The Solar Energy Industries Association issued a new growth target for the industry to mark the first day of its 2021 annual meeting: a rapid and unprecedented growth in solar so that it generates 30% of the nation’s power by 2030, up from 4% currently.
“We know that the economics of clean energy are there … that demand will only continue to grow,” SEIA CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in opening the general session of the two-day virtual conference. “The timing will make or break our ability to stay on the path that the scientific community tells us is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”
To reach that goal, SEIA figures that by 2030, the industry will have to build about 125 GW of new generation annually, up from the 19 GW built in 2020; and reach a total buildout of 850 GW in total generating capacity, or nearly nine times the 95 GW of total capacity in 2020.
The huge investment, much of which would be made possible by the Biden administration’s Build Back Better bill now before Congress, would add more than $120 million to the U.S. economy annually and employ more than 1 million, SEIA argues in a release timed with the conference.
The additional solar would also offset more than 700 million metric tons of CO2 annually, up from 100 million tons in 2020, Hopper said.
“There’s incredible potential for your business to thrive. Make no mistake, public policy is critical,” she said. “As we speak, Congress is debating the details of a combined infrastructure and budget package to invest in America’s future.
“Some of the policies under consideration, including long-term extension of clean energy tax credits, investments in workforce and development and training, and enhancement to our electricity infrastructure would go a long way to ensuring we stay on track to hit our 30-by-30 goal. We cannot let this moment pass.”
Before Hopper’s announcement and the panel discussion that followed, FERC Chairman Richard Glick, National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy and U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) made remarks about the importance of solar.
“Whether you work in the clean energy industry or work in the government tackling the energy issues of the day, we’re all very fortunate to be doing so during this very exciting time, as the nation transitions to the clean energy future,” Glick said, adding that demand is driving the move to renewable energy and that market rules must keep up with the transition.
“Over the last several years, the commission has issued major rule-makings focusing on ensuring that energy storage and distributed energy resources, including behind the meter storage, can participate in wholesale markets. But our work isn’t done. For instance, we are looking at both interconnection policies and market rules to determine whether action is necessary to facilitate greater participation of hybrid projects, primarily solar and storage,” he said.
McCarthy reminded listeners that the switch to clean energy is a Biden administration priority. McEachin stressed the importance of a bill he has co-sponsored, the Environmental Justice for All Act, which will require the government to consult with environmental justice communities when proposing energy legislation.
During the panel discussion that followed, panelist Kelly Speakes-Backman, principal deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the Department of Energy, said, “President Biden has made his climate strategy really clear that the U.S. is aiming to achieve a carbon-free power grid by 2035 and a clean energy economy for all Americans with net-zero emissions not later than 2050. These are really bold targets that he has established, really the most ambitious climate strategy that the U.S. has ever seen.”
Another panel that immediately followed grappled in more detail with the problem of aligning transmission, distribution and interconnection with these clean energy goals.
“We need to move a lot faster,” said moderator Ric O’Connell, executive director of GridLab, a national nonprofit that provides technical assistance both to regulators and advocates.
“To meet our clean energy goals, we are going to need to interconnect twice what is already in the queue in the next decade,” he said of major transmission projects that have not yet been approved.
“We’ve got a similar story at the distribution level. So we probably got thousands of projects in state-regulated distribution queues around the country. And look, not all of these are 5-kW behind-the-meter residential solar systems. Many of these are 5 to 20 MW,” he added.
Eric Ciccoretti, attorney-adviser for FERC’s Office of Energy Policy and Innovation, said the commission has just begun work on new interconnection rules, and the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking process of asking for comments and suggesting what might be done typically takes years, particularly if there are appeals.
He said FERC “is seeking to understand whether there are ways to improve transmission planning and interconnection planning. Given the changing resource mix, the commission is focused on the shift from resources located close to population centers … toward resources, including renewable solar and wind, that may be located far from load centers.
“The commission is focusing on how the changing resource mix can be accommodated to ensure just and reasonable rates while maintaining grid reliability,” he said, stressing that the ANOPR is a priority.
Comments on the ANOPR are due Oct. 12, with reply comments due Nov. 15. Ciccoretti also noted that the commission is holding a technical conference on regional transmission planning, with the focus on the incorporation of long-term forecasts into future transmission, the same day reply comments are due.
Building solar projects aimed at the distribution level is also a problem, said panelist Maggie Clark, director of government affairs at North Carolina-based Pine Gate Renewables.
“You can’t readily get distribution system data in most places, and this is very different from transmission-level information that you can get on either through FERC or through utility filings.
“And that is why a lot of developers choose to go the transmission route because you can understand where it’s easier to site projects where you’re going to have a cleaner, low-cost interconnection to the grid,” she said.
Pine Gate has about 1 GW of operational assets, she said, and another 15 GW under development. The company is active in 15 states but stays away from some states because of problems tracking down reliable information about their local distribution systems.