Our top story this month is the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts the deployment of 45GW in utility-scale solar projects larger than 1MW in 2024. This is projected to increase to about 53GW in 2025, according to the agency's short-term energy outlook. Adding Wood Mackenzie power and renewable conservative projections of 6GW in residential solar and 2GW in commercial projects, the total solar capacity expected for 2024 is 53.5GW. Projected figures for 2025 suggest a potential total deployment of 65GW of solar power. According to EIA, utility-scale solar is expected to constitute 6% of total electricity generation in 2024 and 7% in 2025. This is set against a backdrop where overall electricity generation is predicted to grow by 3% in 2024 and remain constant in 2025.
Our second story this month focuses on Leeward Renewable Energy’s 2023. CEO Jason Allen stated that it was a landmark year at the company as they continue to execute their transformational growth strategy to position the company as a leading renewable energy player in the U.S. In the last year, Leeward achieved over 3GW of operational capacity across 31 projects. The company achieved over 1.2 million employee working hours without a single recordable injury from OSHA. They raised $1.7 billion in project financing for 9 projects and secured $275 million of additional letter credit capacity, which now totals nearly $600 million to support their development activities and continuing growth, as well as adding 125 new members to their team.
Our next story is that Intersect Power announced the completion of their base portfolio totalling 2.2GW of solar PV and 1.4GWh of co-located storage in California and Texas, following the commercial operations of their Lumina Solar project in Scurry County, Texas Solar project. This is now a fully operational portfolio representing some of the largest clean energy resources in the world, along with Intersect’s mission to preserve the planet for future generations through low-carbon energy and infrastructure solutions.
Finally, U.S. start-up BrightNight has just nailed down a new $370 million line of credit that will enable it to push ahead with its gigantic portfolio of 31GW worth of wind, solar, and energy storage projects. BrightNight has become a renewable energy force to be reckoned with since it launched in 2018. And on January 4th, the company announced that it sealed a deal for $375 million worth of corporate credit, which is an extended loan that enables a borrower to avoid applying for multiple loans over the same period of time.
They were the top stories from the U.S. renewables market in January. If you enjoyed the video, please give it a like comment, share, or even better, all three! If you have a renewable energy project coming up CMC provide engineering, construction, and project management services to help deliver your project ahead of schedule and under budget. For more information, please visit www.expertisedelivered.com or reach out to myself directly on LinkedIn.