Southeast solar shakes off supply chain woes

Editor’s note: Southeast Energy News will not publish on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back on Tuesday.

SOLAR: A regional clean energy group finds the Southeast solar industry has emerged from pandemic-driven supply chain troubles to resume its steady growth, with Florida, North Carolina and Georgia leading the way, even while policy obstacles remain. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Recorder, news release)

ALSO:
• A judge orders a solar company and North Carolina county to enter mediation after the company sues over the denial of a permit for its planned 200 MW solar farm. (Port City Daily)
• A company says it plans to resubmit a permit request for a Virginia solar farm after previously withdrawing it amid negative feedback. (Roanoke Times)

PIPELINES:
• Buoyed by a congressional act that grants it long-delayed permits, the Mountain Valley Pipeline moves to revive an extension into North Carolina previously rejected by state officials. (NC Newsline, Raleigh News & Observer)
• North Carolina officials approve a gas company’s plan to treat contaminated groundwater at the site of a 2020 gasoline spill and release it into a nearby creek. (WFAE)

EMISSIONS:
• A U.S. Marine Corps base in rural Georgia uses biomass, solar and air chilled underground to become the first in the military to reach its net-zero carbon goal. (Washington Post)
• The University of Texas joins eight other universities to research ways to reduce carbon emissions from manufacturing. (Daily Texan)

OIL & GAS:
• Environmental groups sue the Tennessee Valley Authority, claiming it merely went through the motions of exploring options to replace a coal-fired power plant while always intending to choose natural gas — even going so far as to secure a deal with a pipeline company. (Tennessee Lookout)
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Cabinet members approve a new natural gas-fired unit at a Tampa Electric Co. power plant. (Orlando Weekly)

STORAGE:
• Tesla officials confirm plans to aggregate fleets of the company’s Powerwall battery packs to form ​“virtual power plants” in Texas and Puerto Rico. (Electrek)
• An iron-air battery startup secures a deal to sell Georgia Power a 15 MW project as it builds a factory in West Virginia. (Canary Media)

GRID:
• Texas regulators meet but delay action on a grid redesign passed by state lawmakers to pay natural gas and coal power plants a credit for being available during times of high power demand. (Houston Chronicle)
• North Carolina will host a congressional field hearing today on grid security after gunfire at two substations last year knocked out power for more than 45,000 residents. (WRAL)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Georgia moves to become an electric vehicle hub with factories and charging infrastructure, while its Republican leaders carefully avoid any mention of climate change as motivating the transition. (WABE)

HYDROGEN: A company secures a feasibility study contract as it looks to build an Oklahoma oxygen and hydrogen refinery powered by solar, wind, waste heat and geothermal energy. (news release)

CLIMATE:
• The 2023 hurricane season dawns as federal officials begin using a new, more accurate hurricane model to forecast storms in the Atlantic. (Miami Herald)
• A North Carolina university unveils a new wave flume that lets researchers study how storm surge and constant battering by waves affect coastal structures. (Wilmington StarNews)
• Waves of dead fish wash up in Texas, likely from a rise in water temperatures and related drop in oxygen levels. (KUT)

COMMENTARY: Federal officials should offer financial aid to fossil fuel-fired power plants in Appalachia to pay for the purchase of emissions reduction technology instead of forcing them to shut down, writes an editorial board. (Weirton Daily Times)