EGEB: Florida governor signs a landmark electric vehicle infrastructure bill

In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):

• Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has signed the Essential State Infrastructure bill.
• Global Offshore’s new pre-lay plow technology for offshore wind farms has succeeded.
• Michelin’s Movin’On Summit recognizes five startups that could move the needle in sustainable mobility.

The Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB): A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Florida jumps forward with EVs

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has signed the Essential State Infrastructure Bill into law, which will expand electric vehicle charging stations to support growth in the use of electric vehicles in Florida.

The bill requires the Department of Transportation to “coordinate, develop, and recommend a master plan for the development of electric vehicle charging station infrastructure along the State Highway System.”

Specific state agencies will need to identify barriers and opportunities to advance electric vehicle (EV) adoption. The bill requires an interim report at the end of 2020 with a final report by July 1, 2021.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s Dory Larsen writes:

This is a big win for Florida’s consumers as it will grow the electric transportation market faster and create opportunities so more Floridians have access to increased cleaner transportation options. The law is also one of the first pieces of state legislation that acknowledges the risks of climate change and identifies electric transportation as a means to combat it.

Deep-sea digging for offshore wind farms

Offshore wind farms need trenches in which to lay cables to get the power to shore, and if you think about it, that’s no easy feat to either dig the trenches or lay the cable. Trenching and cable installer Global Offshore has an efficient new tool, the PLP240, and the company has successfully tested it out in their first phase of work at Vattenfall’s Danish Kriegers Flak site in the Baltic Sea.

The PLP240, which was carried by the Havila Jupiter ship, began boulder clearance on the site in April following rigorous testing on a directly comparable set of seabed conditions close by. Overall, 72 routes have now been completed, totaling approximately 158 km (98 miles). It was able to dig trenches up to 1.7 m (5.5 feet) deep.

Mike Daniel, managing director of Global Offshore said:

We invested heavily in the very best upfront engineering for our PLP240 and had every confidence that the trials would evidence what we already knew to be true about the new asset. But it’s not until the tool hit the seabed, began route clearance, and was tested in each mode that its capabilities were really proven.

The seabed conditions that we’ve seen here in the Baltic Sea are likely to be some of the most extreme that we’d ever work in, so it has put the PLP240 to the ultimate stress test and we’re proud to say that it’s passed with flying colors.

Check out the PLP240 here, it’s pretty neat:

Sustainable mobility stars

The Movin’On Summit was originally meant to be held at McGill University in Montreal in June, with former US Secretary of State John Kerry as its keynote speaker.

Movin’On, which was founded by Michelin in 2017, brings together corporations, startups, government bodies, academia, NGOs, and international organizations. Its mission is “sustainable mobility as a driving force for human evolution.”

Then of course the pandemic struck, so the summit was held virtually, on YouTube. More than 3,500 delegates participated remotely.

Movin’On pressed forward with its Startup Challenge, which is part of the Summit and supports startups in order to contribute to the emergence of concrete solutions for sustainable mobility. 326 startups from 61 countries took part in the Challenge.

A jury of 22 experts and the public chose five winners on the criteria of being able to move “from ambition to action.” They were:

Tackling climate change and air pollution: GBatteries | Advanced Charging in Ottawa, Canada, which is developing a technology that focuses on ultra-fast recharging of lithium-ion batteries.

Improving multimodal mobility: ONO, a Berlin-based startup offering clean and sustainable transport solutions for urban areas.

Promoting safe and accessible mobility: N-Vibe, a French startup that has devised vibrating GPS bracelets for people who are blind or have a visual impairment.

Designing more efficient global transport: Everty, based in Sydney, which has developed innovative recharging software for electric vehicles.

Conserving resources: Addionics, a UK and Israel-based startup that provides rechargeable batteries that have redesigned architecture and a new 3D metal fabrication method.

Photo: Fox 4