World's largest solar project

THE ESSENTIALS

Tariff exemption ends for solar imports from Southeast Asia

• A two-year exemption that allowed for duty-free imports of solar cells and modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam ends today.

• The duty of 14.25% will apply to bifacial panels imported from those countries where many Chinese manufacturers have moved their production.

• 87.5% of imported U.S. panels came from those four countries in the first quarter of 2024.

Why this matters: The end of the tariff exemption will make panels more expensive and increase capital costs for solar projects. The goal of ending the tariffs is to promote the build-out of a domestic supply chain, but that will take time and money. In the meantime, prices are going to rise.

World’s largest solar project comes online

• A 5GW solar project — the world’s largest — has come online in China and will generate 6,090 GWh of electricity per year.

• The second- and third-largest solar projects are also in China, both with a capacity of 3GW.

• China has set a goal of building 455GW of new solar and wind capacity by 2030 as part of its “megabase” program.

Why this matters: Solar is growing far faster in China than anywhere else, and the country is entrenching its dominance in the space. The Chinese National Energy Administration reported that it added 45.7GW of solar capacity in the first quarter of the year — that’s more capacity than all but four other countries in the world have in total.

Data center electricity demand to double

• The demand for electricity from U.S. data centers could double by 2030 because of increased adoption of AI, according to the Electric Power Research Institute.

• Data centers already consume 19GW of electricity, and that’s expected to increase to 21GW this year.

• The researchers believe data centers will consume anywhere from 4.6% to 9.1% of total U.S. electricity by 2030.

Why it matters: Many big tech companies have committed to net-zero emissions goals. If they’re going to meet those targets, many of these data centers will have to run on solar (and other clean power sources).

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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

➡️ ECP raises $6.7 billion for clean energy fund. New Jersey-based private equity firm Energy Capital Partners says it will invest the fund in clean energy businesses focused on power generation, electrification infrastructure, and storage. (More)

➡️ Alliant completes 200MW Wisconsin plant. The utility finished construction on the solar project in Potosi, Wisconsin, bringing its total solar deployment to 1,089MW in the state. Alliant now plans to roll out 275MW of battery storage. (More)

➡️ JinkoSolar unveils high-efficiency perovskite tandem cell. The Chinese manufacturer says its new cell has a power conversion efficiency of 33.24%, beating the company’s old efficiency record of 32.33%. (More)

➡️ Solar & battery storage reduces blackout risk for California. State officials said the state could now withstand the sort of heatwaves that led to blackouts in 2020 because of the solar and battery storage it’s added to the grid since then. (More)

➡️ DoE to study public support for siting solar. The research effort will aim to better understand public attitudes toward the siting and construction of utility-scale solar projects. Ultimately, researchers will aim to learn how to maximize local support for large solar projects. (More)

➡️ Michigan ballot initiative to block solar siting fails to make ballot. The group behind a ballot initiative that would make it harder to site solar and wind projects said it failed to get enough signatures to get on the ballot this year. (More) 

AROUND THE WORLD

🇨🇳 Chinese manufacturers slowing production at Southeast Asian plants. Longi and Trina Solar confirmed they are halting or cutting production at their plants in Southeast Asia due to uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs.

🇮🇳 India seeks proposals for 1.2GW of new solar capacity. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will sign 25-year power purchase agreements with the selected companies. India’s goal is to expand solar capacity to 150GW by 2030. (More)

🇫🇷 France’s Neoen bought by Brookfield. Brookfield, along with its renewable energy subsidiary and Temasek, will take a majority stake in the French renewable energy company, which has 8GW of renewable energy projects in France. The deal values Neoen at $6.6 billion. (More)

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