Renewable energy adoption continues to rise, signaling a promising shift towards sustainable power sources. Industry challenges persist, from grid operation perspectives to new regulatory policies and supply chain constraints. To stay on top of the latest developments in this area, you should attend CLEANPOWER 2024. Enverus Intelligence® Research (EIR) identifies five key trends you should know before attending this year’s CLEANPOWER to give you an added advantage.
From solar power to energy storage innovations and transportation electrification, these trends are shaping the future of renewable energy.
Data Center Demand
The last twelve months have brought a new driver for load growth, besides heat electrification and EVs. The rise of AI and LLM has sparked a competitive race to expand data center capacity (https://www.enverus.com/blog/energy-transition-today-deciphering-data-center-demand/), which is essential for accommodating AI’s rapid growth. As this expansion occurs, the energy demand will also surge. Data center developers will seek reliable energy from sustainable sources to power their facilities. The optimal siting of data centers depends on connectivity and energy reliability.
You can learn more about EIR’s estimates of this growth and opportunities for power developers from Enverus Foundations – Power & Renewables , traders from Panorama and Energy Transition Research published report series.
Transmission From Generation to End-Users
Transmission is crucial for bringing new renewable generation and large loads online. Building new long-distance transmission is even more challenging because of permitting barriers, payment regulations and interregional planning. The DOE, Grid Unites, IBEW and Invenergy will discuss developers experiences and the vision of the Grid Deployment Office during “Not Just Lines on a Map: Moving Transmission Forward.”
Energy Storage Solutions
The intermittent nature of solar and wind energy requires energy storage to ensure reliability and stability. EIR analyzed that ERCOT’s grid-scale batteries operating strategy impacts profitability more than size and even location. An approach that combines several ancillary services and some energy arbitrage leans toward having higher profitability. However, EIR has also written about how they expect this to change as growing storage capacity saturates the ancillary services markets in the report, “Texas Grid Storage Gold Rush | Keys to Unlocking Profitability.”
Interconnection Queue Post Inflation Reduction Act
Since implementing the IRA, interconnection queues have been overwhelmed, creating a challenge for developers to prioritize and de-risk their project portfolios. With the help of Project Tracking Analytics, the EIR analyst team notes that only 35% of projects in the queue today will have a 70%+ probability of commercial success. Being able to identify projects with the highest likelihood of success is no easy task, considering different factors influence every ISO.
Offshore Wind Challenges
U.S. offshore wind projects faced many challenges and cancellations in 2023 due to high-interest rates and supply chain backlogs. Is the industry poised to rebound? You will learn more about microeconomics and government response in the panel, “Offshore Wind: Sustainable Commercial Framework” with representatives from Orsted and Avangrid.
In conclusion, CLEANPOWER offers a valuable space for industry stakeholders to exchange knowledge, network and collaborate towards advancing renewable energy. By familiarizing oneself with the key trends outlined above, attendees can gain deeper insights into the renewable energy landscape’s current state and future direction. The renewable energy sector continues to evolve rapidly, driving towards a more sustainable and resilient energy future.
About Enverus Intelligence®| Research
Enverus Intelligence® | Research, Inc. (EIR) is a subsidiary of Enverus that publishes energy-sector research focused on the oil, natural gas, power and renewable industries. EIR publishes reports including asset and company valuations, resource assessments, technical evaluations and macro-economic forecasts and helps make intelligent connections for energy industry participants, service companies and capital providers worldwide. https://www.enverus.com/disclosures/
