Energy Transition in Motion (Week of June 13, 2025)

RWE has partnered with Amazon Web Services in a deal that helps the energy company with its digital transformation initiatives while providing clean power to the tech giant.

The strategic framework agreement signed by RWE and Amazon was announced June 12.

AWS will provide RWE with cloud services to advance the company’s digital transformation journey, RWE said in a news release. The cloud services will cover AI and data analytics. In turn, RWE will supply electricity from its wind and solar facilities to Amazon. Some of the facilities are already operating and some are under construction.

Ulf Kerstin, chief commercial officer of RWE Supply & Trading, called the agreement with AWS a “significant milestone in our commitment to supporting the digital infrastructure that powers our modern economy with clean energy.”

The agreement builds on the companies’ existing relationship that includes the execution of seven power purchase agreements with a total capacity of 1.1 gigawatts (GW) in the U.S.

“Using advanced capabilities like artificial intelligence and analytics, we’ll help RWE accelerate their digital transformation, enabling smarter decision-making and enhanced operational performance throughout their energy business,” said Howard Gefen, general manager for energy and utilities at AWS. “Through this expanded collaboration with RWE, we’ll continue to explore new sources of carbon free energy to help decarbonize our operations.”

The collaboration is expected to deepen ties to RWE’s AI Research Laboratory in Seattle to accelerate the development of advanced AI forecasting models through large computational power and cloud elasticity, the companies said.

Here’s a roundup of this week’s renewable energy news.

Biofuels

Chevron Opens New Tech Center Focused on Low-Carbon Fuels

Chevron Corp. has opened a technology center in Iowa focused on development of lower carbon fuels technology, the company said June 10.

The 45,000-sq-ft Ames Technology Center is located on the Chevron Renewable Energy Group’s campus in Ames, Iowa. The center’s grand opening was celebrated this week.

“The capabilities we advance here will be applied to other parts of Chevron in the renewable energy space and could be deployed at some of our biorefineries across the globe,” said Jim Gable, vice president of innovation and president of technology ventures at Chevron.

The company said it is advancing new catalytic technologies, partnering to develop lower carbon feedstocks and leveraging its fuel production expertise at existing facilities to scale and commercialize products that include biodiesel, renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable natural gas. Two of Chevron’s nine biorefineries are located in Iowa.

US EPA Proposes Higher Biofuel Blending Volumes Through 2027

President Donald Trump’s administration on June 13 proposed to increase the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into the nation’s fuel mix over the next two years, driven by a surge in biomass-based diesel mandates.

After months of lobbying on the issue, the biofuels industry welcomed the move, which also included measures to discourage biofuel imports.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed total biofuel blending volumes at 24.02 billion gallons in 2026 and 24.46 billion gallons in 2027, up from 22.33 billion gallons in 2025.

Under the Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners are required to blend large volumes of biofuels into the U.S. fuel supply or purchase credits, called RINs, from those that do.

The proposal is driven in part by an increase in biomass-based diesel requirements. EPA set a quota of 7.12 billion biomass-based diesel RINs for 2026—a measurement of the number of tradable credits generated by blending the fuel.

It said it projected that mandate would lead to the blending of 5.61 billion gallons. The EPA expressed the biomass-based diesel requirement in billion RINs in accordance with the agency's proposal to reduce the number of RINs that could be generated from imported biofuels.

After accounting for the reduction for imported biofuels, the EPA said it projected the number of RINs generated for biomass-based diesel would be 1.27 per gallon in 2026 and 1.28 RINs per gallon in 2027. Previously, the EPA projected the average gallon of biomass-based diesel generated 1.6 RINs.

The volume mandate for 2025 for biomass-based diesel was 3.35 billion gallons, a figure the industry had complained was too low.

Renewable fuel (D6) credits for 2025 traded as high as $1.06 each on June 13, up from 88 cents the previous session, traders said. Biomass-based (D4) credits traded as much as $1.17 each, versus between $1.05 and $1.01 the previous session, traders said.

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Energy storage

Agilitas Energy Commissions Battery Energy Storage System in Houston

Independent power producer Agilitas Energy has commissioned a nearly 10-megawatt (MW)/22.4-megawatt hour (MWh) battery energy storage system in Houston, the company said June 10, supporting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid.

“This project underscores our confidence that ERCOT—long recognized as one of the premier energy markets in the U.S.—will increasingly value the unique benefits that only energy storage can provide,” said Agilitas Energy CEO Barrett Bilotta. “This project not only underscores our commitment to improving grid reliability with cost-effective energy but is also a significant step in our continued national expansion.” 

Agilitas said the project is the first distributed generation BESS interconnected to CenterPoint Energy’s distribution system and participating in ERCOT’s wholesale delivery market.

The company plans to commission another BESS project in Texas later this year.

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Geothermal

XGS Energy, Meta Team Up for 150-MW Geothermal Project in NM

Meta Platforms has partnered with geothermal company XGS Energy to develop a 150-MW geothermal project in New Mexico, the companies said June 12.

The project, which will be developed in two phases, is expected to start operations by 2030 and flow electrons to PNM electric grid. The electricity will support Meta’s data center operations in New Mexico.

“Advances in AI require continued energy to support infrastructure development,” said Urvi Parekh, global head of Energy at Meta. “With next-generation geothermal technologies like XGS ready for scale, geothermal can be a major player in supporting the advancement of technologies like AI as well as domestic data center development.”

XGS Energy’s solid-state geothermal technology uses thermally conductive materials to produce energy anywhere there is hot rock, the company said.

“We’re pleased to support Meta’s ambitious AI objectives and accelerate access to new round-the-clock power supplies,” said XGS Energy CEO Josh Prueher. “More broadly, the state of New Mexico is a growing hub for data center development.”

Although New Mexico has some of the best hot rock resources in the U.S., the state has only one operating geothermal power plant, according to the release. The project is expected to increase the total geothermal electricity produced in New Mexico by a factor of ten.

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Hydrogen

Quest One, MasTec Form Green Hydrogen Production Partnership

Electrolyzer maker Quest One and MasTec Clean Energy & Infrastructure will work together to optimize construction of large-scale electrolysis projects, aiming to accelerate development and deployment of green hydrogen projects in North America.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding and plan to focus on concepts for industrial-scale proton exchange membrane electrolysis plants, Quest One said June 10. Reducing overall project capital costs and risks are among their ambitions.

“As green hydrogen projects scale to hundreds of megawatts, the impact of plant site construction becomes increasingly critical for enabling project bankability and financing,” said Jaryd O’Brasky, vice president of customer cperations at Quest One North America. “At Quest One, we strongly believe in proactive collaboration with EPC’s to ensure our electrolyzer plants are designed for optimized constructability.”

Solar

Geronimo Adds Solar Power in Ohio With Two Projects

Geronimo Power has started operations at two new solar projects in Ohio, bringing an additional 167.5 MW to the grid, the company said June 11 in a news release.

“The addition of Ross and Fayette to our Ohio operating portfolio brings our collective projected economic impact to more than $160 million across the Buckeye state," Geronimo Power CEO Blake Nixon said.

The 120-MW Ross and 47.5-MW Fayette join the company’s Yellowbud solar project, which went online in 2023. They will be joined in Ohio by the Dodson Creek and Sycamore Creek solar farms, which recently began construction.

National Grid Renewables rebranded as Geronimo Power in May following its acquisition by Brookfield Asset Management and its institutional partners.

Avangrid Turns On Camino Solar Project in California

Avangrid’s 57-MW Camino solar project in Kern County, California, has begun operations, the company said June 11.

The project, which has 105,000 solar panels, marks the company’s seventh energy facility in the state and brings its total operating generation capacity in the U.S. to 10.5 GW.

“The successful completion of Camino Solar marks another important milestone in Avangrid’s commitment to creating long-term value for communities through job creation and economic growth, and by delivering energy solutions that meet America’s growing energy needs,” said Avangrid CEO Pedro Azagra. “New energy generation projects like Camino are helping to meet rising energy needs, improve the reliability of regional electric grids, and deliver sustained economic growth.”

Avangrid has a combined capacity of about 600 MW of energy projects in California, the company said.

DESRI Begins Construction on 205-MW Solar, Storage Project in Arizona

New York-based DESRI on June 11 said it started construction on the Catclaw Solar and Storage project in Buckeye, New Mexico.

The 205-MW project, which has a 20-year power purchase agreement in place with Arizona Public Service, will have a 1,000 MWh storage system. It is expected to begin operations in 2026, the company said, generating enough electricity to power about 40,000 Arizona homes annually.

“Given skyrocketing demand for new energy and capacity resources across the state, our team is happy to pair reliable and cost-effective resources with this need,” said Bob Schoenherr, chief strategy officer of DESRI.

The company currently has just over 130 MW of renewable energy assets operating in Arizona with 160 MW of solar projects under construction in the state.

Sunnova Files for Bankruptcy on Residential Solar Woes

Sunnova Energy said on June 9 it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., as the residential solar panel installer buckled under the pressure of mounting debt and weakening demand.

Sunnova is the second residential solar company to file for bankruptcy this month, reflecting the challenges faced by the industry as it struggles to cope with higher interest rates, an incentive cut in top market California and fears of subsidy rollbacks.

Last week, privately held Solar Mosaic filed for bankruptcy protection, while industry pioneer SunPower collapsed a year back.

On June 9, Sunnova said it had entered into agreements with Atlas SP Partners and Lennar Homes under which it would sell certain assets to each company for a value of $15 million and $16 million respectively, pending court approval. The company will continue its regular operations throughout the sale process.

Sunnova filed for protection in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after warning in March that it might not be able to continue as a going concern.

The company listed its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion and had a total debt of $10.67 billion as of Dec. 31, according to a court filing.

Sunnova said last week it would lay off about 55% of its workforce, or 718 employees, in a bid to cut spending.

Earlier this month, its unit, Sunnova TEP Developer, had also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

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Wind

Atlantic Shores Closes Curtain on 1.5-GW Offshore Wind Farm

Atlantic Shores filed to cease its 1.5-GW offshore wind project on June 9 with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU).

Atlantic Shores is a 50-50 joint venture partnership between Shell New Energies US and EDF Renewables North America subsidiary EDF-RE Offshore Development.

The project’s termination follows several moves made by the Trump administration that “dismantle the domestic offshore wind industry,” environmental group BlueGreen Alliance said in a June 10 release.

On Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order to halt all offshore wind leasing and review approvals for existing projects. As a result, federal permitting was rescinded for the Atlantic Shores project slated for development off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The wind farm was expected to power more than 700,000 homes in the state.

“Hopefully the project is dead and gone, as almost all unsightly and environmentally unsound Windmill project should be. Congratulations to the great people of New Jersey. You have FINALLY won your war on stupidity!!!” Trump wrote in January on Truth Social about the Atlantic City project.

Atlantic Shores also blamed the projects termination on staff cuts at the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Management and Trump’s budget reconciliation bill moving ahead in Congress.

The bill terminates tax incentives for offshore wind deployment.

NJBPU also canceled its award for its fourth offshore wind solicitation due to the actions of the administration, the release stated.

Hart Energy Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.