Maine’s sunshine will soon provide more than just lighting for viewing the fall foliage.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission last week announced a procurement of renewable energy, and solar developers were the clear winners, claiming 14 of the 17 projects selected. It is the PUC’s largest procurement of renewable energy since restructuring more than 20 years ago.
The selected projects were evaluated through a competitive bidding process based on expected value to Maine’s consumers and economy. Solar will account for 482 of the 546 MW of the approved projects, with wind (20 MW), hydroelectric (4.5 MW) and biomass (39 MW) making up the remainder.
The biggest projects are Swift Current Energy’s 100-MW solar farm in Hancock County, which signed a term sheet with Versant Power, and Granite Apollo’s Canton (65 MW) and Roxbury (55 MW) projects, which signed agreements with Central Maine Power.
Maine currently has about 93 MW of solar power, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, ranking it 43rd among states.
PUC Chairman Philip Bartlett told RTO Insider that this process “reflects just how much renewable energy potential there is in Maine and the benefits to Maine’s economy from moving forward aggressively.”
Winning bidders estimated the projects would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 500,000 tons per year. They have also committed to providing more than 450 full-time jobs during the construction phase and more than 30 full-time-equivalent positions in each operational year.
“It’s really important that as we are transitioning to a clean economy that we recognize the important economic benefits to Maine people and the jobs that can be created,” Bartlett said. “I think it’s certainly beneficial that there’ll be a lot of jobs during the construction phase as well. That will help at a time when the economy is struggling, so hopefully, the combination of those things will have a meaningful long-term impact.”
The projects promise more than $145 million in initial capital spending. In addition, the ReEnergy Livermore Falls biomass project will generate payments to Maine-based contractors for the harvest of wood fuel averaging $11 million to $12 million annually during the 20-year contract term.
“I think that’s an indication of how strong a market signal this was, and we’re excited about this procurement, which is the first to not just look at the price that comes with these projects, which in this case was very competitive, but also look at the economic benefits,” Dan Burgess, director of Gov. Janet Mills’ Energy Office, told RTO Insider. “It’s pretty innovative to have those built-in directly into the contracts and the term sheets; I think it’s a guaranteed positive impact for an economy.”
The first-year energy prices for the 15 new projects awarded term sheets ranged from $29.75 to $40/MWh, with a weighted average price just under $35/MWh.
These projects are the first since Mills signed legislation last year to increase the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 80% by 2030 and set a goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050.
Another round of procurement bids for renewable resources is due in mid-January, and developers that were not initially selected can enter again. The two procurements must equal 14% of the state’s 2018 retail electricity sales. The awards announced last week represent 9.4% of 2018 sales.