Connect with us

Published

on

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Eversource Quits Offshore Wind, Delays at Dogger Bank, Wind Innovators Honored

This week’s episode covers Eversource exiting offshore wind, delays at Dogger Bank wind farm, honorees of the Queen Elizabeth engineering prize, and the return of Wind Farm of the Week featuring Kay Wind farm. Allen and Joel also look forward to attending ACP OMS in San Diego!

Allen Hall: Joel, I think being in the podcast business is a lot easier than being in the AM radio business, clearly because down in Jasper, Alabama the station was alarmed by some guys taking care of the grounds. They had come out to, to mow and weed whack and whatever they’re going to do. And. At the tower site.

And when they got there, there was no tower. The tower was gone. I was left with a bunch of cables on the ground. And so the tower evidently was stolen. And the station manager at down there in Alabama doesn’t have any leads. They can’t figure out where this, all the equipment went to. And it wasn’t like it was a little tiny.

20 foot tower. It’s like a 200 foot tower. So talking about taking down a really big structure and somehow dragging it off into the woods and never to be found again. So there’s a, that’s a big problem. If the people are starting to steal your radio tower, you got

Joel Saxum: issues.

I just can’t see what anybody would do with it.

You’re not going to cut it up and sell it for scrap. Like every If this is national news now, every scrapyard is going to know. First off, look, so what are you going to do with it is one, if, and if you reinstall it eh, we’re going to install it so we can get TV from fricking Germany.

I don’t know. But if you’re going to reinstall it, someone’s going to see it. They’re going to be like, there’s the 200 foot tower. So I don’t know, unless it’s just a really extravagant prank that someone’s pulling, I’m not sure what you’re going to do with this tower. But kudos to the people that pulled it down.

I don’t know how you did that overnight.

Allen Hall: They don’t have any insurance coverage, because who would steal a tower, right? So now the station’s in trouble because the FCC which license all the radio stations in the United States has pulled their license. So they had an FM station and an AM station, the AM station got stolen.

The FM station evidently is still operational, but the FCC told them to turn it off. So now they’re stuck. They gotta go buy a new tower. Those things are not cheap, by the way, so that’s a big problem. And it just reminds me when you and I were been down in Oklahoma and Texas. That a lot of wind turbines now, thank goodness, are well locked up because there’s a lot of vandals out there and some of these wind turbines are located in remote places that we make sure that all those things are closed and secure like we hope that they are because there’s a lot of crazy stuff going on right now.

Joel Saxum: So one last question, Allen, at what point in time do we just get rid of AM radio?

Allen Hall: As soon as podcasts take over the world, that’s when, or when you can listen to it on a podcast on AM radio, that’s when you can do it.

Joel Saxum: That’s our next frontier, back to AM.

Allen Hall: Back to AM, amen.

Well, Joel, Eversource is pulling out of the offshore wind business here in the United States. Now, Eversource is a large electricity provider on the East Coast. They operate New England’s largest energy system with about 4. 4 million electric natural gas and wind Water customers in sort of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and up in New Hampshire, so they cover Hartford, Connecticut and Boston, Massachusetts, two big metro areas because they published their financials for 2023 and they had booked a 1.

9 billion dollar impairment. For its offshore wind investments for last year, and evidently, as part of that, they decided to sell their 50 percent stake in South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects to global infrastructure partners. Now, in return for selling those, you’re going to receive about 1. 1 billion in cash.

But that’s not going to close until like middle of this year. And it sounds like there’s a little bit of contingencies in place, just in case some costs overruns happened that how they’re going to split those up. But essentially Eversource is getting out of the offshore wind business. This is a big deal because now global infrastructure partners, which just got acquired by BlackRock, right?

That there’s a lot of financial transactions happening at the moment.

Joel Saxum: Yeah. The interesting thing here, and you and I talked about it off air, if you’re in the wind industry or in the, these, some of these players, Orsted, Iberdrola, NextEra, some of these larger ones, but when people said Eversource originally, like Eversource is going to do offshore wind.

Who the hell is Eversource? If you don’t live in the northeast part of the United States, you don’t know who they are. If you live up there, like you do, you understand they’re a big utility, they do a lot of things they are part of the infrastructure up there that supports that whole New England coast.

But interestingly enough, like Eversource has, they never had any business being an offshore wind. They don’t know anything about it. They’ve never done anything with it. And so my thought, and again, we talked about this off where my opinion was, cool for them to be involved in it. I think the state legislatures, of course, want their local people to be involved and be a stakeholder with what’s going on in that offshore wind play.

But they, in my opinion, they shouldn’t have put that much money into it. They shouldn’t have been a 50 percent holder with Orsted. They got a good partner, Orsted, of course, great partner. They know offshore wind. They’re the originators. They’ve been doing it for a long time. So they did good there, but it’s too risky.

It’s too much out there, in my opinion. Again, take it for whatever you want, but the change over here going to global infrastructure partners. Now, global infrastructure partners, like you said part of BlackRock. Now, BlackRock through, I think there was a large value there, 12 Billion or something of that sort.

Yeah, it was a big number. Yeah. Yeah. And so the Larry Fink, of course, the CEO of BlackRock is saying, hey, that infrastructure investments are the future of some of these large large investments. So people knowing that energy is going to be the people with the big, deep pockets, knowing that energy infrastructure and infrastructure in general is going to be something that we’re going to have to bet on in the future.

Now they’re taking this spot. So they’re sliding in on the opposite side of Orsted. Eversource is moving out. Look to see a lot more of these things start to happen with big money, deep pockets is the way I see it. And

Allen Hall: Eversource is also discussing the sale of its water distribution business as to make up some of the deficit here.

So this has been a painful exercise for Eversource. And as we have seen from other electricity utilities in the United States they’re trying to cover their losses, and it makes you wonder what’s going to happen going forward. Are you going to see utilities step into these offshore projects? Or are they going to leave them to the European companies that can manage them, or in this case, Canadian companies that may be able to manage them?

Joel Saxum: Yeah, I know we talk about this regularly too, right? It’s frustrating that there isn’t more American involvement in offshore wind. You see all these big offshore wind, every company besides basically Dominion is From overseas. They’re from Europe. They’re somewhere that’s not here, and I know that frustrates people.

It frustrates me, right? I want to see these things happen, but you also have to understand that from an offshore marine environment infrastructure, that’s not something that we normally do in the U. S. The existing offshore infrastructure in the U. S., which a lot of people don’t know that much about, is mostly all Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas.

So there’s platforms down there. There’s those things as well. Those are a completely different. How would you say it? They’re a completely different engineering task, right? Most of those are one offs. A lot of them are there’s some in shallow water with jacket foundations, but it’s like you’re building one.

You build that jacket. It’s massively custom. It’s all custom built. It’s floated out there suction piled in. Wells are drilled. Things work. And then there’s the deep water stuff, right? There’s things in the Gulf of Mexico that are out in three, four thousand feet of water pumping oil. So we have some of that infrastructure, but not like offshore wind.

It’s a completely different animal. So while it is frustrating to not see American companies involved we need that expertise from the people that have done it. I think I would like to see some people tagging along, but I’d like to see them at five and 10 percent and have a couple of people sitting within the company to learn and grow.

But taking a 50 percent stake that was a risky risky gig from the beginning.

Allen Hall: Yeah, I’m not sure, it’s all happened pre inflation, right? That’s what happened, and at the time, I’m sure all the economics made sense, but the economy has changed so much in the last couple of years, it’s hard to really blame them.

It was like a one in a hundred year event, really. It’s tough, and I think the utilities, they have to try to find a way to fight them or to bring themselves out of this hole. But I think I don’t think a lot of U. S. utilities are not going to get. Knee deep into these projects from here on out, and they’re going to be the 5 or 10 percent range just to cover their downside.

Makes sense.

Joel Saxum: Even, Global infrastructure partners, like I said, in this deal there is some caveats to make sure that, the economy doesn’t start doing crazy stuff again, or they have the ability to make a

Allen Hall: move.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has been holding some public meetings to discuss some offshore sites off the coast of essentially New Jersey.

And they ran into some opposition from fishermen and who are arguing against putting some wind turbines where the, some of their fishing grounds are, and it really has to do with the cables. I don’t think they’re too concerned about where the turbines are placed so much as like, where are the cables, because a lot of fishing.

involves trolling the bottom of the ocean to capture the sea life they’re trying to go get. Now, this has caused a lot of issues for BOEM because when they had sighted these projects, they didn’t think they’re going to receive a lot of feedback on the fishing. Locations that they, or they didn’t think the objections would be as vocal as they are, but as we have seen in the press more recently, there’s still a lot of effort to push back on, on the East Coast, at least on these fishing areas.

And I’ve seen some more recently on the West Coast, Oregon, California, same sort of thing. It does seem like the BOEM is slowing down on its project development and locating these sites. Based on feedback and maybe getting a little more input from local businesses like fishermen to make sure their site is in the right place.

Again, there’s going to be a big push to try to put some sites out in the water, Joel. Are these going to take longer? And if they do take longer to get cited out, is it going to be less price paid for them because of the potential downside?

Joel Saxum: I think if you roll it back to the beginning of an idea here, the idea is that we’re using the ocean for a new purpose.

Change is hard. Change is difficult. Change You have to involve a lot of people to make sure you do it right. So right now, we’re talking about stakeholder management. Basically, everybody wants to use these pieces of ocean for something, right? We want to use them for offshore wind. We want to use them for navigation.

We want to use them for fishing. So you have to figure out how to work together. And whenever you have a community, such as the fishermen have basically had the run of this area forever. They haven’t had to deal with anybody out there using it in a heavily commercial activity, right? So they’ve been able to do what they want, right?

And now you’re going to add in another stakeholder out there, where, it may impact the fisherman’s abilities, or so they’re putting forth. It will impact their ability to You know, make their catcher or do their things because there’s going to be exclusion zones. You can’t go dragging, you can’t go dragging net right next to a platform or something like that.

Like you get caught up. That wouldn’t be good. Other than that, you have to think about the subsea infrastructure, right? So sometimes. Depending on where you are in the world or what the regulations are, if you’re going to have an export cable coming from a wind farm to shore, sometimes it’s buried, sometimes it’s trenched in.

They have a trenching machine. They’re pretty cool. They look like tanks. They basically go on the bottom and they drive on tracks on the bottom of the ocean floor and they have water jets and they create a channel and bury the cable. But also with those, you have rock dumps that may go on top of them, mattresses, there’s all kinds of different things depending on the geotechnics of the subsea at that point.

But either way, that once was a nice, smooth, clean ocean floor with nothing on it that the bottom trawlers were able to just basically drag with nets. Now they can’t do that anymore. There’s gonna be definitely issues there with, involving more stakeholders. I can completely understand why they’re a bit up in arms.

It messes up their it’d be like if someone came to you, Allen and said, you can’t be, you can’t be a lightning engineer anymore. You have to figure out a way to be a, I don’t know, electrical engineer or a mechanical engineer or something. You know what I mean? You like, they’re taking away. Yeah.

Taking away your livelihood is what they’re doing. Understandably up in arms. I get it. But for the greater, I can say this easily sitting in my chair, right? I’m not, this doesn’t affect me as much, but for the greater good, there needs to be some give and take if we want to have offshore wind in this green energy transition.

Allen Hall: I don’t think the fishermen had a lot to worry about at the moment because it’s not going to. Be a lot of action in their area.

Joel Saxum: Yeah. Not the way it’s going right now. Yeah. There, there’s also takes where say in areas, I know that they’ve done some there’s a website that has some really cool subsea footage of block Island and the fishing and love wildlife around those platforms.

So if you had a fishing area and then all of a sudden there’s a bunch of structure in it, if you’re a fisherman, fish go to structure, bait, fish go to structure. So maybe the fishing grounds were here. And now all those fish migrate right into that wind farm to hide out a little bit, and then it makes your fishing not as good, too.

That could happen. Lightning is an act of God, but lightning damage is not. Actually, it’s very predictable, and very preventable. Strike Tape is a lightning protection system upgrade for wind turbines made by WeatherGuard. It dramatically improves the effectiveness of the factory LPS, so you can stop worrying about lightning damage.

Visit weatherguardwind. com to learn more, read a case study, and schedule a call today.

Allen Hall: Over in the UK, the Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm project is behind schedule and by a lot. So there, there’s three phases to Dogger Bank. We’re talking about Dogger Bank A, really, which is the first phase here.

Developer SSE has warned that operations may not commence. Until 2025, and they were really scheduled to begin the end of this year and it’s all due to availability issues, supply chain delays weather, of course, and then access to ships, what it sounds like. So only 7 of the 95 Halley 8X 13 megawatt turbines have been installed.

Since the first turbine came online late last year the 3. 6 gigawatt docker bank project, when it’s all complete, will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm because it has three phases, each of 1. 2 gigawatts, and that, that’s a massive wind farm. Joel, it does seem like they’re really going to run into trouble here with ships just because if they get delayed, the ships have someplace else to be.

This project will drag on and I don’t know if there’s a really a way to deal with it at the moment besides hope for better weather.

Joel Saxum: Yeah, you want to hope for better weather and I guess it’s when you’re talking operations, whether it’s construction or I don’t know, you’re going to go to a site and paint someone’s house.

It doesn’t really matter. Usually the first section of that goes slower, right? You’re everybody’s, the crew’s kind of melding, meshing, getting together and you’re understanding logistics and things, how they work and hook up faster. So it’s completely understandable that you’d have a slow start to a project that happens a lot.

That’s always something. Project managers in construction are like, how can we alleviate this, these headaches at the beginning? However, only 7 of those 95 turbines installed since December start. It’s mid February now? It’s been, 10 12 weeks? That’s not good. That’s really slow. And it’s mostly chalked up to weather, right?

North Sea, wintertime, Dogger Bank, it’s not, that’s nasty. So you can understand that now, the problems that you’re running into right now, of course. Vessels are on contract, that’s how it works. You get a set amount of days, you pay for those days. You may have some squeeze room for overrun, but a lot of times, if you have a vessel from, Boscalis, Someone, if you have that vessel until June 1st, you might be able to get it until June 15th, but after June 15th, company XYZ is going to be screaming for it because they paid a contract for it to be over there.

There is a little bit of the term is coopetition, if you’ve ever heard of that. It’s when to partner with your competition of these conversations that are going to be happening in the background for sure at the vessel. The vessel companies are licking their chops.

Either way, they’re getting paid. They’re loving it. But we do know that there’s a lot of wind farms being installed all over the North Sea. We’ve got some coming here in the States. We got there’s all over the world. Taiwan screaming for ships are building some new ones in the APAC region right now.

The problem you have here with some of these, if you’re like, Hey, we’ll move another one in, we’ll move another one out, this, the fittings and the structures and how each vessel handles each type of, say, monopile or transition piece, or the rigging for the crane, or the measurement systems for the verticality of the monopile when it’s being driven, or the specific ROV intervention tools that need to be used subsea to hook things up.

Those are usually specific to one RFP, to one wind farm, to one construction site. The same thing in oil and gas. If you’re going to develop a subsea oil field, you spec out every single bit of what’s on each vessel. The tools, the instruments, the kit, the, all the, everything that interacts with anything that goes off subsea has to be custom built.

And so you can’t really just if you’re on a Seaway 7 vessel installing these things. You can’t really just switch over to a Deme vessel the next day when they move out. It doesn’t work like that. It’s not like switching out a Chevy truck and a Ford truck to go to a wind site on shore. It doesn’t, that’s not how it goes.

I guess the way, what we have to hope is the we get some really good weather for the teams out at Dogger Bank and they start ginning. They start grooving, moving and grooving and getting some things installed. Otherwise there will be some delays. It is what it is.

Allen Hall: When this podcast releases, Joel, we will be in sunny San Diego at ACP OMS and there’s looks like it’s going to be a pretty big crowd there just checking on LinkedIn.

I know everybody’s getting ready for the 2024 repair season. There’s a lot of activity and 2023 was a pretty high damage year from what I could tell. And I expect also Blades, which is happening while this podcast releases down in Austin, Texas, is going to be widely attended, and it seems to be gaining traction even over in Europe, when I was just over in Europe, and people from there were going to be attending Blades, so it’s going to be a lot of activity.

It’s conference season at the moment.

Joel Saxum: Yeah, it’s starting up here in the States, for sure. I’m in Austin right now. Right now, it’s What day is it today? It’s Wednesday. It’s Valentine’s Day. I’ve been talking all week, last week, about, clients, friends, colleagues people to meet up with talk blade problems, talk lightning problems for the next few weeks, so my schedule is crazy.

Plus, I’m, it starts Sunday night, people flying in, I’ll go grab a couple friends from the airport have some blade conversations for Monday and Tuesday, of course. BladesUSA is a great event a lot of good engineers there, a lot of good topics. And you’re involving the engineers and the stakeholders at the operator level, at the, at, the people who own the wind farms.

And then also a lot of the blade repair companies are there, and some of the, retrofit companies and stuff are in town for that. So it’s a lot of the correct grab of stakeholders around blades are there. And then that Wednesday morning, I’ve had a couple of jokes, a couple conversations the last few days, those planes that are leaving Austin, heading to San Diego, they’re going to be a captive audience.

It’s going to be all people coming, two and a half, three hour flight everybody coming from Blades going to the operations, maintenance and safety conference. Annoying that they’re in the same week, to be honest with you, but they were smart enough to put one on Monday, Tuesday, and I say they because it’s ACP and Wind Power Monthly or Haymarket or whatever, and they’re two separate organizations, but Blades is Monday, Tuesday, and we have OMS is Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Friday I know we have booths at both of them, so we’re going to be taking a lot of meetings, talking to a lot of people, doing a lot of podcast recording, which is always great.

But OMS, yeah, it’s, that’s always a good one to kick off the season, we’re in February here. Most people have their tenders lined out. And if they don’t, or if they need a little bit of backfill with some capacity for some blade teams or, uptower teams, gearbox teams they’re going to sort it out here shortly.

So it’s a good time to be good, but good time to be out in the market, talking with people. OMS is always nice in San Diego there, but we did hear there might be some rain. So pack a rain jacket.

Allen Hall: It looks like it’s going to rain. We’re going to have recordings with a number of companies that are going to be at OMS.

And if, obviously, if you want to talk to us about being on the podcast, that’s a good place to connect with us right on the OMS floor. One of the things I’m noticing this year too, Joel, is that there’s just a lot more of the operators getting involved in the blade repair. And that full service agreements are not as favorable as they once were.

So the activity on the engineering side seems to be much more active and maybe that’s just coming out of the inflationary period and everybody’s getting going. The comedy is picking up a little bit, but it does seem to me the amount of engineering that’s going on the blade side is at a peak. I haven’t seen it this active in a couple of years.

Joel Saxum: Yeah, I think the other side of it is in the United States, of course, our fleet is starting to mature, right? We had a lot of installations that, GE 1 5s went crazy in 2011, 12, 13, all this stuff. They’re now coming 10 years, so if you had an FSA that was 10 year they’re starting to, Hey, are they going to renew the FSA or take it on themselves?

The data points to You might be better off taking your operations on yourself or having an ISP help you out. So a lot of that activity for sure, Allen.

Allen Hall: And Booking a independent service provider may be hard at this point.

Joel Saxum: You’re a little late. You’re late in the year.

Allen Hall: Yeah. And also technicians that are looking for positions this summer that’s a good place to be, right?

If you’re out in San Diego, definitely stop by and drop off a resume or if you’re at Blades, drop off a resume. Get involved. I’ve seen a lot more technician activity and people reaching out, like, where can I find a position for the year? There’s a lot of job sites, everybody. Get on LinkedIn and connect up with those companies via LinkedIn.

Get on their websites, go to their career pages, look there because there’s a lot of opportunities at the moment and it’s one of the fastest growing jobs in America, being a wind turbine technician. Get going because it’s going to be a good season.

Joel Saxum: I’ve been involved in quite a few different industries and trade shows and whatnot, and I don’t think there’s one that I’ve been around that’s quite like OMS.

OMS, of course, Operations Maintenance Safety, so it’s very much focused on the operations in the field. And to be honest with you, if you’re looking to be a blade tech or an uptower tech and you haven’t inked what your contract is going to be like or working for a specific company this year, It’s It might be worth hopping on a plane to San Diego and walking that floor and handing out your resumes at that show because there’s going to be a lot of people there.

A little bit different this year, usually it’s at Coronado, right down on the beach. And the actual exhibition, it’s not that good, to be honest with you. American Clean Power, I’ll say that. When you had it in the tents out on the lawn, not the best, but this year it is in a hotel in a center with an actual exhibition floor.

There’s going to be over 100 people exhibiting. So a lot of things in the wind and stream movement at OMS for sure.

Allen Hall: All right, British engineer, Andrew Garrad, and Danish citizen, Henrik Stiesdal, were announced as the 2024 winners of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for their pioneering work, advancing wind turbine design and deployment, the over 40 careers for both of those gentlemen the laureates made critical innovations now used in most modern high capacity wind turbines, including some of the world’s largest wind turbines.

Their groundbreaking work has enabled widespread adoption of wind power around the world. And Her Royal Highness Princess Anne attended the ceremony at London’s Science Museum, which had to be cool. Come on, Joel. That’s cool. And praised the role of engineering in society. And it, so if you’re not familiar with the Queen Elizabeth Prize, it’s there to promote excellence and visionaries in engineering, inspiring young people to consider it as a career.

So this is a really, Fascinating prize. I like it. It’s like the Nobel Peace Prize for engineering sort of thing. Yeah. And it does come with some cash award, right?

Joel Saxum: Yeah. It’s a 1 million pound. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s big time. Unlike the Nobel Peace Prize, which is basically money off of dynamite.

I hope this money comes out of the royal family’s pockets because they can stand to lose a little bit. Either way I think that anybody in the wind industry, if you don’t know who Andrew Garrard or Henrik Stiesdal are, please Google them the next time you get a chance and you’ll see historic websites devoted to the things that they have done.

There’s so much information about their what for the modern day wind turbine, 450, 000 of them in the world right now. Plus, offshore, onshore, these two guys were a huge part of everything that you see today. So if you’re a technician, if you’re a developer, if you’re anybody in the wind industry, you owe it to these two these two men that are, we’ll call them like a royalty, wind royalty maybe that have come out and done all these things.

So take a peek at it, do yourself a favor next time you’re sitting around on the couch or something. Pull your phone out and Google their names and you’ll see some really cool stuff. And congrats to the two of them. And and thank you for the work that you put in in your engineering minds to get us to the point we’re at right now.

Allen Hall: They have to be amazed at the rapid deployment of wind that we’re now talking about 20 megawatt machines when they first started their kilowatt machines, it, there has been a rapid growth in that industry. I do timing is everything. And so if right time, right place part of it, that’s true, but getting engineering, was key early on and if you do look at some of the early inventions in wind, you’re like, Ooh, pretty sketchy, but we’ve gotten through that period. And it, there is a, I do think these prizes help raise awareness about the careers you can have in engineering. And the, if you’re a high school graduate or going into college, it’s such a tough time to try to figure out what you want to go do.

Engineering is one of those tough trails, and it’s nice that you can see some hardworking engineers be rewarded for their efforts because yeah, engineering’s not easy, right? And a lot of people are involved in a lot of these wind projects that you never hear of, but they should be commended also.

Joel Saxum: There’s, in the United States, we talk about the fact that there’s not a DTU.

There’s not a TU Delft. We don’t have a university dedicated to wind. And at the university level, it’s there is actually reports out lately that I’ve read, sad for me that says that engineering as a major is starting to decline in the United States. A lot more people taking, I don’t want to say this.

I don’t want to make anybody angry, but a lot more people taking a little bit easier paths through university to get degrees. Engineering is one of the toughest things that you can really do there. But you can see that engineering in general shapes our society. If you look around you, everything that you touch, feel every day is designed by someone.

That is an engineer. I know the majority of big things that happen are designed by engineers. They’re the ones that make progress. So we need more of them out there. So we haven’t had a Windfarm of the Week in quite a while, but we want to get back into that of course. So the Wind Farm of the Week this week is Kay Wind.

Southern Power owns Kay Wind. It’s in Kay County, Oklahoma. The 299 megawatt facility with 130 Siemens 2. 3 80 meter tall towers. The facility was built with a 400 million construction loan. And the project was delivered back in 2015. So power gets sold into Kansas and also Oklahoma under 20 year PPAs.

The thing I want to touch about this wind farm, if you Google it, you’ll find out that in 2017, the team at Kay Wind was recognized for its exceptional achievement in operations and management at the Wind O& M Conference in Dallas. So the project team won the Wind Farm Team or Technician of the Year Award back in 2017 and they beat out over 100 entries.

So this is at that point in time, Apex was a part of it as well but the Southern Power Apex team there at Kay Wind, Doing a lot of fantastic things with a bunch of turbines that were built in the United States, right? They were built at the Siemens facility in Hutchinson, Kansas, and the blades were made in or the nacelles were and the blades were produced at the Fort Madison, Iowa.

Kay Wind, you are the wind farm of the week.

Allen Hall: That’s going to do it for this week’s Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. Thanks for listening, and please give us a 5 star rating on your podcast platform and subscribe in the show notes below to Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter. And check out Rosemary’s YouTube channel, Engineering with Rosie, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Eversource Quits Offshore Wind, Delays at Dogger Bank, Wind Innovators Honored

Continue Reading

Renewable Energy

ACORE Statement on Treasury’s Safe Harbor Guidance

Published

on

ACORE Statement on Treasury’s Safe Harbor Guidance

Statement from American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) President and CEO Ray Long on Treasury’s Safe Harbor Guidance:

“The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is deeply concerned that today’s Treasury guidance on the long-standing ‘beginning of construction’ safe harbor significantly undermines its proven effectiveness, is inconsistent with the law, and creates unnecessary uncertainty for renewable energy development in the United States.

“For over a decade, the safe harbor provisions have served as clear, accountable rules of the road – helping to reduce compliance burdens, foster private investment, and ensure taxpayer protections. These guardrails have been integral to delivering affordable, reliable American clean energy while maintaining transparency and adherence to the rule of law. This was recognized in the One Big Beautiful Act, which codified the safe harbor rules, now changed by this action. 

“We need to build more power generation now, and that includes renewable energy. The U.S. will need roughly 118 gigawatts (the equivalent of 12 New York Cities) of new power generation in the next four years to prevent price spikes and potential shortages. Only a limited set of technologies – solar, wind, batteries, and some natural gas – can be built at that scale in that timeframe.”

###

ABOUT ACORE

For over 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s leading voice on the issues most essential to clean energy expansion. ACORE unites finance, policy, and technology to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. For more information, please visit http://www.acore.org.

Media Contacts:
Stephanie Genco
Senior Vice President, Communications
American Council on Renewable Energy
genco@acore.org

The post ACORE Statement on Treasury’s Safe Harbor Guidance appeared first on ACORE.

https://acore.org/news/acore-statement-on-treasurys-safe-harbor-guidance/

Continue Reading

Renewable Energy

Should I Get a Solar Battery Storage System?

Published

on

Frequent power outages, unreliable grid connection, sky-high electricity bills, and to top it off, your solar panels are exporting excess energy back to the grid, for a very low feed-in-tariff. 

Do all these scenarios sound familiar? Your answer might be yes! 

These challenges have become increasingly common across Australia, encouraging more and more homeowners to consider solar battery storage systems. 

Why? Because they want to take control of their energy, store surplus solar power, and reduce reliance on the grid.  

But then again, people often get perplexed, and their biggest question remains: Should I get a Solar Battery Storage System in Australia? 

Well, the answer can be yes in many cases, such as a battery can offer energy independence, ensure better bill savings, and provide peace of mind during unexpected power outages, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.  

There are circumstances where a battery may not be necessary or even cost-effective. 

In this guide, we’ll break down when it makes sense and all the pros and cons you need to know before making the investment.

Why You Need Battery Storage Now?

According to data, Australia has surpassed 3.9 million rooftop solar installations, generating more than 37 GW of PV capacity, which is about 20% of electricity in the National Electricity Market in 2024 and early 2025.  

Undoubtedly, the country’s strong renewable energy targets, sustainability goals, and the clean‑energy revolution have brought solar power affordability, but the next step in self‑reliance is battery storage. 

Data from The Guardian says that 1 in 5 new solar installs in 2025 now includes a home battery, versus 1 in 20 just a few years ago, representing a significant leap in adoption.  

Moreover, the recent launch of the Cheaper Home Batteries program has driven this uptake even further, with over 11,500 battery units installed in just the first three weeks from July 1, and around 1,000 installations per day. 

Overall, the Australian energy market is evolving rapidly. Average household battery size has climbed to about 17 kWh from 10–12 kWh previously.  

Hence, the experts are assuming that 10 GW of new battery capacity will be added over the next five years, competing with Australia’s current coal‑fired capacity.

What Am I Missing Out on Without Solar Batteries?

Honestly? You’re missing out on the best part of going solar. 

Renewable sources of energy like solar, hydro, and wind make us feel empowered. For example, solar batteries lower your electricity bills, minimize grid dependency, and also help to reduce your carbon footprint 

But here’s the catch! Without battery storage, you’re only halfway there! 

The true magic of solar power isn’t just in producing clean energy; it’s storing and using it efficiently.  

A solar battery lets you store excess energy and use it when the sun goes down or the grid goes out. It’s the key to real energy independence. Therefore, ultimately, getting a battery is what makes your solar system truly yours.

Why You Need Battery Storage Now

Here’s a list of what you’re missing out on without a solar battery: 

  1. Energy Independence 
  2. Batteries help you to stay powered even during blackouts or grid failures. With energy storage, you don’t have to think of fuel price volatility and supply-demand disruption in the  Australian energy market. 

  3. Maximized Savings  
  4. Adding a solar battery to your solar PV system allows you to use your own stored energy at night instead of repurchasing it at high rates. It also reduces grid pressure during peak hours, restoring grid stability. 

  5. Better Return on Investment ROI 
  6. Tired of Australian low feed-in-tariff rates 

    Make full use of your solar system by storing excess power at a low price rather than exporting it. Solar panel and battery systems can be a powerful duo for Australian households.  

  7. Lower Carbon Footprint 
  8. Despite the steady growth in solar, wind, and hydro, fossil fuels still dominate the grid. Fossil fuels supplied approximately 64% of Australia’s total electricity generation, while coal alone accounted for around 45%. 

    These stats highlight why solar battery storage is so valuable. By storing surplus solar energy, homeowners can reduce their reliance on a grid that still runs on coal and gas.  

  9. Peace of Mind 
  10. Enjoy 24/7 uninterrupted power, no matter what’s happening outside.  

    Besides powering urban homes and businesses, batteries also provide reliable power backup for off-grid living at night when your solar panel can’t produce, ensuring peace of mind. 

What Size Solar Battery Do I Need?

While choosing the battery size, it isn’t just about picking the biggest one you can afford; it’s about matching your household’s energy consumption pattern. There is no one-size battery that will make financial or functional sense for everyone. 

Nevertheless, if you have an average family of four with no exceptional power demands, you may get by with a 10kWh to 12kWh battery bank as a ready-to-roll backup system.  

Well, this is just an estimation, as we have no idea of your power needs, because selecting a battery is highly subjective to the household in question. 

With that being said, you can get a good idea of how much power you use on average by analyzing your electric bill copy. Also, keeping track of which appliances you use the most and which ones require the most power will help you.  

So, to figure out the ideal battery size for your home, you need to consider three most important things: 

  1. Your Daily Energy Usage

Check your electricity bill for your average daily consumption (in kWh). Most Australian homes use between 15 to 25 kWh per day. 

  1. Your Solar System Output

How much excess solar energy are you generating during the day? That’s the power you’ll store to use later rather than exporting. 

  1. Your Nighttime Power Usage

A battery is most useful at night or during grid outages. So, estimate how much power you typically use after sunset. However, by using a battery, you can also get the freedom of living off the grid. 

Sizing Up: The Ideal Home Battery for Aussies! 

  • For small households and light usage, a 5 kWh battery will be suitable. 
  • For average Australian households, adding a 10 kWh battery would be enough. 
  • Large homes and high-energy users will need a 13 to 15 kWh system. 
  • For full independence, off-grid living, or blackout protection, you may require a larger battery size of 20+ kWh. 

Want help calculating your exact needs? Just drop your daily usage and solar output, and we’ll do the math for you! Cyanergy is here to help!  

Sizing Up: The Ideal Home Battery for Aussies! 

  • For small households and light usage, a 5 kWh battery will be suitable. 
  • For average Australian households, adding a 10 kWh battery would be enough. 
  • Large homes and high-energy users will need a 13 to 15 kWh system. 
  • For full independence, off-grid living, or blackout protection, you may require a larger battery size of 20+ kWh. 

Want help calculating your exact needs? Just drop your daily usage and solar output, and we’ll do the math for you! Cyanergy is here to help! 

How Much Do Solar Batteries Cost?

How Much Do Solar Batteries Cost

Previously, you would have to pay between $3000 and $3600 for the battery alone, plus the cost of installation, for every kWh of solar battery storage.  

However, you can currently expect to pay between $1200 and $1400 for each kWh of solar battery storage. That is a price reduction of approximately 52%, and things will only get better from here. 

Does that imply solar batteries are cheap now? Not really, but the cost is well justified by the pros of having a battery storage system. 

Also, while paying for solar batteries, you have to consider many other factors like the type of battery, your solar panel system configurations and compatibility, brand, and installation partner.  

These will significantly influence the price range of battery storage. 

Is a Solar Battery Worth It | Pros and Cons at a Glance

It’s okay to feel a little overwhelmed while deciding to invest your hard-earned money in a battery.  

So, here we’ve listed the pros and cons of having a solar battery to help you in the decision-making process. 

Benefits of Solar Battery Storage 

  • Solar batteries help you become self-sustaining. 
  • You don’t have to care about power outages anymore 
  • In the event of any natural disaster, you will still have a power source 
  • Battery prices are dropping significantly as we speak 
  • During peak hours, grid electricity prices increase due to high demand; you can avoid paying a high price and use your battery. It’s essentially free energy, as solar generates energy from the sun. 
  • Reduced carbon footprint as the battery stores energy from a renewable source. 

Advantages of battery for the grid and national energy system: 

  • Batteries support Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). In 2025, consumers get financial bonuses (AUD 250‑400) for joining, plus grid benefits via distributed dispatchable power.  
  • Grid‑scale batteries like Victoria Big Battery or Hornsdale Power Reserve are increasing system resilience by storing large amounts of renewable energy and reducing blackout risk. 

Drawbacks of Solar Battery Storage 

  • One of the biggest barriers is that solar batteries have a high upfront cost, which makes installation harder for residents. 
  • Home batteries require physical space, proper ventilation, and can’t always be placed just anywhere, especially in smaller homes or apartments. 
  • Most batteries, like lithium-ion batteries, last 5 to 15 years, meaning they may need replacement during your solar system’s lifetime. 
  • While many systems are low-maintenance, some may require software updates, monitoring, or even professional servicing over time. 
  • Battery production involves mining and processing materials like lithium or lead, which raise environmental and ethical concerns.   

Should You Buy a Solar Battery?: Here’s the Final Call!

You should consider buying a solar battery if several key factors align with your situation.  

First, it’s a strong financial move if you live in a state where federal and state incentives can significantly reduce the upfront cost. This can make the investment far more affordable.  

A solar battery can be especially worthwhile if you value having backup power during outages, lowering your electricity bills, and gaining a measure of energy independence from the grid.  

Additionally, you should be comfortable with taking a few extra steps to get the most value out of your system, such as joining a virtual power plant (VPP), which allows your battery to participate in grid services in exchange for modest returns.  

Finally, it’s worth noting that rebates decline annually, and early adopters get the most value.  

Takeaway Thoughts

Installing a solar battery in Australia in mid‑2025 offers substantial financial, environmental, and energy‑security benefits, especially if you qualify for multiple subsidies and have good solar capacity.  

With rebates shrinking after 2025 and demand surging, early movers stand to benefit most. 

By helping balance the grid and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, home battery adoption contributes significantly to Australia’s national goals of 82% renewable energy by 2030 

It’s not just about savings; it’s about being part of a smarter, cleaner, more resilient electricity future for Australia. 

Looking for CEC-accredited local installers?  

Contact us today for any of your solar needs. We’d be happy to assist!  

Your Solution Is Just a Click Away

The post Should I Get a Solar Battery Storage System? appeared first on Cyanergy.

Should I Get a Solar Battery Storage System?

Continue Reading

Renewable Energy

Wine Grapes and Climate Change

Published

on

I just spoke with a guy in the wine industry, and I asked him how, if at all, climate change is affecting what we does.

From his perspective, it’s the horrific wildfires whose smoke imbues (or “taints”) the grapes with an unpleasant flavor that needs to be modified, normally by creative methods of blending.

Wine Grapes and Climate Change

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 BreakingClimateChange.com