Energy & Infrastructure Updates: SMRs, Offshore Wind Leases, Battery Milestones, and More
1.) Small Modular Reactor company Oklo says it has non-binding letters of intent for approximately 1,350 MW of microreactor capacity, with about half of that from data centers.
2.) The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) releases final Environmental Assessment for offshore wind leases off Oregon’s coast, finding leases would have no significant impacts to people or the environment.
3.) BOEM also auctions two lease areas off Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, with two provisional winners. Equinor Wind won a Lease for $75 mn, covering 101,443 acres about 26 miles offshore. Dominion’s Virginia Electric and Power Co won a Lease for $17.6 mn, spanning 176,505 acres about 35 miles offshore.
4.) Offshore developer Orsted books Q2 losses of $575 million, in part related to delays in U.S. wind portfolio. It also delayed 704 megawatt (MW) Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island and Connecticut from 2025 to 2026, owing to soil contamination at an onshore transformer station located at a former naval air station.
5.) Chinese electric automaker Nio notches 50 millionth battery swap, offering a cumulative 2.62 million MWh of electricity to its EV drivers. Nio also estimates it saved 2.85 billion minutes of wait time relative to public charging alternatives.
6.) U.S. developers and power plant owners added 20.2 GW of generating capacity over the first half of 2024, with another 42.6 GW of capacity expected before year’s end. Solar totaled 12 GW, while battery storage, at 4.2 GW, came in second.
7.) Sodium-ion battery manufacturer Natron Energy will build a $1.4 bnNorth Carolina factory that can produce 24 GW of its lower cost and relatively stable sodium ion batteries.