.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Subject:
io-what?
Sent:
From:
Good morning and happy Friday,
As the world reels following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel almost a week ago, many Republicans, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, criticized President Biden for freeing $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues for humanitarian purposes and “not doing enough to enforce Iran oil export sanctions.” Analysts are divided on whether U.S. fuel prices will remain stable or be sent soaring.
And while the Mitten State may not be able to bring about peace in the Middle East, house Democrats on Michigan’s Energy, Communications and Technology committee held a hearing on the Clean Energy and Jobs Act, which seeks to fast-track large wind and solar projects...although not everyone likes the legislation.
Read on for more.
io-what?
With more than 12 GW of installed capacity, Iowa is a wind energy powerhouse, ranking second in the nation after Texas. The state has also long been seen as a “poster child” for green energy success in a red state. Yet recently, pockets of opposition to wind have popped up. Here’s what’s happening:
- More than 85% of Iowans support wind energy, and small wonder – in 2022, wind contributed $73.4 million in lease payments and $61.5 million in property, state, and local taxes, according to ACP.
- However, local opposition to wind farms has grown significantly in recent years – the Sabin Center finds that 10 of the state’s 99 counties have passed wind-related moratoriums; “nearly all of these county-level blocks were passed in the past four years, with half passed since 2022.”
- Interestingly, unlike most other places in the country where opposition to clean energy is funded in part by non-local interests, this nouvelle résistance “appears to be free of fossil-fuel money.”
⚡️ The Takeaway
Hawkeye surprise. The apparent absence of out-of-state cash is unique – “but even without direct financial influence from polluting industries, anti-wind misinformation is transforming local politics in towns and counties across Iowa. One point to consider: renewable energy advocates “could learn from the stamina of rural Iowans, who show up to regularly advocate at the hyperlocal political level – and who get their neighbors on board too.”
Uncommon Dialogue
This week, SEIA and The Nature Conservancy announced a historic agreement they say marks “a major turning point in resolving conflicts over developing major U.S. solar projects and related conservation and community concerns” that will “unite diverse stakeholders to revolutionize large-scale U.S. solar development.” Here’s what you need to know:
- The 14-page agreement is the result of a 20-month Stanford-organized "Solar Uncommon Dialogue” that convened cross-sector experts and stakeholders who worked to build consensus around specific issues. It states that "While responsible developers typically seek to avoid, minimize or offset impacts, the parties acknowledge that there is no such thing as impact-free energy development."
- The more than twenty signatories to the landmark accord include “major solar developers, conservation groups, agricultural organizations, environmental and environmental justice groups and tribal entities,” all of whom have committed to “improving large-scale U.S. solar development based on the ‘3Cs’: climate, conservation and community.”
- Participants will convene six working groups to address key issues and opportunities including “community engagement, siting-related risk assessment and decision-making, energy and agricultural technologies, tribal relations and policy solutions.”
⚡️ The Takeaway
Conversations about conservation. A previous Uncommon Dialogue agreement on hydropower and river conservation resulted in $2.3 billion in federal funding for the implementation of recommendations from its working groups. The solar initiative has already prompted a follow-on Uncommon Dialogue aimed at addressing “challenges facing U.S. electricity transmission development for solar, wind and other new clean energy projects.”
- Build Back Better: Renewed Funding Supports Wind Turbine Blade Innovations
- Please Apply: Wind industry needs 600,000 technicians by 2027 to meet growth goals
- Hawkeye Sunshine: Climate Statement - Iowa needs more solar to supplement wind
- Big Bois: Larger Turbines but Could Face Pushback
Converting Inverters
For many of us, the unrelenting trajectory of aging is a cause for varying degrees of angst, despair, and resignation. (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, just wait). Well, here’s a new worry related to aging: inverters on solar projects.
Inverters are what convert the DC energy collected by solar panels into AC energy for the grid. And while most of the panels installed at projects across the U.S. are far from reaching the end of their 20-25-year lifespans, the same is not true of their inverters.
Many of the older inverters out there “haven’t lived up to their expected lifespans, with most beginning to fail around the 10-15-year mark.” As a result, over the next ten years a lot of inverters are going to have to be replaced.
This is a complex proposition. Most of the companies that manufactured the inverters have gone belly up. This means inverters that have gone kaput can’t just be swapped out – it may be necessary to make other adjustments to the project, and by that point, you may as well just upgrade the whole shebang, including the panels. This in turn may create a need to add battery storage, not to mention the fact that it runs smack dab into the challenges around panel disposal.
So, embrace aging – at least until they figure out a way to repower people!
Sign up to receive vital industry news & information today!
Your submission has been received.
