Solar

The United States will add 42 GW of new electricity capacity to commercial operations this year, with 9.31 GW (22%) coming in the form of natural gas-burning facilities, but the largest additions will be wind and solar generation, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. has flipped the switch on its first solar facility to directly power an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operation in the Permian Basin.

Operating electric power reserves for Texas still look tight for this summer on growth in the Permian Basin and along the Gulf Coast, but they have improved in the past three months thanks in part to the return of a 365 MW natural gas-fired unit, according to the power grid that oversees flows to 90% of the state’s customers.

Renewables and battery storage are only part of the equation leading to meeting California’s aggressive decarbonization goals, according to a report presented at a seminar at Stanford University on Wednesday by former Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Natural gas generation has been the biggest beneficiary of market share as coal generation declines, but the “principal winners” in the U.S. electricity mix eventually will be wind and solar, according to Raymond James & Associates Inc.

In another sign of a developing international trade war, the Trump administration has enacted a 25% tariff on a host of products imported from China, including parts used for offshore oil and natural gas drilling and production platforms.

The Trump administration slapped a four-year tariff on imported solar cells and modules on Monday, a move that could hamper solar’s competitiveness against cheap natural gas while also giving a boost to the coal industry, and which analysts say could signal that the White House is stepping back from more aggressive trade policies.

BP plc is pouring more investments into its alternative energy business with a $200 million bet on solar development.

Aera Energy LLC, a partnership between units of Royal Dutch Shell plc and ExxonMobil Corp., is bidding to become the largest solar energy developer in California with 850 MW of capacity to create steam for an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operation in the Belridge oilfield 40 miles west of Bakersfield.