Tech Takes are analyses of the news by PitchBook’s emerging tech team.
NextEra Energy, Florida’s biggest electric utility, announced this week that it will target virtually zero emissions by 2045. The company plans to generate only carbon-emissions-free energy using solar, wind, green hydrogen, nuclear, battery storage and renewable natural gas from biomass.
NextEra’s announcement is significant because the utility’s carbon emissions figure is real zero (virtually no emissions), not net zero, which relies on greenhouse gas offsets. Also, 2045 is materially sooner than the standard 2050 date that most corporations select.
The announcement is positive for green hydrogen as NextEra notes that multiple natural gas generators (16,000 megawatts-worth) will be converted to use green hydrogen instead of natural gas.
Solar will comprise the largest component of clean energy generation. NextEra plans to grow solar generation from 4,000 megawatts to 90,000 megawatts, a 22.5x increase, by 2045.
The utility, which plans a large increase in its battery storage capacity, will select battery providers to store some of the excess energy generated by wind and solar. Its selections will likely signal which utility-scale battery technologies could be successful going forward.
The carbon emissions announcement may pressure other utilities to move in a similar direction, given NextEra’s size, influence and financial wherewithal to execute on their plans.
Featured image by P.Steeger/Getty Images
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