Interconnection: Renewable Energy USA
Welcome to Megawatt Recruitment’s monthly newsletter to keep you connected to what’s going on in the renewable energy industry in the United States and provide more insight, knowledge, and connection to the people and companies who drive our industry.
2024 Year in Review
As promised in our January 2025 issue of Interconnection, we would come back to do our Year in Review of 2024, so here it is:
There is no denying that 2024 was monumental for renewable energy in the United States. Not only did renewable sources generate more electricity than coal[1] but battery storage more than doubled from 14.9 GW to 30.9 GW[2]. We saw these numbers driven by uptake across renewable power generation technologies. Of note, utility-scale solar added about 30% capacity[3] and the solar rooftop C&I sector saw an increase of about 13% over 2023 adoption levels.[4]
On the other hand, the wind sector, both onshore and offshore, struggled last year with onshore wind reaching its lowest installation capacity in six years, and at least 7 offshore wind projects were cancelled[5]. Vineyard Wind was an exception, delivering its first 5MW of power in Feb 2024 and by June was delivering 136MW,[6] an achievement to later be soured in October when a turbine blade broke off and washed up on the shores of Nantucket Island. Also, offshore wind’s challenges led to a major shake-up of the leadership team at Orsted and to companies such as Shell making the announcement that it will no longer lead new offshore wind developments.
When rumbles in the market began indicating a lack of support to re-elect President Biden, we saw the government go full-throttle on issuing loans, grants, and approving tax credits. DOE’s Grid Deployment Office announced more than $5.4B in grid improvement grants and competitive awards, the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) deployed $12B allowing construction of 80+ manufacturing facilities, and DOE deployed $900M in funding for nuclear plus an up to $1.52B loan guarantee to resort and repower the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan through Title 17, the first nuclear plant in the U.S. to ever be repowered.
We also saw optimism from the private sector with the likes KKR and Energy Capital Partners announcing a $50B strategic growth partnership to support AI growth through investments in Data Centers and Power Generation[7], TPG raising $5B for its Rise Climate Fund[8], AlphaGen which is backed by ArcLight raising $3.7B for critical power infrastructure[9], Stonepeak closing its Stonepeak Opportunities fund for $3.15B,[10] LS Power securing $3.5B for its 5th fund with $1.6B committed to North America[11], Invenergy securing $1.27B for four renewable energy projects in Kansas and Texas[12], and Leeward Renewable Energy obtaining a $1.25B credit facility to support 890MW of solar, wind, and ESS in America[13].
We also saw major deals executed such as Blackrock’s acquisition of GIP which had $170B in AUM at the time[14] and was also in the process of raising a new $3B infrastructure debt fund[15], General Atlantic’s acquisition of Actis which had $97B in AUM at the time[16], the formation of the Global AI Infrastructure and Investment Partnership seeking $30B of private capital to mobilize up to $100B of investment into data centers and energy infrastructure[17], Brookfield Renewables and Microsoft partnering to invest $10B to build 10.5+ GW of solar and wind for data centers[18], and Equinor’s acquisition of a 9.8% stake in Danish offshore wind developer Orsted, valued at $2.5B[19].
On the technology front, 2024 saw a number of emerging technologies find their footing ranging from sustainable aviation fuels to AI-powered smart grid service providers to lithium-ion battery recycling to low-impact agricultural products. Forbes released its list of 50 superstars in the sustainability sector who were driving these innovations.[20] The technology that most piques my personal interest is Carbios, a company that is using enzymes to break down plastics.
We will wrap up our review by looking at the major talent themes for 2024, which I do not think will come as a surprise to anyone: labor shortages and rising costs. According to a Reuters article published in October 2024, “the greatest labor shortages are being seen in project management roles, engineers, technicians, installers, electricians, system designers and operations managers[21].” Additionally, wages increased by about 10% in 2024[22] due to inflation and the ongoing shortage. This is a continuing trend that does not show signs of slowing as evidenced by the same article which quoted that previously “National average solar labor costs grew by 43% over 2021-23.” Many employers have found it difficult to keep up with the “sticker shock” and competition required to keep current employees as well as to bring on new employees. Unfortunately, for employers, it is a candidate-driven market in which candidates are demanding higher wages, less time wasted on commuting, and more autonomy to make work and life a balance for their personal situations.
In all, 2024 was another exciting year of growth and technological advancement for the renewable energy and sustainability sectors. With so many multi-billion dollar capital commitments made in 2024 for the coming years, I believe we can expect another year of solid growth ahead.
Megawatt Recruitment always welcomes the opportunity to discuss content presented in our newsletters or to be made aware of topics we may have missed. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to chat.
Sources below
[1] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/six-highlights-of-the-global-energy-transition-in-2024/#:~:text=Across%20the%20Atlantic%2C%20US%20renewables,its%20two%20decades%20of%20decline.
[2] https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-industry-outlook.html#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%202024,14.9%20GW%20to%2030.9%20GW.&text=The%20storage%20boom%20is%20also,a%20record%2025%25%20in%202024.
[3] https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=64586
[4] https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/2024-year-in-review-clean-energy-progress-steeped-in-solar-and-storage/#:~:text=Installations%20of%20commercial%20solar%E2%80%94systems%20on%20businesses%2C%20schools%2C%20and%20government%20buildings%2C%20for%20example%E2%80%94were%20potentially%2013%25%20higher%20in%202024
[5] https://www.integrityenergy.com/blog/are-canceled-wind-projects-stopping-the-u-s-from-reaching-their-goals/#:~:text=Delays%20continued%20in%20April%202024,Offshore%20Wind%2C%20and%20Excelsior%20Wind. And https://www.workboat.com/wind/substation-and-rockfall-contracts-cancelled-with-empire-wind-2
[6] https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/environment/2024/06/28/vineyard-wind-turbines-offshore-wind/74219988007/#:~:text=Vineyard%20Wind%20is%20now%20delivering,it%20completes%20the%20commissioning%20process.%22
[7] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241030995843/en/KKR-and-Energy-Capital-Partners-Announce-50-Billion-Strategic-Partnership-to-Support-AI-Growth-Through-Investments-in-Data-Centers-and-Power-Generation
[8] https://www.dakota.com/fundraising-news/tpg-reports-4.4b-raised-for-climate-fund-ii
[9] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alphagen-announces-successful-completion-of-3-7-billion-inaugural-corporate-financing-302283688.html
[10] https://stonepeak.com/news/stonepeak-closes-opportunities-fund-with-3-15-billion-of-commitments
[11] https://www.infrastructureinvestor.com/ls-power-exceeds-target-to-raise-2-7bn-for-fifth-fund/?utm_source=newsletter-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=infra-weekly-bronze&utm_content=29-08-2024
[12] https://renewablesnow.com/news/invenergy-secures-usd-1-27bn-for-renewables-in-kansas-texas-852457/
[13] https://www.pv-tech.org/leeward-renewable-energy-secures-us1-25-billion-financing-for-890mw-us-portfolio/
[14] https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-completes-acquisition-of-global-infrastructure-partners
[15] https://www.themiddlemarket.com/sector/energy
[16] https://solarquarter.com/2024/10/11/general-atlantic-expands-into-sustainable-infrastructure-with-actis-acquisition/
[17] https://www.power-eng.com/news/group-including-blackrock-microsoft-aims-to-raise-100-billion-for-data-center-and-power-infrastructure/?utm_source=power_engineering_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024-05-10
[18] https://www.pv-tech.org/brookfield-microsoft-ink-10-5gw-renewables-offtake-agreement/
[19] https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/equinor-buys-98-stake-orsted-2024-10-07/
[20] https://www.forbes.com/sites/elisabethbrier/article/forbes-sustainability-leaders/
[21] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-solar-storage-growth-clipped-by-labor-shortages-2024-10-17/
[22] https://seia.org/research-resources/solar-market-insight-report-q4-2024/#:~:%20Misc.&text=Rising%20wages%20due%20to%20inflation%20and%20an%20ongoing%20labor%20shortage%20increased%20labor%20costs%20by%2010%25%20annually%20in%202024.
Recent Personnel Moves and Promotions
Greentown Labs, a Houston-based non-profit that catalyzes climate solutions, welcome a new CEO, Georgina Campbell Flatter, allowing the interim CEO, Kevin Dutt, who has held the helm since July to return to his position on the board.
Robert Scheuermann, former CFO of Vesper Energy, moved on to join Azimuth Renewables in Chicago. He is replaced by Krish Koomar who joined from esVolta where he was SVP and CFO.
After nearly two years in Enel Group’s electricity distribution networks digital transformation business, Gridspertise where he was Head of Business Strategy and Partnerships, Gu Yoon Chung has taken on a new role as Head of Transactions and Structuring for Enel North America and is based in Washington D.C.
Leaving his role with Microsoft where he was Principal Renewable Energy Originator for the Americas and EMEA, Michael Pariser has joined TransAlta as VP of Origination and is based in Houston.
After nearly six years with Generate Capital, Colin Temme has taken on a new role with REC Solar where he is General Counsel.
Jillian Ballard joined TED Renewables (Japanese ITOCHU’s dedicated renewables arm for North America) as Senior Counsel from TerraPro Solutions, a technical consultancy for renewable energy, where she was Senior Counsel and Director of Projects.
Fuel additives and cargo treatment supplier, PetroActive, hired Sara Logue as Director of Business development, formerly with testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) powerhouse SGS.
Also in the realm of testing and inspection, Darren Wang joined tracker company Nevados as Director of Quality, formerly with Sunrun as Senior Manager of Supplier Quality, Development, and RMA services based in California.
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