Energy Transition in Motion (Week of Sept. 15, 2023)

Ammonia and methanol producer OCI Global said Sept. 15 it has selected New Fortress Energy to provide green hydrogen for its green ammonia production project in Texas.

The offtake agreement for hydrogen from New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) ZeroParks, the company’s green hydrogen business, will enable OCI to boost production of green ammonia to about 160,000 tons per year (tpy) at its facility in Beaumont, Texas.

“Ammonia and methanol are the logical hydrogen carriers to drive this transition, and the coming demand from the transportation sector provides the foundation for our scale-up in production and new technologies,” said OCI Global Executive Chair Nassef Sawiris. “NFE is an established energy player and developer and we are excited to start this partnership with them at our Beaumont complex, which is ideally located in the center of the Gulf Coast, allowing us to continue to increase and optimize our over-the-fence feedstock portfolio.”

ZeroParks will use proton exchange membrane technology to produce the hydrogen as part of a two-phase project. The first phase is expected to come online in 2025, enabling OCI to produce about 80,000 tpy of green ammonia. The second phase is set to start production the following year, increasing OCI’s production capacity to 160,000 tpy, the release states.

In a separate Sept. 12 news release, electrolyzer manufacturer Electric Hydrogen (EH2) said it entered an agreement with New Fortress Energy to supply one of EH2’s 100-megawatt (MW) electrolyzer systems for a project in Texas.

Here is a look at other renewable energy news.

Energy Storage

Standard Lithium Acquires Acreage for Project in Arkansas

Vancouver, Canada-headquartered Standard Lithium Ltd. said Sept. 13 it acquired 118 acres of land for its South West Arkansas (SWA) project.

Located in Lafayette County, the land is southwest of the SWA project’s brine lease footprint near State Highway 29 and other existing infrastructure. Standard Lithium said the project area has some of the highest reported lithium brine concentrations in North America, averaging above 400 mg/liter. A preliminary feasibility study released in August revealed the project is economic, based on annual production of at least 30,000 tonnes of battery-quality lithium hydroxide.

Standard Lithium President and COO Andy Robinson said the “acquisition adds to our existing land options in the project area and provides us with added design flexibility as we progress the project to the definitive feasibility and FEED phase.”

FEED and the definitive feasibility study for the project are expected to be completed in 2024 with construction starting in 2025. Commercial production is expected to start in 2027, “subject to continuing project definition, due diligence, project financing and receipt of future feasibility studies,” the company said.

Lyten Lands $200MM in Latest Financing Round

Tech company Lyten Inc., which pioneered a 3D graphene material and manufactures lithium-ion batteries, raised $200 million in its latest equity round, the company said on Sept. 12.

Venture capital firm Prime Movers Lab led the round, helping lift total equity investment in Lyten to more than $410 million since the company’s founding in 2015. Other investors include Stellantis, FedEx Corp., Honeywell and The Walbridge Group.

“The influx of strategic investors reflects the evolution of Lyten from its early days of developing a first-of-its-kind supermaterial to now collaborating with industry leaders to bring disruptive, decarbonizing applications to market, utilizing the differentiated properties of Lyten 3D Graphene,” said Lyten co-Founder and CEO Dan Cook. “Our investors provide more than financial resources; they provide guidance and expertise to help ensure Lyten applications address the critical needs of a wide range of industries, including automotive, transportation, defense, aerospace, manufacturing, energy and construction.”

Earlier this year, Lyten opened its first lithium-sulfur battery automated pilot plant in San Jose, California.

Wärtsilä, EVE Energy Seal Long-term Deal for Battery Cells

EVE Energy has reached an agreement to supply Wärtsilä with lithium iron phosphate battery cells for its GridSolv Quantum energy storage system, according to a Sept. 12 news release.

The supply will help Wärtsilä build out its pipeline of more than 3.5 gigawatts (GW) and 7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy storage capacity awarded, contracted or deployed, the company said.

“We are constantly pursuing new opportunities to optimize our operations and ensure that we can continue to lead the transition towards a 100 percent renewable energy future,” Andrew Tang, vice president of energy storage and optimization at Wärtsilä, said in the release.

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Geothermal

China to Step Up Geothermal Energy Development in Clean Heating Push

China will actively expand the use of geothermal energy, Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing said during a Sept. 15 conference, as the world’s biggest energy consumer seeks to adopt cleaner sources of power for heating.

China will also increase the scale of wind and solar power projects, while safely advancing nuclear power plant construction, Zhang added.

Sinopec plans to add 75 million sq m of geothermal heating area in order to reach a target of 160 million sq m by the end of 2025, Ma Yongsheng, chairman of state-owned refiner Sinopec, said at the same conference.

The company already has a geothermal capacity of more than 85 million sq m after 11 years of development, Ma said.

Clean power sources in northern China, including geothermal, have contributed to improving air quality, said Zhang Jianhua, director of the National Energy Administration of China.

China’s National Energy Administration has proposed increasing the geothermal heating-cooling area by 50% in the five years from 2020, as well as doubling the geothermal power generation capacity.

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Hydrogen

TotalEnergies Taps Air Liquide for Hydrogen

Air Liquide will supply low-carbon hydrogen to France’s TotalEnergies to help decarbonize the energy company’s refining and petrochemical platform in Normandy.

Starting in the second-half of 2026, Air Liquide will supply 10,000 tons of green hydrogen annually to the platform in Normandy and up to 5,000 tons per year of low-carbon hydrogen as part of a long-term agreement, according to a news release.

Air Liquide will build and operate a 20-MW electrolyzer, Normand’hy, giving TotalEnergies access to half of the production capacity. TotalEnergies said it will supply about 700 GWh of renewable and low-carbon power to the Air Liquide electrolyzer for half of its capacity.

“By supplying the electrolyzer with renewable electricity from solar and wind projects, TotalEnergies is making the most of its positioning as an integrated power supplier,” said Bernard Pinatel, president of refining and chemicals for TotalEnergies.

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Solar

Trina Solar to Build $200MM Solar PV Facility in Texas

China-headquartered Trina Solar plans to build a $200 million solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Wilmar, Texas, southeast of Dallas, the company said on Sept. 11.

The 1 million-sq-ft facility will be Trina Solar’s first module factory in the Western Hemisphere.

Sourcing polysilicon from the U.S. and Europe, the company said it will produce 5 GW of its large power output Vertex modules when operations begin in 2024. The facility is expected to create 1,500 jobs.

“Trina’s goal in building this facility is to begin to create an ecosystem of American manufacturing that can serve the burgeoning U.S. solar market,” Steven Zhu, president of Trina Solar US, said in a news release.

News of the planned solar PV plant arrived as the U.S. continues efforts to boost domestic solar manufacturing, incentivizing developers with production tax credits made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Trina Solar was among the five Chinese producers that the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled in August had attempted to avoid paying antidumping and countervailing duties by processing components in four Southeast Asian countries before shipping the products to the U.S. Import duties were imposed on the companies with the final ruling in August. Imports from the four Southeast Asian countries were stalled last year during the investigation.

Ørsted, PS Renewables Partner to Develop UK Solar Farm

Ørsted has moved onto the U.K. solar scene, with plans to build a 740-MW solar farm with battery storage—called One Earth Solar Farm.

Working with partner PS Renewables, Ørsted said on Sept. 13 that the solar farm will be located in Nottinghamshire near the border of Lincolnshire. The two aim to begin commercial operations at One Earth before 2030, providing enough electricity to power up to 200,000 homes.

Stakeholder consultations are slated to start in September. Developers intend to submit a development consent order for the project in 2025.

The project marks Ørsted’s entry to solar energy in the U.K. The company is working to grow its onshore capacity to 15.5 GW by 2030, up from more than 5.7 GW either in operation, under construction or approved in Europe and the U.S., the release states.

“With a strong Irish onshore portfolio already in place, we are delighted to begin our journey in the U.K. solar market with PS Renewables, who have been successfully delivering large-scale solar projects for more than a decade,” said Kieran White, senior vice president of onshore for Ørsted’s Europe region.

In March, Ørsted said it acquired the 160-MW Garreenleen from developer Terra Solar. The acquisition followed the 2022 acquisition of the 65-MW Ballinrea solar PV project also from Terra Solar.

Longroad Energy Taps First Solar for More Modules

Massachusetts-based Longroad Energy has agreed to obtain an additional 2 GW of advanced thin film American solar modules from First Solar, the manufacturer said Sept. 12.

The order adds to Longroad’s existing 3.7 GW framework deal with First Solar.

The solar modules are expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2029, according to a news release.

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Wind

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Andel Form Offshore Wind Partnership

Renewable energy fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) said on Sept. 15 that it will establish a consortium with Danish fiber-optic company Andel to bid on tenders for wind farms offshore Denmark.

The partnership forms as Denmark builds its offshore wind capacity, targeting 12.9 GW by 2030. The two companies will work together on tenders for the Hesselø Offshore Wind Farm in Kattegat north of Zealand and Kriegers Flak II in the Baltic Sea. With a total minimum installed capacity of 1.8 GW, the wind farms together will have enough capacity to power the equivalent of two million homes, CIP said in a news release.

“Andel has strong competences in operating electricity supply and trading energy in large volumes both financially and to consumers, so Andel is a partner that complements our competences very well,” said Jakob Baruël Poulsen, managing partner at CIP. “Our common ambition is to be an important driver in the realization of the potential for even larger amounts of renewable energy generation in Danish waters.”

Hesselø is expected to be complete by 2029 and Kriegers Flak II by 2030. The projects are part of Denmark’s plans for 9 GW of offshore wind tenders, for which political agreement was reached earlier this year, CIP said.

Vattenfall Gets Rights to Build Wind Power Project Offshore Germany

Vattenfall plans to build a 630-MW wind power plant off the German North Sea coast after obtaining the rights to the project, the Swedish utility said in a Sept. 14 statement.

The Nordlicht II project, with the previously announced Nordlicht I project in the same area, will amount to an output of 1.61 GW, Vattenfall said.

The two wind farms could together produce enough electricity to cover the annual consumption of more than 1.7 million German households, the company added.

Pending a final investment decision, the two projects could be connected to the German grid by 2027 and 2028 respectively, Vattenfall said.

The rights to the Nordlicht II project were initially awarded to competitor RWE at an auction in August. However, Vattenfall had previously developed a project at the site, allowing it to exercise a right of entry to develop and construct the wind farm.

Vattenfall already operates two wind farms in Germany.

Earlier this year, the company paused the development of a planned offshore wind farm in Britain after rising costs.

Hart Energy Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.