Latest news with #renewables
Associated Press
a day ago
- Business
- Associated Press
BioStar Participates in the Smart Energy Decisions Summer Forum
The clean energy transition isn't just driven by technology—it's powered by conversation, collaboration, and informed action. Last week, David Smart, CCO at BioStar Renewables and Jacob Feutz, VP of Renewables for Faith Technologies, attended the Smart Energy Decisions (SED) Summer Forum in Hollywood, Florida, where they joined peers and partners in deep-dive discussions about the future of energy strategy in the commercial and industrial space. The SED Summer Forum is known for fostering meaningful connections between energy buyers and solution providers. From curated one-on-one meetings to insightful panels and peer learning, the event offered a unique platform to explore evolving challenges and real-world solutions in energy efficiency, electrification, and sustainability leadership. 'We found the sessions to be highly relevant, the conversations incredibly productive, and the momentum toward clean energy stronger than ever.' As companies face increasing pressure to balance cost, compliance, and climate impact, opportunities like the SED Forum are essential. They provide a space to align goals, clarify strategies, and spark innovation. At BioStar, we are proud to be part of this forward-thinking community and remain committed to helping organizations design, finance, and deploy renewable energy solutions that deliver both environmental and economic returns. If your organization is navigating policy changes or exploring a clean energy strategy, we're here to help you understand your options and stay ahead of the curve. Learn more about BioStar Renewables and Faith Technologies and how their initiatives are driving action in the renewable space. Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from BioStar Renewables
CNN
a day ago
- Business
- CNN
See how your energy prices could change if the GOP passes Trump's tax bill
Household energy bills will be higher over the next decade if Republicans pass their tax and spending bill, according to a new analysis. President Donald Trump and Republicans are itching to kill tax credits that lower the cost to build wind and solar, which are now largely cheaper than fossil fuels like natural gas and coal. More wind and solar on the electricity grid helps keep utility bills lower, and Biden-era tax credits were set to rapidly ramp up the amount of those cheaper, renewable projects being built. When combined with the electric vehicle consumer tax credit likely being cut, annual electricity and transportation costs in every state in the continental United States will be higher than they would have if the tax credits stayed intact, analysis from think tank Energy Innovation found. Energy Innovation did not model data for Hawaii and Alaska. Energy Innovation modeled transportation costs like gasoline for cars, as well as household electricity and heating costs in their analysis. Red states including Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas could see up to 18% higher energy costs by 2035 if Trump's bill passes, compared with a scenario where the bill didn't pass. Annual household energy costs could rise $845 per year in Oklahoma by 2035, and $777 per year in Texas. That's because these states would be set to deploy a massive amount of wind and solar if Biden-era energy tax credits were left in place. If that goes away, states will have to lean on natural gas to generate power. Blue states that are deliberately putting more clean energy onto their grids would still see prices rise over the coming decade, albeit far less, Orvis said. They are more immune to price shocks because they won't be as heavily reliant on gas and coal. 'You're moving from not using a lot of fossil fuels to using a lot of fossil fuels. That makes the price go up a lot,' said Robbie Orvis, Energy Innovation's senior director of modeling and analysis. Energy analysts expect the cost of natural gas and the cost of building new gas-powered plants will increase, and with it, consumer energy bills. 'Everybody's electricity prices are going to go up,' said Rich Powell, CEO of trade group the Clean Energy Buyers Association. 'I think people have in their minds that gas is a cheap way to generate power. New build natural gas is not a cheap way to generate electricity.' Powell's group was not involved in the Energy Innovation analysis, but has produced their own analysis with NERA Economic Consulting, also finding repealing the tax credits would raise household energy costs. Powell added it's an especially bad time for solar and wind tax credits to go away because there is simply more demand for electricity, with data centers and electrification of homes and vehicles. Since 2022, retail electricity prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which predicts they will continue to rise through next year. US natural gas prices have also gone up, and the EIA predicts they will continue to do so next year. On the transportation side of things, the Energy Innovation model predicts that without a $7,500 consumer tax credit to help defray the cost of electric vehicles, more people will continue to drive gas powered cars. 'That increases the spending a lot, plus that gasoline is actually a little bit more expensive because there's so much more demand for it,' Orvis said. Red states will see the biggest price hikes. Oklahoma, for instance, is already a wind powerhouse, with wind generating close to 44% of the state's electricity. With the energy tax incentives, the state was set to see another huge spike in wind development that could make the state's electricity generation carbon-free, the Energy Innovation modeling found. With the energy tax credits staying intact, Oklahoma would become 'a major exporter of electricity, because there's so much wind being deployed,' Orvis said. 'The loss of the tax credits means a lot less wind gets deployed, and that's replaced with in-state fossil resources.' It's a similar story in South Carolina, the state that's expected to see the biggest spike in annual energy costs if the bill goes away. The state generates a lot of its electricity from nuclear, with natural gas supplying much of the remainder. Orvis said South Carolina stood to add a lot of solar to its electrical grid with tax incentives but would have to revert back to gas once those credits go away. 'You're going from gas setting that price to renewables, and when you undo the tax credits, you see it reverting back to gas,' Orvis said.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
British billpayers saved £300m through energy flexibility in 2024, figures show
British billpayers saved more than £300 million through the UK's growing energy flexibility market, according to figures released by the industry body for network operators. The Energy Network Association (ENA) said the savings were driven by lower contributions to infrastructure costs, reduced connection charges and the increased use of low-carbon energy sources. Households and businesses also reduced their bills by changing the time or day they used electricity – such as by cooking or washing earlier or later in the day, or setting electric cars to charge at specific times. In the past when most of the UK's electricity generators were fossil-fuel power plants, supply of electricity adapted to demand. Today as the wind and the sun influence when renewables are being produced, incentivising users to adapt their demand to when there is a lot of supply can help take pressure off the grid. Flexibility can also be a valuable tool to optimise capacity while longer-term infrastructure upgrades are planned and delivered. The ENA on Thursday said electricity networks in Great Britain secured a record high of 9 gigawatts (GW) of flexibility last year. In turn, a total of 22 gigawatt-hours of flexibility was harnessed across the network – enough to power almost 7,000 average UK households for a full year, according to the figures. It represents a three-fold increase since the previous year, which is the biggest jump since data collection began in 2017, ENA said. The industry group also revealed that flexibility is projected to deliver over £3 billion in savings over the next three years. Dr Avinash Aithal, head of open networks at ENA, said: 'It's been tremendous to see the boom in the flexibility market over the past year. 'Flexibility is becoming more mainstream thanks to industry efforts to remove barriers to participation and simplify the market processes overall. The outcome of our efforts are now clear to see, with significant savings for consumers and the wider energy industry. 'Great Britain is now a global leader in energy flexibility,' he added. 'Together, ENA and industry have paved the way for the whole of Great Britain to participate in and benefit from the energy flexibility market.' Last year, a majority (80%) of flexibility came from non-fossil fuel sources – 10 times the capacity of the UK's largest solar farm, ENA said. While the majority of flexibility services came from commercial organisations, householders can also reap the benefits of using electric car chargers and heat pumps, for example, at non-peak times. It comes as Ofgem said the energy market needs more complex time-based tariffs to encourage consumers to use power at different times. The regulator's chief executive, Jonathan Brearley, told MPs that the tariffs would in some cases 'dramatically reduce bills'. The tariffs, also called time-of-use (TOU) tariffs or multi-rate tariffs, offer cheaper electricity at times when there is lower demand on the National Grid.
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Singapore's renewables usage hits record high as imports, solar output rise
SINGAPORE, June 27 (Reuters) - Singapore boosted the share of renewables in its power generation mix to a record high in May, an analysis of the latest market data showed, as the country ramped up renewable imports and accelerated local solar power generation. Domestic solar generation in May rose at the fastest pace since March 2024 and renewable imports rose a third straight month to their highest in more than two years, lifting the share of renewables in the city-state's power mix to 2.58%, data from the National Electricity Market of Singapore showed. Regional electricity trade is crucial to Singapore's aim to become carbon neutral by 2050, as Asia's second-smallest country has limited renewable energy potential. Cross-border power trade is also seen as key to easing regional reliance on fossil fuels amid growing data centre-driven power demand. Gas-fired power plants in Singapore account for about 95% of its power capacity. In the five months through May, the data showed Singapore imported 122.7 million kilowatt-hours of clean power - 0.52% of total generation - through the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore (LTMS) power trade route that was set up in 2022. It did not import any power during the same period last year, the data showed, and only started importing small quantities in the last quarter of 2024. The share of imports in Singapore's power mix rose for a third straight month in May, displacing some fossil fuel-fired generation. Singapore's total electricity generation grew 0.4% during the first five months, the data showed. Though the imported power came through the LTMS framework, all of it originated from neighbouring Malaysia under a 50-megawatt supply agreement reached last year with Malaysian state utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad, said a source familiar with the matter who was not authorised to speak with media. Singapore's Energy Market Authority (EMA) did not respond to a request for comment. The EMA last year doubled the capacity of electricity that can be traded in the second phase of the LTMS to 200 MW through additional supply from Malaysia. It said in October, however, that it had yet to finalise the terms of an extension to the supply of hydropower generated in Laos and sent to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia.
National Post
2 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Hydrostor Brings on Former Shell Executive, Glenn Wright, as New Member of Board of Directors
Article content New member of Hydrostor Board of Directors Glenn Wright will bring key experience from Shell, where he led the company's integrated gas and renewables business Article content TORONTO — Hydrostor, a leading global long duration energy storage (LDES) developer and operator, is pleased to announce that Glenn Wright will join its Board of Directors following its annual shareholders meeting in September. Article content 'We're excited to have Glenn join our team at such a critical juncture, as our Silver City and Willow Rock projects are nearing beginning of construction, and our project development pipeline continues to expand and mature,' said Curtis VanWalleghem, Hydrostor Founder and CEO. 'Glenn brings critical power industry knowledge that will help us continue to grow our offerings.' Article content Wright joins Hydrostor's Board of Directors with over 30 years of experience in energy. In his 27 years with Shell he held a number of roles, including President & CEO of Shell New Energies US LLC and Senior Vice President of Shell Renewables & Energy Solutions, where he led the integrated power and gas businesses across North and South America. Article content Wright's portfolio included renewable energy development, energy storage, customer energy solutions, and retail operations. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President of Shell Energy, Americas, and President & CEO of Shell Energy North America. He came to those roles after an eight-year stint as General Manager of Power Trading at the company. Article content 'I am thrilled to join Hydrostor as a non-executive director. Hydrostor is an innovative company with demonstrated technology that fills a critical void in long-duration energy storage,' said Glenn Wright. 'I look forward to contributing to its continued success in advancing sustainable energy solutions.' Article content Wright is currently a Trustee & Investment Committee member at the Georgia Tech Foundation, and an Advisor at the University of Texas at Austin's College of Engineering – all roles he has held since 2022. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas at Austin. Article content About Hydrostor Inc. Article content Hydrostor is a leading developer and operator of long duration energy storage systems. Hydrostor leverages a proven technology solution for delivering long duration energy storage (eight hours or more) to power grids around the world. Hydrostor's technology uses compressed air and water to store energy. This patented technology allows grid operators to draw on clean energy, even when there is no sun to fuel solar panels and no wind to generate energy from turbines. Article content Hydrostor has a successful utility scale facility commercially contracted to the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) located in Goderich, Ontario, and two advanced projects under development in Kern County, California and New South Wales, Australia. Hydrostor has an extensive pipeline of early-stage projects in North America, Australia, and Europe. Article content Founded in 2010 and with headquarters in Toronto, Canada and offices in Melbourne, Australia, and Denver, USA, Hydrostor is backed by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, CPP Investments, Canada Growth Fund, and other forward-thinking institutional investors, providing financial security to commit to top-tier energy projects. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
