EBI News for January 25, 2023 – IRA set to reshape U.S. renewables supply chain
EBI News for January 25, 2023 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, IRA set to reshape U.S. renewables supply chain, acquisitions, and more!
IRA set to reshape U.S. renewables supply chain
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will boost annual investment in renewable energy deployment from $64 billion in 2022 to nearly $114 billion by 2031, according to research from Wood Mackenzie. Two key provisions are likely to be game changing for equipment manufacturers: Advanced manufacturing production credits (AMPC) for U.S.-made renewable equipment; and additional tax credit for U.S. project developers who purchase domestically produced equipment. “It’s high stakes for U.S. equipment sales, as the IRA provides incentives that cut the manufacturing cost of solar panels, storage equipment and wind towers in the U.S. by anywhere from 4% to 30%. This, along with tariffs on some imports, potentially puts domestic manufacturing on a cost-competitive footing with imported equipment,” said Daniel Liu, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report.
WSP completes integration of Golder
WSP (Montreal, Canada) has completed its rebrand of Golder Associates, which will now be identified solely under the WSP brand. WSP acquired Golder in early 2021 to meet growing demand for environmental services and sustainable infrastructure development. The acquisition kicked off “tremendous growth” for WSP’s Earth & Environment (E&E) business globally, according to Lou Cornell, WSP USA president and CEO: “Taken together with our recent acquisition of the Environment and Infrastructure business of John Wood Group plc, and previous acquisitions in the environmental sector, we have grown to 5,500 E&E staff in the U.S. since 2019, creating nationwide leadership and scale.” Golder-WSP projects over the past year have included design and maintenance of a solar habitat in western Michigan, technology R&D to eliminate PFAS, and innovations in super-oxygenated water for contaminated groundwater remediation.
VLS Environmental expands into hazardous waste processing and sequestration
VLS Environmental Solutions (Houston), a portfolio company of I Squared Capital, has acquired Texas Molecular (Deer Park, Texas), a provider of industrial waste sequestration services. With facilities in Deer Park and Corpus Christi, Texas Molecular specializes in handling, treatment, and sequestration of liquid hazardous and non-hazardous industrial wastes. The combined company has over 1,000 employees and 38 locations nationwide. I Squared Capital purchased VLS from Aurora Capital Partners in August 2022; this is the eleventh acquisition by VLS since 2017. VLS provides waste management, marine services, and railcar cleaning.
Burns & McDonnell grows construction group in UK
Burns & McDonnell (Kansas City, Mo.) is expanding its construction presence in the U.K. by creating a dedicated Construction Group. This initiative builds on the firm’s existing construction services being provided to the National Grid. The expansion will double the size of the Construction Group in 2023 and sets the stage to focus on growth of multiple services across the U.K. The Construction Group provides project management, safety, quality, estimating, procurement, planning, cost control and construction management support for EPC projects. Jonathan Chapman, managing director at Burns & McDonnell U.K., said: “Our U.K. business has grown rapidly since launching in 2017, and we need to adapt to accommodate this growth.”
Record year for corporate clean energy procurement
According to American Clean Power (ACP), 2022 was a record year for corporate procurement of clean energy, with commercial and industrial customers announcing nearly 20 GW of new clean power contracts, more than 4 GW higher than any other year. The ACP report found that 326 companies had contracted 77.4 GW of clean energy as of the end of 2022. This included 45,052 MW of solar, 28,830 MW of land-based wind, and 974 MW of battery storage. Amazon is the top clean power buyer with over 12.4 GW of utility-scale clean power capacity contracted. Meta ranks second with 8.7 GW contracted, although Meta has the most contracted clean power currently operating. Technology companies have contracted more clean energy than any other industry at nearly 37 GW. Power purchase agreements are the primary off-take mechanism used by corporate buyers, accounting for 80% of contracted capacity.
Rising Tide strengthens GEI’s coastal and waterfront practice
Professionals from Rising Tide Waterfront Solutions (Long Island, N.Y.), a full-service waterfront-engineering firm, have joined consulting engineering and environmental firm GEI Consultants. (Woburn, Mass.). Since 2014, Rising Tide has provided comprehensive waterfront inspection, regulatory permitting, design, engineering, and construction support services throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Rising Tide team complements GEI’s existing capabilities and increases the firm’s inspection capacity with commercially certified and professionally licensed engineer-divers. This combination of technical expertise and specialized diving services is expected to accelerate the growth of GEI’s waterfront practice in New York and New Jersey. Rising Tide’s staff will be located in GEI’s three Metro New York/Long Island area offices.
Membrion announces $7M in Series B funding
Membrion (Seattle, Wash.), a manufacturer of ceramic desalination membranes that enable recovery of up to 98% of water in harsh environments, has announced a $7 million Series B funding round led by PureTerra Ventures. Funds will used to expand manufacturing capacity. Membrion was founded in 2016 to replace existing approaches to treating difficult industrial wastewater discharges such as thermal treatment, chemical precipitation or trucking water offsite. Membrion claims its flexible ceramic ion exchange membranes offer a cost-effective on-site option for removal of problematic metals, minerals, and salts; the membranes resist fouling, have no lower pH limit, and can handle harsh oxidizers found in many microelectronic wastewaters. “Membrion brings to the market a membrane technology like no other we have seen, and we have seen a lot,” said Nic Pannekeet, a partner at PureTerra.
HRP acquires Progress Environmental
National environmental consulting and engineering firm HRP Associates Inc. (Farmington, Conn.) announced the acquisition of Progress Environmental Group Inc. (Winston-Salem, N.C.), an environmental and ecological consulting firm. The acquisition process started in spring 2022, and the deal was signed in November 2022. The acquisition brings senior business leadership talent, office locations in Houston and Winston Salem, and access to proprietary remedial technology. The acquisition also fits HRP’s strategy to expand its mid-market presence nationally and increase brand penetration.
Citadel EHS acquires RMD Environmental Solutions
Citadel EHS (Glendale, Calif.), an environmental, health, safety, ESG and sustainability consulting company, has acquired RMD Environmental Solutions Inc. (Walnut Creek, Calif.), an environmental consulting firm known for designing and managing complex subsurface remediation projects. RMD’s leadership team will join Citadel’s Engineering and Environmental Sciences practice. Founded in 2018, RMD has offices in Southern California and Sacramento and operates in soil, soil vapor, groundwater, and vapor intrusion assessment and remediation. The company has particular expertise in chlorinated solvent contamination. RMD is staffed with engineers, geologists, hydrogeologists, environmental toxicologists, and environmental scientists.
Montrose expands testing capabilities
Montrose Environmental Group Inc. (Little Rock, Ark.) has acquired Frontier Analytical Laboratories (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), an environmental laboratory specializing in high-resolution gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of dioxins/furans, PCBs, and other persistent organic pollutants. Frontier’s leadership will join Montrose and operate as part of Enthalpy Analytical LLC, a Montrose subsidiary.
CarbonQuest to deploy carbon capture technology in NYC
CarbonQuest (Spokane, Wash.), a carbon capture technology provider focused on the real estate sector, has announced that its modular technology will be installed in five multifamily properties owned by Glenwood Management. Through CarbonQuest’s proprietary emission-reduction process, CO2 is captured from building flue exhaust and undergoes a multi-stage process that separates and captures CO2, producing an end product of liquid CO2 stored securely in a tank. CarbonQuest then sells its SustainableCO2 to companies focused on carbon utilization and sequestration. A large portion of the SustainableCO2 generated at the Glenwood buildings will be sold to a NYC-based masonry firm and concrete block producer.
Fishbeck boosts environmental practice with Envirologic
Architecture and engineering firm Fishbeck (Grand Rapids, Mich.) is growing its environmental practice with the acquisition of Envirologic Technologies Inc. (Kalamazoo, Mich.). The deal for Envirologic, which was founded in 1989 and specializes in brownfield redevelopment, environmental investigation and due diligence and ecological services across Michigan and surrounding states, will add 25 employees to Fishbeck. Terms were not disclosed.
Click Here to return to the EBI News home page and read about the latest stories.
Scroll down to sign up for complimentary EBI News delivered to your inbox.
