Utilities Double Solar Capacity

Sub Title: Report shows rapid growth

Bill Opalka

Electric utilities appear to have been on a buying and building spree for solar power in the past year. That’s more than anecdotal information reported here previously, but it’s also confirmed by a new report by a solar trade association.

Electric utilities appear to have been on a buying and building spree for solar power in the past year. That’s more than anecdotal information [3] reported here previously, but it’s also confirmed by a new report by a solar trade association.

The Solar Electric Power Association [4] (SEPA) just released its 2010 Utility Solar Rankings report, which shows an influx of interest in the resource, and much of it is outside of the U.S. Southwest.

SEPA’s report [5] identifies the Top 10 U.S. utilities that added the most new solar power to their systems last year and the Top 10 utilities that added the most solar on a watts-per-customer-served basis. Altogether, the Top 10 utilities reported that they added 561 megawatts of new solar capacity, an increase of 100 percent over 2009.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), in northern California, led all utilities in the most new solar energy added to its grid with a total of 157 megawatts. But the next two positions are held by East Coast utilities: Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), based in Juno Beach, Florida, and Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G), based in Newark, New Jersey, the report said.

Among the report’s key conclusions:

Utility solar electric markets continue to expand rapidly across the country. About 63 percent of the new solar capacity came from utilities outside of California, the largest percentage on record. Seven of this year’s top 10 solar megawatt utilities were from outside California, and four of the top-ranking utilities were located in the Eastern United States.

Solar power is becoming recognized as an important element in the energy supply planning [6] and customer energy management of utilities nationwide.

Two new growth trends are changing the profile of solar electric power in the United States: centralized projects and utility ownership. Traditionally, solar markets have relied on distributed PV for most new capacity. However, centralized projects are gaining new traction – eight centralized power plants of 10 megawatts each were installed in 2010.

This included what are now the two largest PV projects in the U.S. – the 48-megawatt Copper Mountain project in Nevada, with power purchased by Pacific Gas & Electric and the 30-megawatt Cimaron project in New Mexico, purchased by Tri-State Generation & Transmission Cooperative Association in Colorado.

The largest concentrating solar project in nearly 20 years was also installed in 2010. It is a CSP-hybrid natural gas facility owned by FPL.  Centralized projects totaled 226 megawatts in 2010, up from 46 megawatts the year before.

Thirty utilities reported owning 140 megawatts of solar as opposed to purchasing power from plants owned by independent power producers.
On a watts-per-customer basis, the utility ranked first was a municipal utility, Silicon Valley Power in Santa Clara, California. It was followed by PSE&G and Hawaiian Electric Company.

And with a significant construction pipeline well under way this year, the next report promises an even bigger influx of solar electric power into the utilities’ energy portfolios.

The editorial staff at RenewablesBiz.com is passionate about exchanging ideas and dedicated to promoting ongoing conversation about renewables and sustainable energy issues. We invite you to join and contribute to our online community. If you have an idea for an article or editorial contribution, please contact me via email, bopalka@energycentral.com [7], or phone, 860.633.0090.

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