At LevelTen, we want important news and information concerning renewable transaction infrastructure (RTI), power purchase agreements, and new sustainability commitments to be easily accessible to everyone. Each week, we assemble the stories that matter most in our “RTI Weekly” newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. We’ve collected August’s biggest stories below.
Renewable Energy News
New UN Climate Report “Code Red For Humanity"
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its sixth report assessing climate change, with stark warnings of increasingly extreme heat waves, droughts, and flooding, with some changes to our planet’s climate already being considered irreversible. The report also stated it is “unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet.” The findings make abundantly clear the need for decarbonization efforts across the globe to accelerate dramatically within the next decade to avoid the worst impacts of a rapidly warming world. (BBC)
House Votes to Approve Biden’s Sweeping Budget
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve President Biden’s $3.5 trillion budget resolution and advance a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, clearing a path for passing the budget. The multi-trillion dollar plan includes significant climate action measures such as tax incentives for clean energy production, a clean energy standard that would mandate utilities' transition to renewables, and other major investments to move the U.S. economy away from fossil fuels. If successful, the package would be the most comprehensive climate legislation ever passed in the United States. (CNBC)
PSEG Sells Fossil-Fuel Portfolio
Major utility Public Service Enterprise Group has sold its 6.75 GW fossil-fuel plant portfolio to ArcLight Capital for $1.92 billion. The move comes one year after PSEG launched a strategic review of its non-nuclear power plants, and is in line with the company’s broader decarbonization push. PSEG plans to decarbonize its operations by doubling down on its nuclear assets and investing heavily in offshore wind farms off the northeast U.S. coast. (Utility Dive)
Record Growth Continues for Renewable Energy Projects
According to a report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP), the pace of renewable installations through the first half of 2021 hit a new high, with 9,915 MW of onshore and offshore wind, battery storage, and utility-scale solar capacity added. The growth rate marks a 17% increase over the same span of 2020. ACP CEO Heather Zichal noted, “This growth and expansion are expected to continue but we need policymakers in Washington to make long-term decisions to ensure we can continue to develop these critical projects.” (Power Mag)
LevelTen Energy Announces $35 Million in Series C Funding
LevelTen Energy has closed a $35 million Series C funding round led by NGP Energy Capital, Google, and others. The funding will allow LevelTen to expand its current line of products designed to accelerate renewable energy procurement and buildout, as well as innovate new solutions to increase the pace of the energy transition. (LevelTen Energy; Canary Media)
PPA Signings
AEP Enters Indiana Solar PPA
Utility AEP Energy has entered into a PPA with developer Doral Renewables for the 360 MW Mammoth Solar 2 project, part of the 1.65 GW Mammoth Solar project being developed in Indiana’s Starke and Pulaski counties. (renews.biz)
Amazon Signs Renewable PPA With Total
Amazon has entered into a PPA with TotalEnergies for 474 MW of renewable energy generated by Total’s U.S. and European network of renewable assets. (Smart Energy Decisions)
Axpo Inks Romanian Wind PPA
Swiss energy trader Axpo has signed a 7-year PPA with Czech utility CEZ to offtake 50% of the combined capacity of the 600 MW Fântânele-Cogealac-Gradina wind farm located near the Black Sea in Romania’s Dobrogea region. With 240 turbines, it is Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, and is part of Macquarie Asset Management’s Romanian energy portfolio. (The Energyst)
McDonalds and Ebay Sign Joint Louisiana Solar Offtake
McDonalds and Ebay have announced agreements with developer Lightsource bp to purchase renewable power from the 345 MW Ventress Solar project in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. (Lightsource bp)
Microsoft Inks Texan Solar PPA
Microsoft has signed a PPA with Ørsted for power supply generated by the 430 MW Old 300 solar farm located in Fort Bend County, Texas. (renews.biz)
Recent Sustainability Commitments
Exelon Lays Out Decarbonization Roadmap
Exelon Utilities has announced its goal of reducing operations-driven emissions 50% by 2030, as the company works to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. (Business Wire)
Kingspan Commits to Emissions Cuts
Irish building materials company Kingspan has committed to reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions 90% and Scope 3 emissions 42% by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. All targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. (Kingspan)
McDonalds Targeting New Emissions Goals
McDonalds has announced updated sustainability goals, which include targeting a 36% reduction in absolute restaurant and office emissions, and a 31% reduction in supply chain emissions intensity by 2030, compared to 2015 levels. (Smart Energy Decisions)
PPL Ups Its Emissions Goals
Utility Pennsylvania Power & Light has announced it will work to reduce its carbon emissions 80% by 2040, and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. (The Morning Call)
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