Fitch Ratings - Fitch Renewable Energy Project Rating Criteria. This criteria report outlines Fitch Ratings’ approach to rating new and existing debt instruments where repayment depends on cash flow from the construction and/or operation of renewable energy projects. These criteria primarily cover onshore and offshore wind projects, solar projects (photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP), and reservoir-based and run-of-river hydropower plants. But the key rating drivers may also be applied to other renewable energy projects where the natural resource cannot be transported or traded, for example geothermal power projects. This report covers greenfield and existing plants and individual or portfolio assets. This criteria report is intended for global application. The evaluation of any transaction involves consideration of additional risks common to all project finance debt. It should be read in conjunction with Fitch’s Infrastructure and Project Finance Rating Criteria.

‍Brattle Group: A Pathway to Decarbonization: Generation Cost & Emissions Impact of Proposed NC Energy Legislation - A low-cost generation mix for Duke Energy’s service territory in North Carolina and South Carolina would add 18 GW of solar by 2030, the Brattle Group found in a modeling study. That’s more than triple the amount Duke Energy proposed in its “base case with carbon policy” scenario in its 2020 integrated resource plan. The 18 GW of solar would include 9.5 GW of “economic solar additions” beyond those required under North Carolina’s House Bill 951.

Brattle’s modeling, which did not allow for new gas-fired generators, resulted in a generation mix with costs roughly equal to those of the Duke Energy base case until 2029. After that, annual cost savings rise to $590 million in 2030 and $1.2 billion in 2035. The cost savings resulted from substituting solar, storage, and wind for Duke Energy’s proposed 3.8 GW of additional gas capacity, and through accelerated retirement of coal plants across Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress.

‍Clean Energy States Alliance: Energy Storage Policy Best Practices from New England: Ten Lessons from Six States - This report explores energy storage policy best practices and lessons learned from the New England states. It aims to inform state policymakers and regulators seeking to expand energy storage markets. New England has taken a leadership position in energy storage policy development, with several states implementing first-in-the-nation programs. As a result, energy storage deployment in the region has leapt ahead of many areas of the country. About 20 MW of grid-scale battery storage projects have come online in the region since 2015, but this is only the precursor to a much larger expected level of growth. According to ISO New England, energy storage now accounts for 15 percent (3,771 MW) of the region’s proposed new energy resources.

‍Berkeley Lab Behind-the-Meter Solar+Storage: Market data and trends - As the distributed solar market evolves toward more dynamic forms of deployment, interest in paired solar-plus-storage applications continues to gain steam, but details on the current state of the market are relatively sparse. To fill that void, Berkeley Lab has released an in-depth analysis of this budding market segment. This report draws on the Lab’s Tracking the Sun dataset to characterize trends in deployment, system sizing and equipment selection, installer-market development, and system pricing. The report also provides indicative analyses of the financial and resilience value that host customers in several key markets presently receive by pairing storage with solar.

‍Forbes: Q&A With ACORE President Greg Wetsone on why we need transmission and local distributed generation - Numerous scientific studies agree we can affordably achieve a reliable 80% clean energy grid by 2030 with existing technology, which puts the U.S. on track for 100% clean energy by 2035. The studies also show an 80% by 2030 clean grid would generate up to $1.5 trillion in new clean energy investments and prevent an estimated 317,500 premature deaths.But the path to reaching 100% clean electricity is still uncertain – is expanding transmission the answer? Should we focus on massive renewable energy projects or small-scale clean energy resources? Will a clean energy grid be resilient in the face of increasingly extreme weather?