Solar at sea

Today’s newsletter looks at the growing push for offshore solar farms. You can read and share the full version of this story on Bloomberg.com. Subscribe to Bloomberg for unlimited access to climate and energy news, and to receive Bloomberg Green magazine.

Also, this week we are collaborating with Businessweek’s Bw Reads newsletter to bring you our story on an innovative insurance program in India that helps people manage their lives under extreme heat. Go here to sign up for Bw Reads and get the story on Sunday, in its entirety, for free.

By Bloomberg News

Buffeted by waves as high as 10 meters (32 feet) in China’s Yellow Sea about 30 kilometers off the coast of Shandong province, two circular rafts carrying neat rows of solar panels began generating electricity late last year, a crucial step toward a new breakthrough for clean energy.

The experiment by State Power Investment Corp., China’s biggest renewable power developer, and Norway-based developer Ocean Sun AS is one of the most high-profile tests yet of offshore solar technology. It’s a potential advance in the sector that would enable locations out at sea to host renewables, and help land-constrained regions accelerate a transition away from fossil fuels.

“The application of this is virtually unlimited,” because many regions have constraints on the use of land, including parts of Europe, Africa and Asia along with locations like Singapore and Hong Kong, said Ocean Sun’s Chief Executive Officer Børge Bjørneklett. “In these places, you see there’s a huge interest for this technology.” 

Shandong, the industrial hub south of Beijing, plans to add more than 11 gigawatts of solar offshore by 2025, and to ultimately build 42 gigawatts, more than the current power generation capacity of Norway. Neighboring Jiangsu has a target to add 12.7 gigawatts, while provinces like Fujian and Tianjin are also studying proposals. Japan, the Netherlands and Malaysia are among other nations conducting or preparing test projects. 

Even with investments in solar forecast to surpass spending on oil production for the first time this year, many regions face challenges in finding land to install vast arrays of panels, either because of a lack of available space, as a result of inhospitable terrain, or because to do so would require deforestation. 

Adding solar systems on existing reservoirs could theoretically allow more than 6,000 global cities and communities to develop self-sufficient power systems, researchers including Zeng Zhenzhong, an associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said in a paper published in March. 

Yet more assessments are needed of the potential long-term consequences of covering water bodies with panels, the researchers found. China’s authorities have become wary too. New developments in some freshwater locations were banned last May amid concerns about the impacts on ecosystems and flood control. 

Ocean-based solar arrays that can handle waves of up to four meters could be ready for commercial deployment within a year, and systems able to withstand 10-meter high swells will take at least three years to perfect, according to Ocean Sun. Viable technology could be ready within one to two years, according to Southern University’s Zeng, who is also studying offshore developments.

Questions remain about the ultimate scale of the offshore solar market. Developing panels at sea could be around 40% more expensive thanks to more complex installations and costly subsea cables, according to BloombergNEF estimates.

China alone has potential to host about 700 gigawatts of offshore solar — about as much as the combined electricity generation capacity of India and Japan — according to a State Power Investment forecast. 

“It is not going to be difficult,” said Southern University’s Zeng. “People have not yet realized how much potential it has.”

Dan Murtaugh and Luz Ding contributed to this report. Read the full story as it appeared on Bloomberg.com. 

Flooding has long been Vermont’s most common natural hazard. After Hurricane Irene, Vermont adopted new road and bridge standards. The state also bought up houses in flood-prone areas to demolish them. This didn’t just get Vermonters out of harm’s way; it also gave rivers more room to move and meander by reconnecting them to their historical floodplains. Still, those efforts pale in comparison to the climate threats ahead. Roughly 75% of the Vermont’s rivers are still disconnected from their historical floodplains. When extreme rainfall occurs, those rivers are more likely to try and overflow their way back to their original floodplain.

Europe needs to cool down. Countries on the continent are among the least prepared in the world for more hot days in a 2C warmer world, a study has warned. They risk becoming dependent on energy hungry air conditioners, researchers said, if buildings aren’t adapted to deal with rising temperatures. 

The EU wants to swap e-buses for lithium. European Union officials are working on a plan that can help provide electric buses to Latin American nations in exchange for lithium supplies, as they seek to curtail the bloc’s reliance on China for this critical raw material.

Exxon accelerates CO2 capture goals. The oil giant agreed to buy Denbury Inc. for $4.9 billion, its biggest acquisition in six years, in a deal that will provide Exxon the largest network of carbon dioxide pipelines in the US.

By Brian K. Sullivan

It’s a tale of two ocean travelers this Friday: subtropical Don in the Atlantic and hurricane Calvin in the Pacific.

Calvin, which formed on Tuesday has grown into a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 miles per hour about 1,035 miles southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California. It will likely reach Category 3 strength, becoming a major hurricane with winds of 115 mph.

On its current track Calvin will churn west across the Pacific and slowly lose power before approaching Hawaii on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, subtropical storm Don has formed in the central Atlantic. It is the fourth named storm of 2023 and the fifth storm overall. (There was a storm in January that didn’t get named.)

Don has top winds of 50 miles per hour and is about midway between Bermuda and the Azores, according to the US National Hurricane Center. It isn’t forecast to be a threat to land as it should trace an upside down U-shaped path through the ocean.

Elsewhere across North America:

Heat: Las Vegas is forecast to reach 117F Sunday, which would tie the city’s all-time record, according to the weather service. There is a 5% chance readings could reach 118, which would be the new all-time high, said John Salmen, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Flood: More rain is forecast across eastern New York and most of New England raising the additional flood risks after this week’s devastating deluge that killed at least two people and wrecked a large part of Vermont. New York City could see localized flooding with heavy rain falling all weekend.

Smoke: Air quality alerts have been issued across Minnesota as smoke from Canadian fires once again drifts south. Air quality is forecast to fall to orange levels or unhealthy for sensitive groups. Meanwhile across parts of eastern Alberta air is considered hazardous as the fires continue to burn across the region. In Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, air quality is currently unhealthy.

In other weather news:

India: The country has deployed some army units in New Delhi to help repair a damaged drain to prevent flooding in more parts of the nation’s capital as the Yamuna river continues to flow way above the danger mark.

Europe: Extreme heat is ripping through southern Europe and parts of Germany, with the next blast from the Sahara lifting temperatures toward record highs in parts of Italy this weekend.

Curious about the feasibility of a carbon tax? On the latest episode of Zero, Akshat Rathi talks to Cath McKenna, who as Minister of Environment and Climate Change for Canada helped sell one to the nation. It was a political roller coaster with dramatic announcements, a “resistance” and even threats, and Cath is happy to share her tips on winning the fight. Listen to the full episode, learn more about the podcast here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and Google to stay on top of new episodes.

The Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit returns to Singapore July 26 for a day of community building and solutions-driven discussions on innovations and best practices in sustainable business and finance. Speakers include Singapore Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, and top leaders from AIA, Nissan and many more. Register here for a virtual pass or to request to join us in Singapore.

Bloomberg Building a Green Economy for All: At this critical moment in history, societies are seeking to challenge the status quo in order to achieve decarbonization. What emerging power technology will be the most disruptive, and which power sources are accessible, affordable and can achieve scale? Executives from Octopus Energy Generation, Sustainable Energy for All, and Andretti Autosport will be discussing this and more on July 28 in London and virtually. Learn more here.

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