Renewable Energy Ban Too Late To Stop Oklahoma Solar Projects

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Alarms have been sounded over the way forward for renewable power improvement in Oklahoma, the place a motion is afoot to impose a complete ban on new wind and solar energy tasks all through the state. Prefer it or not, although, Oklahoma has already emerged as a clear power ambassador for the remainder of the US, a task that’s starting to warmth up in new instructions.

Extra Renewable Vitality For Oklahoma

Oklahoma already has one foot firmly within the renewable power trade. The state shortly grew to become a number one hotspot for wind improvement within the early 2000s and it nonetheless ranks proper up there at #3 in a 50-state rating of installed wind capacityat 12,648 megawatts as of final April. Amongst forthcoming tasks is a 241-megawatt wind farm underneath the umbrella of the agency RWE. The utility SWEPCO can be transferring ahead with building of a 598-megawatt mission, to be operational by the tip of this yr.

Take wind out of the state’s renewable power sails, although, and the image dims. The US Photo voltaic Vitality Trade Affiliation places Oklahoma down at #40 for photo voltaic improvement, with only a hair over 376 megawatts’ value of put in capability as of Q3 2024.

Nonetheless, 376 megawatts is a major leap up from only one yr earlier, when the state had solely 46 megawatts underneath its belt. SEIA tasks that the Oklahoma photo voltaic trade will proceed to expertise outsized development within the close to time period, with the state transferring as much as #30 over the following 5 years.

Renewable Vitality & Knowledge Facilities

One issue driving the sharp upswing in Oklahoma’s photo voltaic profile is the information heart increase. Within the newest improvement, earlier this week the Texas-based agency Leeward Renewable Vitality recapped its plans to develop greater than 700 megawatts’ value of photo voltaic power capability from three new solar farmsa few of which is already spoken for by Google by means of long run energy purchases.

One mission alone will greater than double the state’s put in photo voltaic capability virtually in a single day, consisting of  a three-array portfolio totaling 372 megawatts in Mayes County. All three are situated close to a Google information heart in Pryor. Two different tasks situated within the southern a part of the state will carry the whole to 724 megawatts (AC).

LRE expects the tasks to offer grid-wide advantages to ratepayers in Oklahoma, not simply Google, partly by means of a transmission collaboration with the Grand River Dam Authority.

“The addition of more than 700 MWac of new solar resources at carefully chosen locations will enable more efficient utilization of the regional transmission network and enhance grid resilience while also directly enabling customer expansion,” LRE famous in a press assertion earlier this week.

“In a time of growing electricity demand to power our overall economy, these solar projects provide a very tangible and real solution,” they added, which seems like a not-so-subtle poke on the competitors for information heart power procurement. Nuclear advocates, for instance, have been attempting to horn in on the information heart motion, along with coal and gasoline stakeholders.

Renewable Vitality & The Energy Of Energy Buy Agreements

For these of you new to the subject, energy buy agreements have been supporting the renewable power increase within the US because the early 2000s.  They had been approved by the Energy Policy Act of 2005enabling builders to lock in tax advantages and monetary commitments from long run off-takers for brand spanking new power tasks earlier than building begins.

As a corollary, energy buy agreements additionally allow power shoppers to acquire renewable power, with out having to host a wind or photo voltaic mission on their very own property, and with out having to stake an up-front funding.

Within the preliminary years following the authorization of energy buy agreements, builders and off-takers needed to re-invent the wheel with every transaction. This cumbersome and costly course of quickly gave option to new programs that make PPA’s extra accessible to each events. Again in 2018, for instance, CleanTechnica took notice of a power purchase agreement system developed by the startup LevelTen Vitality, geared toward aggregating demand for small scale off-takers.

Though a crimson sizzling motion towards renewable power has been kicking up in two dozen or so states, LevelTen has been awfully busy since then, and they’re about to get busier.

In March of 2023, LevelTen and Google launched a brand new partnership geared toward slashing 80% of the time spent on executing PPAs. “Public officials in more than 20 states have been kicking up a regular haboob over the evils of ‘woke capital,’ by which they mean to thwart clean energy investment,” CleanTechnica reported. “Meanwhile, Google has just sneaked right up and pulled the rug out from under them.”

You possibly can say that once more. Google’s new energy buy agreements with LRE in Oklahoma had been executed underneath  LevelTen Vitality’s new “Accelerated Process” (LEAP for brief), developed by LevelTen and Google.

“These power purchase agreements demonstrate how our scalable procurement approach is transforming the acquisition of clean energy and accelerating the development of carbon-free energy sources,” Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s World Head of Knowledge Heart Vitality, emphasizes.

Oklahoma Accelerates The Vitality Transition All Over The USA

Between its wind trade and its fossil power industries, Oklahoma has already staked out a mammoth-sized declare on US power manufacturing, storage, and transportation. As an early showcase for the LEAP energy buy collaboration, the state is now onto the following degree, demonstrating that renewable power can obtain the type of fast turnaround wanted to help surging development in electrical energy demand whereas supporting grid-wide reliability enhancements.

The Grand River Dam Authority, for one, is all for it. “Google’s support for these solar projects in Oklahoma is a testament to their commitment to help meet the state’s growing energy needs with secure, sustainable solutions.” explains GRDA EVP John Wiscaver.

“Google is a valuable partner to GRDA, and we look forward to helping them meet their future power needs while continuing to foster economic growth in the GRDA communities of Northeast Oklahoma,” Wiscaver added.

In the meantime, state officers are additionally celebrating Oklahoma’s new function as a centerpiece of the US photo voltaic trade provide chain. Final summer season, the state nailed down an financial improvement deal for a brand new $620 million, 5-gigawatt silicon ingot and photo voltaic wafer manufacturing facility. Positioned at Tulsa Worldwide Airport, the brand new manufacturing facility is one other instance of fast turnaround for renewable power tasks.

“Production is anticipated to come online in 2026, making the Oklahoma facility among the first in the United States to produce high-performing silicon ingots and wafers, currently the biggest bottleneck in achieving a fully domestic solar supply chain,” enthused the Oklahoma Division of Aeronautics and Aerospace in a press assertion.

Towards this backdrop, the information group HeatMap has been following actions on the state capitol, the place activists have been rallying help for a statewide ban on renewable power improvement. HeatMap notes that wind and photo voltaic stakeholders aren’t the one targets. Oklahoma’s potential function as an A-list inexperienced hydrogen producer is also in jeopardy, and that pulls the highly effective fertilizer trade into the road of fireside.

Take the main fertilizer agency CF Industries. CF already has a foot within the inexperienced hydrogen door by means of its Donaldson facility in Louisiana, and it has proposed a green ammonia project for Oklahoma, too. The proposal entails 450 megawatts’ value of renewable power to supply inexperienced hydrogen (ammonia consists of three elements hydrogen, one half nitrogen).

The CF plan hit a velocity bump final yr when the Vitality Division declined to incorporate the mission for funding underneath the “Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs” program, however final spring Oklahoma officers indicated that new state legislation may assist fill the hole, so keep tuned for extra on that.

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Picture (cropped): The solar has but to set on wind and solar development in Oklahomaregardless of looming considerations over a statewide ban (courtesy of Leeward Renewable Vitality).