Published

2 years ago

March 5, 2025

Alice Rush

The Clean Energy Generation is making progress every day here in the Southeast. From a conservative Florida county switching to electric school buses to a South Carolina Domino’s serving a slice of solar, to Tennessee refusing to pump the brakes on its EV charger program, our clean energy future is becoming a reality. Take a look at just six of the many encouraging signs of clean energy adoption in the Southeast we’ve seen so far this year.

A collage of three photos. The left photo is of solar panels. The middle photo is of electric school buses. And the right photo is of hands holding slices of pizza.

Middle photo of Dixie County’s new electric school buses courtesy of Highland Electric

No other energy source came close to matching solar’s rate of growth in 2024

Here’s some bright news for ya: Solar remains the fastest-growing source of U.S. electrical generation, as solar generation for the first 11 months of 2024 increased by over 26%. New solar capacity also easily surpassed all other energy sources during the first 11 months of 2024, followed by wind. In fact, the solar added in 2024 should generate almost six times more electricity than newly added nuclear power or methane gas. Meanwhile, newly added wind should generate nearly the same amount of electricity as newly added nuclear or gas. Read more.

Small Florida county makes switch to electric school buses

At a time when clean energy has been put in the political crosshairs, Dixie County is proving that protecting student health doesn’t have to be political. The conservative Florida county recently debuted its fleet of 23 new school buses — all of them electric. For school officials, the biggest motivator wasn’t reducing emissions — it was increasing comfort. Unlike their predecessors, the district’s new electric buses have air conditioning. This not only keeps the drivers and students cooler but allows them to keep the windows up, dodging the dust that typically floods through. Read more.

The first solar-powered Domino’s of its kind has opened in the US, in York County, SC

A slice of solar. South Carolina is now home to one of the world’s first solar-powered Domino’s. The new York County location is the first Domino’s in the world to operate on solar power to this degree, with solar panels on its roof, integrated into its exterior, and powering its parking lot lights. The parking lot itself also features two EV charging stations, allowing customers to charge while they eat. “We are a family-owned franchise of Domino’s,” said a representative for the new solar spot. “And wanted to lead by example for the brand.” Who wants to grab a slice? Read more.

A collage of three photos. The left photo is of

Left photo of Otis and Carlyn Jones courtesy of Lucille Lannigan/The Albany Herald; right photo of Toyota’s battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina courtesy of Toyota Motor Corp.

Rural southwest Georgia community homes receive free, energy-efficient appliance upgrades

Carlyn Jones had gone 18 years relying on propane-fueled space heaters to keep her warm…until Rewiring America installed a new HVAC unit. As of last month, 75% of the homes in rural DeSoto, Georgia were outfitted with brand-new, energy-efficient appliances that cost residents nothing. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, these energy-efficient upgrades are not only slashing energy costs but are providing modern, working appliances to homes that have long gone without. Read more.

Tennessee’s own EV charging program still running as Trump hits brakes on federal grants

States are taking up the charge. Tennessee is moving ahead with its state-level grant program designed to build new EV chargers along the state’s interstates and highways. The goal of Tennessee’s program is to establish a network of fast-charging stations at least every 50 miles along the state’s major arteries. This push for EV chargers corresponds with a rise in EV manufacturing in Tennessee, which is anticipated to create thousands of jobs, particularly in the state’s rural communities. Read more.

Toyota’s expanded $14B North Carolina EV battery plant ready to roll

States aren’t the only ones charging ahead: Toyota is too. The batteries produced at the automaker’s newly expanded North Carolina plant — which will be used in hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and fully electric vehicles built in North America — will begin shipping in April. The plant, which is Toyota’s first in-house battery manufacturing facility in the U.S., will employ about 5,000 workers. Toyota Motor North America reported sales of just over 1 million electrified vehicles in 2024, a 53.1% increase from the year before. Read more.

Follow along each week

These stories highlight just a few of the positive things happening in our area! Every day, we see signs of hope. 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.

Join the Clean Energy Generation

The post Solar-Powered Domino’s and 5 Other Encouraging Signs of Progress in the Southeast appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Solar-Powered Domino’s and 5 Other Encouraging Signs of Progress in the Southeast

Renewable Energy

Nordex Outsells Vestas, GE Vernova Rebuilds Wind Team

Published

8 hours ago

September 8, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Nordex Outsells Vestas, GE Vernova Rebuilds Wind Team

Nordex closes in on Vestas in onshore orders, GE Vernova rebuilds its wind team, Nexxis buys BladeBug, and wooden blades draw doubts.

The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech, creators of the StrikeTape Ultra LPS retrofit. Subscribe to Uptime’s Substack newsletter. And check out Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” Youtube channel. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!

Nordex Outsells Vestas, GE Vernova Rebuilds Wind Team

Renewable Energy

Siemens Gamesa Builds Hornsea Blades, NEMS Invests in Perth

Published

1 day ago

September 7, 2026

Alice Rush

Weather Guard Lightning Tech

Siemens Gamesa Builds Hornsea Blades, NEMS Invests in Perth

Siemens Gamesa starts Hornsea 3 blade production in Hull, Germany approves an Offshore Wind Act amendment, and Nexxis buys BladeBUG.

Episode Transcript

Uptime News Flash
September 7, 2026
Happy Monday, everyone. Well, let’s talk about the biggest wind farm on earth. It doesn’t exist yet, but its blades are being built right now. Over in Hull, England, Siemens Gamesa just started making blades for Ørsted’s Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm. That’s two point nine gigawatts, one hundred and ninety-seven turbines. Each blade is longer than a football pitch. Fourteen hundred workers build blades in that factory, turning raw materials into finished product. When complete, Hornsea 3 will power more than three million British homes. It’s the single largest offshore wind farm in the world.
And if we slide over to Germany for a moment, the German cabinet just approved an amendment to the Offshore Wind Act, the WindSeeG. It’s headed to the Bundestag next. The goal? New rules by January first, twenty twenty-seven. But the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation says the draft does not go far enough. Sixteen gigawatts of awarded projects are still waiting on final investment decisions. Sixteen — that’s quite a few. The foundation wants a new way for developers to hand back sites they can’t build, so those sites can be re-tendered quickly under conditions that actually work. Sort of a use-it-or-lose-it approach. That’s the idea.
We’ll head a little further east to India. India ranks fourth in the world for installed wind power, but probably not for long. A government official said this week that India will overtake Germany and become the world’s third-largest wind energy nation by twenty thirty — one hundred seven gigawatts of installed capacity. India added a record six gigawatts last year alone, shattering their previous record of a little over four gigawatts. And twenty-eight more gigawatts are under construction right now. Impressive.
Let’s head down to Western Australia, because a company called National Electric Motor Services, NEMS for short, is building a one million dollar facility in Perth to test and repair wind turbine generators. Right now, Australian wind farm operators ship their broken generators overseas for repairs, and that takes months. NEMS is the only authorized service center for ELIN Motoren in all of Western Australia. This is the fifth project funded through Australia’s Wind Energy Manufacturing Co-investment program. Local repair, faster turnaround, and homegrown capability — that’s all good.
And staying in Australia, Perth-based Nexxis Technology just bought a British robotics company, BladeBUG. BladeBUG is a robot that uses suction cups to crawl across wind turbine blades. Nexxis already has a robot called Magneto that uses electromagnetic adhesion to climb steel structures. If you put the two together, you can inspect almost any surface on a turbine, or about anything else. Add AI and machine vision, and you have robots that can see what human eyes might miss, from places human hands shouldn’t have to reach. It’s safer, faster, and it’s going to be a lot smarter.
One more story before we finish today. Siemens Gamesa has now installed more than 300 recyclable blades in six countries. The secret is a new resin. Unlike conventional resins, this one lets you separate the blade components at end of life, so you can separate the fabric from the resin. Cool stuff. Jonas Pagh Jensen, head of sustainability at Siemens Gamesa, says the technology is ready for full-scale use. And Siemens Gamesa has already installed 36 GreenerTower units — steel towers with 63% lower carbon emissions. So although sustainability may have faded from the headlines, it’s still in tender documents, and it’s showing up more than ever. In Denmark, the Netherlands, and France, buyers are all asking about recyclability and decarbonization before they award contracts.
So what should you be watching this week? Recyclability is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a must-have, and it’s showing up in tender scoring. If your blades can’t be recycled at end of life, you may not win the contract to begin with. And a lot of supply chains are going local. Australia doesn’t want to ship generators overseas anymore. India is building its own turbine factories. The countries buying wind power want it built at home. For professionals in the wind industry, the competitive edge is shifting — it’s not just who can build the best turbine, it’s who can build it locally, recycle it fully, and inspect it without putting a person in a harness.

Siemens Gamesa Builds Hornsea Blades, NEMS Invests in Perth

Renewable Energy

Climate “Superfund” Will Require Legislation at the Federal Level

Published

2 days ago

September 6, 2026

Alice Rush

A judge has ruled that New York State’s climate “superfund,” modeled after laws that provide money to clean up toxic waste, runs counter to federal law and is therefore invalid.

Eventually, we will have laws that force companies whose actions are ruining the planet to pay for the remediation that must happen to avert environmental collapse. In the meanwhile, we need to expect the fossil fuel industry to continue its ruthless legal attack such legislation.