US$300 million in new funding from Manulife Investment Management will enable CleanCapital, a clean energy investment platform mostly focused on distributed solar, to also provide “long-term, flexible capital” to energy storage developers.

Our sister site PV Tech reported last week that CleanCapital had secured the funding to help grow its asset portfolio, coming as CleanCapital bought two renewable energy portfolios totaling 63MW in deals worth US$775 million, including operating solar, new-build solar and energy storage systems.

Renewable energy investor CleanCapital LLC said April 20 that it is using $300 million in new funding from Manulife Investment Management to buy up more mid-sized solar plants and to begin developing projects in a part of the U.S. market that historically has been difficult for big investors to access.

Money is flooding into the renewable energy sector as companies and governments set targets to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and swelling enthusiasm for environmental, social and governance investing drives financiers to allocate more capital to "green" infrastructure. According to consultancy Mercom Capital Group LLC, the solar market drew in $8.1 billion in corporate funding during the first three months of the year, a 21% increase from the prior quarter.

Manulife Investment Management committed $300 million to invest in CleanCapital, an owner and operator of U.S. solar assets.

The insurance giant took a majority stake in CleanCapital, said Thomas Byrne, CEO of the New York-based solar and energy storage company. The size of the stake will grow as CleanCapital invests the Manulife funding. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The Salvation Army has strengthened its commitment to sustainability with new plans to significantly expand their adoption of solar and energy savings efforts in Nevada and Arizona. The iconic charity has taken a regional approach to cutting its carbon footprint, adding plans for multiple facilities across the Western Territories that will save money and reduce emissions with solar panels.

California has embarked on a rewrite of the key policy that governs how anyone with a solar panel reduces their energy costs by exporting power to the grid.

Known as “Net Energy Metering,” or by the initials NEM 3.0, this third edition of the state’s policy for solar rooftops could make solar energy less valuable to new solar customers, setting off a rush to grandfather projects under the existing policy, and possibly affecting other states’ policies nationwide.

A growing number of Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Walmart have been making headlines with announcements of hitting major renewable energy targets. As pressure to reduce carbon emissions escalates in the face of climate change, this expanding group of corporates is pushing towards "100 percent renewables" with procurements of green energy via solar, wind, and hybrid projects.

But are these companies actually putting solar panels on their rooftops and erecting wind turbines in their parking lots? Well, not exactly.

Today, most fleets are at an early stage of EV adoption and their approach is incremental — e.g., buy a few vehicles and a few chargers each year. In our recently-released report Steep Climb Ahead, we recommend that fleet managers instead develop a long-term plan that incorporates how many vehicles and chargers (and what types of chargers) will be purchased annually as well as where and when vehicles will be charged.

Today’s incremental approach works for now but will quickly incur excessive capital costs and reduce operational savings for the fleet. Although a long-term plan requires more upfront effort, it is a superior approach that will only benefit a fleet’s bottom line.

The ongoing pandemic and current political push for infrastructure spending to spur economic recovery also seems poised to channel government funds to hydrogen, according to Mona Dajani, head of the hydrogen and renewable energy practices at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

Based on her communications with individuals within the Biden administration, Dajani said she believes that "COVID recovery packages will be linked to energy transition packages, and those companies like oil and gas companies and utilities that are headed toward sustainability will reap significant rewards."

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority and Encore Renewable Energy announced that the Lawrence Brook Solar project is now supplying renewable energy to the electric grid in Morrisville. The new 2.2-MW solar array is sited on property owned by Morrisville resident Jeanette Davis. Previously used for corn silage, the land now hosts a renewable energy project generating enough electricity to power 450 Vermont homes. The 25-year lease agreement will provide income for Ms. Davis and allow her to maintain ownership of her family’s land.

A flood of investments and energy industry pledges made 2020 a breakout year for low-carbon hydrogen. But 2021 may be when the hype gives way to hard questions.

Last year, the colorless gas captured the imagination of many companies for a variety of uses: Major truck manufacturers banded together to promote a transition to hydrogen fuel-cell models. A hydrogen plane startup pulled in over $21 million from investors that included Amazon.com Inc. and a Bill Gates-backed fund. Several gas and electric utilities launched pilot projects to produce hydrogen from zero-carbon sources.

Hydrogen has had false starts in the past: In the early 2000s, the Bush administration anointed fuel-cell cars as the future of transportation. But under President Obama, the Department of Energy backed off the technology, and it has failed to catch on with most automakers.

A team of Pillsbury lawyers led by Mona Dajani, the Global Co-Head of the firm’s Energy & Infrastructure Projects Team, represented Shikun & Binui (S&B) USA Energy in its purchase from Capital Dynamics of 108MW in California of a solar portfolio consisting of two projects Beacon II (59.6 MWdc) and Beacon V (48.2 MWdc). TortoiseEcofin partnered with S&B on the purchase.

Mona Dajani, recently awarded 2020’s MVP honors for Project Finance by Law360, said, “This is the latest example we’ve seen of major players in the energy industry doubling down on their investments in renewables, in a year when we saw many challenges but also a lot of interest in making attractive deals.”

Last Thursday, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) and Encore Renewable Energy announced that the 2.2-megawatt (MW) Lawrence Brook Solar project is now supplying renewable energy to the grid in Morrisville, Vermont.

The new solar array is sited on property owned by Morrisville resident Jeanette Davis. Previously used for corn silage, the land now hosts a renewable energy project. The 25-year lease agreement will provide income for Ms. Davis and allow her to maintain ownership of her family’s land.

Last Thursday, Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) and Encore Renewable Energy announced that the 2.2-megawatt (MW) Lawrence Brook Solar project is now supplying renewable energy to the grid in Morrisville, Vermont.

The new solar array is sited on property owned by Morrisville resident Jeanette Davis. Previously used for corn silage, the land now hosts a renewable energy project. The 25-year lease agreement will provide income for Ms. Davis and allow her to maintain ownership of her family’s land.

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) and Encore Renewable Energy have hooked the Lawrence Brook Solar project to the grid in Morrisville, Vermont.

The new 2.2-MW solar array is sited on property owned by Morrisville resident Jeanette Davis. Previously used for corn silage, the land now hosts a renewable energy project under a 25-year lease agreement that will provide income for Davis and allow her to maintain ownership of her family’s land.

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (“VPPSA”) and Encore Renewable Energy announced that the Lawrence Brook Solar project is now supplying renewable energy to the electric grid in Morrisville. The new 2.2 MW solar array is sited on property owned by Morrisville resident Jeanette Davis. Previously used for corn silage, the land now hosts a renewable energy project generating enough electricity to power 450 Vermont homes. The 25-year lease agreement will provide income for Ms. Davis and allow her to maintain ownership of her family’s land.

Hydrogen was once considered more of a periphery fuel in the broader energy transition, but has emerged front and center in 2020.

"There's a lot of talk about a lot of different technologies" and how they can complement a broader utility resource mix as companies aim to produce zero-emitting power, said Goldmeer, but "I'm not sure that any have captured the imagination, the way hydrogen has." Though economics for the fuel remain difficult, and some analysts don't see it reaching economic viability until 2030, investor interest in the fuel is growing quickly, with many focused on using the power sector to bring the resource to scale.

"I think it's going to mimic very much how solar was," said Mona Dajani, co-leader of Pillsbury law firm’s Energy and Infrastructure Projects team and leader of its Renewable Energy Practice. Solar "started out kind of clunky, and then it just accelerated quicker than anyone thought." Dajani leads her firm's hydrogen practice and expects deals to accelerate and buildout to materialize in the next three to five years.