Energy Transition in Motion (Week of Nov.15, 2024)

American Electric Power (AEP) has tapped Bloom Energy for up to 1 gigawatt (GW) of its solid oxide fuel cells as the Ohio-headquartered utility helps meet energy needs of data centers.

The fuel cell procurement agreement marks the largest such deal in the world to date, Bloom Energy said Nov. 14. AEP placed an initial order for 100 megawatts (MW) of fuel cells with expansion orders expected next year.

“With our proven track record of more than 1.3 GW deployed, and a fully functional factory that can deliver GWs of products per year, we are ready and able to meet this rapid electricity demand growth,” Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar said in a news release.

The fuel cells, which can run on 100% hydrogen or a blend with natural gas, will be co-located at customer sites to help support immediate power needs.

Data center development is expected to drive an average 20% per year of commercial load growth during the next three years, according to AEP.

“The rapid increase in energy demand is a challenge that AEP is tackling by finding innovative solutions to meet the unique needs of our customers,” said AEP CEO Bill Fehrman. “These fuel cells will help provide data centers and other large customers with the power they need to quickly expand in our regulated footprint as we continue to build infrastructure to deliver reliable energy for all our customers.”

Analysts at Evercore called the agreement a “big win for Bloom,” given its largest award had been an 80-MW agreement with SK. However, the analysts cautioned that the up to 1 GW agreement doesn’t appear to be a firm order that requires AEP to purchase.

“While the details of the agreement remain relatively limited, an announcement of this magnitude with a quality customer both validates Bloom’s fuel cell offering and provides incremental momentum to fuel cell adoption as a solution, while the grid infrastructure build out continues to be burdened with over-regulation and permitting issues,” Evercore analysts said in a note Nov. 14.

AEP said it is also in talks with other customers about using its technology. Costs associated with the projects will be covered by the large customers, it said.

Here’s a look at other renewable energy news.

Energy storage

Lyten Buys Cubert’s Battery Manufacturing Facility

Lithium sulfur battery maker Lyten on Nov. 13 said it will acquire Cubert’s San Leandro lithium-metal battery manufacturing facility and cell making equipment in California, continuing its expansion drive.

The company plans to invest up to $20 million to convert the 119,000-sq-ft facility to lithium sulfur and grow its capacity to 200 megawatt hours (MWh).

Word of the acquisition came about a month after Lyten said it would invest $1 billion to construct what it called the world’s first lithium-sulfur battery gigafactory near Reno, Nevada. The company intends to manufacture up to 10 gigawatt hours of lithium-sulfur batteries at the Nevada facility. It’s targeting first-phase startup in 2027.

“The acquisition of additional manufacturing capacity for lithium sulfur is in direct response to fulfilling customer demand more quickly,” said Dan Cook, Lyten’s CEO and co-founder. “Our customer pipeline has grown nine-fold since the start of 2024 and now numbers in the hundreds of potential customers. We are now working to allocate capacity from both San Leandro and our previously announced Reno gigafactory.”

Cuberg’s San Leandro facility is near Lyten’s headquarters in San Jose, California, where it produces batteries on a semi-automated plant.

Lyten said its battery cells have a high energy density, making them more lightweight than lithium-ion batteries. Sourced from natural gas, Lyten’s 3D Graphene is a key ingredient of its lithium-sulfur batteries.

The supermaterial applications company is backed by Stellantis, FedEx and Honeywell, among others.

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Hydrogen

Spain’s Exolum Tests Using Oil Infrastructure for Green Hydrogen in Britain

(Reuters) Spanish oil storage infrastructure company Exolum has kicked off a pilot project in Britain this week to test using existing oil infrastructure to transport and store green hydrogen on a commercial scale.

The test uses liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC)—organic compounds that can absorb and release hydrogen through chemical reactions—to transport and store hydrogen in liquid form, the company said Nov. 13, in what it says is a world first.

The aim is to tackle a key issue of the hydrogen economy: how to safely transport it to end users at reasonable cost.

Reusing existing fossil fuel storage and pipelines would help speed up the deployment of green hydrogen, the company said. So-called green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy.

Exolum, partly owned by buyout fund CVC, Australian asset manager Macquarie, Canadian pension fund OMERS and French bank Credit Agricole, will use its infrastructure at the British freight port of Immingham.

Under the project, which the British government supported with 505,000 pounds (US$647,000), some 400 cu. m of LOHC containing 20 metric tons of hydrogen will be transported through a 1.5-km (0.9-mile) pipeline.

Early next year, the company plans to publish a report with potential costs and benefits of the system.

Solar

OneEnergy to Build 165-MW of Solar in Wisconsin

U.S.-based OneEnergy Renewables entered an agreement with We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. (WPS) and Madison Gas and Electric Co. (MGE) to build two utility-scale solar plants with a combined capacity of 165 MW.

As part of the asset purchase agreement, OneEnergy said on Nov. 12 it will build the 98-MW Good Oak and 67-MW Gristmill solar projects in Columbia County, Wisconsin. The agreement took shape as the state takes steps to hit its net-zero emissions goal by 2050.

"Working with We Energies, WPS and MGE on these two utility-scale projects will build on a solid foundation of prior collaboration across the numerous distributed solar projects we have developed and constructed with them across Wisconsin,” said Eric Udelhofen, vice president of development at OneEnergy.

The projects will be constructed in 2026 and 2027, OneEnergy said.

Standard Solar Acquires California Solar Project

Commercial and community solar developer Standard Solar has acquired a 25- MW solar project being developed in California from Balanced Rock Power, according to a Nov. 13 news release.

Located in Kern County, the Windhub Solar B solar project will have 112 acres dedicated to the solar array. The project aims to address energy delivery challenges in the Mojave area, Standard Solar said. It is expected to generate nearly 56,680 MWh of renewable energy annually. Construction is set to begin in first-half 2025.

The acquisition “aligns with our strategy of acquiring high-quality projects developed by utility-scale developers in the 20- to 75-MW range,” Mike Streams, chief development officer for Standard Solar said in the release. “Our expertise and appetite for these types of acquisitions enable us to strategically expand our clean energy portfolio and provide dependable, sustainable power to the grid.”

Wind

Siemens Gamesa Lands $1.3B Wind Turbine Deal

Iberdrola’s ScottishPower has awarded Siemens Gamesa a more than £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) contract to supply offshore wind turbines for its East Anglia TWO wind farm in the southern North Sea, the companies said.

Siemens Gamesa will supply 64 of its flagship SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines, which have a rotor diameter of 236 m. The £4 billion offshore wind project is expected to generate up to 960 MW of electricity, which Iberdrola said is enough to power nearly 1 million homes.

The contract award was announced after ScottishPower announced plans to double its investment in the U.K. to £24 billions through 2028.

“Getting more projects like East Anglia TWO off the blocks quicker will turbo-boost the U.K.’s supply chain, giving companies like Siemens Gamesa the confidence to invest in facilities like this blade factory in Hull,” ScottishPower CEO Keith Anderson said. “Britain’s clean power targets are achievable but demanding. We’ve doubled our investment and are ready to play our part with Government as it gets barriers out the way to build more projects like this, alongside the electricity networks needed to ferry green, homegrown power across the country.”

Gazelle Wind Power Raises $12MM in Funding Round

Floating wind tech company Gazelle Wind Power raised about $12 million in a funding round led by Indico Capital Partners, according to a Nov. 13 news release.

The technology company said it plans to use the funding to accelerate development of Nau Azul, its 2-MW grid-connected demonstrator in Portugal. Gazelle said its floating offshore wind platform’s dynamic mooring system reduces pitch and balances movement in response to forces such as wind, waves and tide. The technology’s modular design also enables components to be cost-effectively fabricated in shipyards and assembled near wind farm sites.

“Offshore renewables will be a fundamental contributor to a more sustainable energy production mix. For costs to be competitive we need new ways to build, install and operate these mega structures,” said Stephan de Moraes, co-founder and managing general partner at Indico Capital Partners. “Gazelle offers a solution for that pressing problem of cost competitiveness with a ‘lego’ type of structure that will bring costs down dramatically and enables the installation of deep-sea wind farms all over the world.”

Others investors in the funding round included DST Group, August One, Wah Kwong and E2IN2.

Offshore Wind Cable Makers Turn to Europe as Trump Risks Loom

(Reuters) Nexans said on Nov. 13 it would turn its U.S.-based plant into an export hub if the offshore wind sector was challenged under Donald Trump’s second stint as president.

The French power and data cable specialist’s plant in Charleston, South Carolina, makes undersea cables used by the U.S. offshore wind market.

During its Capital Markets Day event, Nexans management said it could redirect U.S.-made cables to Europe with little impact on its margins.

Nexans’ deputy CEO and CFO Jean-Christophe Juillard said he was confident the company is not at risk even if Trump halts all U.S. offshore wind projects in the next four years.

The offshore wind industry is bracing for a U.S. impact, with two of the world’s biggest players in the sector, Siemens Energy and RWE, warning of challenges and potential delays for the technology slammed by the president-elect on Nov. 13.

Competitor and the world’s largest cable maker, Prysmian, told Reuters on Nov. 13 its transmission business backlog of 18 billion euros (US$19.13 billion) is entirely concentrated in Europe, with no U.S. exposure. The Italian cablemaker, which has a significantly larger presence than Nexans in the U.S., holds about 40% of the global power transmissions market, a Prysmian spokesperson said.

Analysts said after the election that long-term visibility on U.S. offshore wind volumes has been reduced, while manufacturers with a local presence would have an advantage against foreign importers thanks to proposed tariffs.

“Prysmian could also use European capacity to fulfil U.S. projects in the future,” analysts at Jefferies said Nov. 12.

The company sees the global transmission market staying at an annual 15 billion euros until at least 2030.

Hart Energy Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.