January: All New Generation was Renewable

According to a monthly report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, all of the new utility-scale electric generating projects commissioned in the United States in January – 1231 megawatts worth — were renewable-energy systems.

New wind capacity grew 247 percent over installations in January 2012, and new solar capacity grew 128 percent over the same month a year ago.

No new fossil-fuel plants came online anywhere in the country.

FERC Chart

The “Energy Infrastructure Update” details the projects commissioned in January:

Electric Generation Highlights

• BP Wind Energy’s 470 MW Flat Ridge 2 Wind Farm in Nashville, KS is online. Flat Ridge 2 consists of 294 GE 1.6 MW turbines. Another 130 MW is expected to come online by year end 2013. The electricity generated is sold to Southwestern Electric Power Co., Associated Electric Cooperative Inc, and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. under long-term contracts.

• Duke Energy Renewables’ 402 MW Los Vientos I and II in Willacy County, TX are online. Los Vientos I consists of 87 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines; Los Vientos II consists of 84 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 2.4 MW turbines. The electricity generated is sold to CPS Energy and Austin Energy under long-term contracts.

• Exelon Corp’s 82 MW Beebe Community Wind Farm in Gratiot County, MI is online. Beebe Community Wind consists of 34 Nordex 2.4 MW turbines. Another 82 MW is expected to come online by year end 2013. The electricity generated is sold to Consumers Energy Co. under long-term contract.

• Equity Industrial Turbines’ 4 MW Gloucester Wind in Gloucester, MA in online. Gloucester Wind consists of a pair of 2 MW turbines. The electricity generated is sold to the City of Gloucester under long-term contract.

• Waste Management Inc.’s 4 MW Mahoning LFG Facility in Mahoning County, OH is online. Methane from the landfill is used to fire the Caterpillar Inc Technology generator. The power generated is sold to American Municipal Power Inc. under long-term contract.

• Solar farms in California: 1) Exelon Corp’s 115 MW Antelope Valley Solar Project near Lancaster is online. Another 115 MW is expected to come online by year end 2013. The power generated is sold to PG&E under long-term contract. 2) NRG’s 107.4 MW California Valley Solar Ranch Units 2 and 3 in San Luis Obispo County are online. Units 3 and 4 with 62.5 MW each, are expected to come online by year end 2013. The power generated is sold to PG&E under long-term contract.

• Duke Energy Renewables’ 10 MW Black Mountain Solar Power Project near Kingman, AZ is online. Black Mountain solar consists of 42,000 PV panels. The power generated is sold to UniSource Energy Services under long-term contract.

• Volkswagen Group of America’s 10 MW Chattanooga Volkswagen Solar in Chattanooga, TN is online. The solar park consists of 33,600 JA Solar modules. The electricity generated is contracted on-site to Volkswagen Group of America.

• Exelon Corp’s 5.7 MW Outback Solar in Lake County, OR is online. The solar park consists of 20,000 PV panels. Another 10 MW is expected to come online by year end 2013. The electricity generated is sold to Portland General Electric under long-term contract.

• Siemens AG’s 4.5 MW White Sand Missile Range Solar in Dona Ana County, NM is online. The solar park consists of 15,500 sun-tracking PV panels. The electricity generated is contracted on-site to the U.S. Army.

Click here to download the complete report.

About Seth Masia
Seth Masia is editor of SOLAR TODAY Magazine and director of communications at the American Solar Energy Society.
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