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RWE and Meta Announced New PPA for 200-MW Waterloo Solar Project

LCG, March 18, 2025--RWE and Meta today announced a new power purchase agreement (PPA) for offtake from RWE's 200-MW Waterloo Solar Project, which is located in Bastrop County, Texas. Under the agreement, Meta will purchase 100% of the output from the solar facility, which will support Meta's goal of matching its electricity needs with 100 percent clean energy. The project is scheduled to commence onsite construction in late 2025.

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CPUC Approves SDG&E's Westside Canal Battery Energy Storage Expansion Project

LCG, March 14, 2025--The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved an expansion of San Diego Gas & Electric's (SDG&E) Westside Canal Battery Energy Storage facility. The expansion project is located in California's Imperial Valley and will add 100 MW of energy storage capacity to the existing 131 MW facility. The new capacity is expected to be fully operational by June 2025. Upon completion, the Westside Canal facility, with a total capacity of 231 MW, will be the largest storage asset in SDG&E's utility-owned battery storage portfolio.

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Industry News

LBL Scientists Complete Fuel Cell

LCG, November 21, 2002-Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley Labs (LBL) have developed a fuel cell that they say can operate as cheaply as gas turbines.

Steve Visco, Craig Jacobson, and Lutgard De Jonghe, of the Materials Science division of LBL, designed the fuel cell from ceramic materials with metal electrodes.

The Solid Oxide Fuel cells operate by reacting oxygen and hydrocarbons, such as methane, within the ceramic cell. The process differs from burning hydrocarbons in that energy is extracted from the movement of ions through an electrolytic membrane and supports several reactions. Oxygen ions react with hydrogen from the fuel gas, forming water. The water then reacts with the fuel to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The cell, operating at about 800 degrees Celsius, has an anodic-cathodic configuration, causing electrons produced by the reactions to flow from anode to cathode via an external load.

Fuel cells can be kept small while retaining an efficiency rating of 50 percent, making them a viable alternative to mass electricity production and transmission. They also produce much cleaner electricity than does the burning fuels. However, carbon dioxide is still produced, and the cells do require some type of fuel to operate.

Raw materials for the cells cost $37 per kilowatt. The researchers estimate that other costs, such as insulation and DC-AC converters, will limit the cost of the cell to $130 per kilowatt if they want to stay within the target cost set by the Department of Energy of $400 per kilowatt.

As yet unaccounted for costs apply to creating a stack of fuel cells, which researchers are confident can be made within their allowance. The stacked configuration will maximize voltage output and form a small generator.

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