Microsoft's Texas data centers to be powered by carbon-free energy

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Microsoft is one step closer to its carbon-free goals. Photo via Getty Images

Microsoft has made a deal with a French energy company that will help the tech giant to reach 100 percent carbon-free energy in its Texas data centers by 2030.

ENGIE Energy Marketing announced this week that its reached an agreement with Microsoft "to provide renewable energy to cover the consumption of select Microsoft data centers in Texas." The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Microsoft continues to be a leader in the market for corporate renewable energy procurement and a key alliance for ENGIE in the Net Zero energy transition,” Ken Robinson, ENGIE's president and CEO, says in the news release. ” We are proud to help them achieve their ambitions, where many other companies continue to struggle. Our goal is to grow our 24×7 hourly carbon-free matching program in key markets with electricity generated from zero carbon energy sources including wind and solar.”

The tech giant has announced its plans to reach its goal of 100 percent of electricity consumption, 100 percent of the time by 2030.

ENGIE, which is headquartered in Paris but has employees based in Houston, provides energy supply solutions for companies ona decarbonization journey. It's suite of services includes asset management, risk management, and more.

“We are excited that this project has kicked off and will provide us meaningful insight into future hourly carbon free program design,” Microsoft General Manager, Renewables and Carbon Free Energy Adrian Anderson says in the statement. “We look forward to working with ENGIE to meet our 100/100/0 goals.”

KBR and Air Liquide are combining their efforts to advance the energy transition. Photo via airliquide.com

2 Houston energy companies team up for low-carbon ammonia initiative

howdy, partner

Two companies with large presences in Houston have partnered to provide low-carbon ammonia to customers.

Houston-based KBR (NYSE: KBR), an engineering services company, and Air Liquide, a have announced a large-scale low-carbon ammonia partnership that will offer KBR customers a more sustainable option through Autothermal Reforming (ATR) technology.

As far as the collaborative partnership goes, KBR brings its ammonia synthesis technology to the table while Air Liquide has significant experience with ATR for large scale syngas production applications.

"Our differentiated ammonia synthesis technology has been the preferred choice for decades, with complete solutions for blue and green ammonia and large-scale capacity ...," says Doug Kelly, KBR president of technology, in a news release. "The addition of ATR technology further complements our clean ammonia offerings as we work to advance technology solutions to decarbonize the world."

Michael J. Graff, executive vice president of Air Liquide Group, which has its United States headquarters in Houston, says in the release that the combined efforts will help move the sector on its its low-carbon transition. When paired with carbon capture, the new partnered solution will result in preventing 99 percent of carbon emissions, per the release.

"This further illustrates Air Liquide's commitment to sustainable development, supporting customers in industry and mobility to decarbonize their products and operations," he says. "This is a core element of our ADVANCE strategic plan, which inseparably links financial and extra financial performance."

According to the company, KBR holds about half of the market share of licensed capacity within ammonia technology, and has "has licensed, engineered, or constructed over 250 grassroot ammonia plants worldwide" since 1943.

In the future, Air Liquide and KBR have plans to contribute development of low-carbon hydrogen as a key enabler of the energy transition.

A number of companies have officially announced their plans to discuss the future with their investment community at the upcoming conference. Photo courtesy of jpmorgan.com.

Power, Energy and Renewables investor conference features numerous Houston-based companies

SHOW ME THE MONEY

Tomorrow, leading companies from around the globe will share their 2024 financial outlook at the J.P. Morgan Energy, Power, and Renewables Conference. Although Houston is best known as the Oil and Gas capital of the world, the city presents strongly at this broader financial showcase of companies spanning the entire energy value chain, with numerous presentations originating from Houston-based organizations.

Baker Hughes Company, Crestwood Equity Partners, EOG Resources, Excelerate Energy, HESS Corporation, Oceaneering International, and TechnipFMC are just a few of the companies that have officially announced their plans to discuss the future with their investment community at the event.

In advance of the event, Bristow, a leader in offshore helicopter and search-and-rescue services around the world headquartered in Houston, released investor guidance for the coming year and made available the accompanying investor presentation for preview before their speaking spot slated for 4:30 PM ET on Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

Embedded in small print on the information-rich slide entitled, “ESG Highlights,” the company highlights continued efforts to embrace electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) and electric short take-off and landing vehicle (eSTOL) investment. To date, the company counts seven partnerships in this space – all amassed over the last 18 months.

eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft, touted as more efficient and faster than ground vehicles, could change the landscape for short-distance travel for a variety of industries, ranging from delivery services of both products and personnel to local commuting. (Perhaps the family vehicle depicted in Hanna-Barbera’s futuristic cartoon from the sixties, The Jetsons, isn’t that far off, after all.)

Will any of the stars of this week’s Paris Air Mobility conference, like the newly emerged MagLev Aero, recently acquired Wisk Aero, or very busy Eve Air Mobility, be counted amongst Bristow’s latest partnerships? Tune in tomorrow to the lower-carbon livestream option to find out.

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This article originally referenced Crestwood Energy Partners. The information has been corrected above.

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Energy Tech Nexus announces international startups to pitch at Pilotathon

Ready, Set, Pitch

Energy Tech Nexus will host its Pilotathon and Showcase as part of Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week next Tuesday, Sept. 16, featuring insightful talks from industry leaders and pitches from an international group of companies in the clean energy space.

This year's event will center around the theme "Energy Access and Resilience." Attendees will hear pitches from nine Pilotathon pitch companies, as well as the 14 companies that were named to Energy Tech Nexus' COPILOT accelerator earlier this year.

COPILOT partners with Browning the Green Space, a nonprofit that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the clean energy and climatetech sectors. The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory backs the COPILOT accelerator, where companies are tasked with developing pilot projects for their innovations.

The nine Pilotathon pitch companies include:

Ontario-based AlumaPower, which has developed a breakthrough technology that converts the aluminum-air battery into a "galvanic generator," a long-duration energy source that runs on aluminum as a fuel
Calgary-based BioOilSolv, a chemical manufacturing company that has developed cutting-edge biomass-derived solvents
Atlanta-based Cultiv8 Fuels, which creates high-quality renewable fuel products derived from hemp
Newfoundland-based eDNAtec Inc., a leader in environmental genomics that analyzes biodiversity and ecological health
Oregon-based Espiku Inc., which designs and develops water treatment and mineral extraction technologies that rely on low-pressure evaporative cycles
New York-based Fast Metals Inc., which has developed a chemical process to extract valuable metals from complex toxic mine tailings that is capable of producing iron, aluminum, scandium, titanium and other rare earth elements using industrial waste and waste CO2 as inputs
New Jersey-based Metal Light Inc., which is building a circular, solid metal fuel that will serve as a replacement for diesel fuel
Glasgow-based Novosound, which designs and manufactures innovative ultrasound sensors using a thin-film technique to address the limitations of traditional ultrasound with applications in industrial, medical and wearable markets
Calgary-based Serenity Power, which has developed a cutting-edge solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology

The COPILOT accelerator companies include:

Accelerate Wind
Aquora Biosystems Inc.
EarthEn
Electromaim
EnKoat
GeoFuels
Harber Coatings Inc.
Janta Power
NanoSieve
PolyQor Inc.
Popper Power
Siva Powers America
ThermoShade
V-Glass Inc.

Houston energy company to invest $1B in U.S. electric grid manufacturing

grid boost

Hitachi Energy, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston, has earmarked more than $1 billion to manufacture infrastructure for the U.S. electric grid, which is coping with greater power demand from data centers and AI platforms.

Of that sum, $457 million is dedicated to building a power transformer factory in Virginia. Hitachi Energy said it’ll be the largest facility of its kind in the U.S.

“Power transformers are a linchpin technology for a robust and reliable electric grid and winning the AI race. Bringing production of large power transformers to the U.S. is critical to building a strong domestic supply chain for the U.S. economy and reducing production bottlenecks, which is essential as demand for these transformers across the economy is surging,” said Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of Switzerland-based Hitachi Energy, which generates revenue of about $16 billion.

The Hitachi announcement aligns with various priorities of the Trump administration. The White House is promoting more U.S.-based manufacturing, more power to accommodate data centers and AI, and greater use of U.S. energy resources.

“If we are going to win the AI race, reindustrialize, and keep the lights on, America is going to need a lot more reliable energy,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.

Texas still has its best solar days ahead of it, even as federal tax credit sunsets

Guest Column

If you follow energy policy, you already know that Congress repealed the 30% residential solar tax credit. This poses a significant challenge for continued growth in the market. It also provides an opportunity for the industry to grow in a smart, consumer-friendly way. That’s why in Texas, the story is what happens next: The state and the market are continuing to make going solar much simpler, better, and cheaper.

Policies are moving in the right direction. For example, starting this month, a bipartisan permitting reform takes effect that will cut red tape for home solar and batteries. It lets licensed third-party professionals review plans and perform inspections, requires agencies to post standardized rules and fees online, and allows homeowners to start work once those third-party approvals are submitted. It also shifts negligence liability to the third-party reviewer, thereby reducing municipal risk while accelerating safe, code-compliant installs. In plain English: fewer bottlenecks, faster installs, and lower “soft costs.”

As a result, Houston is already piloting the National Renewable Energy Lab’s free SolarAPP+ to auto-approve standard solar designs, which cuts roughly 12 days from typical timelines. Independent analyses estimate that these automated permitting rules could trim rooftop solar costs by thousands. In other words, even small, costless policy changes like this can save you almost as much money as the huge solar tax credit did, and these great reforms are happening all the time, and they make the process much more convenient and reliable.

While Texas is making solar simpler, it’s also helping consumers have a good experience when going solar. As of this month, Texas law now also requires solar salespeople to register with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The same bill standardizes contracts and provides for mandatory disclosures of upfront cost and financing terms. The whole solar industry benefits when customers have a good solar experience. Word of mouth is vital to keeping solar shining.

There's yet another pro-solar Texas law that's also going into effect this month: in addition to SB 1202 (streamlining solar permits) and SB 1036 (regulating solar sales tactics), the legislature is also supporting the dissemination of information about your options when going solar via SB 1697. You can read more about these three brand-new pro-solar state laws here.

The end of the solar tax credit is not the end of the solar industry. Far from it.

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Dori Wolf is Senior Texas Program Associate for Solar United Neighbors, a vendor and neutral nonprofit with more than 15 years helping people go solar. Their free Solar Help Desk walks you through the details. Also check out their Go Solar Guide and Solar Owner’s Manual.

Solar United Neighbors also helps you find the best retail electricity plan through its partnership with Texas Power Guide.

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