Michelle Lewis

Offshore construction work has officially started for the UK’s Dogger Bank, which will be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, with the installation of the first length of HVDC export cable off the Yorkshire coast. Dogger Bank will also be the first HVDC-connected wind farm in the UK.

Vermont is launching new electric bike and car incentive programs and is also continuing an existing EV incentive program for state residents. The transportation sector currently causes about 40% of the state’s carbon emissions. 

Mexico’s largest opposition party proposed installing rooftop solar on houses for free on Sunday. That pitch was in response to a run-in with the president’s party over a constitutional overhaul of the power market.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) is investigating whether Southeast Asian solar cell manufacturers are using parts made in China that would normally be subject to a tariff. A group of bipartisan senators today joined most of the US solar industry in asserting that the DOC investigation will devastate solar businesses, as they rely on solar module imports to meet growing demand.

For the first time ever, California, the world’s fifth-largest economy, was powered by 100% clean energy on Saturday, April 30. That milestone was driven largely by solar power.

Last month, the US generated 18% of its electricity from wind and solar (59 TWh) for the first time. That beat the previous record set in March 2021 (53 TWh), according to new data from global energy think tank Ember.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R) vetoed a bill, which the state’s Republican-majority House and Senate passed, that would have slashed rooftop solar credits in the state. It would have denied many homeowners net metering in the Sunshine State, and harmed its solar industry.

All 10 offshore wind turbines have now been installed by Dutch maritime company Van Oord off Italy’s Puglia coast – the heel of Italy’s boot. It’s Italy’s first offshore wind farm, and the first in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Biden administration set a goal of permitting 25 gigawatts (GW) of solar, onshore wind, and geothermal energy on public lands by 2025. It’s well on its way to exceeding that goal.

A 10.5 gigawatt (GW) solar and wind farm will be built in Morocco’s Guelmim-Oued Noun region, and it will supply the UK with clean energy via subsea cables. The twin 1.8 GW high voltage direct current (HVDC) subsea cables will be the world’s longest.

Reading, Pennsylvania-headquartered Penske Truck Leasing has ordered 750 electric Ford E-Transit cargo vans and is taking delivery of the first of those EVs in the next several weeks. This follows Penske’s successful pilot of the EVs in late 2022.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday issued a request for information (RFI) to support $84 million in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) pilot demonstration projects. It’s part of the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which passed last year.

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office has announced a conditional commitment to lend up to $107 million to Syrah Technologies for its Syrah Vidalia Facility in Vidalia, Louisiana. The facility produces a finished natural graphite-based active anode material (AAM), a critical material used in lithium-ion batteries. 

Volvo Cars has invested in StoreDot, an Israel-based electric vehicle battery startup, through its venture capital arm, Volvo Cars Tech Fund.

Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island is the United States’ first offshore wind farm. The 30-megawatt, five-turbine offshore wind farm began commercial operations in December 2016 and generates enough energy to power 17,000 homes. And it turns out, it’s perfectly safe, and sometimes even beneficial, for fish.

Despite it only being April, the 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E is no longer available for retail order due to high demand.

GE Renewable Energy announced yesterday on Twitter that the first GE Haliade 150-6 megawatt (MW) wind turbine has now been installed at St. Nazaire, France’s first offshore wind farm.

Burlingame, California-headquartered Proterra, which builds electric commercial vehicles, today announced that it’s increasing the battery storage onboard its purpose-built ZX5 Max electric transit bus – and that means more range.

First Solar, the largest US-owned solar panel manufacturer, today announced that it’s going to provide 260 megawatts (MW)DC of Ohio-made solar modules to Nevada Gold Mines, the single largest gold-producing complex in the world.

Boston mayor Michelle Wu last week announced that Boston Public Schools will deploy 20 electric buses during the 2022-23 school year in a pilot program. Ultimately, Boston will electrify its entire school bus fleet by 2030.

Boston-based solar company ClearPath Energy and Maitland, Florida-based Castillo Engineering, a solar engineering firm, are building six community bifacial solar farms in New York State.

Automakers worldwide will spend more than a half trillion dollars to develop new electric cars and passenger trucks, and also on battery manufacturing, through 2030, according to the latest report by London-based sustainability consultancy firm ERM for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Eco Wave Power, which produces clean electricity from ocean and sea waves, today announced that it has entered an official agreement with Port Adriano, Spain, to build Spain’s first wave-energy power plant.