy with 75 megawatts of battery storage.

The two Dunns Bridge solar farms are expected to contribute $59 million in tax revenue after they're both online next year.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/nipscos-first-two-indiana-solar-projects-now-online-and-generating-electricity/article_1475f588-2010-11ee-8e97-7f02226fb10e.html

US solar capacity to add 41 GWs in next 12 months

I wonder how they track 'small scale solar'? I assume that's anything less than a field full of PV panels. When I installed my system, is it added to a publicly available amount kept by the local utility?

https://twitter.com/johnrhanger/status/1674739756159074305?s=20

Texas battery rush: Oil state's power woes fuel energy storage boom

Denmark making a big investment on wind

From the tweet...

The additional capacity should produce around 35-55 TWh/year, that's 100-160% of current national electricity consumption.

https://twitter.com/Sustainable2050/status/1663632574718115840?s=20

'Repowering' a wind farm

This series of tweets illustrates one of the reasons a windmill gets retired before it actually breaks down. (doubling the diameter of the blades more than triples the output, which is why windmills keep getting bigger)

Shortcut to the end - 16 new 6.6MW Siemens Gamesa turbines will replace 50 existing windmills and produce 6 times the previous output.

https://twitter.com/WindEurope/status/1655588494553522179?s=20

https://twitter.com/WindEurope/status/1655588500534706176?s=20

Since IRA, $150 billion investment, 46 factories, 18,000 jobs in renewable energy

Another aspect of wind, solar and energy storage are the jobs and taxes generated. Each job generates income taxes, every wind and solar farm generates income for the land owner and they also pay property taxes on the value of the installation.

Over the last eight months, following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, over $150 billion in domestic utility-scale clean power investments have been announced, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACP).

This unprecedented level of investment exceeds the total investment in utility-scale clean power projects brought online in the five previous years combined, spanning 2017 to 2021. Over 96 GW of utility-scale projects have been announced over the eight month stretch, said ACP.

Solar is set to play a central role in decarbonizing and onshoring U.S. energy. By 2030, it is estimated the IRA will drive the installation of 950 million solar panels, 120,000 wind turbines, and 2,300 grid-scale battery facilities.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/04/17/since-ira-150-billion-investment-46-factories-18000-jobs-in-renewable-energy/?utm_source=USA+%7C+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f71f5ab264-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-f71f5ab264-140219173

Tesla to build Shanghai factory to make Megapack batteries

Rumors of another one for Europe. Megapacks allow utilities to store excess wind and solar energy for times of peak demand.

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is opening a factory in Shanghai, capable of producing ten thousand Megapack energy product per year, to supplement output of Megapack factory in California, the company said in a tweet on Sunday.

(edit)

Elon Musk's automaker will break ground on the plant in the third quarter and start production in the second quarter of 2024, Xinhua reported from a signing ceremony in Shanghai.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-build-shanghai-gigafactory-make-energy-storage-product-xinhua-2023-04-09/

Texas added 1,582MW of solar & 205MW of storage in March!

Reminds of the slope of those curves...

https://twitter.com/douglewinenergy/status/1645209802274996227?s=20

Suddenly, the US is a climate policy trendsetter

Big change in how the incentives are targeted. In the past it was to the consumer, in the IRA, it gets money to the manufacturers which means they are building plants in the US.

It wasn’t long ago that Europeans were lamenting the United States’ lack of progress on climate. Now they’re racing to keep up.

When President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, he wasn’t just altering U.S. domestic energy policy. The law’s tax credits for domestic manufacturing and clean-energy project construction changed the global calculus of where companies should operate. Now even U.S. allies are scrambling to hang on to a piece of the booming clean-energy industry.

In mid-March, the European Union proposed policies to ensure the bloc’s clean-energy manufacturing base grows enough to meet 40 percent of its deployment needs by 2030. On Monday, France’s finance minister unveiled a set of tax incentives and subsidies to encourage clean-energy manufacturing in the nation and ​“reverse a long-term disindustrialisation trend in the country,” Reuters reported. Lapsed EU member Great Britain weighed in too, but mostly to express distaste for this ​“distortive global subsidy race” with allies.

Back in North America, Canada proposed a budget last week that explicitly models itself on the Inflation Reduction Act, with 15 percent tax credits for clean power plant construction and 30 percent tax credits for ​“the cost of investments in machinery and equipment” to produce clean technologies or the critical minerals they depend on.

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy-manufacturing/suddenly-the-us-is-a-climate-policy-trendsetter?utm_campaign=canary-social&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1680870344

New law in France that requires Solar...

Certainly something that should be required here

The French government has passed a law which will require all car parks with more than 80 spaces to install solar canopies over at least half the area they cover. The move is expected to generate around 11 gigawatts of energy.

https://twitter.com/ElectrifyingCom/status/1630252902290685954?s=20