New England colleges form solar buying partnership

A coalition of New England colleges has formed to purchase electricity from a solar farm in Farmington, Maine. The New England College Renewable Partnership describes itself as the first collaborative purchase of solar electricity in New England higher education.

The New England College Renewable Partnership includes Amherst, Bowdoin, Hampshire, Smith and Williams Colleges. According to an announcement by Amherst, Mount Holyoke and UMass Amherst had also participated in earlier discussions about the project, but later abandoned the project, while Bowdoin joined the group. 

The partnership is collaborating to purchase power from a 25-megawatt solar array under development by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources. Its predicted annual output is about 46,000 megawatt-hours, under a 20-year contract.

Each of the participating colleges describes environmental, financial, and educational benefits from the project. For example, the power purchase agreement reportedly requires that all involved colleges and their student bodies be allowed access to the project site and its data. Initial power deliveries are expected in late 2019. The colleges also cite other benefits from the project, including advancement of their sustainability and climate action initiatives.

Interest in cooperative or collaborative procurement of energy products or projects is rising. By collaborating as purchasers of solar energy, the colleges may have achieved some advantages over their options if going alone. The New England College Renewable Partnership cites its model as providing "market access that would not have been available to individual institutions, offering a scalable model that other colleges and universities can follow."Amherst's announcement explained that while each school has small energy demands, by "increasing the number of schools in the partnership, the group was able to raise the total demand for renewable energy."

Will other institutions follow this model of collaborative procurement of renewable energy?

Vail Resorts announces sustainability, net zero plan

Vail Resorts, Inc. -- the largest ski and mountain resort operator in the world -- has announced a comprehensive sustainability commitment that calls for "zero net emissions by 2030, zero waste to landfill by 2030 and zero net operating impact to forests and habitat."  According to the company, Vail Resorts' "Epic Promise for a Zero Footprint" will give resort guests and employees "the opportunity to enjoy the natural environment and resources without leaving an impact."
 
Vail Resorts' subsidiaries operate 11 mountain resorts and three urban ski areas, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado; Park City in Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada; Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Canada; Perisher in Australia; Stowe in Vermont; Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. The company also owns and operates hotels as well as a real estate planning and development subsidiary.

In a July 25, 2017, press release, Vail Resorts announced its "Epic Promise for a Zero Footprint" sustainability commitment.  Pointing to Whistler Blackcomb's environmental commitment as inspiration, Vail Resorts announced its intent "to go beyond setting a partial emissions reduction target by executing on a more expansive and ambitious plan."

With respect to net zero emissions from operations by 2030, the Vail Resorts plan calls for continued reduction of the company's electricity and gas use by improving operating practices and investing $25 million in innovative, energy-saving projects, such as low-energy snowmaking equipment, green building design and construction, and more efficient grooming practices and equipment.  Among other measures, it envisions purchasing 100 percent renewable energy equivalent to Vail Resorts' total electrical energy use and working with utilities and local, regional and national governments to bring more renewable energy to the grids where the company operates its resorts. As an interim goal, the plan states the company's intent to achieve a 50 percent reduction in its net emissions by 2025, based on 2016 levels.

Other 2030 goals set in the Vail Resorts plan include "zero waste to landfill" (by diverting 100 percent of the waste from its operations to more sustainable pathways) and "zero net operating impact to forests and habitat" (by measures including mitigation, tree planting and forest restoration, and minimizing or eliminating the impact of any future resort development). 

Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev sets global renewable electricity goal by 2025

World’s largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev SA – parent to brands including Budweiser, Corona, Rolling Rock, Michelob, and Stella Artois – has committed to sourcing its electricity entirely from renewable sources by 2025.  The move would make AB InBev the largest corporate direct purchaser of renewable electricity in the global consumer goods sector.

AB InBev makes 30% of the world’s beer, operating breweries in 50 countries. Collectively, these facilities consume 6 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, of which 7% is currently renewable-sourced.  According to a March 28 press release, changing to 100% renewable electricity will reduce the company's carbon footprint by 30%, an estimated reduction of about 2 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

While many multinational companies “invest” in renewables by buying renewable energy credits or certificates known as "RECs", AB InBev’s plan involves no REC-buying. The company reportedly intends to obtain 75 to 85 percent of its electricity through direct power purchases under a power purchase agreement or similar commercial arrangement, with remaining 15 to 25 percent coming from on-site distributed generation installations at its facilities, like solar panels. The company has committed to producing the energy in the country in which it is to be consumed.

Sourcing renewable energy is relatively easier in some countries, like Mexico. AB InBev announced that its largest facility, a Grupo Modelo brewery, had signed contracts to get all its electricity from wind power, including 220 MW to be built by Iberdrola SA in Puebla. Those new wind projects alone, destined to supply the brewery, represent a 5% increase to Mexico's renewable energy capacity. But in other countries, most notably in Africa, a lack of markets and infrastructure to connect industrial consumers with renewable energy may prove challenging. Also worth noting is that the company's commitment relates to electricity, and not directly to fuels or heat required for beer production and distribution. 

Nevertheless, Anheuser-Busch InBev's commitment to sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2025 across its global portfolio of facilities represents another data point in the trend of corporate direct investment in renewable energy.  Corporations including Apple, Google, and Amazon have made a variety of commitments relating to renewable electricity, citing benefits ranging from environmental sustainability to locking in power pricing.

March 11, 2011 - powering data centers with renewable energy

What happens when you combine customer choice, voluntary renewable power markets, and electricity-hungry data center?

Data centers house computer systems for things like telecommunications and storage of large amounts of digital information.  I've written before about how much energy data centers can consume: in the case of the National Security Agency's Utah Data Center, estimates suggest up to 65 megawatts of electricity at any given time.  This demand for electricity can drive data centers to locate or relocate themselves in areas of lower power pricing.

Another possibility is for data centers to choose their electricity sources not based on pricing but on other characteristics, such as the sustainability of the power generated.  For example, IT services company Datapipe, Inc. recently chose to buy all its power for its US facilities from renewable sources.  This won them Leadership Club status in EPA's Green Power Partners program.  Datapipe buys almost 56,000,000 kilowatt-hours per year, all of which it now sources from renewable generation.  Assuming they run at an even electricity load 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that's an average of 6.4 megawatts of demand.  While that's less than the Utah Data Center's anticipated consumption, it's impressive to see a consumer choosing to buy 100% renewable electricity.