Duke Energy Renewables is looking to build a three-site solar energy project in North Carolina, then sell the energy to George Washington University (GW), American University (AU) and the George Washington University Hospital (GWUH).
The project, called the Capital Partners Solar Project, is the biggest non-utility solar photovoltaic (PV) power purchase agreement in total contracted megawatt hours in the U.S., according to Phys.org.
"Thanks to this innovative partnership, George Washington University will now derive more than half of all its electricity from solar energy," said Steven Knapp, president of GW. "This will greatly accelerate our progress toward the carbon neutrality target we had earlier set for 2025."
The three institutions announced the agreement Monday night, which will last for 20 years. The Capital Partners Solar Project will be built close to Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and is scheduled to be fully operational in 2015, with 243,000 solar panels. Once operational, the three solar farms are expected to produce 123 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year, which planners said is the equivalent of eliminating 60,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, or taking 12,500 cars off the road, WRAL reported.
"We'll be directly sourcing our electricity from three solar energy sites," Knapp said. "We're not just buying certificates for renewable energy. We're actually directly sourcing from renewable energy. The impact of that is pretty huge."
The project's designers said it will be the largest project east of the Mississippi River, News & Observer reported. The deal will provide these D.C. institutions with the ability to meet their goals for carbon reduction.
Solar power will provide over half of the electricity used by the universities and one-third of what the hospital needs. Energy will be sent from solar farms in North Carolina through Dominion North Carolina Power and will be delivered from PJM Interconnection.
"That gives us the most efficient way to then commercially get the power to these customers," said Greg Wolf, president of Duke Renewables.
Neil Kerwin, president of American University, said the school is aiming to end reliance on carbon by 2020, WRAL reported.
"We felt an institution our size in partnership with one the size of GW could send a pretty strong message about both the feasibility and the wisdom of both the partnership and the move toward renewable sources of energy," Kerwin said.
Alex Perera, an expert in renewable energy at the World Resources Institute, said Duke's deal with the three institutions could influence other schools and institutions to directly buy renewable energy.
"These kinds of long-term contracts from good-credit buyers can really be helpful to renewable energy developers in helping them get the financing they need to get projects built," he said. "It allows buyers to get more value out of renewable energy."
