The Clean Energy Generation is making progress every day here in the Southeast. From microgrids that erase Florida residents’ energy bills to 400 new EV charging ports in Georgia to turning a North Carolina landfill into a solar farm, our clean energy future is becoming a reality. Take a look at just six of the many inspiring signs of clean energy adoption in the Southeast we’ve seen this winter.
Middle photo courtesy of IBEW Local 46; right photo of Hunters Point, courtesy of The Washington Post
Program gives rural Tennesseans chance to test drive EVs for two weeks
Rural Reimagined is driving change in rural Appalachia. This electrifying program allows rural residents, including Tennesseans, to test drive an EV for at least two weeks in order to decide if an EV is right for them. In addition to loaning EVs to rural Appalachians, the program also aims to install over 200 charging stations across the region, where finding EV chargers can currently be a challenge. Read more.
Tonya Hicks blazes path for female electricians & provides ‘ShEV’ charging stations
Only 2% of electricians in the U.S are female and only 8% are African American. Georgia’s Tonya Hicks broke barriers when she became the first female Journeyman Wireman in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Hick’s Power Solutions Electrical Contracting works to provide ‘ShEV’ charging stations. While many EV chargers are located behind buildings, Hicks’ charging stations are found in well-lit areas, making them safer for women and seniors. Read more.
Why residents don’t have to pay electric bills in this Florida community
In Hunters Point, Florida, the world’s first LEED Zero Energy certified residential development, every single house produces more electricity than it uses. That’s because each of the homes boasts 14 solar panels, a home battery, and energy efficient appliances. One couple’s house produces twice as much power as it consumes, allowing them to use the extra electricity to charge their battery before selling the rest back to the grid. They have yet to receive a power bill. Read more.
Middle photo of the New Hanover County landfill, courtesy of Joe Suleyman; right photo of the Whitehaven neighborhood in Memphis, courtesy of Ashli Blow
$6M grant will bring up to 400 new EV charging ports to Georgia, 100 to metro Atlanta
Charging infrastructure is key in the transition to electric vehicles. That’s why $620 million in federal grants will fund an estimated 7,500 charging ports across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. $6 million will go to Georgia, where the money is expected to fund 400 new charging ports, increasing charging access for 6 million people in over 100 cities, with an emphasis on areas where EV charging is scarce. Read more.
Turning wasteland to energy: New Hanover County plans solar farm in landfill
Turning waste into watts. North Carolina’s New Hanover County landfill will soon be home to a solar farm. Once completed, the three acres of solar panels will generate enough energy to power up to 2,000 homes. In addition to making use of previously underutilized land, the development also aligns with the county’s FY 2024-2028 strategic plan, which calls upon the county to reduce its carbon footprint and utilize innovative energy solutions. Read more.
An overlooked climate solution unfolds in Memphis’ energy challenges
In the face of all-time power demand, conservation alerts, and subfreezing temperatures, making energy efficiency improvements is more important than ever. MLGW is taking an innovative approach. The utility’s Share The Pennies program helps low-income residents weatherize their homes at no cost to them. Though the most recent enrollment period has already closed, interested residents can sign up to receive a notification when the next application period opens. Read more.
Follow along each week
These stories highlight just a few of the positive solutions that are making an impact in the Southeast! Every day we see signs of hope and progress in the clean energy transition. The Clean Energy Generation is creating a future powered by clean energy that leads to clean air and water, good jobs, and vibrant communities.
Would you like to see more stories like this? We’ve got just the thing for you! Every Thursday, we share the latest clean energy news on Instagram with #CleanEnergyNews. Join us as we celebrate the progress and signs of hope in the clean energy transition.
Join the Clean Energy Generation
Together, all of us who are taking action are part of the Clean Energy Generation movement. We’re coming together to create healthier communities and a more secure and sustainable environment, starting now. No matter your age, income, zip code, or abilities, you can play a role. You don’t have to have the answers, learning more is a great way to start. Join us, and we’ll share ideas, resources, tools, and practices to show how we can all be part of the transformation.
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The post Six Inspiring Stories of Clean Energy Solutions in the Southeast appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Six Inspiring Stories of Clean Energy Solutions in the Southeast
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
Australia’s $17B Grid Expansion, Recycling Blades to Steel
Allen covers Suzlon hitting 2 GW in a single Indian state, Nabrawind’s crane-free turbine install in Namibia, Antora’s South Dakota thermal battery, Australia’s $17 billion grid expansion, and Shimizu recycling old turbine blades into steel.
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update 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 Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
GOOD MORNING.
The wind industry is not just getting bigger.
It is getting smarter.
And today … we have the proof.
Let us start in India.
SUZLON GROUP just crossed a milestone.
Two gigawatts of wind orders … in a single Indian state.
The latest deal … sixty-five turbines at three megawatts each
for a company called SUNSURE ENERGY.
SUNSURE is not a utility.
It is an independent power producer
building round-the-clock clean energy
for data centers … electric vehicles … and heavy industry.
Wind paired with solar and battery storage.
Power that does not stop when the sun goes down.
SUZLON is already building six hundred and sixty-four megawatts
of additional commercial and industrial projects in the same region.
And SUNSURE … backed by PARTNERS GROUP of Switzerland …
has seven gigawatts in development across India
with a target of ten gigawatts by two thousand thirty.
That is not government-led.
That is private capital chasing wind.
Now … across the ocean to Africa.
A Spanish company called NABRAWIND [NAH-brah-wind]
just solved a problem that has plagued remote wind farms for years.
How do you install a turbine
when you cannot get a crane to the site?
Their answer is a system called SKYLIFT.
No heavy-lift cranes. None.
A self-erecting tower combined with a blade installation tool
they call the BLADERUNNER.
They just put up a GOLDWIND six-megawatt turbine
at a wind farm in NAMIBIA.
And here is the part that changes the math.
Traditional crane installation needs calm air.
Six to eight meters per second. Maximum.
NABRAWIND’s system works in fifteen meters per second sustained …
with gusts up to twenty.
That site blows hard. All the time.
Which is exactly why they chose it.
When complete … seven turbines …
two hundred and thirty gigawatt-hours a year.
About six percent of NAMIBIA’s entire electricity demand.
NABRAWIND was acquired by Australia’s FORTESCUE last year
as part of its industrial decarbonization push.
So India is stacking private-sector wind orders.
Africa is installing turbines without cranes.
And in SOUTH DAKOTA …
they are storing the wind itself.
A California startup called ANTORA ENERGY
just built a five-gigawatt-hour thermal battery
at an ethanol plant in BIG STONE CITY.
More than two hundred solid carbon blocks.
When the wind blows at night and nobody needs the power …
the blocks absorb cheap electricity and heat up.
When the plant needs energy …
the blocks release heat or generate electricity
through special cells that capture light
from superheated material.
Think of it as a giant toaster oven battery.
Full power expected by October.
The plant’s president put it simply.
Nobody has got a switch for the wind.
It blows when it wants to blow.
Now … down under.
The AUSTRALIAN government just announced
the biggest single expansion of its electricity grid.
Nineteen renewable energy projects.
Seven-point-eight gigawatts of generation.
Seven-point-nine gigawatt-hours of battery storage.
Seventeen billion dollars in private investment.
Nineteen thousand construction jobs.
Power for four million homes.
Among the largest … RWE’s [arr-vay’s] THEODORE wind farm in QUEENSLAND.
One-point-one gigawatts. Up to one hundred and seventy turbines.
Three billion Australian dollars.
RWE … the same company building offshore wind
in England and Denmark …
is now building onshore in AUSTRALIA.
And the AUSTRALIAN government is not stopping.
They just opened the next round of tenders.
Another five gigawatts.
Finally … JAPAN.
Major contractor SHIMIZU [shee-MEE-zoo] CORPORATION
has developed a way to recycle old wind turbine blades.
Not into park benches. Not into landfill.
Into steel.
The blades are cut and crushed into a material
that goes into electric furnaces
to adjust the carbon content of steel …
making it harder and stronger.
JAPAN expects to replace one hundred to two hundred turbines a year
by the two thousand thirties.
That is two to three thousand tonnes of blade waste. Annually.
SHIMIZU has built about twenty percent
of the wind power facilities in JAPAN.
They see this technology as a way to grow
their entire wind energy business.
So … let us step back.
India stacks two gigawatts of private-sector wind orders.
Africa installs turbines in gale-force winds … without a crane.
South Dakota stores surplus wind in superheated carbon blocks.
Australia backs nineteen projects with seventeen billion dollars.
And Japan turns old blades into stronger steel.
From the factory floor to the scrap yard …
from the wind farm to the furnace …
the industry is solving problems
at every stage of a turbine’s life.
And that’s the state of the wind industry for the 25th of May 2026.
Join us for the UPTIME WIND ENERGY PODCAST tomorrow.
We’ve all heard ideas like the one being expressed here, though this one sounds extreme. Jail sentence? Education is exclusively an exercise in pounding in bad habits?
What’s the outcome for students in the very worst of our schools that make no attempt whatsoever to help its pupils learn to think critically? Well, their kids learn to:
- Read and write
- Do math, at least through algebra
- Understand some level of history and geography
- Make friends and get along with others
- Establish independence from the parents
- Gain the qualifications for employment
What’s the alternative? Illiteracy? Social isolation? Child labor? Poverty? Neurotic sloth? Being a burden on society?
Is it a coincidence that the countries with the best educated children are the happiest, sanest and most productive nations on the planet?
If you’re a competent woman working at the highest echelon in the U.S. government, better start packing your bags.
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