Missouri fails to reach deal on nuclear plant

American-Made Solar Prize Round 3 accelerates DOE-backed solar innovation, empowering entrepreneurs and domestic manufacturing with photovoltaics and grid integration support via National Laboratories, incubators, and investors to validate products, secure funding, and deploy backup power.

Key Points

A DOE challenge fast-tracking solar innovation to market readiness, boosting US manufacturing and grid integration.

✅ $50,000 awards to 20 teams for prototype validation

✅ Access to National Labs, incubators, investors, and mentors

✅ Focus on PV advances and grid integration solutions

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the 20 competitors who have been invited to advance to the next phase of the American-Made Solar Prize Round 3, a competition designed to incentivize the nation’s entrepreneurs to strengthen American leadership in solar energy innovation and domestic manufacturing, a key front in the clean energy race today.

The American-Made Solar Prize is designed to help more American entrepreneurs thrive in the competitive global energy market. Each round of the prize brings new technologies to pre-commercial readiness in less than a year, ensuring new ideas enter the marketplace. As part of the competition, teams will have access to a network of DOE National Laboratories, technology incubators and accelerators, and related DOE efforts like next-generation building upgrades, venture capital firms, angel investors, and industry. This American-Made Network will help these competitors raise private funding, validate early-stage products, or test technologies in the field.

Each team will receive a $50,000 cash prize and become eligible to compete in the next phase of the competition. Through a rigorous evaluation process, teams were chosen based on the novelty of their ideas and how their solutions address a critical need of the solar industry. The teams were selected from 120 submissions and represent 11 states. These projects will tackle challenges related to new solar applications, like farming, as well as show how solar can be used to provide backup power when the grid goes down, aided by increasingly affordable batteries now reaching scale. Nine teams will advance solar photovoltaic technologies, and 11 will address challenges related to how solar integrates with the grid. The projects are as follows:

Photovoltaics:

• Durable Antireflective and Self-Cleaning Glass (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Pursuit Solar - More Power, Less Hassle (Denver, NC)
• PV WaRD (San Diego, CA)
• Remotely Deployed Solar Arrays (Charlottesville, VA)
• Robotics Changing the Landscape for Solar Farms (San Antonio, TX)
• TrackerSled (Chicago, IL)
• Transparent Polymer Barrier Films for PV (Bristol, PA)
• Solar for Snow (Duluth, MN)
• SolarWall Power Tower (Buffalo, NY)

Systems Integration:

• Affordable Local Solar Storage via Utility Virtual Power Plants (Parker, TX)
• Allbrand Solar Monitor (Detroit, MI)
• Beyond Monitoring – Next Gen Software and Hardware (Atlanta, GA)
• Democratizing Solar with Artificial Intelligence Energy Management (Houston, TX)
• Embedded, Multi-Function Maximum Power Point Tracker for Smart Modules (Las Vegas, NV)
• Evergrid: Keep Solar Flowing When the Grid Is Down (Livermore, CA)
• Inverter Health Scan (San Jose, CA)
• JuiceBox: Integrated Solar Electricity for Americans Transitioning out of Homelessness and Recovering from Natural Disasters (Claremont, CA)
• Low-Cost Parallel-Connected DC Power Optimizer (Blacksburg, VA)
• Powerfly: A Plug-and-Play Solar Monitoring Device (Berkeley, CA)
• Simple-Assembly Storage Kit (San Antonio, TX)

Read the descriptions of the projects to see how they contribute to efforts to improve solar and wind power worldwide.

Over the next six months, these teams will fast-track their efforts to identify, develop, and test disruptive solutions amid record solar and storage growth projected nationwide. During a national demonstration day at Solar Power International in September 2020, a panel of judges will select two final winners who will receive a $500,000 prize. Learn more at the American-Made Solar Prize webpage.

The American-Made Challenges incentivize the nation's entrepreneurs to strengthen American leadership in energy innovation and domestic manufacturing. These new challenges seek to lower the barriers U.S.-based innovators face in reaching manufacturing scale by accelerating the cycles of learning from years to weeks while helping to create partnerships that connect entrepreneurs to the private sector and the network of DOE’s National Laboratories across the nation, alongside recent wind energy awards that complement solar innovation.

Go here to learn how this work aligns with a tenfold solar expansion being discussed nationally.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-energy-technologies-office

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UK Electricity Interconnectors secure capacity market subsidies, supporting winter reliability with seabed cables to France and Belgium via the Channel Tunnel, lowering consumer costs, squeezing coal, and challenging new gas plants through cross-border energy trading.

Key Points

High-voltage cables linking Britain to Europe, securing backup capacity, cutting costs and boosting winter reliability.

✅ Won capacity market contracts at record-low prices

✅ Cables to France and Belgium via Channel Tunnel, seabed routes

✅ Squeezes coal, challenges new gas; renewables may join market

New electricity cables across the Channel to France and Belgium will be a key part of keeping Britain’s lights on during winter amid record electricity prices across Europe in the early 2020s, after their owners won backup power subsidies in a government auction this week.

For the first time, interconnector operators successfully bid for a slice of hundreds of millions’ worth of contracts in the capacity market. That will help cut costs for consumers, given how electricity is priced in Europe today, and squeeze out old coal power plants.

Three new interconnectors are currently being built to Europe, almost doubling existing capacity, with one along the Channel Tunnel and two on the seabed: one between Kent and Zeebrugge and one from Hampshire to Normandy. 

The interconnectors were success stories in this week’s capacity auction, which saw power firms bid to provide backup electricity in the winter of 2021/22. Prices for the four-year contracts hit a record low of £8.40 per kilowatt per year, which analysts described as a shock and well below expectations.

One industry source said the figure was “miles away” from what is needed to encourage companies to build big new gas power stations, which some argue are necessary to fill the gap when the UK’s ageing nuclear reactors close as Europe loses nuclear power across the region over the next decade.

While bad news for those firms, the low price is good for consumers. The subsidies will add about £525m to energy bills, or £5.68 for the average household, compared with £11 for the year before, according to analysts Cornwall Insight.

Existing gas power stations scooped up most of the contracts, but new gas ones lost out, as did several coal plants. Battery storage plants, a standout success in the last auction, fared comparatively poorly after changes to the rules.

Experts at Bernstein bank said the the misses by coal meant that around half the UK’s remaining coal power capacity could close from October 2019, when existing capacity market contracts run out. Chaitanya Kumar, policy adviser at thinktank Green Alliance, said: “Coal’s exit from the UK’s energy system just moved a step closer as coal contracts fell by half compared with last year.”

Tom Edwards, an analyst at Cornwall Insight, said that more interconnectors were likely to bid into future rounds of the capacity market, such as the cable being laid between Norway and the UK. Relying on foreign power supplies was fine, he said, provided Brexit did not make energy trading more difficult and the interconnectors delivered at times of need, where events like Irish grid price spikes illustrate the stress points.

However, one industry source, who wants to see new gas plants built in the UK, said the results showed that the system was not working, amid UK peak power prices that have climbed in recent trading. “That self-sufficiency doesn’t seem to be a priority at a time when we’re breaking away from Europe is a bit weird,” they said.

But the prospects for new gas plants in future rounds of the capacity market look bleak. They will very likely face a new source of competition next year, if energy regulator Ofgem approves a proposal to allow renewables to compete too.

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B.C. EV Charging Rebates boost CleanBC incentives as NRCan and ZEVIP funding covers up to 75% of Level 2 and DC fast-charger purchase and installation costs for homes, workplaces, condos, apartments, and fleet operators.

Key Points

Incentives in B.C. cover up to 75% of Level 2 and DC fast charger costs for homes, workplaces, and fleets.

✅ Up to 75% back; Level 2 max $5,000; DC fast max $75,000 for fleets.

✅ Eligible sites: homes, workplaces, condos, apartments, fleet depots.

✅ Funded by CleanBC with NRCan ZEVIP; time-limited top-up.

The Province and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) are making it more affordable for people to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in their homes, businesses and communities, as EV demand ramps up across the province.

B.C. residents, businesses and municipalities can receive higher rebates for EV charging stations through the CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate and Fleets programs. For a limited time, funding will cover as much as 75% of eligible purchase and installation costs for EV charging stations, which is an increase from the previous 50% coverage.

“With electric vehicles representing 13% of all new light-duty vehicles sold in B.C. last year, our province has the strongest adoption rate of electric vehicles in Canada. We’re positioning ourselves to become leaders in the EV industry,” said Bruce Ralston, B.C.’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “We’re working with our federal partners to increase rebates for home, workplace and fleet charging, and making it easier and more affordable for people to make the switch to electric vehicles.”

With a $2-million investment through NRCan’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) to top up the Province’s EV Charger Rebate program, workplaces, condominiums and apartments can get a rebate for a Level 2 charging station for as much as 75% of purchase and installation costs to a maximum of $5,000. As many as 360 EV chargers will be installed through the program.

“We’re making electric vehicles more affordable and charging more accessible where Canadians live, work and play,” said Jonathan Wilkinson, federal Minister of Natural Resources. “Investing in more EV chargers, like the ones announced today in British Columbia, will put more Canadians in the driver’s seat on the road to a net-zero future and help achieve our climate goals.”

Through the CleanBC Go Electric Fleets program and in support of B.C. businesses that own and operate fleet vehicles, NRCan has invested $1.54 million through ZEVIP to top up rebates. Fleet operators can get combined rebates from NRCan and the Province for a Level 2 charging station as much as 75% to a maximum of $5,000 of purchase and installation costs, and 75% to a maximum of $75,000 for a direct-current, fast-charging station. As many as 450 EV chargers will be installed through the program.

CleanBC is a pathway to a more prosperous, balanced and sustainable future. It supports government’s commitment to climate action to meet B.C.’s emission targets and build a cleaner, stronger economy.

Quick Facts:

• A direct-current fast charger on the BC Electric Highway allows an EV to get 100-300 kilometres of range from 30 minutes of charging.
• Faster chargers, which give more range in less time, are coming out every year.
• A Level 2 charger allows an EV to get approximately 30 kilometres of range per hour of charging.
• It uses approximately the same voltage as a clothes dryer and is usually installed in homes, workplaces or for fleets to get a faster charge than a regular outlet, or in public places where people might park for a longer time.
• A key CleanBC action is to strengthen the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act to require light-duty vehicle sales to be 26% zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2026, 90% by 2030 and 100% by 2035, five years ahead of the original target.
• At the end of 2021, B.C. had more than 3,000 public EV charging stations and almost 80,000 registered ZEVs.

Learn More:

To learn more about home and workplace EV charging-station rebates, eligibility and application processes, visit: https://goelectricbc.gov.bc.ca/   

To learn more about the Fleets program, visit: https://pluginbc.ca/go-electric-fleets/    

To learn more about Natural Resources Canada’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program, visit:
https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy-efficiency/transportation-alternative-fuels/zero-emission-vehicle-infrastructure-program/21876

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Community Solar for Low-Income Homes expands energy equity by delivering renewable energy access, predictable bill savings, and tax credit benefits to renters and energy-insecure households, accelerating distributed generation and storage adoption nationwide.

Key Points

A program model enabling renters and LMI households to subscribe to off-site solar and save on utility bills.

✅ Earn bill credits from shared solar generation.

✅ Expands access for renters and LMI subscribers.

✅ Often paired with storage and IRA tax credit adders.

On a square-foot basis, the issue of inequality is made worse by higher costs for energy usage in the nation. Efforts like community solar programs such as Maryland community solar are underway to boost low-income participation in the cost benefits of renewable energy.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that households that are considered energy insecure, or those that have the inability to adequately meet basic household energy costs, are paying more for electricity than their wealthier counterparts. 

On average in the United States in 2020, households were billed about $1.04 per square foot for all energy sources. For homes that did not report energy insecurity, that average was $0.98 per square foot, while homes with energy insecurity issues paid an average of $1.24 per square foot for energy. This means that U.S. residents that need the most support on their energy bills are stuck with costs 27% higher than their neighbors on square-foot-basis.

EIA said energy-insecure households have reduced or forgone basic necessities to pay energy bills, kept their houses at unsafe temperatures because of energy cost concerns, or been unable to repair heating or cooling equipment because of cost.

In 2020, households with income less than $10,000 a year were billed an average of $1.31 per square foot for energy, while households making $100,000 or more were billed an average of $0.96 per square foot, said EIA. Renters paid considerably more ($1.28 per square foot) than owners ($0.98 per square foot). There were also considerable differences between regions, with New England solar growth sparking grid upgrade debates, ethnic groups and races, and insulation levels, as seen below.

The energy transition toward renewables like solar has offered price stability, amid record solar and storage growth nationwide, but thus far energy-insecure communities have relatively been left behind. A recent Berkeley Lab report, Residential Solar-Adopter Income and Demographic Trends, indicates that even though the rate of solar adoption among low-income residents is increasing (from 5% in 2010 to 11% in 2021), that segment of energy consumers remains under-represented among solar adopters, relative to its share of the population.

Community solar efforts

As such, the United States is targeting communities most impacted by energy costs that have not benefitted from the transition, highlighting “Energy Communities” that are eligible for an additional 10% tax credit through funds made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Additionally, a push for community solar development is taking place nationwide to extend access to affordable solar energy to renters and other residents that aren’t able to leverage finances to invest in predictable, low-cost residential solar systems. The Biden Administration set a goal this year to sign up 5 million community solar households, achieving $1 billion in bill savings by 2025. The community solar model only represents about 8% of the total distributed solar capacity in the nation. This target would entail a jump from 3 GW installed capacity to 20 GW by the target year. The Department of Energy estimates community solar subscribers save an average of 20% on their bills.

California this year passed AB 2316, the Community Renewable Energy Act takes aim at four acute problems in the state’s power market: reliability amid rising outage risks, rates, climate and equity. The law creates a community renewable energy program, including community solar-plus-storage, supported by cheaper batteries, to overcome access barriers for nearly half of Californians who rent or have low incomes. Community solar typically involves customers subscribing to an off-site solar facility, receiving a utility bill credit for the power it generates.

“Community renewable energy is a proven powerful tool to help close California’s clean energy gap, bringing much needed relief to millions struggling with high housing costs and utility debt,” said Alexis Sutterman, energy equity program manager at the California Environmental Justice Alliance.

The program has energy equity baked into its structure, working to make sure Californians of all income levels participate in the benefits of the energy transition. Not only does it open solar access to renters, the law ensures that at least 51% of subscribers are low-income customers, which is expected to make projects eligible for a 10% tax credit adder under the IRA.

“The money’s on the table now,” said Jeff Cramer, president and chief executive of the Coalition for Community Solar Access. “While there are groups pushing for solar access for all, and states with strong legislation, there are other pockets of interest in surprising places in the United States. For example, Louisiana has no policy for community solar or support for low-income residents going solar but the city of New Orleans has its own utility commission with a community solar program. In Nebraska, forward-looking co-operatives have created community solar projects.

Community solar markets are active in 22 states, with more expected to come online in the future as states pursue 100% clean energy targets across the country. However, the market is expected to require strong community outreach efforts to foster trust and gain subscribers.

“There is a distrust of community solar initially in LMI communities as many have been burned before by retail energy false promises,” said Eric LaMora, executive director, community solar, Nautilus Solar on a panel at the Solar Energy Industries Association Finance, Tax, and Buyers seminar. “People are suspicious but there really are no hooks with community solar.”

LMI residents are leery to provide tax records or much documents at all in order to sign up for community solar, LaMora said. “We were surprised to see less of a default rate with LMI residents. We attribute this to the fact that they see significant savings on their electric bill, making it easier to pay each month,” he said.

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SDG7 Energy Progress Report assesses global energy access, renewables, clean cooking, and efficiency, citing COVID-19 setbacks, financing needs, and UN-led action by IEA, IRENA, World Bank, and WHO to advance sustainable, reliable, affordable power.

Key Points

A joint study by IEA, IRENA, UN, World Bank, and WHO tracking energy access, renewables, efficiency, and financing gaps.

✅ Tracks disparities in electricity access amid COVID-19 setbacks

✅ Emphasizes renewables, clean cooking, and efficiency targets

✅ Calls for scaled public finance to unlock private investment

The seventh Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), SDG7, aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.  

However, those nations which remain most off the grid, are set to enter 2030 without meeting this goal unless efforts are significantly scaled up, warns the new study entitled Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, published by the International Energy Agency (IAE), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), World Bank, and World Health Organization (WHO). 

“Moving towards scaling up clean and sustainable energy is key to protect human health and to promote healthier populations, particularly in remote and rural areas”, said Maria Neira, WHO Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.  

COVID setbacks 
The report outlines significant but unequal progress on SDG7, noting that while more than one billion people globally gained access to electricity over the last decade, COVID’s financial impact so far, has made basic electricity services unaffordable for 30 million others, mostly in Africa, intensifying calls for funding for access to electricity across the region.  

“The Tracking SDG7 report shows that 90 per cent of the global population now has access to electricity, but disparities exacerbated by the pandemic, if left unaddressed, may keep the sustainable energy goal out of reach, jeopardizing other SDGs and the Paris Agreement’s objectives”, said Mari Pangestu, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank. 

While the report also finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed some progress, Stefan Schweinfest, DESA’s Director of the Statistics Division, pointed out that this has presented “opportunities to integrate SDG 7-related policies in recovery packages and thus to scale up sustainable development”. 

Modernizing renewables 
The publication examines ways to bridge gaps to reach SDG7, chief among them the scaling up of renewables, as outlined in the IRENA renewables report, which have proven more resilient than other parts of the energy sector during the COVID-19 crisis. 

While sub-Saharan Africa, facing a major electricity challenge, has the largest share of renewable sources in its energy supply, they are far from “clean” – 85 per cent use biomass, such as burning wood, crops and manure. 

“On a global path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, we can reach key sustainable energy targets by 2030, aligning with renewable ambition in NDCs as we expand renewables in all sectors and increase energy efficiency”, said IAE Executive Director, Fatih Birol.  

And although the private sector continues to source clean energy investments, the public sector remains a major financing source, central in leveraging private capital, particularly in developing countries, including efforts to put Africa on a path to universal electricity access, and in a post-COVID context. 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dramatically increased investors’ risk perception and shifting priorities in developing countries, international financial flows in public investment terms, are more critical than ever to underpin a green energy recovery that can leverage the investment levels needed to reach SDG 7, according to the report.   

“Greater efforts to mobilize and scale up investment are essential to ensure that energy access progress continues in developing economies”, he added.  

Scaling up clean and sustainable energy is key to protect human health -- WHO's Maria Neira

Other key targets 
The report highlighted other crucial actions needed on clean cooking, energy efficiency and international financial flows. 

A healthy and green recovery from COVID-19 includes the importance of ensuring a quick transition to clean and sustainable energy”, said Dr. Neira. 

Feeding into autumn summit 
This seventh edition of the report formerly known as the Global Tracking Framework comes at a crucial time as Governments and others are gearing up for the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy in September 2021 aimed to examine what is needed to achieve SDG7 by 2030, including discussions on fossil fuel phase-out strategies, and mobilize voluntary commitments and actions through Energy Compacts.  

The report will inform the summit-level meeting on the current progress towards SDG 7, “four decades after the last high-level event dedicated to energy under the auspices of UN General Assembly”, said Mr. Schweinfest. 

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Nation Rise Wind Farm Ruling overturns Ontario cancellation, as Superior Court finds the minister's decision unreasonable; EDP Renewables restarts 100-megawatt project near Cornwall, citing jobs, clean energy, and procedural fairness over bat habitat concerns.

Key Points

Ontario court quashes cancellation, letting EDP Renewables finish 100 MW Nation Rise project and resume clean energy.

✅ Judges call minister's decision unreasonable, unfair

✅ EDP Renewables to restart construction near Cornwall

✅ 100 MW, 29 turbines; costs awarded, appeal considered

Construction of a wind farm in eastern Ontario, as wind power makes gains nationwide, will move ahead after a court quashed a provincial government decision to cancel the project.

In a ruling released Wednesday, a panel of Ontario Superior Court judges said the province's decision to scrap the Nation Rise Wind Farm in December 2019 did not meet the proper requirements.

At the time, Environment Minister Jeff Yurek revoked the approvals of the project near Cornwall, Ont., citing the risk to three bat species.

That decision came despite a ruling from the province's Environmental Review Tribunal that determined the risk the project posed to the bat population was negligible.

The judges said the minister's decision was "unreasonable" and "procedurally unfair."

"The decision does not meet requirements of transparency, justification, and intelligibility, as the Minister has failed to adequately explain his decision," the judges wrote in their decision.

The company behind the project, EDP Renewables, said the 29-turbine wind farm was almost complete when its approval was revoked in December, even as Alberta saw TransAlta scrap a wind farm in a separate development.

The company said Thursday it plans to restart construction on the 100-megawatt wind farm.

"EDPR is eager to recommence construction of the Nation Rise Wind Farm, which will bring much-needed jobs and investment to the community," the company said in a statement. "This delay has resulted in unnecessary expenditures to-date, at a time when governments and businesses should be focused on reducing costs and restarting the economy."

A spokesman for Yurek said the government is disappointed with the outcome of the case but did not comment on a possible appeal.

"At this time, we are reviewing the decision and are carefully considering our next steps," Andrew Buttigieg said in a statement.

NDP climate change critic Peter Tabuns said the court decision is an embarrassment for the minister and the government. He urged the government not to pursue an appeal.

Yurek "was found to have ignored the evidence and the facts," he said. "They didn't just lose, their case collapsed. They had nothing to stand on. Taking this to appeal would be a complete and total waste of money."

Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said the ruling proves the government was acting based on ideology over evidence when it revoked the project's approval.

"As we shift towards a post-COVID recovery, we need the Ford government to give up the irrational crusade against affordable and reliable clean energy," Schreiner said in a statement.

Last year, the NDP revealed the province had spent $231 million to cancel more than 750 renewable energy contracts, a move Ford said he was proud of, shortly after winning the 2018 election.

The Progressive Conservatives have blamed the previous Liberal government, as leadership candidates debate how to fix power, for signing the bad energy deals while the province had an oversupply of electricity.

The Ford government, amid a new stance on wind power, has also said that by cancelling the contracts it would ultimately save ratepayers $790 million -- a figure industry officials have disputed.

At the time of the wind farm cancellation, the government also said it would introduce legislation that would protect consumers from any costs incurred, though a developer warned cancellations could exceed $100M at the time.

It has since acknowledged it will have to pay some companies to cancel the deals and set aside $231 million to reach agreements with those firms, and more recently has moved to reintroduce renewable projects in some cases.

On Wednesday, the judges awarded Nation Rise $126,500 in costs, which the government will have to pay.

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