美国可再生能源装机创纪录，太阳能和电池仍蓬勃发展

The US renewables industry is dead. Killed by a president [music] who hates wind turbines and loves supporting the fossil fuel industry. That's the narrative we often hear coming out of the US right now. But is it true? This is zero. I am Axhatraati. This week, what's really happening to the renewables industry in the US? [music] President Donald Trump's administration has taken a big swipe at clean energy policies in the US, gutting tax credits for wind and solar, removing subsidies for electric cars, and even using taxpayer dollars to halt the development of offshore wind farms.

That has [music] certainly hurt the country's clean energy credentials. But if you look at the deployment figures, renewables are still winning. 90% of all new power generating capacity added to the grid last [music] year was made up of solar, wind and batteries. The same thing is expected to happen this year. So why the discrepancy between the narrative and the deployment? One place we can try to find an answer is in the US state of Arkansas.

It is now home to the Steel River Energy Center which will become one of the largest solar and battery storage projects anywhere [music] in the US. When all three phases are completed in 2029, it will have 2.5 gawatt of solar and 2.9 [music] gatt hours of battery storage. That plant alone will be enough to power a small city. My guest today is playing a leading role in that [music] building frenzy, having secured $3.5 billion in financing.

His name is Kevin Smith and he's the chief executive officer of Cypress Creek Energy. He spent the last two decades working in renewables in [music] the US and abroad. And he believes everything points to a future powered by solar and batteries, even in the US. But given the barriers that the Trump administration has put up, can that really happen? The government keeps raising tariffs on China, does it have enough of its own manufacturing capacity for clean energy?

And do companies building artificial intelligence, the core reason for rising electricity demand in the US, really care if it comes from renewables?

Welcome to the show, Kevin.

Thank you very much. It's nice to be here.

So, you've been in the energy industry for 40 years, two decades in oil and gas, and then the last two decades in renewables. And you've seen many ups and downs in both industries. In the US specifically right now, the narrative is that the US renewables industry is under attack from the Trump administration and the future for the industry is dire than it has ever been before. Is it true?

Uh well, the first part is true, the second part is not true. Um so certainly the industry has been under attack by the administration. Frankly, you know, with Americans struggling to to pay their electric bills, doesn't make sense uh to be attacking the uh most affordable coh energy cost out there with with solar and and renewables generally. Um so yes, the industry has been has been under attack with policy changes and policy issues with the with the administration.

However, the industry is thriving. If you look at 2025 and 2026, um you know, upwards to 90% of all new generation is renewables, primarily solar and and battery storage has been upwards to 80% of new generation is solar and and and battery storage. And largely that's because it's the most affordable cost of energy.

And so right now, you know, the deployment figures do reach this record. But one of the reasons why we are seeing a sped up deployment in 2025 and 2026 is because there were these tax credits that are supposed to expire. So from July 4th, 2026, if your solar plant is not under construction, you are not going to be getting US government credits. Is the boom then over?

Uh no, not at all. And in reality the the you know projects to qualify for the tax credits um you know have certain conditions where they can qualify for starter construction. They need to be in into commercial operation by the end of 2030. Um so we have you know a number a number more years where tax credits will be applied and frankly that helps keep you know electricity prices down. My view is with or without tax credits, and I think the industry's view is with or without tax credits, we're the most competitive source of of electricity out there.

You take away the tax credits, it raises the the cost of the most affordable um electricity price. Um but we're still, you know, much more competitive than than natural gas or certainly more competitive than than nuclear, new nuclear or new coal. But I'm looking at Bloomberg NF forecasts for solar for example and they peak in 2026 and start to decline all the way till 2031 and only really reach the 2026 levels in 2032.

So there is a decline. It's not like it's going to zero. It's going from something like 50 gawatt built which includes all types of solar by the way down to 40 gawatt and then back up to 50 in 6 years time. But there is a decline right. Well, I I mean, you could argue whether it's the decline or whether we have this, you know, kind of short-term boom um that's resulting in a a increase in in renewables for a short period of time while the tax credits are still in effect.

And then it goes back now down to a normal level. I mean, even the normal level, I mean, 40 gawatt a year, um, you know, if a decade ago you said we're going to build 40 gawatt a year of wind when we were building, I don't know, a tenth of that, it would be kind of an amazing figure to look at. So 40 gawatts a year is is, you know, hundred billion dollars of construction on renewable energy projects, which is tremendous amount of growth.

So, you've just signed this $3.5 billion financing deal for one of US's biggest solar and battery projects. Just to put it in context, China, India, and even the UAE have built far bigger projects, but for the US, it is one of the biggest. How long does it take to build it?

It's about a two just over a 2-year construction period. I mean, the first phase will start generating electricity by um say mid 2028. The first two phases um are 1.6 gawatts of solar PV and then 1.9 gawatt hours of uh battery storage. There's a third phase. They're kind of three equal phases. So there's a third phase that we're hoping to start construction on later this year or early next. That third phase would be into operation by the end of 2029.

Where are the solar panels and batteries for these projects coming from? Um the solar panels are 100% US-made for solar. Um so it's and and they're you know uh First Solar has some overseas manufacturing but but these these these panels are 100% made in the US. Um we're also quite proud that that it's the vast majority of the steel is actually being manufactured in Mississippi County, Arkansas. You know, we like to refer to the project as built on Arkansas steel.

The batteries are coming from LG and they're US manufacturing as well. you know, for those that that think you can't um supply um the renewable energy industry with US manufacturing, that's happening as we speak. I mean, tens of billions of dollars have been invested in US manufacturing. Um and that's continuing to supply and and will continue to supply um US renewable energy projects for the foreseeable future.

And what about the battery metals that LG uses to be able to make those batteries? Well, that I mean there are some certainly there are some components that are coming from overseas. Um you know I don't think you could pull pull look at one energy industry supply whether it's natural gas or nuclear or coal and and look at and say are 100% of all components coming from US manufacturers. I would like to think that renewable energy, you know, the the percent of components that are coming from US is greater than most of those other other uh electricity supply.

Um, you know, a lot of the nuclear technology now is overseas. Two out of the three main gas turbine manufacturers are overseas. Like I said, I think renewable energy and and s

原文超出正文长度上限，此处截断——上游还有内容，完整版见上方「原文 ↗」。