Published

2 years ago

November 5, 2023

Alice Rush

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) is proud to announce a forthcoming grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to engage, understand, and plan for the equitable electric mobility needs and priorities of underserved Black communities in Georgia.

In partnership with EVNoire (EVN) and Clean Cities Georgia (CC-GA), SACE will utilize the DOE funding to ensure that underserved Black communities within three Georgia cities – Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah – are actively engaged and empowered to create and deploy equitable, accessible, electric mobility initiatives.

This project will gather and center community priorities, strategies, and voices to ensure that electric mobility investments from federal programs such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) deliver what communities need and want. Strategic implementation of these federal funds will help achieve the objectives of the Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of the benefits from national clean energy and climate investments reach disadvantaged communities disproportionately affected by environmental and socioeconomic challenges.

Our work aims to put communities in the driver’s seat to ensure this landmark federal funding reaches them and is implemented in ways that address the mobility needs and priorities they have identified. Though the project focuses on engaging and benefiting underserved Black communities in Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah, Georgia, learnings will be shared widely to help realize Justice40’s intent throughout the Southeast. – Stan Cross, SACE Electric Transportation Policy Director

As federal funding begins to flow through BIL and IRA, the Southeastern United States is ripe with opportunities to expand electric mobility, advance EV charging infrastructure, promote EV ownership, attract manufacturing jobs, and electrify fleets. Georgia leads the region across a range of transportation electrification metrics, making the state an important player regionally and nationally.

Source: Georgia – Transportation Electrification in the Southeast, SACE and Atlas Public Policy, August 2023

However, in Georgia and across the Southeast, there is an unmet need to ensure that federal money is invested efficiently and equitably to secure the best outcomes for our region’s communities, particularly the underserved.

Together with our partners EVN and CC-GA, SACE will work over the next three years with stakeholders in Albany, Atlanta, and Savannah to enlist representative partners, including grassroots organizers, to engage deeply with the cities’ underserved Black communities. Along with creating community-centric strategic plans and identifying pathways to electric mobility project funding and implementation, the project will also engage education partners, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the Technical Community College System of Georgia, to identify job skill gaps and ensure communities have access to the job training needed to participate in the state’s booming electric transportation sector.

Together, the partners in this project will work to understand barriers and provide pathways to equitable, accessible transportation electrification and workforce development for underserved communities in the Southeast; and to ensure that investments through BIL, IRA, Justice40, and other federal programs benefit these communities.

This project will elevate awareness and ensure that federal money is invested efficiently and equitably to bring about community-driven outcomes that are timely and relevant to the communities engaged. In addition to unlocking community-centered access to federal funding and workforce development, project partners will also leverage learnings from this work to inform utility, state agency, and EV industry investment strategies to meet the needs of underserved communities in Georgia and beyond.

ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIP

SACE brings 35 years of experience working to promote responsible and equitable energy choices to ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. For the past decade, SACE has provided regional transportation electrification leadership through community engagement; local and state government outreach; regulatory and legislative advocacy; and research, blog, and editorial publications. SACE has provided over 1,000 ride-and-drives to consumers and fleet operators, consulted with 100+ local governments on EV planning and fleet transition, played a leading role in state-level EV planning in Ga., Fla., N.C., and S.C., and co-founded the Southeast Electric Transportation Regional Initiative. Learn more at www.cleanenergy.org.

EVNoire is a consulting group specializing in electric, connected, shared and autonomous mobility solutions. EVNoire leverages the expertise of its sister organization EVHybridNoire (EVHN), the nation’s largest network of diverse EV owners/enthusiasts, with thousands of members working to increase multimodal electrification and decarbonization efforts in under-resourced communities that are impacted worst and first by transportation emissions. EVHN’s Georgia chapter has hundreds of diverse EV owners/enthusiasts. As 1 of 4 organizing partners of NDEW and DEED, EVHN meets legislators to promote equitable e-mobility policies, public health, infrastructure deployment, and workforce opportunities. Learn more at EVHyrbridNoire.com.

Clean Cities Georgia is a DOE-designated coalition in the national Clean Cities network. Clean Cities is a nationwide effort to advance the adoption of alternative fuels, electric vehicles, and other clean transportation technologies to reduce petroleum consumption, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and promote sustainable transportation solutions. There are more than 75 Clean Cities Coalitions across the country and Clean Cities Georgia holds the distinction of being the first coalition DOE officially designated in 1993. Clean Cities Georgia’s partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies, utilities, public interest groups, and public and private fleets are focused on the deployment and use of cleaner forms of transportation. Learn more at www.afdc.energy.gov/cleancities/coalition/atlanta.

The post SACE and Partners Earn DOE Grant to Engage Underserved Black Georgia Communities in Creating Equitable Clean Energy Transportation Initiatives appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

SACE and Partners Earn DOE Grant to Engage Underserved Black Georgia Communities in Creating Equitable Clean Energy Transportation Initiatives

Renewable Energy

North Sea Summit Commits to 100 GW Offshore Wind

Published

1 day ago

January 26, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

North Sea Summit Commits to 100 GW Offshore Wind

Allen covers Equinor’s Hywind Tampen floating wind farm achieving an impressive 51.6% capacity factor in 2025. Plus nine nations commit to 100 GW of offshore wind at the North Sea Summit, Dominion Energy installs its first turbine tower off Virginia, Hawaii renews the Kaheawa Wind Farm lease for 25 years, and India improves its repowering policies.

Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

There’s a remarkable sight in the North Sea right now. Eleven wind turbines, each one floating on water like enormous ships, generating electricity in some of the roughest seas on Earth.

Norwegian oil giant Equinor operates the Hywind Tampen floating wind farm, and the results from twenty twenty-five are nothing short of extraordinary. These floating giants achieved a capacity factor of fifty-one point six percent throughout the entire year. That means they produced power more than half the time, every single day, despite ocean storms and harsh conditions.

The numbers tell the story. Four hundred twelve gigawatt hours of electricity, enough to power seventeen thousand homes. And perhaps most importantly, the wind farm reduced carbon emissions by more than two hundred thousand tons from nearby oil and gas fields.

Production manager Arild Lithun said he was especially pleased that they achieved these results without any damage or incidents. Not a single one.

But Norway’s success is just one chapter in a much larger story unfolding across the North Sea.

Last week, nine countries gathered in Hamburg, Germany for the North Sea Summit. Belgium, Denmark, France, Britain, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and their host Germany came together with a shared purpose. They committed to building one hundred gigawatts of collaborative offshore wind projects and pledged to protect their energy infrastructure from sabotage by sharing security data and conducting stress tests on wind turbine components.

Andrew Mitchell, Britain’s ambassador to Germany, explained why this matters now more than ever. Recent geopolitical events, particularly Russia’s weaponization of energy supplies during the Ukraine invasion, have sharpened rather than weakened the case for offshore wind. He said expanding offshore wind enhances long-term security while reducing exposure to volatile global fossil fuel markets.

Mitchell added something that resonates across the entire industry. The more offshore wind capacity these countries build, the more often clean power sets wholesale electricity prices instead of natural gas. The result is lower bills, greater security, and long-term economic stability.

Now let’s cross the Atlantic to Virginia Beach, where Dominion Energy reached a major milestone last week. They installed the first turbine tower at their massive offshore wind farm. It’s the first of one hundred seventy-six turbines that will stand twenty-seven miles off the Virginia coast.

The eleven point two billion dollar project is already seventy percent complete and will generate two hundred ten million dollars in annual economic output.

Meanwhile, halfway across the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is doubling down on wind energy. The state just renewed the lease for the Kaheawa Wind Farm on Maui for another twenty-five years. Those twenty turbines have been generating electricity for two decades, powering seventeen thousand island homes each year. The new lease requires the operator to pay three hundred thousand dollars annually or three point five percent of gross revenue, whichever is higher. And here’s something smart: the state is requiring a thirty-three million dollar bond to ensure taxpayers never get stuck with the bill for removing those turbines when they’re finally decommissioned.

Even India is accelerating its wind energy development. The Indian Wind Power Association welcomed major amendments to Tamil Nadu’s Repowering Policy last week. The Indian Wind Power Association thanked the government for addressing critical industry concerns. The changes make it significantly easier and cheaper to replace aging turbines with modern, more efficient ones.

So from floating turbines in the North Sea to coastal giants off Virginia, from island power in Hawaii to policy improvements in India, the wind energy revolution is gaining momentum around the world.

And that’s the state of the wind industry for the 26th of January 2026.

Join us tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Industry Podcast.

North Sea Summit Commits to 100 GW Offshore Wind

Renewable Energy

God’s Proud of Trump?

Published

3 days ago

January 24, 2026

Alice Rush

Based on the polls, we can see that most of the American people have a seething hatred of Trump, but at least God thinks he’s done a good job.

God’s Proud of Trump?

Renewable Energy

Maximise Government Rebates for Commercial Solar in 2026

Published

4 days ago

January 23, 2026

Alice Rush

If you live in Australia, you might have heard the rumours that commercial solar rebates are being phased out.

Just got thinking if your business has missed its chance to cash in on government support?

Hold on! Let’s set the record straight: the government rebates and incentives are still active, and in 2026, they’re more strategic than ever.

Australia remains a global leader in rooftop solar, but the rules of the game have evolved. It’s no longer just about covering your roof with solar panels and exporting cheap power to the grid.

In 2026, the smart move is pairing commercial solar with battery storage, demand management, and tax planning to maximise savings and control when and how your business uses energy.

From small cafes and warehouses to large manufacturing facilities and corporate headquarters, businesses of all sizes can still unlock substantial rebates, tax incentives, and funding opportunities.

The main goal is to understand how the current program works and how to stack them correctly before the rebates end.

Therefore, this guide breaks down how to maximise government rebates for commercial solar in 2026 in Australia, so you can slash power bills, boost energy independence, and make every incentive dollar count.

Let’s dive in!

In this blog post:

Understand the Federal Government’s Core Incentive Options

At the national level, Australia’s federal government continues to support commercial solar through several key programs. The rebate program includes:

Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES)

This is one of the most popular commercial solar rebates across Australia. Under the SRES, eligible solar systems that are up to 100 kW generate Small-scale Technology Certificates.

These certificates are tradable and provide upfront discounts when you install solar. Your installer usually handles the paperwork, and the value is passed as a discount during installation.

Why does this matter for business owners?

STCs can directly reduce your upfront costs by tens of thousands, making solar a much more affordable long-term investment. This might sound exciting to many. But act sooner rather than later.

Why?

Because the value of STCs gradually decreases as we approach the RET (Renewable Energy Target) end date in 2030.

So, planning a 2026 installation can secure more certificates at higher values.

Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs)

For bigger commercial solar systems above 100 kW, it’s a different story. These systems fall under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target and generate LGCs based on the electricity they produce each year.

These certificates are sold in the market, generating ongoing revenue, not just an upfront discount.

Why are LGCs a great option?

Provide cash flow over many years.
Can often outweigh STC savings for larger systems.

If your roof can support a system over 100 kW, you can easily scale up to access LGCs and create an annual income stream rather than just an upfront rebate.

New Federal Battery Rebate

From mid-2025, the federal government introduced battery rebates under the SRES framework, which continue into 2026.

In this battery home program, systems paired with solar can receive rebates for each usable kWh of storage installed up to 50 kWh.

This helps to:

Reduces battery cost by approximately 30%.
Enhances the value of your solar by allowing you to use more of the energy you generate rather than exporting it at a discount.

Pair solar with batteries wherever profitable. Solar alone saves you money, but paired with batteries, your business becomes more resilient and less exposed to low grid pricing.

How Can You Stack State & Territory Rebates and Grants?

Federal incentives are powerful, but stacking them with state-level rebates and grants can multiply savings.

Here’s what’s active or expected to continue in 2026:

New South Wales (NSW)

NSW supports commercial solar and batteries with:

STC rebates on solar.
Reset Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) rebates for batteries. $1,600–$2,400 in addition to bonuses for VPP participation.

Here’s a pro tip! If you add a VPP-ready battery to existing or new solar installations, you can claim both state and federal rebates.

Victoria

Victoria continues its Solar for Business initiatives with:

Rebates for smaller commercial systems.
Interest-free loans and technical support.
Extra funding to encourage SME solar adoption.

You can pair your Victorian rebate with federal STCs and depreciation allowances for the best stack.

Queensland

Queensland has regional programs such as:

Energy audits for businesses.
Co-contribution grants.
Targeted agricultural support to reduce daytime energy costs.

Regional businesses often qualify for multiple small grants, so schedule an audit early in your planning to identify all available incentives.

Turn Australian Tax Deductions into Business Advantage: Here’s How!

Government support isn’t just limited to rebates; tax incentives can be just as valuable.

Instant Asset Write-Off & Temporary Full Expensing

Businesses installing solar can often write off the full cost of the system in the year it is installed, resulting in significant reductions in taxable income. This also:

Improves cash flow in the year of investment.
Can stack with rebates.

Before installing, consult your solar installer to ensure you’re claiming the maximum allowable deduction and that the structure aligns with your business’s tax year.

Standard Depreciation

Even if you don’t qualify for instant write-offs, solar is still a depreciating asset. You can claim deductions over its useful life, typically 20+ years, blending your return through ongoing tax savings.

Let’s Explore Strategic Funding & Innovative Financing Methods

You don’t have to own the system outright to enjoy the benefit:

Environmental Upgrade Agreements (EUAs)

There are councils, such as Environmental Upgrade Agreements (EUAs), that link loans to your property, allowing you to finance energy upgrades through your rates rather than traditional debt, often at better rates and longer terms.

In this method, solar starts saving money immediately, and a new cash-flow strategy makes solar accessible even without large upfront capital.

Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)

With a PPA, a third party installs and owns the solar system, and you buy the energy at a reduced rate for 7–15 years.

What are the benefits:

Zero upfront cost.
Consistent electricity pricing.
Reduced risk.

A PPA may not generate STCs for you, but it can reduce out-of-pocket costs and be more financially advantageous for smaller businesses or those with constrained budgets.

Plan Your Install with Timing & Market Awareness

If you plan to install solar on your commercial property, timing is very crucial. The reason is simple and straightforward.

The rebate values decline over time. The SRES scheme reduces the number of certificates annually as 2030 approaches.
The battery rebates also step down periodically.

Therefore, all you need to do is book an appointment early, obtain free quotes, sign contracts, and schedule installations early in the financial year to secure the highest possible rebate.

How To Qualify for Maximum Returns?

In Australia, if you want to qualify for federal incentives, you must follow these two rules:

Panels and inverters must be Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved.
Installer must be accredited (Solar Accreditation Australia or equivalent).

Be aware! Skipping an accredited installer or choosing low-quality equipment can disqualify you from getting rebates, so always verify credentials and approvals.

Financial Metrics That Matter: Cash Flow, ROI & Payback

Understanding your commercial solar project isn’t just about grabbing rebates; it’s about making them count. Here’s how to approach it:

Build a 10-Year Financial Model

Include:

Upfront costs before rebates
Rebate cash inflows (STCs, state grants, battery subsidies)
Tax deductions
Avoided electricity purchases
Revenue streams (LGCs for large systems)

Then calculate:

Payback period
Net Present Value (NPV)
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

In most cases, businesses with high daytime usage see paybacks in 3–6 years, which is far better than traditional capital investments.

End Notes

Beyond rebates and tax savings, commercial solar boosts your business in ways that don’t show up on a spreadsheet instantly. It brings:

Brand credibility: Customers increasingly want sustainable partners.

Energy resilience: During peak grid pricing or outages, solar + battery keeps the lights on.

ESG leadership: If you report on environmental goals, solar is a visible, measurable contribution.

By 2026, Australia’s commercial solar incentives will still be robust, but navigating them takes strategy:

Do this first:

Understand federal incentives (STCs, LGCs, battery rebate)
Explore state rebates and stacking opportunities
Talk to your accountant about tax deductions
Get multiple quotes and install early in the year
Choose an accredited installer and products

And then:

Consider financing alternatives like EUAs or PPAs
Build a financial model before signing on the dotted line
Look beyond dollars to brand and operational resilience

Finally, the clean energy transition isn’t just an environmental choice; it’s a smart commercial move. With thoughtful planning and the right rebate stack, commercial solar in 2026 can be one of the most lucrative sustainability investments your business makes.

Ready to go solar?

Start with a trusted installer like Cyanergy, get a tailored quotation, and lock in every available rebate before they step down.