Tag Archives: solar farm

Philadelphia To Be Partially Powered By 70-MW Solar Farm

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Leading clean energy developer Community Energy announced the approval of a 70-megawatt (MW) solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in Adams County, Pennsylvania to power government facilities in Philadelphia.

The solar farm, named Adams Solar LLC, will produce enough electricity to operate 22 percent of Philadelphia government buildings by 2020. The project is the largest in Pennsylvania by sevenfold, and a significant step toward the City’s clean energy goal of sourcing 100 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2030

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Adams Solar LLC will sell 100 percent of its power under a 20-year contract to The Philadelphia Energy Authority, an independent city agency. The project will generate 156,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy in the first year of operation, eliminating more than 4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the project.

“The Philadelphia solar commitment demonstrates impressive and much-needed leadership on climate change in Pennsylvania,” said Brent Alderfer, Community Energy CEO and co-founder. “As the costs of climate change go up, Philadelphia is showing the way for municipalities to secure reliable, long-term solar power to decarbonize and head off irreversible climate damage.”

An Economic Opportunity Plan (EOP) will use best efforts to incorporate minority, women and disabled-person owned businesses into the Adams Solar LLC project. Job fairs for sub-contractors and the workforce will be held in both Philadelphia and Adams County. Community Energy’s efforts will connect to existing solar training opportunities, such as recent Philadelphia Energy Authority initiatives.

This latest large-scale solar project by Community Energy reflects shifting energy production and sourcing trends that extend well beyond the state of Pennsylvania. According to a report by GTM Research and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), constituents are calling on government officials to set renewable energy goals that will bring reliable, climate-friendly energy to their communities. As requests for clean power translate into municipal sustainability goals, the industry is witnessing an acceleration of utility-scale project deployment and that growth is expected to continue.

“This project not only helps Philadelphia demonstrate leadership on climate action, but it also makes good economic sense and helps to boost regional job growth in the renewable energy sector,” said Mayor Jim Kenney. “We thank Councilwoman Reynolds Brown, the Philadelphia Energy Authority, and Community Energy, Inc. for their partnership in creating this win-win deal for Philadelphians.”

Saudi Arabia Plans 5,000 Square Mile Solar Farm

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Quartz Media reports that “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japanese multinational Softbank to build 200 GW of solar power by 2030 at a cost of $200 billion.”

  • The math is pretty simple: The world’s current largest solar farm is the 1 GW Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park in India, which Quartz calculated covers 24 square miles.
  • So if you multiply that by 200 – which is the factor bigger that the plant in Saudi Arabia would be – that would cover 5,000 square miles in total.
  • Fortunately, Saudi Arabia can spare the land – 5,000 square miles is less than 1% of the country’s total area (830,000 square miles).

Saudi Arabia

SolarWakeup’s View:  Aw, now, Jenny (Chase) – why do you have to be like that? Why are you trying to stomp on the crown prince of Saudi Arabia’s solar dreams?

Chase, a well-respected solar analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, had a delightfully snarky comment on Twitter about Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s MOU with a Japanese bank to build a 200 GW solar plant at a cost of $200 billion: “I’ve probably made more binding agreements to grab a coffee.”

But frankly, I don’t care if the plan ever comes to fruition. The fact is that someone is dreaming big in a world that sometimes can seem increasingly, depressingly small.

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And let’s get crazy for a moment: Let’s say Bin Salman’s dream isn’t just pie-in-the-sky. Let’s say he does it. Can you imagine what that could do for the solar industry? To have one of the most oil-rich countries in the world essentially change to solar in what effectively would be overnight? It would galvanize the solar industry worldwide, having implications far beyond its own borders.

I mean, let’s be honest: That’s a solar array future astronauts will be able to see from space. And it’s dreams like Bin Salman’s that drive the world’s progress forward, so let’s not just dismiss the prince’s plan out of hand.

Saudi Arabia

Hell, it strikes me full of awe, and I’m maybe the most cynical person in the solar industry. So Jenny, you know I got your back – but for now, let’s let this dream linger until there’s a real reason to diss it.

(Oh, and I’m buying you a coffee at Intersolar North America if you’re there – you can take that agreement to the bank.)

More:

What Saudi Arabia’s 200 GW solar power plant would look like—if placed in your neighborhood

Bonus:

Because how, honestly, could I not?