January 9 NEC Energy News
¶ “Ilmatar Starts Up Finnish Wind Farm” • All of the 36 wind turbines at Ilmatar’s 221-MW wind farm in South Ostrobothnia, Finland, have been brought into operation. The site forms part of the developer’s first hybrid renewable energy park, which eventually will also include a 150-MW solar farm and a 25-MW battery. [reNews]
¶ “France Drops Renewables Targets, Prioritises Nuclear In New Energy Bill” • The proposed text, which is slated to go before the cabinet early next month and then be submitted to lawmakers, reaffirms France’s commitment to nuclear power to ensure “energy sovereignty.” But the proposed text does not commit to building renewable capacity. [France 24]
¶ “Wind Overtakes Coal For Electricity Generation In Europe” • Europe’s power producers generated more electricity from wind than from coal for the first time in the last quarter of 2023. Europe’s utilities generated a record 193 TWh of electricity from wind sites in the quarter compared to 184 TWh from coal-fired power plants, data from Ember shows. [Reuters]
¶ “Harvard Spinoff Lobs A Solid-State Battery Bomb At Fossil Fuels” • New energy storage technology is driving fossil fuels out of the global economy, and Adden Energy, a Harvard University spinoff, is adding fuel to the fire. Their new solid state battery can last for 6,000 cycles and takes about the same amount of time to charge as it takes to fill a tank of gas. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Leading Heat Pump Manufacturers Successfully Develop Next-Generation Prototypes” • The US DOE announced that four more heat pump makers successfully produced heat pump prototypes as part of the Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Technology Challenge, a DOE initiative supporting transition tocold-climate heat pumps. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “Duke Energy To Build Solar Farm In Upstate” •A new solar farm is coming to South Carolina as part of an investment of $61 million by Duke Energy. The Laurens County Council approved the final reading of a Fee in Lieu Tax Agreement by the county and Duke Energy unanimously. The Beaverdam Solar Center, will have a capacity of 41 MW. [FOX Carolina]
¶ “EIA Says 40% Of US Electricity Is Now Emission-Free For The First Time” • The pace of the green energy transition has sped up greatly in recent years. Figures released at the end of 2023 show roughly 40% of US electricity production is now emission-free. Emission-free electricity is that generated renewably or by nuclear reactions. [Singularity Hub]
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