The state of Maine wants to develop 30 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind and tidal power.
Last week the Maine Public Utilities Commission released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for off-shore wind and tidal renewable energy projects to be submitted by May 1, 2011.
During its 2010 session, the Maine Legislature passed a law based on the recommendations of the Governor’s Ocean Energy Task Force designed to facilitate the development of such off-shore wind or tidal projects.
The law directs the Commission to conduct a competitive solicitation for proposals for long-term contracts to supply installed capacity, associated renewable energy supply, and renewable energy credits from deep-water off-shore wind energy pilot projects or tidal energy demonstration projects.
As specified in the law, the Commission may authorize one or more long-term contracts for an aggregate total of no more than 30 MW from these projects as long as no more than 5 MW of the total is supplied by tidal energy demonstration projects.
(Maine-based Ocean Renewable Power Company last month announced successful testing of its tidal power turbine in the waters off Eastport, Maine.)
More information on the RFP is available here.
Pennsylvannia Announces 40 Energy Projects
Pennsylvannia Governor Edward G. Rendell on Monday announced $20.5 million in state and federal investments to create 1,400 clean energy jobs.
The funding will benefit 40 diverse energy projects that will generate or save the equivalent of more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over their lifetimes.
The Governor noted that the state investment provided through the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, or PEDA, will also leverage more than $211 million in private funds. Since 2005, PEDA has invested more than $99 million in 201 projects which have generated more than $883 million in matching funds.
The projects announced by the Governor were funded through three
sources. Twenty-four projects were funded with $13 million from Growing
Greener II, eight projects were funded with $5 million in federal
stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and
eight projects in the Pittsburgh region were funded with $2.5 million
through Duquesne Light Co. settlement funds.
In making the announcement, Rendell pushed for expansion of the state’s mandate for solar power.
When it was enacted in 2004, Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards act was one of the nation’s most ambitious laws, but has since been surpassed by other states.
The current law’s solar share requirement requires that one-half-of-one percent of the electricity Pennsylvanians purchase in 2021 come from solar power. However, Delaware has a 3.5% requirement by 2025; Maryland will require that 2% of their electricity comes from solar by 2022; New Jersey will require 4% solar generation by 2021; and Illinois–the seventh-largest coal producer in the nation–has set a 1.5% goal for 2025.
"Pennsylvania is on pace to become one of the top five states this year for the amount of installed solar generation capacity we have, but that’s because of the standards we enacted six years ago," Rendell said.
"Unless we move now to increase our solar share–even to a modest 1.5% target–the types of projects we’re announcing today won’t even consider Pennsylvania. They’ll look elsewhere and take their jobs with them. And the 600 solar businesses now operating in Pennsylvania may move to another state where the sun shines brighter. Not acting on this issue now will only hurt our economy in the long-run."
Hawaii Decouples Power Sales
Hawaii’s electric company will receive guaranteed payments regardless of how much power it sells under a decision made last week to promote renewable energy.
Read Associated Press coverage at the link below.
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