Solar | Page 69

The University of Richmond (UR) announced on Jan. 27 that its new Spider Solar project is online. This makes UR one of only two higher education institutions in the U.S., and the first in the Southeast, to match 100% of its electricity needs with a single solar power source. 

CyrusOne, a global data center real estate investment trust, announced on Jan. 26 that the company will purchase renewable energy to power two of its data centers in Texas.

BNEF announced on Jan. 26 that its research shows that corporations purchased a record 23.7 GW of clean energy in 2020, up from 20.1 GW in 2019 and 13.6GW in 2018. The increase came despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a global recession and uncertain federal policy.

Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, announced on Jan. 26 that it has extended a contract to incorporate a solar power component into the electricity supply mix for its acetyl intermediates chemical manufacturing facility.

Mastercard announced on Jan. 26 that it has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 by decarbonizing its operations and supply chains.

Danone announced on Jan. 21 that it has signed a long-term PPA to obtain power from Europe's biggest photovoltaic plant. The move will allow the global food company to power its plants and factories in Spain with 100% renewable electricity.

New York State announced on Jan. 20 that it added three new community choice aggregation programs (CCA) in 2020 to more than 100,000 utility account holders in twelve communities. CCA programs help residents save money in addition to supporting local economic growth and helping to meet state climate goals. 

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) vetoed a bill on Jan 14 that would update the state’s carbon emissions goals to make the state “net neutral” by 2050, citing that the bill didn’t do enough to help cities and towns adapt to the effects of climate change. 

On Jan. 19 BloombergNEF (BNEF) announced a new broad measure of energy transition investment showing global record-breaking 2020 commitments to decarbonization totaling $501.3 billion. This beats the previous year by 9% despite the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.