Solar Power

Mexican telecom group América Móvil, through its subsidiary Claro Brasil, announced the start of operations of a new solar plant in the Brazilian capital.

The project was built in Brasilia by Portugal’s EDP, which had already delivered four distributed generation solar plants to Claro Brasil last year.

The new plant, installed on an area of approximately 6 hectares, has 11,880 photovoltaic modules and is capable of generating 6,540 MWh/year, Claro said in a statement. This energy is equivalent to the consumption of around 2,725 homes.

The solar power will be used to supply 110 units of the telecommunications company (towers, stores and offices) and will avoid the emission of 490t of carbon dioxide per annum.

The Brasília plant is part of the Claro energy program “A Energia da Claro” launched in 2017, which the telco claims is the largest active distributed generation program in the country.

By 2021, the program is expected to generate 80% of the more than 600GWh the company consumes each year.

As mentioned above, in June 2020, EDP delivered four other distributed generation solar plants to Claro. These facilities, located on 5.8 hectares in the municipality of Taubaté (São Paulo state), have an installed capacity of more than 4 megawatts-peak (MWp) and guarantee the supply of renewable energy to 516 units in the state.

In addition to EDP, Claro also has similar projects with GreenYellow and Neoenergia.

Claro currently has solar plants in various states, such as Bahia, Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Pará, Pernambuco, Piauí, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina and São Paulo, and has other projects in development.

No investment figures for any of these initiatives have been disclosed. 

Overall, América Móvil forecasts full-year capex of around US$8bn for its operations in Latin America. The group invested 24.9bn Mexican pesos (US$1.21bn) in the first quarter.

According to Brazilian solar power association Absolar, Brazil has surpassed the milestone of 8GW of installed power from photovoltaic solar panels, with 4.9GW in centralized generation and just over 3.1GW in distributed generation.

Since 2012, more than 35.4bn reais (US$6.78bn) have been invested in the sector.

EDP ended 2020 with 65.3MW of solar energy in its portfolio – 34.5MW in projects already delivered to clients such as Banco do Brasil, TIM, Claro, and Johnson & Johnson, and 30.8MWp in projects under development.

In February, EDP acquired AES Inova, AES Brasil’s distributed generation investment platform, which added almost 34MWp to EDP Smart’s portfolio through assets located in Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and Minas Gerais states, as well as ready-to-build projects.

Last December, EDP signed an investment agreement to acquire a stake of up to 40% in Blue Sol. With the completion of that deal, EDP expects to obtain greater sales in the B2C solar energy segment.

Six weeks into operating its first solar-powered, off-grid data centre, in regional Grafton, Edge Centres today announced a joint venture that will roll out its model for carbon-positive data crunch and distribution in Japan.

Did we miss something? Founder of Edge Centres, Jonathan Eaves this morning told pv magazine Australia that he and a close-knit team wanted to get one of the autonomous centres powered by its adjacent 1 MW solar array and backed up by lithium-ion battery storage to provide always-on technology (AOT), up and running before doing a song and dance.

Even now, with Grafton (known as EC1) subscribed to by a Singapore-based edge-computing cloud provider, and also running environmental monitoring for the city of Grafton itself, and with two further centres about to go live — Dubbo (EC4)  in July, Bendigo (EC3) in August — Eaves is remarkably low-key about a service that is set to put regional Australia on a par with metro communications technology for the first time ever.

Edge Centre’s appeal in Japan is similar. Although Japan has a smaller landmass and a larger population, it still “periodically experiences significant internet challenges at far-edge locations”, says Eaves.

In Japan, Edge Centres is partnering with IT strategy firm Alan Kei Associates and expects to launch its first data centre later this year in the Kanto region, which will be used as a showcase for government and commercial clients, with another site already planned for the south-western island of Kyushu.

Julian Lloyd, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Alan Kei Associates, says that although the Japanese data centre market is concentrated in Tokyo and Osaka, “There remain many opportunities in other cities around Japan which will enable growth of high-tech innovation hubs and support the Japanese government’s many digital transformation initiatives.”

Long distances travelled by Australian data

In Australia, regional data processing still generally occurs in metropolitan-based data centres, taking time and extra processing power to make the long return journey to more remote areas.

Eaves paints a sample picture of data coming from a smart agrotech tractor working autonomously in regional New South Wales that may currently travel all the way to Sydney, then Sydney has to correlate and compute that data, get an outcome and send it back.

“Processing at the edge reduces that time, but it also reduces the workload on the internet,” he says.

The low cost of solar generation, and of locating at the edge where land is cheaper, and of running a virtually autonomous data centre — each Edge centre is remotely monitored and has contracted local computer expertise to attend to repairs and maintenance as needed — also translates into lower data costs for local businesses and service providers.

The megabit-per-second fee for data in regional centres can be as much as three times what metro users pay for that data, and is usually at least twice as expensive, says Eaves.

“We can match what you would pay in any metro centre, because we buy large and we will  have a distributed network that goes from Brisbane, all the way down to Melbourne” — a backbone of regional internet carriage.

Melding data centres with Australia’s solar resource

Eaves is no stranger to data centre design and construction, having built centres in Australia and in the United Arab Emirates.

He came back from Dubai with a vision to go to the edge, and was trying to get his head around the typical six-month period to energisation, when it occurred to him that solar power could provide a great quick-start solution — which quickly progressed into planning a modular off-grid facility.

“We started work on the Grafton site on March 13, and four weeks later it was live as the world’s first solar-powered, net-zero data centre,” he says.

Edge Centres’ plan is to locate at the top 20 points of interconnection (POIs) on the National Broadband Network within the next two to three years: after Bendigo it will build at Shepparton, Albury, Melbourne, and on, on up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

“If a business in Parkes, Orange, Bathurst or Forbes wants data services, they feed into Dubbo for access,” says Eaves, illustrating how the POIs are the hubs for more remote cities and towns.

The Edge Centres model is carrier neutral, providing any telco an opportunity to extend their network into strategic locations.

One megawatt of solar combined with 48 hours of battery storage and a smart management system integrated with cloud cover forecasting form the heart of each modular data-centre system, which Eaves says can be modified to suit any terrain other than areas that are under snow for much of the year — not good for solar generation.

In Japan, the containerised systems will be modified to withstand earthquake activity; in Australia, they are already rated to operate at greater than 45 degrees Celsius.

Solar energy provides Edge Centres’ facilities with all their onsite power needs: for a consistent 150 kW of IT workload, air-conditioning, energy efficient lighting, security systems such as facial-recognition CCTVs and so on.

Batteries hold the key to reliability

The critical factor for data centres is maintaining uptime. Edge Centres have dual solar feed, providing an A and a B supply to each customer’s rack, and multiple inverters on a single phase, which Eaves says provides greater redundancy than power sourced from a traditional utility. Edge Centres also typically generate much more energy than they use, storing excess in banks of lithium ion battery storage

Eaves says that a Japanese solar farm operator first contacted him when they realised that small data centres on the Edge model could be hooked up to their renewable assets to diversify their sources of revenue.

“There are a lot of new players coming that will change the way we look at, and how we deal with internet in Australia,” says Eaves. Having proved that renewables can power this most reliability-conscious of industries, he adds, “It’s the beginning of a new revolution.”

 

Solar canopy installations on three designated public parking facilities in the Downtown area are now being built, marking the first of two phases of a solar project series throughout Long Beach, the public works department announced Friday.

This project’s first phase is part of the city’s solar energy Power Purchase Agreement with the PFMG Solar Long Beach, LLC, a renewable energy company, for the construction and operation of 10 solar arrays at various public facilities across Long Beach—all of which are estimated to be completed by spring 2022, officials said.

Phase one of the city’s solar energy PPA includes installations on the rooftops of public parking facilities at City Place A (50 W. Sixth St.), City Place B (50 E. Fifth St.) and City Place C (50 E. Third St.), officials said.

The solar energy system totals 415.2-kilowatts, capable of generating electricity equivalent to power 60 homes. Officials estimate the project will reduce the city’s carbon footprint by an estimated 530 tons while the city’s utility partner, Southern California Edison, transitions to green technology to meet its goal of 80% renewable energy by 2030. The solar arrays will also provide covered parking for approximately 130 parking spaces, officials said.

“The installation is part of the largest solar installation effort by Public Works to date, with seven more locations in the permitting phase of construction,” Public Works Director Eric Lopez said in a statement.

Phase two of this project is expected to begin later this year, officials said.

You can see Mount Adams rising from the horizon on a grassy hilltop on Amy Hanson’s land. Farms reach out in most directions. Homes dot the landscape.

Hanson and her husband invested more than a decade and thousands of dollars into this property, driving nearly 200 miles from Chehalis on weekends to build fences and whatever else they could afford as the years went on.

She might not be walking distance from everyone, but recently Hanson and her neighbors in rural Klickitat County have become closer than ever. They’ve banded together to fight a new giant knocking at their doors: big solar.

“We were horrified (when we found out about the project),” Hanson says. “(Turns out) because of the nice, new, shiny substation there, this is prime area for them to develop solar.”

Hanson’s retirement home would be hemmed in on three sides. No more idyllic rural views, she says. Just rows of solar panels.

“It’s just all-consuming. It’s all you can think about. You dream about it at night, think about it during the day. It’s just a horrible feeling,” Hanson says, choking back tears. “This is not what we thought would happen when we retired in July.”

If approved, the utility-scale solar farm would be the largest in renewable-friendly Klickitat County and in Washington. Some say its potential location doesn’t take one important thing into account: environmental justice.

Documents given to Northwest Public Broadcasting show several developers considering solar projects near the Knight Road area – and Amy Hanson’s land – in Klickitat County. The spot is attractive to solar companies because they can easily connect to the Bonneville Power Administration’s Knight Substation.

No solar projects have so far submitted a final proposal in the Knight Road area. The county also recently put a “pause” on commercial and industrial solar project developments that require a special permit, which includes this same area that’s caused the neighbors’ uprising.

One lease proposal letter says Invenergy, a renewable energy company with other large-scale projects in Washington and Oregon, is “in the process of leasing approximately 2,400 acres around BPA’s Knight substation for solar facilities.” Right now, Washington’s largest solar facility – under construction in Klickitat County – is about 1,800 acres.

The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Thursday protests with C.E.A.S.E.

Every Thursday, a growing number of activists line Goldendale’s Columbus Avenue. (Every Tuesday they call into the county commissioners’ weekly meeting. “Keep comments to seven minutes” is a common refrain from the three men during allotted public comment time – the reminder was even jokingly reinforced as one commissioner chatted with the sign-wielding group.)

Their bright yellow signs shout “stop solar farms,” the same slogan that lines fences near where the potential solar project could be built.

On a recent weekday, Greg Wagner parks himself in front of the entrance to Goldendale’s post office. He’s asking people to sign a petition demanding more regulations for solar projects in Klickitat County.

“I signed your petition and everything. I’ve got a couple options for you,” one passerby says, giving a thumbs-up as he sees the solar protest signs.

“What’s your beef with solar?” Another man asks someone wielding a “stop solar farms” sign.

Wagner founded C.E.A.S.E. – Citizens Educated About Solar Energy – last October to oppose the project that could soon land in his backyard.

“They do all these different environmental protection studies. I mean, it’s plants, and it’s birds, and it’s water drainages – all kinds of environmental impacts,” Wagner says. “But they never do a human impact. They never look at how it’s going to hurt the people that have to live around these things.”

It’s not just the viewsheds people worry about. Yakama Nation tribal members Elaine Harvey and her cousin Tina Antone wave as cars honk their support.

They say the Knight Road project would cover grounds where they can gather three different types of roots.

“We’re worried about everything. It’s for our future generations because where are they going to get their food if we don’t say anything? If we don’t hold a sign? We’re (not) just going to let it happen,” Harvey says.

Currently, some farmers allow tribal members to gather food on their private land. Antone, who’s wearing a white mask with “Stop Solar” written in black sharpie across the front, says once corporations lease the land, the Yakama Nation’s friends are gone.

“I’m for good energy, but if it’s industrial, that’s something else,” Antone says.

Bearing the burden

Down the road, Goldendale resident Sandy Crosland smiles at passing cars. She says the people of Klickitat County will bear the burden of this project.

“This community is going to bear the brunt of all the consequences – there are many – but none of the benefits except taxes. The tax base is going to go up, but you’re going to do that on the backs of your own citizens. Is that fair and equitable enough?” Crosland says.

It’s a big question as more renewable energy projects come online.

Washington has pledged to eliminate fossil fuels from its electricity generation by 2045. Even with a dearth of hydropower, electricity generation is still the third-largest source of heat-trapping emissions in the state – behind transportation and buildings.

Oregon will require half of its energy to come from renewable sources – like wind and solar – by 2040. The state’s renewable goals were meant to drive more clean energy generation. Therefore, goals don’t grandfather in decades-old hydropower, unless there’s been efficiency upgrades or a dam has been certified as low-impact since 1995.

Sanya Carley is a professor at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environment Affairs. She studies the equity implications of a clean energy transition.

Communities of color or lower-income communities are often most disproportionately affected as the nation transitions to cleaner energy sources – more burdens on the backs of those who’ve already been pinned down by dirtier energy projects, Carley says.

“It’s the same communities that have been located right next to power plants or right next to highways, for example,” Carley says. “They’ve all borne these terrible externalities from the fossil fuel reign. And they’re the same ones that stand to either not benefit from the transition or to be completely cast aside.”

Opposing voices aren’t just from people shouting about projects in their backyards. Carley says her research shows NIMBYism – the idea that you support something in general, just not near you – isn’t really a thing, socially speaking.

“There’s this derogatory undertone of the concept of NIMBYism that suggests that people are somehow irrational. Like if it’s near them, then they all of a sudden don’t like it. But we find that it’s not irrational at all,” Carley says.

Instead, the researchers take into account how people value their surroundings.

“It’s the value of their environment. It’s the value of their home and what it means to them, what it means to them culturally, what it means to them historically. Once we account for all these things, that irrational concept of NIMBYism just completely disappears,” Carley says.

She says one big aspect that needs to be changed as states transition to cleaner energy is called procedural justice.

“It’s actually thinking about who you involve in these conversations (about proposed renewable energy projects). We know another injustice with the energy transition is that those that are harmed tend to be the ones that are not involved in the decision-making processes. (They should be) included or allowed to lead or have a voice,” Carley says.

One way to do that is to start renewable energy project proposals “from the bottom up.” Build trust with local communities and make a real effort to reach out and include people who might be affected by renewable energy projects.

The idea has been tried before, in California’s San Joaquin Valley, where people affected by nearby large-scale solar projects sat down and found areas that would cause the least amount of conflict. They create maps, where you can clearly see solar sites that wouldn’t be ideal and those that would be better. People learned how to better talk to each other. Concerns could be addressed earlier on.

Out of the study area, the group identified roughly 5 percent of the county that would be less controversial and more open to solar development.

A pilot program in Washington’s central Columbia Basin would similarly gather people, allow them to discuss their concerns, and map out areas that could be best suited for large-scale solar. Places away from homes, not on lands significant to tribes or prime agricultural ground.

During the recently adjourned 2021 legislative session, the program received $500,000 in Washington’s operating budget. That money will be available in July 2023. It was nearly funded in 2020 but was struck from the budget during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Todd Currier directs Washington State University Energy Program, which will house the least conflict solar siting pilot program. Currier says it’s important that the pilot program focus on a small section of Washington so that local people can talk about the potential conflicts of large-scale solar siting.

In the end, they’d “produce maps that are fairly precise about where there’s more and where there is less conflict of various types. How regulators use it, how counties use it, how developers use it, is all up to them, Currier says. “We’re trying to provide information to this kind of process, not tell anyone what to do.”

He says he’d also like to look into dual-use solar projects, where the solar panels could coexist with other land uses, like grazing.

“If we can’t build solar at large scale, and we can’t build much more wind at large scale, I’m not sure how we meet our carbon reduction goals for the electricity system,” he says. “So it’s really important that we find ways of being friendly to renewable energy development, while at the same time not overly compromising on our other values.”

That’s a big goal for Gov. Jay Inslee, according to Tara Lee, a spokesperson. Washington’s Energy Strategy starts with a chapter on equity. It says public meetings don’t mean that something is equitable. People who might be harmed must be sought out.

“It’s important for clean energy, for tribal rights and community well-being, for workers, and for our economy to develop good processes that appropriately site the facilities we need to reduce climate pollution and build out our clean future. We believe when we do it right, all Washingtonians will benefit from stepping up and doing our part to help building this clean future,” Lee wrote in an email.

Finding improvements

Washington’s recently passed Clean Fuels bill directs the state departments of Ecology and Commerce to find improvements for industrial-scale renewable energy permitting processes. That includes finding areas that would be less environmentally harmful for “highly impacted communities.”

Ecology must also continue to consult tribes about proposed projects, as well as bring in “businesses, local governments, community organizations, and environmental and labor stakeholders.”

“We’ll have to figure out how the environmental justice task force figures into the work, but of course those communities will have an important voice,” Lee wrote.

Washington and Oregon both have state-level energy facility siting councils. These groups oversee locations and permitting for large-scale projects. In Washington, renewable energy projects can opt-in to be reviewed or certified by the council – something various community members say bypasses local control for energy projects. The council makes recommendations to Inslee about a project’s future.

In Oregon, the state Department of Land Conservation and Development has set some rules for siting renewable energy. The goal was to help develop projects in areas that aren’t as important to wildlife or for farming.

The Knight Road solar project near Goldendale could be built on productive grain and hayfields, which concerns some local farmers. If the solar project were developed across the Columbia, in Oregon, there would be more restrictions.

In areas with “the best soil for farming,” Oregon rules state solar panels can take up 12 acres. There are some exceptions to that limit, including approved plans for solar development where farming can coexist. Other land with poorer soil and no water rights can be used for solar farms that are up to 320 acres.

Those sorts of considerations are what people living in Washington near Klickitat County’s Knight Road would like to see their county commissioners implement.

Energy equity concerns not only where renewable energy projects are placed, but also who has access to carbon-free energy. In the Northwest, a lot of access issues can crop up for tribal members and rural residents.

“We need to actually change how we design and site technologies upstream of the decision-making process so that they can be more valuable to communities,” says Rebecca O’Neil, who studies energy equity at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. “Because just building energy projects or a low carbon grid is a good ambition. But we can do better than that.”

Seeing an opportunity

Washington’s Klickitat County is one of the more renewable energy-friendly areas of the state. That’s partly because county planners saw an opportunity with renewable energy technology.

They created an energy overlay zone that makes it easier to build renewable projects in areas where there’s already been an environmental analysis. Opponents like to say the zone mostly focuses on wind and that solar power is almost offhandedly thrown in without much guidance.

Residents near the Knight Substation say more rules need to be established for solar projects. They recently pushed for – and received – a moratorium on new solar projects that would connect to the substation that’s down the hill from Amy Hanson’s property.

Klickitat County Commissioner Dan Christopher says there needs to be talks over whether and where large-scale solar projects should be built. He pushed for the moratorium, getting it passed on his second attempt in a 2-1 vote. The moratorium could last up to six months.

“I mean, there’s pros and cons to a large-scale solar development,” Christopher says. “Yes, it’s ugly as sin. And people have to look at it, OK? It provides green energy. Great. But do the people of this county get to reap any of the benefits of that green energy, do they get any of that power? No.”

The county would get tax revenues that provide other services, like county road repair and help for the local hospital, school and fire districts.

“We can provide more services to our people than other counties that don’t have that (tax revenue). But the people need to decide, do you want the tax revenues so that we can provide more services and look at that ugly thing? Or do you not want to have the ugly thing? And then we’re going to have to cut some of those services,” Christopher says.

At the March 16 county commissioner’s meeting, commissioner Jacob Anderson said the moratorium could do more harm to the county by pushing away business. With or without the hold, solar companies could still get approved through the state siting process, Anderson said.

“The last thing I want to do is push any company or project to go through the state process. Most every problem that we have in government is our unintended consequences,” Anderson said at the meeting.

Decisions about the hold on solar may be discussed at a May 4 meeting. The county is set to hear from residents about their concerns and next steps. People can attend the meeting in-person or over zoom. Those wanting to comment must sign up by noon May 4.

The moratorium pertains to parts of the county not encompassed in its energy overlay zone – that includes the area that’s kicked up the most fuss about this potential solar farm. The hold on solar projects didn’t come in time – or in the right area – to pause the state’s largest solar project now under construction.

Another project

The Lund Hill Solar Farm will be the largest in Washington once it’s built, covering around 1,800 acres in Klickitat County. Most of that is former grazing land.

The project was the first in Washington to lease 480 acres of state trust lands from the Department of Natural Resources. The grazing lands will generate more revenue as solar leases for the state. (Yearly, up to $300 per acre from around $2 per acre from grazing.) That would then be put into school construction across Washington.

“Our goal is to produce 500 megawatts of solar power on public lands by 2025,” Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz said at the time. “The clean energy we generate reduces pollution and builds energy independence in our communities. And it also creates family-wage jobs in parts of our state that need them the most.”

The project is expected to come online in mid-2021.

Once completed, it will surround Darby Hanson’s home. Hanson (no relation to Amy Hanson) strongly opposed the project before it was approved.

In comments on Lund Hill’s final EIS, Darby Hanson wrote: “These large-scale solar projects are not merely ‘noticeable’ in their words. They will not just be ‘a thin dark line on the horizon’ from a mile away, since they track the sun and will continuously change throughout the day. Out here, a mile is nowhere near the horizon. The large dark patch will stick out like a sore thumb from the more distant viewpoints. They will be almost all you can see from the close viewpoints. They will be a (dominant) feature out almost every window of our house, especially once a presumed phase 2 is built to the south.”

Reviewers responded that it would be unlikely to see the entire project, unless someone was at an elevated spot. On flatter ground, people would most likely just see the first two rows of panels. A visual simulation “shows that the solar modules would appear as a thin, dark line on or near the horizon,” the response says.

Many members of C.E.A.S.E. – the group fighting new solar proposals – say Darby Hanson’s fate could be their own. Large-scale solar is different, they insist. It’s not a group of wind turbines spaced out over miles. It would be contiguous solar panels, over thousands of acres.

Rocel Dimmick recently moved to the Knight Road area after her boyfriend got a new job with the railroad. Housing is slim in the county – they couldn’t find a place to rent or house to buy. So they decided to build something on a piece of property they really loved. Then they learned about the potential solar farm. They’ve yet to begin construction.

“I feel like it’s next to being homeless,” Dimmick says. “I mean, it’s a home, but it’s not not my home. That’s where it’s our place right there,” she says pointing downhill toward the substation.

Right now, Dimmick says solar companies can set up shop within 500-feet of a home, not a property boundary. She says that basically means a home on her smaller piece of property could be incredibly close to solar panels. Property lines are supposed to establish barriers between neighbors, Dimmick says, not homes.

“People are becoming economic casualties. They’re investing their retirements, their pensions, to have a part of this (land). That’s the most heartbreaking thing,” Dimmick says.

As people move out of urban areas, less of this land is available to farm. It’s harder to work around solar than wind, says small farmer Dave Barta.

“If (renewable energy projects) are properly sited, there’s not a problem. Put them in the right spot, then we wouldn’t be going through this,” Barta says.

So what’s a better area for these solar panels? C.E.A.S.E. suggests the wide-open land of the Hanford Site, north of Richland, away from homes and crops.

Now, Amy Hanson says she and her husband are in limbo. They don’t want to stay, but they don’t want to sell to some other unsuspecting buyer.

“We worked hard our whole adult life. We wanted to retire to what, for us, was paradise,” she says. “And now it’s just turned into a nightmare.”

As we slowly, but hopefully find ourselves leading more sustainable lifestyles, city infrastructure seems to quickly follow suit. Electric car charging stations cropping up on street corners and smart benches using solar energy to generate power for WiFi hotspots have become everyday occurrences. In creating a sustainable bikeway, architect Peter Kuczia reinterpreted the typical bike path through a sustainable lens and conceptualized Solar Veloroute, a multifunctional photovoltaic pathway, and structure for city pedestrians and bikers.

Many people who live in cities are taking to biking for their preferred mode of transportation, prompting designers and city officials to reimagine bike paths and public transport. Bike roads, also known as Veloroutes are steadily becoming city staples, even mainstays for commuters on foot or bike. With the demand for Veloroutes increasing, Kuczia created a Solar Veloroute that comprises a photovoltaic tunnel structure that serves as a solar canopy for cyclists and pedestrians as well as a public facility where commuters can enjoy lit pathways at night and charging stations for bicycles or smartphones. Solar Veloroute presents as a partly-enclosed, rounded archway constructed from overlaid non-reflective glass-glass solar panels, which are attached to round tube steel purlins.

While the Solar Veloroute collects solar energy during the day for on-site charging stations and lighting, the surplus energy collected can be distributed and used for additional services. On the structure’s sustainably sourced power, Kuczia says, “Just one kilometer of [Solar Veloroute] could provide around 2,000 MWh of electricity and could power 750 households or provide electricity for more than 1,000 electric cars driving 11,000 km per year.” To ensure that Solar Veloroute doubly serves as an informal educational experience for the public to learn about sustainability, Kuczia placed display panels and posters with information about the benefits of using solar power on a global scale.

Designer: Peter Kuczia

A fabric membrane provides an additional layer of protection for pedestrians and cyclists while gently distributing light.

The partly enclosed photovoltaic archway is an architectural symbol for change from a gas-powered lifestyle to a more sustainable one.

By following a repeatable series of steel elements, the Solar Veloroute can be replicated in any climate and city with the same kind of rectangular photovoltaics.

The photovoltaic panels collect solar energy to create power for charging stations and overhead lighting.

New US power capacity in the first two months of 2021 came almost exclusively from wind and solar power plants, data from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows. Looking at large-scale power capacity added to the grids across the country (which does not include rooftop solar power), 99.7% came from wind and solar power.

This continues a trend from recent years (scroll through our US Electricity Capacity Reports for more historical perspective). Solar and wind power are simply the cheapest options for new electricity generation capacity. This dominance doesn’t come from altruism or from climate leadership alone. 99.7% or 100% dominance comes from the fact that solar and wind power are cheap, cheap, cheap. And cheap some more. So, while this is just the first two months of 2021 and one large fossil fuel power plant could go online at any moment (well, not really, but you get the point), expect the same trend as the year trods on.

Looking at the big picture, though, we can see that solar and wind power are far from dominating total installed power capacity. Natural gas is king in that respect, and coal is queen. Though, wind, water, and solar together are higher than coal, only trailing natural gas. Also, it’s worth remembering that some portion of that installed natural gas capacity is from peaker plants that seldom run. (Unfortunately, I do not see the split between peaker plants and steady-state baseload plants indicated anywhere. However, I will soon publish our next US Electricity Generation Report, which captures the core matter that we actually care about — electricity generation.)

From February 2019 to February 2021, solar power has gone from 3.2% of installed US power capacity (again, this excludes rooftop solar power capacity) to 4.6% of capacity, wind power has gone from 8.1% to 10.1%, coal has gone from 21.9% to 19.3%, and natural gas has just gone from 44.1% to 44.3%.

That basically covers recent and somewhat recent power capacity changes in the United States of America. Any other highlights jump out to you? Any lingering questions?

Next, I’ll work on producing a fresh US Electricity Generation Report.

 

 

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The Weld County Commissioners unanimously approved late this past month changes to the county code regarding solar energy facilities.

The changes, to Chapter 23 in the county code, came after months of discussion and controversy over timing at the beginning of the process.

According to documents from the county planning department, the new regulations redefine solar facilities by physical project size as opposed to the amount of energy produced, impacting the permitting and approval process. This allows county staff to handle land use concerns more specifically.

“I think what we were concerned about originally was just that all solar projects were being kind of lumped together,” said Dan Waldvogle, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union director of external affairs. “There was some credible fear, I think, that putting in solar facilities was going to be almost impossible. The difference now is that there are clear guidelines for the larger projects and protections to guarantee that they’re going to be good projects for the community. For the small ones, there’s just a lot more flexibility so folks can have a small project.”

‘A win for everybody’

The new regulations classify solar facilities by three primary sizes and their location within unincorporated Weld County.

Mike Kruger, president and CEO of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association, said the regulations provided a good compromise between the industry, Weld County leaders and landowners.

“The pace of change within the state and the demand for solar is such that the Board of County Commissioners, I think, realized that it’s not a one-off (project),” Kruger said, noting that solar farms were previously seen as an exception to the rules instead of needing their own. “These new regulations set a very clear standard for projects, set a very clear responsibility for projects.”

These rules help promote economic development through solar, he said, without changing the character of the county.

First, there are small solar farms that are less than 5 acres. These may be in the near/urban area or the agriculture/rural area, per a land use map from the county. These must undergo the zoning permit process, and approval is subject to the discretion of Weld County Planning Services. Only one solar facility may be present per 35 acres; no facilities may be placed adjacent to one another.

They must be consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan and the area in which they are located. Solar facilities also must be compatible with expected future development in the area.

Developers must show how they intend to protect prime farmland, if the project will be located in the agricultural zone. Additionally, the plan must detail how neighbors and the county at large will be protected.

The Planning Department may approve these small projects without a public hearing if the application criteria are met and the project has not received opposition from 30% of surrounding property owners within a 500-foot radius.

Mid-sized projects are broken into two subcategories. These are defined as solar facilities between 5 acres and 160 acres in the near/urban area, or they are facilities in the ag/rural zone between 5 acres and 320 acres.

These must undergo the use-by-special-review process. According to county code section 23-2-200, uses by special review are those that are considered “more intense or to have a potentially greater impact” than uses that are allowed by right in a zone.

Projects must receive additional consideration by the developer, the planning department and the county commissioners prior to approval, to ensure they are compatible with existing and planned developments in the area.

Developers must meet with the planning department prior to submitting a special review application, to discuss any potential changes or considerations. Once approved by the planning department, proposals will go before the planning commission, which will make a recommendation to the county commissioners for a final decision.

These projects may not “unreasonably interfere” with historic sites or local wildlife.

Lastly, the county created the designation of a 1041 solar energy facility. These are more than 160 acres if they are in the near/urban area or more than 320 acres in the ag/rural area. These are only allowed by permit and must receive approval from the planning department, planning commission and county commissioners.

Developers are encouraged to meet with the planning department and discuss the project. This isn’t an official meeting, and parties are not bound by the discussion, but it provides an opportunity to gather basic information, address possible concerns or share any other considerations.

Prior to submitting the application for the project, developers must meet again with planning services in a pre-application conference to review the proposal. Topics will focus on more details, including but not limited to equipment placement, notable features, site accessibility, impact on surrounding areas, applicable regulations and zone compliance.

Meetings must take place within 14 days prior to submitting the request.

The planning commission will recommend approval or denial to the county commissioners. A public hearing must take place before a final decision is made.

Projects of this size are subject to more stringent design specifications. There is a height limitation of 25 feet, measured from the highest grade of the solar panel to the highest point of panel rotation. These must be designed to prevent glare from being directed to neighboring properties and roadways.

These regulations do not apply to roof- or ground-mounted equipment on “permitted principal and accessory buildings if they are designed to supply power to the principal use or usage on site,” according to Article VI of Chapter 21, which is yet to be codified.

All projects, regardless of size, must meet a variety of guidelines for sound, safety, design, setback and utilities. Plans must consider stormwater management, dust mitigation and land upkeep. Fencing and safety signage is required.

Solar projects must meet the setback requirements of the zone in which they are placed, according to documents from the planning department. They are also required to be at least 500 feet from existing residential buildings and plots planned for development. Residential setback requirements may be reduced if screening is provided through opaque fencing, landscaping, a waiver is submitted or neighboring residents agree to a reduced setback. Any landscaping or fencing changes must be submitted to the county for approval.

Additionally, proposals must include a decommissioning/reclamation plan to remove all equipment from the land, starting 12 months after power production has permanently ceased.

“When we started these conversations, I think there was a bit of distrust among all the parties about how this was going to go,” Kruger said. “I want to express appreciation of the solar and storage industry to the board of county commissioners for them (taking time to) understand the industry, the needs of the industry better and to work with us on a compromise in regulations that I think is a win for everybody — even if everybody didn’t get exactly what they wanted.”

‘An all-of-the-above energy county’

This issue was first brought up in the fall — to address concerns about solar developers circumventing subdivision regulations — but a number of issues arose.

Some initial suggestions included changing the appropriate amount of land on a parcel of property that could be used for solar, only allowing solar farms at certain locations in the county, requiring facilities to be placed on range land, requiring rezoning of land if used for solar or imposing specific location requirements that would apply to most solar facilities.

Individual landowners who want to lease their land for solar development and energy companies, however, said these requirements would make development difficult and reduce investment into the county. Farmers said leasing their land is a way to continue making a living and criticized the commissioners for trying to put regulations on solar that don’t exist for oil and gas.

Barbara Kirkmeyer, now a state senator, pushed for completed changes by the end of 2020. Most stakeholders present at a stakeholder meeting in December emphasized the need for additional time due to the holidays and rising COVID-19 cases. Things could be amended, but the county should be diligent, they said.

“After that evening in December where we heard quite a bit of opposition about what we were doing, I think it shows what we can do. We can pump the brakes, we can slow down the process and open our ears,” Commissioner Scott James said when the changes passed. “We can work with folks to give landowners in Weld County an opportunity, but work to continue to protect residents from the impacts of this particular development.

“I could not be more thrilled when you take a look at where we began to where we are finishing now. I think it is testimony to the process and truly indicates that Weld County respects the rights of property owners to develop and continue to live their lives as they would like, (and) show the rest of the state and nation that Weld is an all-of-the-above energy county.”

The commissioners agreed to a 60-day continuance for more input. Another extension was granted in February with the final verbiage approved at the end of April.

Since then, Platte River Power Authority (PRPA) in partnership with 174 Power Global announced the creation of a solar farm on 1,000-1,400 acres in north Weld. PRPA is the wholesale company for cities such as Loveland, Fort Collins and Estes Park.

Steve Roalstad, communications and marketing manager at PRPA, said the companies began the permitting process last week and have not faced any obstacles due to the review of the regulations. The project must go through multiple phases of approval and public input before work begins.

PRPA estimates 320 full-time employees will work throughout the construction with up to 450 during peak construction, which is set to last 12-14 months. Once complete, the project will provide eight to 10 permanent positions. Additionally, the project is set to provide tax revenues, payment to individual landowners and local revenues through the construction process to help boost the county economy.

“I think we kind of saw, originally, it felt like the commission was trying to come to a solution for a problem that really didn’t exist,” Waldvogle said. “Now, it seems like they’ve come to more common sense policy — that’s what we’re most happy with.”

Platte River Power Authority and 174 Power Global  (174PG), through their subsidiary BHS Solar, LLC, initiated the permitting process with Weld  County planners to consider a utility-scale solar generating installation.

The proposed Black Hollow Solar project, if approved by Weld County planners and commissioners, will be located northeast of Black Hollow Reservoir. The project will span between 1,000 and 1,400 acres, with the final location and layout being determined through a review of physical, environmental, and land-use constraints, and feedback from numerous stakeholders, including neighbors, state agencies, and County leaders.  

When complete, the Black Hollow Solar project will deliver approximately 355,000-megawatt hours (MWh) of energy to Platte River’s system each year, enough to power approximately 43,000 homes. Energy from the project will replace output from Platte River’s share of the coal-fired Craig Unit 1, which will retire from service in 2025. 

“The addition of the Black Hollow Solar project will take us approximately halfway toward our goal of providing 100% noncarbon energy,” said Jason Frisbie, general manager and CEO of  Platte River. “This is one of many significant steps we’re taking to achieve our Resource  Diversification Policy and we’re excited to move forward with construction.”  

An estimated 320 full-time workers will be on the job throughout the construction period and up to 450 during the 12 to the 14-month peak construction period. Additionally, eight to 10 permanent positions will be needed to manage the solar farm when operational. Tax revenues, payments to landowners and local purchases of supplies and services will also contribute to Weld County’s economy.

“A project of this size and scope illustrates Weld County’s support of a diversified energy economy,” said Rich Werner, CEO of Upstate Colorado. “Both traditional and renewable  energies support the growth of our population and the regional economy, and we look forward to  working with our partners through the process to ensure public benefit to the entire region.” 

Per the agreement with Platte River, 174PG will build, own and operate the Black Hollow Solar project and sell the electricity it generates to Platte River beginning in 2023 under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). Energy will be delivered to Platte River’s owner communities in Colorado’s North Front Range through a substation to be built adjacent to existing Platte River transmission lines. 

Combined with the 30 megawatt (MW) Rawhide Flats project that began delivering energy in  2016, and the 22 MW Rawhide Prairie Solar installation (with 2 MWh of battery storage) that began commercial operation in March, the 150 MW Black Hollow Solar project will elevate Platte River’s solar generating capacity to more than 200 MW. Platte River currently receives power from approximately 230 MW of wind energy under long-term PPAs.  

“174 Power Global is pleased to have been selected by Platte River to develop this exciting project and solidify our commitment to supporting Colorado’s low carbon energy future,” said  174 Power Global President Henry Yun, Ph.D. “We look forward to working with the Weld  County community, leadership, and stakeholder groups to help bring this project to fruition,  ensuring that it will be well-designed and promote good stewardship of the environment and  surrounding land while realizing the benefits it will bring as a reliable source of sustainable  energy for the next 25+ years.” 

The project application was made as Weld County leaders work to update ordinances to  better evaluate solar energy siting and development. New rules could be adopted months before any project permits would be approved and issued. Leaders with Platte River and 174PG said the proposed project will clearly align with the updated rules, once adopted.

“We will remain engaged with county leaders because we ultimately want to develop a project that benefits everyone for years to come,” said Jason. 

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Platte River Power Authority is a not-for-profit, community-owned public power utility that generates and delivers safe, reliable, environmentally responsible, and financially sustainable energy and services to Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont, and Loveland for delivery to their utility customers. For more information, visit www.prpa.org. 

• By Chen Hsien-yi and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Members of the Puyuma people yesterday urged the Taitung County Government to scrap plans for a solar power plant on a 161 hectare plot of land near the estuary of the Jhihben River (知本溪).

Taitung City Councilor Chen Cheng-tsung (陳政宗), acting head of the Mafaliu branch of Taitung County’s Aboriginal Katatipul community, accused the county government of hastily passing an ill-designed project while excluding Aborigines from the negotiating process.

The land was, in 2018 when the county government was discussing the project, mostly traditional Aboriginal land, Chen said.

Chen said that the questions in a vote held on June 1, 2019, soliciting the opinions of Aborigines were poorly designed.

The vote passed 187-173, with one abstention.

However, those opposed to the project have questioned the validity of the vote, saying that many people voted on behalf of those not present.

Members of the Mafaliu, Pakaruku and Ruvaniaw branches of the Katatipul community yesterday protested in front of the Taichung County Government building, demanding that the county government respect traditional Aboriginal land and cancel the project.

Aborigines were never consulted about the contract for the project, as it was handled by the county government and the contractor, demonstrating an utter lack of respect for local Aborigines, Chen said.

The county government has also handed the contractor powers that, by law, only Aborigines have the right to exercise, he said.

Over the past three years, local Aborigines have voiced their opposition to the project many times, but the county government has not only ignored their opinions, but has also facilitated the contractor’s efforts to persuade villagers to agree to the project, representatives of the Katatipul community said.

The protesters said that if they did not take a stand and voice their discontent, their autonomy, opinions and rights would be ignored by the county government.

In response, the county government said that it remains committed to the solar power plant, but that it respects the opinions of the local Aborigines and would ensure that the project proceeds according to the law.