• A utility promised to stop burning coal. Then Google and Meta came to town.

    A utility promised to stop burning coal. Then Google and Meta came to town.

    An energy crunch forces continued coal burning in a low-income area as data centers strain the regional power supply.

    By

    October 12, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

    OMAHA — Residents in the low-income, largely minority neighborhoodof North Omaha celebrated when they learned a 1950s-era power plant nearby would finally stop burning coal. The community has some of the region’s worst air pollution and high rates of asthma.

    But when the 2023 deadline to rid that plant of coal arrived, the power company that owns it balked. Eliminating toxic emissions conflicted with a competing priority: serving massive, power-hungry Meta and Google data centers the utility helped recruit to the region before it secured enough new energy to meet the extra demand.

    READ MORE AT THE WASHINGTON POST

  • America’s Oil Country Increasingly Runs on Renewables

    America’s Oil Country Increasingly Runs on Renewables

    Texas, the biggest oil-producing state, has turned to solar power and battery storage to see it through extreme weather. But with demand rising, much more power will be needed.

    By Reporting from Houston / Sept. 18, 2024, 11:16 a.m. ET

    During the scorching summer of 2023, the Texas energy grid wobbled as surging demand for electricity threatened to exceed supply. Several times, officials called on residents to conserve energy to avoid a grid failure.

    This year it turned out much better — thanks in large part to more renewable energy.

    The electrical grid in Texas has breezed through a summer in which, despite milder temperatures, the state again reached record levels of energy demand. It did so largely thanks to the substantial expansion of new solar farms.

    READ MORE AT THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • 'Football fields' of batteries have helped Texas's grid when electricity demand is highest

    'Football fields' of batteries have helped Texas's grid when electricity demand is highest

    Texas's battery storage capacity has increased about 2,500% since the 2021 winter storm. The booming industry has helped prevent Texas grid emergencies.

    Author: Matt Houston (WFAA)

    Published: 4:48 PM CDT August 20, 2024

    FORT WORTH, Texas — Curious cattle lowed at the herd of people examining rows of shipping containers about thirty yards away on an overcast May morning. A heavy-duty fence surrounds the inconspicuous gray boxes. Air conditioners cooling their precious cargo emit a gentle hum. The property borders ranchland and an asphalt maker, all about three miles south of Hicks Airfield in Fort Worth. Electricity transmission lines cast a long shadow over the industrial site. "A lot of people saw, like us, the opportunity to fill a need," Stephanie Smith said, walking the gravel path between the boxes. As she turned into the array, an engineer unlocked one container to reveal its components: dozens of metal canisters resembling old computer hard drives, with neatly organized wires protruding from their ends. A "high voltage" sign warns onlookers away from the machines. "What's happening in Texas is really exciting," Smith said. "I love what batteries can do for the grid."

    Smith is chief operating officer at Eolian, which operates the Chisholm Grid battery farm. Eolian buys power off nearby transmission infrastructure to charge its array when electricity is plentiful and its wholesale price is low. It will sell that stored electricity back to the grid when demand drives up prices. The process is similar to stock trading. "You're trying to take advantage of the times when there's extra power, and then you're putting it in the market when the market needs it," Smith said.

    READ MORE AND WATCH THE INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE SMITH, COO 

Eolian in the News

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PRESS RELEASE Stephanie Seiferth PRESS RELEASE Stephanie Seiferth

Eolian Announces Closing Of $515 Million Green Loan

BURLINGAME, Calif., June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eolian, L.P. ("Eolian"), a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners ("GIP"), together with Banco Santander, MUFG, National Australia Bank, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, and SMBC, today announced the closing of a $515 million renewable energy green loan. This financing is secured by a diverse group of eligible green projects developed by Eolian over the past 20 years and is aligned with the four pillars of the Green Loan Principles, jointly published by the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA), the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) in February 2023.

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IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth

PGE bolsters reliability of clean energy transition with region's largest battery storage addition

Two new local projects will add 400 megawatts of non-emitting capacity, helping PGE integrate more clean energy into its portfolio

PORTLAND, Ore., April 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Portland General Electric Company (NYSE: POR) today announced the procurement of 400 megawatts (MWAC) of new battery storage projects – a critical tool in Oregon's clean energy transition and the largest single procurement of standalone energy storage to date by a utility in the U.S. outside the state of California. These projects, located at substations close to electrical demand, will store enough electricity to power all PGE customer homes in a city the size of Portland for an entire evening on battery-delivered energy alone

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IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth

PGE announces major clean energy storage project in Portland

BY ISABELLA O MALLEY

Published 7:15 AM MDT, April 28, 2023
Portland General Electric, the utility serving Portland, Oregon, announced Friday it is putting in the second-largest battery storage installation in the United States, at 400 MW of power. The significance of such projects is they diminish the need for power plants that burn fossil fuels that warm the planet.

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IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth

$327 million financial close for Driver Solar

Lightsource bp closes financing and mobilizes construction on largest solar project in Arkansas under agreement with Entergy Arkansas

  • Build-transfer agreement with Entergy Arkansas for the 313-megawatt dc solar project facilitated financing

  • At end of construction and start of commercial operation, Entergy Arkansas will assume facility ownership and operations

  • Project to create up to 400 construction jobs, utilizing the local workforce and subcontractors

Lightsource bp has successfully closed on a $327 million financing package and mobilized construction on the 313 megawatt dc (250 megawatt ac) Driver Solar project located near Osceola in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Lightsource bp completed development, permitted and financed the project and will construct the facility under a build-transfer agreement with Entergy Arkansas announced last year. Upon completion, at 313 MW Driver Solar will be the largest solar farm in Entergy Arkansas’ portfolio as well as the largest in the state of Arkansas, generating enough energy to power more than 50,000 homes.

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IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth

Wärtsilä and Eolian complete 200 MW standalone energy storage facility in Texas, the largest merchant battery system in the world

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade press release 27 March 2023 at 11:00 UTC+2

Madero and Ignacio energy storage facility will provide Texas’ ERCOT grid with needed flexibility amidst growing energy demand and extreme weather events. ©Eolian

The facility is also first-of-its-kind financed with the Investment Tax Credit to provide critically needed dispatchable resource to meet urgent and growing demand for flexibility in Texas power market

The technology group Wärtsilä has reached commercial operation date (COD) for two major interconnected energy storage systems in South Texas totaling 200 MW and owned by Eolian L.P. (Eolian), a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners. The Madero and Ignacio energy storage plants will be operated using Eolian software, enabling full participation in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market. This will add much needed year-round reliable operational ramping capacity to the system. The order for Wärtsilä was booked in February 2021.

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PRESS RELEASE Stephanie Seiferth PRESS RELEASE Stephanie Seiferth

Eolian Closes First-Of-Its-Kind Standalone Battery Energy Storage Tax Equity Financing

BURLINGAME, Calif., Feb. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eolian, L.P., a portfolio company of Global Infrastructure Partners, has successfully closed the first-of-its-kind tax equity investment in two standalone utility-scale battery storage projects located in Mission, Texas. This pioneering financing is the first use of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) structure by a standalone utility-scale battery energy storage system and is possible due to passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Tax equity investment in the projects was provided by a fund managed by Churchill Stateside Group, LLC.

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IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth IN THE NEWS Stephanie Seiferth

CPS Energy Completes FlexPOWER Bundle Initiative with Solar, Firming and Storage Additions

February 9, 2023 (SAN ANTONIO) – CPS Energy, the largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utility in the United States, has reached agreements with three companies, closing out the utility’s FlexPOWER Bundle initiative stemming from the RFP that was launched in 2020. In total, the FlexPOWER Bundle will deliver 580 megawatts (MW) of solar, 50 MW of storage, and 500 MW of natural gas firming capacity. The utility will issue a new and separate RFP in the first quarter of 2023 to procure up to an additional 320 MW of solar, to include community solar proposals, to add to its generation portfolio.

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