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🌐 This week in Supercool: Deployed

Author

Josh Dorfman
January 20, 2026

Welcome to Deployed.

Supercool's newest newsletter tracks what went operational in the low-carbon economy.

If it isn't operational yet, it isn't Deployed.

DEPLOYED

What went operational over the past two weeks.

The HG14 solar farm, located 8 km off the coast of Dongying City, Shandong Province, China, has become the world's first offshore solar project to reach 1 GW. Built by China Energy Investments with panels mounted on 2,934 steel platforms fixed to the seabed, designed to withstand wind, waves, and seasonal sea ice. Expected to generate 1.8 TWh annually, meeting 60% of Kenli district's electricity demand and displacing 500,000+ tonnes of coal. The platforms integrate fish farming below the waterline.

Comstock Metals launched its first satellite facility in California's Central Valley to collect and prep end-of-life solar panels for transport to its fully-permitted Nevada recycling plant—the only certified, zero-landfill solution in North America. The California hub enables rapid response to the state's solar developers and asset owners, centralizing collection in the largest single U.S. market. Comstock's Nevada facility processes panels at industrial scale, recovering aluminum, silver, copper, gallium, and other critical materials for reuse.

Duke Energy brought its first large-scale battery storage system online at its former Allen coal plant on Lake Wylie—a 50-megawatt, four-hour system, where a 1,100-megawatt coal plant operated for 67 years before retiring in 2024. The $100M battery stores surplus energy from nearby Catawba Nuclear Station. Duke plans 6,550 MW of battery storage across the Carolinas by 2035, with the Allen site slated for a second 167MW battery and potentially a third by 2028.

Consumers Energy just launched its first utility-scale solar project—550,000+ panels across 1,900 acres in Moorland Township, Michigan. The 250MW Muskegon Solar facility will power 40,000 homes and businesses, marking the utility's entry into large-scale solar generation.

Iraq opened its first industrial-scale solar plant despite being one of the world's largest oil producers—a 300MW facility spanning 1,000 acres in Karbala's desert. The country produces 27,000-28,000 MW while consumption ranges from 50,000-55,000 MW, forcing chronic blackouts, especially during scorching summers exceeding 50°C. The plant reduces daytime fuel consumption and cuts reliance on Iranian gas imports.

The Kvosted solar and battery park in Denmark.

European Energy energized Northern Europe's largest combined solar and battery facility—200 MWh of storage integrated directly into an existing solar park in Viborg Municipality, Denmark. Built in just seven months, the system powers 18,000 households for a day and smooths grid fluctuations as Denmark's solar generation covers over 60% of electricity demand on sunny days.

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SUPERCOOL ECOSYSTEM

Operational updates from companies we’ve featured.

A peak under the roof at Amazon’s first mass timber facility in Indiana.

Amazon opened its first mass timber delivery station in Elkhart, Indiana—171,000 sq ft using cross-laminated timber instead of steel and concrete. If Amazon standardizes this design across its global logistics network, it would commoditize low-carbon industrial construction at unprecedented scale.

CleanSpark curtailed hundreds of megawatts of Bitcoin mining across 11 Tennessee sites within 10 minutes of a TVA request during January's cold-weather demand spike. The rapid response prevented blackouts and demonstrates large-scale compute as a dispatchable grid asset that stabilizes supply, not just drains it.

Quilt launched a three-zone heat pump that maintains 25.3 SEER2 efficiency by addressing compressor instability at low speeds—the issue that forces most systems to cycle off and waste energy. The system uses sensors and software to remain operational at ultra-low output levels, outperforming legacy hardware in real-world use cases.

HASI and Sunrun closed a $500M joint venture to secure 300 MW of solar + storage across 40,000+ homes—proving that distributed residential batteries can be financed like traditional grid infrastructure. The deal treats home storage as a single, bankable asset rather than thousands of individual installations.

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HORIZON

Not deployed yet—but worth tracking.

Egypt signed $1.8B in agreements with Norway's Scatec and China's Sungrow to localize solar component and battery production. Scatec will develop a 1.7 GW solar project with 4 GWh battery storage in Minya governorate's "Energy Valley"—expected to become one of the world's largest renewable energy sites. It will enables 24-hour clean electricity supply to Egypt's national grid while reducing import dependence.

TerraPower broke ground on the first Natrium plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming—marking the first commercial non-light water reactor to begin construction in over 40 years. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted TerraPower's construction permit application for review in December, the first time this has happened for a commercial non-light water reactor since the 1980s.

"I believe that the next-generation nuclear power plant that TerraPower is building here will power the future of our nation—and the world." — Bill Gates

A 100% DASH bus rolls through Alexandria, Virginia.

Alexandria's DASH transit system just installed its first in-route overhead pantograph charger—enabling buses to charge mid-route in minutes without returning to the depot. The technology is faster than plug-in chargers and extends operational range by eliminating downtime. A new facility with infrastructure for up to 24 overhead chargers, solar arrays, and battery storage broke ground in October 2025, with completion scheduled for early 2027. DASH currently operates 16 electric buses and serves 5.3 million annual riders on a fare-free system.

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