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THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT: Dominion Energy broke ground today on a new solar farm at Dulles International Airport — marking the largest energy project ever developed at a U.S. airport.
Working in partnership with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the energy company will build out the solar farm on more than 835 acres of land, producing up to 100 megawatts of solar generation with a 50 MW battery storage system — enough to power more than 37,000 Virginia homes, according to Dominion. The project was intended to feed the airport’s energy consumption, and power the northern Virginia power grid.
The officials that were at the ground-breaking include Dominion Energy President Ed Baine, Dominion President and CEO Bob Blue, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Jack Potter, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), along with others.
“This is an exciting moment for the future,” Blue said during the groundbreaking. “[This project] also demonstrates how the public and private sectors can join forces to create innovative new models for clean energy and clean transportation in major metropolitan areas, all while boosting the area’s economies.”
During his remarks, Warner acknowledged the growth that Dominion has taken toward renewable energy over the years.
“The truth is, and I say this with all respect to the work of Dominion leadership, literally since I’ve been involved in politics for many, many years, when you look at making the transition to clean energy, Dominion was not at the top of it,” said Warner. “And it is now, and it’s because of this kind of creative partnership that’s taking place.”
“This groundbreaking marks the beginning of a historic achievement — a first-of-its-kind renewable energy project at a major U.S. airport,” Warner said. “I’m hopeful this partnership will serve as a model for future renewable energy projects across the country, paving the way for a greener, energy-independent future.”
The partnership will also develop two 1 MW solar carports that will power Dulles facilities, and provide 18 electric transit buses, 50 electric fleet vehicles, and EV charging stations for the airport.
Construction will begin in late 2023 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Dulles is joining a growing number of airports across the country that are looking to solar as a way to reach sustainability targets and save money on electricity. The project is a response to the Virginia Clean Economy Act of 2020, which would require Dominion to produce 100% renewable electricity by 2045, while Appalachian Power must be carbon-free by 2050. The measure also sets a timeline for shuttering old fossil fuel plants and establishes an energy efficiency standard.
Back in 2019, Dominion Energy and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced they would be studying the development of a large-scale solar farm at the airport. The two parties reached an agreement on a 37-year land lease in September 2021.
Dominion is also building the largest offshore wind project in the country off the coast of Virginia Beach, along with a project in southern Virginia, known as Highland Solar, that will convert a coal mine into a solar farm.
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JAPAN TO RELEASE TREATED FUKUSHIMA WATER IN 48 HOURS: Japan will begin releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean in 48 hours, a decision that comes despite intense pushback from South Korea, China, and local fishers who fear that the water could still be harmful more than a decade after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck the plant, resulting in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said today after a Cabinet meeting that the disposal will begin Thursday if weather and sea conditions are deemed appropriate for release.
In total, roughly 1.34 million tons of water, or enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools, of treated water from the facility will be released into the ocean. Read more from the BBC here.
BEZOS-FOUNDED BLUE ORIGIN METHANE EMISSIONS SPOTTED BY SPACE STATION: Jeff Bezos’s space company, Blue Origin, is responsible for large emissions of methane gas that have at times been large enough to be spotted from the International Space Station.
According to data collected by the nonprofit group Carbon Mapper, the methane emissions were recorded leaking by a space station facility on June 4 from the West Texas ranch where Bezos’s company regularly tests its space rockets.
The methane emissions were analyzed by Carbon Mapper and found to be leaking at 1.5 metric tons per hour. There is no indication of how long it lasted.
Blue Origin rockets run on liquefied natural gas, which is made up of up to 95% methane. Texas state air regulators do not impose limits on methane emissions or require disclosures of releases, nor does the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
“We frequently transfer LNG from our suppliers into storage tanks at our engine test stands. Everything operated normally,” Sara Blask, a spokeswoman for Blue Origin, told Bloomberg in an email, though she declined to comment on the total amount of gas released.
According to a permit filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in 2020, Blue Origin, the private U.S. space exploration company founded by Bezos, said it estimated it would dump roughly 3.4 million cubic feet of LNG into the air annually.
It is unclear if those numbers reflect current operations. Read more from Breanne here.
U.S. ENERGY FIRM PAYOUTS TO OIL INVESTORS TOP EXPLORATION SPENDING FOR FIRST TIME EVER: Top U.S. energy companies paid out more of their earnings last year to their shareholders than they invested in new oil and gas fields for the first time ever, according to a new report.
According to EY, which compiled the data, the U.S. companies chose to funnel money back to their investors rather than overspend on production growth, which had been the trend in previous years and hurt the industry’s returns, according to Reuters.
Combined profits of the group topped $333 billion in 2022, the report found, and investor payouts were also up significantly, with a whopping 214% increase compared to 2021 and more than sevenfold times as high as 2020 levels.
“We expect this will continue even in a high interest rate environment or a high oil price environment,” said Bruce On, a principal in EY’s strategy and transactions group. He also sees acquisitions as another new outlet for the cash, adding that they have risen this year and could continue next year as well.
ECUADORIANS VOTE TO END DRILLING IN PARTS OF THE AMAZON: Ecuadorians voted this weekend to end oil drilling in a protected part of the Amazon, delivering a blow to Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, whose administration has supported drilling efforts in the country, and to state-run oil company Petroecuador, which produces some 60,000 bpd of oil in the Yasuni National Park alone.
Ecuadorians appeared poised to reject the referendum as of last night, when more than 90% of the votes had been counted. As of that reporting, roughly 6 in 10 voters had opted to reject it, according to The Hill. Rejection of the measure would require Petroecuador to dismantle its drilling operations in the Yasuni National Park’s Block 43 area, which alone contributes roughly $1.2 billion annually to the country’s budget.
Petroecuador said in a statement it would refrain from commenting on the referendum until all ballots are counted, but that it would ultimately comply with the will of the people.
TRANSITIONS
Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions announced today that Tiffany Koch, an executive assistant for CRES, will be promoted to chief of staff. The organization will also be welcoming Sarah Geary as a media and communications manager.
The Rundown
Wall Street Journal Solar boom spreads to timberlands and self-storage rooftops
CNBC Is nuclear energy the answer to a sustainable future? Experts are divided
Financial Times The search for winners in the new battery era
