Exploring clean energy facilities in the renewable energy sector

A year after the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) was signed into law, S&P Global reported that “companies have announced plans to build or expand 83 clean energy facilities.” These 83 new construction projects do not include “facilities dedicated to electric vehicle batteries and components, meaning the total number of new investments disclosed last year is even greater,” S&P Global reports. Just a few months earlier, in June 2023, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reported that U.S. solar and storage companies announced more than $100 billion in new investments, and approximately 51 new or expanded power generation facilities were announced in 2022 sunny. Similarly, S&P Global reported in August 2023,

o) Of the new or expanded manufacturing facilities announced since the signing of the IRA, more than 50 are engaged in the production of photovoltaic components. . . . Among them, Hanwha Solutions Corp. subsidiary Hanwha Qcells announced in January (2023) that it will invest over $2.5 billion to expand its solar production capacity in Georgia.

When it comes to wind energy production, many credit the IRA with turning around the country’s wind energy industry. The IRA added additional areas for lease in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic – off the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Reporting that “(c)enterprises are also increasing investments in a more established U.S. wind energy production base and battery storage technology,” S&P Global noted: “South Korea-based LG Energy Solution Ltd. said it will begin operations in this year, a $5.5 billion lithium-ion battery manufacturing complex in Arizona that was touted as “the largest single investment in North American history in a stand-alone battery plant.”