Green Energy

Salt River Project will massively increase the amount of solar energy the utility uses by 2025, saving the company money and reducing its reliance on natural gas, officials said Thursday.

SRP officials said they plan to add 1,000 megawatts of solar to the system over seven years, a big increase from the 200 megawatts on SRP’s system today.

CEO Mike Hummel told the board members the amount is the maximum amount of solar energy SRP can put into service without major impacts on the grid and the company’s coal-fired power plants.

“It is an aggressive move on renewables,” Hummel said. “It is an aggressive move on scale. But it is one I believe we can make work.”

How big is the increase for SRP?

One megawatt of capacity is enough energy to supply about 250 homes at once, so the additional solar energy will be enough to supply about a quarter million homes while the sun is shining.

SRP also has about 180 megawatts of solar on its system that customers have installed, and that figure is expected to grow to about 300 megawatts over the same time, Hummel said.

SRP came up with the plan after setting out to explore the maximum amount of solar energy it could accommodate on the power grid, he said. During the hottest hours of the hottest days, power demand from SRP customers peaks at about 7,000 megawatts.

SRP sets its own rules for renewables

SRP has faced criticism for not moving as quickly to develop renewable energy as the state requires of other utilities. Unlike Arizona Public Service Co. and Tucson Electric Power, SRP is not regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

The Corporation Commission requires APS, TEP and others to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025 and another 22 percent from efficiency measures by 2020.

SRP’s elected board of directors sets its own sustainability goals.

The plan means SRP will get 16 percent of its energy supply from renewable sources in 2025, with 11 percent of that from solar alone. It will get another 11 percent of its supply from energy-efficiency measures that encourage customers to use less electricity.

“It definitely is a win, win, win for the state, customers and for the utility,” said Amanda Ormond, director of Western Grid Group, a clean energy organization.

“What SRP has done is they are building a system that is flexible enough to take on solar generation, which is what we need to be doing.”

Ormond said SRP’s plans to eventually add battery storage to the grid is prudent.

“We have a lot to learn about storage as the price comes down,” she said. “The game changer we’ve seen in the last year is solar has become cheaper than any other power source available. SRP has always been good at buying low-cost energy.”

SRP spokesman Scott Harelson said the timing of the announcement had nothing to do with the recent election, where voters defeated Proposition 127, which would have required regulated utilities, but not SRP, to get half their power from renewables by 2030.

He said SRP didn’t present the plan until now because the plan was not ready.

“This plan doesn’t have anything to do with Prop. 127 and would have been brought forward irrespective of that proposed measure,” he said.

There they go again. President Trump has made a few attempts to keep coal stakeholders in his fold, but the simple fact is that coal just can’t keep up with the 21st century energy landscape. Climate change, resiliency impacts, and plain old bottom line considerations are driving renewable energy policies in the US military, in cities and states, and even within Trump’s own cabinet. A case in point is the US Department of Energy, which is placing a $46 million bet on solar energy to address the problem of supplying emergency power for key community facilities.

Solar Energy And National Security

The new pot of $46 million is coming from the perspective that on-site energy generation is the most efficient way to ensure that the lights stay on at critical facilities.

Somewhat ironically, coal used to fulfill that on-site energy function, at least for heat and hot water. Coal chutes and smokestacks were once a common feature of hospitals and other critical infrastructure around the US, including military facilities. Whatever happened to that? Who knows!

Anyways, that was then, this is now. The new funding will go to a program called “Situational Awareness and Resilient Solutions for Critical Infrastructure.”

The aim is to “strengthen the integration of solar on the electricity grid, especially at critical infrastructure sites, improve the resilience of the nation’s electricity grid, and streamline technology transfer challenges.”

The Energy Department defines critical infrastructure as “the essential services that are vital to the economy, security, and health of the nation,” which leads to this statement of confidence in solar energy:

Solar generation can play a critical role in ensuring continuity of service at these sites during widespread disruptions from either man-made or natural threats.

If that thing about security is starting to ring some bells, there’s a good reason for that. The US military is all over on-site renewables as a means of improving energy security at its facilities. That trend is beginning to intersect with and help drive renewable energy and resiliency initiatives in communities that host military installations, too.

Solar Energy And The Internet of Things

The new $46 million in funding will be split in two areas. One is an R&D area that seeks “unique and innovative solutions that increase grid operators’ situational awareness of solar PV systems deployed throughout the electricity system at strategic locations.”

That’s already pretty close to reality with the advent of microgrids and smart grid technology. If you’re thinking of IoT and cloud-based data services that provide grid operators withe the ability to coordinate and predict intermittent outputs, you’re on the right track.

CleanTechnica just spent a few days over at Schneider Electric’s Digital Innovation Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, and the takeaway from that event was pretty clear: today’s microgrid technology can seamlessly coordinate multiple distributed energy resources including storage, and also enable grid-connected facilities to go into island mode without an interruption in power.

If you have any other ideas, drop us a note in the comment thread. In the meantime, the Energy Department drops a hint:

These tools are expected to improve resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure and can help to ensure continuity of service during widespread disruptions from either man-made or natural threats. Projects should also show how a fleet of multiple solar systems in different locations could respond to fast-changing conditions under normal operations and could provide power to critical loads during grid outages.

Got all that? The other topic area focuses on projects that are past or well into the R&D phase, and are ready for field testing with a focus on a high penetration of solar energy:

…These solutions should identify the strategic location of solar PV systems that will ensure that critical infrastructure will have power during widespread disruptions from either man-made or natural threats. These projects must demonstrate how the technology solutions result in greater resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Not for nothing, but the $46 million funding pot is just one initiative in a full suite of Energy Department programs that promote solar energy grid integration.

In addition to grid integration, the agency continues to support research that helps keep the cost of solar cells down, down, and downer (check out the latest perovskite research, for example). Its funding umbrella also covers ongoing support for solar energy adoption by rural electric co-ops as well as tribal lands and cities and towns.

Helping to grow the PV industry workforce is another area of focus, which is kind of ironic considering that the US coal workforce continues to shrink with no relief in sight.

The Shrinking World Of US Coal Power

Speaking of the US coal industry, it’s worth nothing the Energy Department is carrying out its renewable energy mission against the backdrop of White House directives intended to protect US coal power plants.

The task of carrying out those directives has fallen to the agency’s chief, Rick Perry. So far, though, his stabs at saving US coal jobs have been ill conceived (shocker!) and all but doomed to fail out of the gate.

The series kicked off with the notorious 2017 “grid study” shortly after Trump took office, which was roundly criticized from all quarters, including oil and gas stakeholders.

The grid study lead to an equally excoriated rate re-structuring proposal, which was promptly torpedoed by FERC. A followup proposal aimed at saving coal also died a quick and merciful death, at the hands of Trumps’s own appointed FERC chairman, no less.

And so on. The latest attempt to keep the nation’s aging fleet of coal power plants chugging along pivots on national security. That’s a legitimate issue, but DOE’s ham-handed approach was practically laughed out of the room by the National Security Council last month. The National Economic Council is also prepared to give it the bum’s rush, as reported by our friends over at E&E News.

A recent trip by Perry to Eastern Europe indicates that the Trump administration is leaning on the export market to prop up the US coal mining sector, but that’s cold comfort for workers at US coal power plants.

That’s also not the greatest news for US coal miners. The countries Perry visited — Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, and Czech Republic — have been late to the low carbon economy game, but they are starting to come around.

In the meantime, Perry has been quite effective at cheerleading for the growth of renewables in the US, so go figure.

Tesla has reduced prices on its solar power systems as it looks to make sustainable energy use more affordable.

“As a result of the vertical integration of our solar products into Tesla’s retail stores and the increased efficiencies we’ve realized over the past year by closing more expensive sales channels like door-to-door sales, we are now able to reduce prices for our solar power systems,” a Tesla spokesperson told CNBC in a statement Friday.

This pricing change would help Tesla’s average customer make savings of between $3,000 and $4,000, the spokesperson added. “This change, along with our push to continue shortening the time between sale to installation, will accelerate the adoption of solar and the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Tesla’s senior vice president of energy operations, Sanjay Shah, said that the price reductions should make the firm “highly competitive.”

Shah added that the business wanted to become the lowest-cost solar provider in the U.S., Reuters reported.

Tesla deployed 93 megawatts of solar energy generation systems in the third quarter of 2018.

YPF Luz has signed an agreement with GE Renewable Energy for the construction of Los Teros Wind Farm, located in Azul, Province of Buenos Aires. The construction will begin in November. Azul boasts excellent wind conditions and is an ideal location for a wind farm.

The project will employ around 150 people during the construction phase and an investment of U.S. $144 million is expected.

Los Teros will feature 32 GE wind turbines (of 3.83 MW) with an installed capacity of 122 MW. The project will have an estimated capacity factor* of ~57% and an extremely high-efficiency level. The objective of YPF Luz in developing this project is to provide renewable, efficient and reliable energy to customers through the Wholesale Electricity Market (MATER).

YPF Luz has already signed contracts to supply Toyota and Coca-Cola FEMSA with renewable energy from Los Teros.

Los Teros will be the first wind farm that GE will build in the country, through a turnkey contract that includes the installation of wind turbines and the construction of a substation to connect the 132 kV line between Tandil and Olavarría. The Wind Farm will be constructed over an area of 2450 hectares, 45 kilometers from Azul.

The wind energy produced in Los Teros may enable the reduction of 5.5 million tons of CO₂ emissions in 20 years, when compared to the impact of having the same energy produced by a thermal power plant, which is equivalent to the saving of 58.000 m³ of Diesel, or 98 million m³ of natural gas.

“We celebrate the beginning of a new Project to the Renewable energy development, which will be undoubtedly an important contribution to the country’s sustainable development” affirmed Martín Mandarano, CEO of YPF Luz. He also added: “We are proud to be able to promote this renewable project together with GE, a world leader in energy technology and strategic partner in Argentina.”

For both companies, this is one additional step to contribute to the adoption of a more diversified and sustainable energy mix, an area where Argentina is a recognized leader on the continent. The country has a goal of having 20% of its electricity come from renewable energy sources by 2025.

Vikas Anand, General Manager for GE’s Onshore Wind Business in the Americas said “We are excited to be partnering with YPF Luz to help them achieve their renewable energy goals. This project also reinforces GE’s commitment to invest and grow in Argentina.”

Tesla Inc. TSLA, +1.29% has slashed prices on its residential solar-power systems by as much as 25% in an effort to boost sales, Reuters reported Thursday, citing Sanjay Shah, the company’s senior vice president of energy operations.

Effective immediately, price quotes for potential solar customers will be between $3,000 and $5,000 lower on average, Shah said, according to Reuters.

Tesla last month told investors it had deployed 93 megawatts of solar-energy systems in the third quarter, up 11% from the second quarter but down from 109 MW in the third quarter of 2017.

Salt River Project today announced plans to add 1,000 megawatts (MW) of new utility-scale solar energy to its system by the end of fiscal year 2025. The plan will accelerate both the pace and total capacity of SRP’s current solar energy resource plans by 700 MW compared to current resource plans during the same timeframe.

“This proposal represents a growing commitment to sustainability that is both reliable and affordable,” said SRP’s CEO and General Manager Mike Hummel. “It focuses on investments in utility-scale solar projects that have higher solar capture efficiencies and therefore provide optimal value for our customers.”

According to Hummel, the costs for solar energy continue to decrease – making this the right time to increase investments. In addition, a recent study has determined that SRP’s grid is prepared to reliably handle the addition of 1,000 MW of solar power.

“Over the past several months, we have had discussions with residential customers and many of our larger commercial, industrial and municipal customers regarding their needs for sustainable resources. Several customers have asked us to work with them on providing resource options that help them achieve their goals,” said Hummel. “This proposal is a foundational part of providing programs that bring increased value to our customers while partnering with them to achieve mutually desired renewable energy goals.”

SRP will add approximately 200 MW of new solar annually through 2025, which will allow for careful analysis of the impact to the reliability of SRP’s electrical grid and provide valuable operational experience.

“We are continually working toward a more sustainable future as well as reducing our carbon footprint for the benefit of SRP’s customers and the communities we serve,” said SRP President David Rousseau. “This plan affirms our commitment in a manner that brings the most value to our customers while providing the greatest environmental impact.”

SRP will examine programs to allocate the new solar capacity to various customer groups, including community solar for residential customers.

The addition of 1,000 MW of solar energy is expected to reduce SRP’s carbon dioxide emissions by about 5.2 million tons – the equivalent produced by more than 1 million passenger cars driven in a year.

According to Hummel, SRP will focus on strategic locations for the new solar capacity that will provide maximum efficiencies and reliability benefits while best meeting customer growth.

The 1,000 MW of solar energy SRP will add by 2025 is in addition to SRP’s 200 MW of existing solar resources that include several large-scale Valley-based solar energy facilities, more than 50 MW of solar on Navajo land, a 20 MW solar / 10 MW battery storage power plant located in Pinal County, and 25 MW and 10 MW battery storage facilities in development in the Phoenix metropolitan area. By the end of FY 2025, SRP will have a total of more than 1,200 MW of solar energy capacity and will be looking to install additional battery capacity to complement the solar energy, Hummel said.

SRP is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest provider of electricity in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving more than 1 million customers. SRP also is the metropolitan area’s largest supplier of water, delivering about 800,000 acre-feet annually to municipal, urban and agricultural water users.