GW will see its first phase of solar power arriving in the Spring 2015 semester. The University entered into a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Duke Energy Renewables to provide solar power generated in North Carolina to meet half of our electricity needs.
This major development was part of GW’s actions to implement our Climate Action Plan and to meet our commitments to the University President’s Climate Commitment. Under that commitment, GW is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and to measuring its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GW’s Climate Action Plan targets carbon neutrality by 2040, with a 40 percent reduction in our cumulative carbon emissions by 2025 relative to a 2008 baseline.
Construction started on the new solar facility, located near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, this past summer. PPA revenues will pay for the “Capital Partners Solar Project”. When fully operational later in 2015 with 243,000 solar panels, the project is expected to generate 123 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. That translates to eliminating about 60,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year or taking 12,500 cars off the road.
The Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group, said this is the Nation's largest non-utility solar Power Purchase Agreement. It will be the largest photo-voltaic solar power operation east of the Mississippi River.
The solar power generated in North Carolina will move into the Washington region's electrical grid for the universities. An equivalent amount of conventional electricity will be withdrawn from the same electric grid.
To make the situation even better, the 20-year contract provides fixed pricing for solar energy at a lower price than GW currently pays for power. Over the full 20-year term, University officials expect our shift to solar could yield millions of dollars in savings as the cost of conventional power is expected to rise.
This solar initiative is just a part of GW’s new Sustainability Collaborative, of which the EEM program is a major component.
