In the news: energy challenges, innovation and pending regulations

October 12, 2022

Fall is officially here and energy headlines continue to be on the forefront of the news.

So what are we seeing this October? The exciting potential for innovation in the climate tech industry is inspiring the deep pockets of venture capital firms to make moves in a period of economic uncertainty, which is typically marked by “conservative” investment choices.

There are also factors emerging that threaten to stall some forward progress in certain industries. Reports of a shortage of qualified personnel to staff energy industry companies and regulators are seen across the board. Additionally, lagging government regulations are causing delays in major wind and solar projects in the U.S.

Keep reading more highlights from a few of the most recent can’t miss energy stories below:

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“U.S. grid data needed for faster solar, wind build” - Reuters

Following the recent passing of President Biden’s historic climate bill, there is an anticipated surge of solar and wind installations across the US that raise the question of grid interconnection reforms and put urgency on more upfront investments to do so.
Broader needs for transmission connections, grid updates and staff to approve the fast growing queue of renewable energy projects are causing delays or derailments of projects related to solar, wind and storage across the country and energy developers cite pain points such as high upfront costs, lengthy timelines and lack of local and operational grid data.
Proposed federal regulations aim to reduce the bottleneck and backlog as well as improve interconnection modeling between generation facilities and battery storage - but does not address cost sharing concerns raised by developers.
FERC is collecting comments on the proposal through October before finalizing a decision and its compliance - stay tuned.

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“The Climate Tech Boom is Recession Proof” - Bloomberg

Although there are real concerns of global recession rising, 2022 has thrown an investment curve-ball. Where we typically see investors backing away from “risky” assets and moving towards safer bets during times of uncertainty, we have actually seen 2022 surpass all expectations for venture capital fundraising, with an amplification in climate investing.
Investors are flocking to fund climate tech companies and startups as they look to the long term economic effects of climate investing and solutions for global warming over concerns of a short term recession.
Even flush with cash - the industry faces challenges especially being able to find and hire the right people for the deep science and engineering problems at hand.

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“Manhattan’s largest rooftop solar array is about to come online” - Canary Media

A landmark project at the 3.3 million square foot Jarvits Convention Center overlooking the Hudson river is set to come online soon and boasts of a sleek design that exemplifies how other cities and urban commercial buildings can do their part to meet emissions targets.
Spearheaded by Siemens, the Jarvits building is a statement in their broader mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large, multi use commercial buildings - which account for nearly 40% of all energy related carbon dioxide emissions globally.
Siemens aims to transform traditional, enormous convention center structures into high tech, digitally controlled spaces to minimize energy consumption and improve indoor air quality. They also state under brown out conditions, you can at least run basic services in these buildings and maintain safety.

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Underpinning these recent headlines are common themes of challenging problems to solve, exciting innovation and pending regulations and reforms that could help or hinder the ability to scale renewable projects in the future.

Stay tuned for more industry updates and emerging energy trends.

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