Two Renewable Energy Projects Chosen

The Malloy administration recently announced the selection of two renewable energy projects in response to a request for proposals, the September 20th edition of The CT Mirror reported. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) received 47 proposals from bidders seeking contracts to provide electricity under the state’s revised Renewable Portfolio Standard. It chose:

• Number Nine Wind Farm, a 250 megawatt wind project to be built in Aroostook County, Maine by EDP Renewables North America LLC and
• Fusion Solar Center, a 20 megawatt solar photovoltaic system to be built by an out-of-state company, HelioSage Energy, in Sprague and Lisbon on 145 acres primarily owned by the Connecticut-based Fusion Paperboard Company.

DEEP used the following three weighted criteria to make its selection: (1) price of the electricity produced by the project (80%), the contribution toward improving power grid reliability (15%) and the proposals’ feasibility (5%).

According to the article, the administration says the projects’ costs, under eight cents per kilowatt hour on average, are (1) close to the cost of power generated from fossil fuel plants and (2) some of the lowest ever obtained for solar and wind power in the region. The average price of all proposals that were submitted and ranked was 12.8 cents per kilowatt hour, with the highest costing over 20 cents per kilowatt hour. According to DEEP commissioner Daniel C. Esty, the price of the winning contracts is locked in for 15 years, which should make the rates even more attractive if natural gas and oil prices rise. The two projects will meet 3.5% of Connecticut’s total energy demand and one-fifth of the state’s renewable energy goals.