Renewable Energy Update 12.18.25
Focus
California got a record 52.3% of power from renewables in 2024: report
S&P Global – December 16
Renewable energy accounted for more than half of California’s electricity mix for the first time in 2024 as the state’s reliance on fossil fuels reached a record low, according to the latest California Green Innovation Index released on Dec. 16. Renewable energy sources, including large hydroelectric facilities, made up 52.3% of the California power mix in 2024, the annual index from the think tank Next 10 showed. That represented a 3.7% increase from 2023.
News
Maryland launches offshore wind procurement
reNEWS – December 12
The state of Maryland has launched a fresh procurement for offshore wind capacity, days after a U.S. district court struck down the federal moratorium on offshore wind development. In documents published last week, the Maryland Department of General Services’ Office of State Procurement invited developers that hold leases off Maryland to submit bids for a 20-year power purchase agreement with the state.
Westlands approves plan to repurpose fallowed land for solar, energy storage
The San Joaquin Valley Sun – December 16
Fallowed agricultural land along the west side of the Central Valley will now have the opportunity to be repurposed for clean energy development. The move was approved by the Westlands Water District Board of Directors this Tuesday, which adopted the Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan. The Valley Clean Infrastructure Plan repurposes up to 136,000 acres of land for solar generation, energy storage and transmission infrastructure.
Projects
Microgrid project may aid Pescadero outages
The Daily Journal – December 12
San Mateo County officials are backing an ambitious fix for ongoing and sustained power outages in Pescadero: a solar-and-battery community microgrid that would keep much of the town powered even when the wider grid fails. If built, it would be one of the largest projects of its kind in California. Last week, the Board of Supervisors approved a $3 million commitment toward the project, joining a $10 million pledge from Peninsula Clean Energy, the countywide clean-power community choice aggregator.
BLM unfreezes Libra Solar to allow construction start in 2026
Solar Builder – December 17
After a five-month freeze, the federal government is allowing a major solar power project to proceed. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued a decision record on Dec. 15 that authorizes a series of revisions to the Libra Solar project in southwestern Nevada. Located approximately 20 miles south of the Fort Churchill substation in Yerington, Nevada, the $2.33 billion, 700 MW solar + storage project was originally approved in September 2024.
Turning data centers from a ‘potential liability to a grid asset’: Calibrant on its first-of-a-kind BESS with Aligned
Energy Storage News – December 16
Calibrant Energy will deploy a 31 MW/62 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at Aligned Data Centers’ campus in Hillsboro, Oregon. Aligned said it will be the first BESS that is purpose-built to accelerate interconnection and bring a large-scale data center online. Unpacking this in conversation with ESN Premium, Calibrant CCO Matt Barnes explained that in this case, the constraint that the BESS will alleviate is less about physical wires and transmission lines and more about the 100 MW-demand data center’s possible impact on the overall grid.
California vineyard goes 100% solar with floating PV system
Solar Power World – December 16
Nelson Family Vineyards in Mendocino County is powering 100% of its operations with renewable energy following the installation of a floating solar system on an irrigation pond. The innovative project enables the 74-year-old, 1,800-acre family-run farm to operate entirely on clean energy without taking any agricultural land out of production.
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