North America News

Latest news and developments from North America region

• FlexGen partners with Kansas Power Pool for battery storage project

  January 29, 2021
  FlexGen—an energy storage technology company—is partnering with the Kansas Power Pool (KPP) to design, build and operate the Solomon Energy Storage Center in Minneapolis, Kansas.

• US AES energises 400 MWh battery storage facility in California [free access]

  January 27, 2021
  The US-based AES Corporation has recently energised a 100 MW/400 MWh Alamitos battery storage facility in Long Beach, California.

• SPP Board recommends construction approval of 138 kV line, Evergy plans to seek restudy

  January 26, 2021
  The Board of Southwest Power Pool (SPP) has recently recommended the approval for construction of a new 138 kV transmission line between the existing Butler and Tioga substations in Kansas, which would replace the 100-year-old Butler to Altoona line.

• FERC seeks more information on hybrid resource participation in power markets

  January 25, 2021
  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on January 19, 2021 asked the nation’s grid operators to submit detailed information about hybrid resources (commonly comprising of a solar panel array or wind turbine paired with a battery) that operate on their systems.

• CMP’s NECEC project gets final permit, court orders to stop construction for 54-mile stretch

  January 21, 2021
  The proposed New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project, being developed by Central Main Power (CMP)—a subsidiary of Avangrid Networks Inc.—has recently secured the Presidential Permit from the US Department of Energy (DoE).

• NYPSC report finds integration of 9 GW offshore wind ‘achievable’ by 2035

  January 20, 2021
  A new report by the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) concludes that the integration of 9 GW of offshore wind generation into the New York power grid is ‘achievable’ by 2035, without major onshore bulk transmission upgrades.

• PJM seeks FERC signoff on proposed cost allocation for 14 projects [free access]

  January 19, 2021
  PJM Interconnection (PJM) is seeking an April 8 effective date from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for electricity tariff revisions, which would incorporate cost responsibility assignments for new baseline transmission upgrades that were approved by the grid operator's Board last month.

• US DoE plans to award USD14.5 million for offshore wind environmental research

  January 18, 2021
  The US Department of Energy (DoE) recently announced plans to allocate up to USD14.5 million for environmental research to support US offshore wind development.

• NYPSC approves 345 kV Marcy to New Scotland Upgrade project

  January 18, 2021
  The New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) has approved the 345 kV Marcy to New Scotland Upgrade project between the Oneida and Albany counties, to enable greater flow of clean energy in the New York state.

• Canada Infrastructure Bank inks MoU for energy storage project

  January 14, 2021
  The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and Oneida Energy Storage LP, a joint venture between NRStor Inc. and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corp., have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the Oneida energy storage project in Ontario.

• TransWest Express LLC seeks FERC approval for capacity solicitation

  January 13, 2021
  TransWest Express LLC (a wholly-owned affiliate of The Anschutz Corporation, a privately-held company based in Denver) is seeking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval for capacity solicitation, on its TransWest Express (TWE) Project.

• Transmission build-out is key to low-cost, decarbonised US grid: MIT Study

  January 12, 2021
  A recently concluded study by the Massachusetts Information of Technology (MIT) has revealed that a massive US-wide transmission build-out could slash the costs of reaching a zero-carbon grid with the already cost-effective wind, solar and battery technologies.

• Indian Energy receives grant for demonstration of new energy storage technologies

  January 11, 2021
  Indian Energy LLC—a utility-scale and microgrid development and systems integration firm—has recently received a grant of over USD5 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC), for demonstration of new energy storage technologies.

• PSEG Long Island energises Western Nassau Transmission Project

  January 8, 2021
  PSEG Long Island—a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG)—has announced that it has completed the construction of a new 7.3-mile (11.74-km) underground transmission line (known as the Western Nassau Transmission Project) from the East Garden City substation in Uniondale to the Valley Stream substation in Lynbrook, and put it into service in December 2020.

• Ameren Illinois energises 345 kV Illinois Rivers transmission project in US Midwest

  January 7, 2021
  Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI)—a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation—recently announced that it has energised the final span of the USD1.4 billion, 345 kV Illinois Rivers transmission line project, running between the states of Missouri and Indiana.

• EoS secures USD20 million contract for California energy storage project

  January 7, 2021
  New Jersey-based EoS Energy Storage LLC—an energy equipment and solution provider—secured a USD20 million contract from EnerSmart, a developer, owner and operator of utility-scale energy storage projects to provide at least 90 MWh, and as much as 180 MWh, of energy storage over the next 24 months.

• Vistra brings largest utility-scale BESS online in California [free access]

  January 6, 2021
  Texas-based energy company, Vistra Energy, recently announced that the Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, which is the world’s largest utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS), has been connected to the grid.

• Pattern Energy commences construction of wind projects, associated transmission in New Mexico

  January 5, 2021
  Pattern Energy, a subsidiary of Pattern Development, has recently finalised the financing for and begun construction of its over 1 GW Western Spirit suite of wind projects in New Mexico and the associated 345 kV Western Spirit Transmission Line.

• US Senate passes American Energy Innovation Act [free access]

  December 30, 2020
  Recently, the American Energy Innovation Act. (AEIA) was passed by the US Senate, in an effort to modernise the domestic energy laws, strengthen the country’s energy security, increase its international competitiveness and invest in clean energy technologies.

• US DoE selects EPRI to lead research on innovative energy storage projects

  December 30, 2020
  The US Department of Energy (DoE) recently selected the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to lead three advanced energy storage projects to study innovative, non-battery based, bulk energy storage solutions integrated with fossil assets.