The Trump Administration’s pro-fossil, anti-climate
agenda means states must lead renewable energy development in the near
term, but will barriers to siting solar and wind in land-constrained regions
impede growth?
Large-scale renewables are key to decarbonization, but
siting projects is tricky even in leader states. For instance, New York and
Massachusetts have ambitious renewables targets, but many potential locations
for solar and wind in each are on private or preserved land — so where can
developers build the generation required for clean energy goals?
New research, Siting
Renewable Generation: The Northeast Perspective, seeks to solve the
challenge of siting renewable energy and connecting it to the
grid. Eleanor Stein, a former New York Public Service Commission (NY PSC)
Administrative Law Judge and NY-REV Project Manager, led the effort
for America’s Power Plan (APP).
Ambitious Renewable Goals Across the Most Constrained Lands
Seven northeastern U.S. states in the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) maintain emissions reduction goals
and renewable energy standards which would increase regional renewables supply
(mostly wind and solar) to at least 42 percent by 2030. This would more than
double 2015’s 20 percent installed generation capacity, but requires major
capacity additions within a short period without identifying ideal project
sites.
For example, the NY PSC estimated achieving New
York’s 50 percent by 2030 renewable generation goal would necessitate
3,500 MW of onshore wind and 6,800 MW of utility-scale solar — requiring
approximately 700 square kilometers (km) for wind turbines and 136 square km
for solar arrays, using NREL land-use estimates.
“We all live in a land-constrained environment — as the old
joke goes, they’re just not making any more land,” said Stein. “But the
Northeast lacks the vast tracts of federal land that characterize the West,
where nearly half the land is federally owned.”
New York’s 50 by ’30 goal depends on timely regulatory
approvals and private landowners willing to host projects, but a history of
siting renewables daunts investors. According to the Alliance for Clean
Energy-New York, four years is the best-case scenario for new wind farm
construction, but obtaining permits can require up to eight years.
Regional Coordination May Be Key to Success
The aggressive renewable energy goals in the Northeast U.S.
require substantial land areas for wind and solar in rural regions as well as
meaningful offshore wind and solar near urban areas. In this context, regional
planning and coordination can balance demand with siting.
“The Northeast should consider a regional mapping exercise
to identify lowest-conflict areas for renewable development and transmission,
which has been effective
in the West,” said Stein, noting potential applications of the Energy Zone Mapping Tool. This collaboration of
DOE’s national labs identifies areas suitable for renewable power in a
searchable GIS format, including topography, proximity to water, nearest
population centers, and environmental conflict areas.
The Challenge Facing Onshore Wind
Local landowner concerns are increasingly relevant to wind
farm proposals across the Northeast. While farming communities welcome leasing
revenue and tax incentives, opposition from homeowners and environmentalists
can impede projects.
Opponents often use local zoning regulations to circumvent
state-backed certification processes, delaying or preventing new wind farms.
Several towns in New York have adopted six-month moratoriums on siting turbines
and the meteorological towers needed to assess wind resources, frustrating
state efforts to site utility-scale generation.
“Local government opposition to siting a project or
organized community opposition can strongly influence state regulatory
commission decisions,” said Stein. “That means political pressure on town
councils from local residents that support renewables can make or break a
proposal.”
Communities often lack ordinances to deal with turbine
siting, so when a new project is proposed, the most vocal opponents can lead
local action, and state-siting preemption can overlook solutions benefitting
local communities. But if local governments create ordinances dealing with
siting or developers build local support before projects are proposed, all
sides can benefit.
Wind developers should also explore land trust or other
conserved properties to site new generation. One approach under consideration
in New York is encouraging local land trusts to review their inventories and
aid in identifying suitable sites for wind turbines, while designing new
conservation easements to include wind energy.
Offshore Wind’s Role Moving Forward
Offshore wind can, and likely must play a larger role in Northeast
renewable energy goals. Massachusetts’ Cape Wind experience reminds us that
offshore wind is not immune from siting challenges, but new projects are faring
better with more state support and better site identification.
State or regional transmission planning, similar to the
proposed New Jersey-Virginia Atlantic Wind Connection offshore
transmission project, can also drive new project development and dramatically
reduce offshore development cost. Organizing coastal interconnections and
undersea transmission networks can lead to faster and cheaper solutions linking
offshore wind farms with onshore load centers — often at previously developed
industrial areas along the coast.
Offshore wind could also tap grid infrastructure left behind
as generation along coastlines is retired, especially substations and
interconnection points currently servicing aging or uneconomic nuclear or coal
plants. These could help balance supply and demand as the market pushes older
fossil fuel generation offline. “Coastal power plants such as large nuclear
plants slated for retirement may serve as ideal low-conflict terminals for new
clean electricity to flow onto the grid,” said Stein.
Uncovering New Locations for Solar in Overlooked Places
Solar faces different challenges than wind, as arrays
require 5-10 acres covered with panels per megawatt, eliminating agricultural
and recreational use. But reconsidering underutilized land and infrastructure
could open significant locations for solar. “More and more creative investors
are identifying viable sites for solar in crowded cities, suburbs, and rural
areas,” said Stein.
“Brightfields,” or solar on brownfields/contaminated sites
and capped landfills, could restore former industrial sites and factories to
productive use in proximity to communities without requiring significant new
transmission. The EPA’s RE-powering program has identified 80,000
potential sites nationwide, and many local governments provide tax incentives
and streamlined permitting processes for brightfield developments.
Prison lands are another promising option, as most
correctional institutions are surrounded by vacant land and are large
electricity consumers. Several states have made open land surrounding prisons
available for solar — in 2015 New
York State issued a request for proposals to site arrays on state-owned
land surrounding upstate prisons and sell power to correctional facilities
under 20-year contracts.
Community solar also holds potential in urban areas, for
low-income customers or renters who can’t install rooftop solar, and for rural
communities where resilience to outages is low. These customers contribute to
renewable generation financing through electric bills, and community solar
provides equitable solar access with bill savings through net metering credits,
at locations close to demand. Community solar also can drive solar prices down
by pooling demand from individual rooftop systems into larger centrally located
projects — median costs for non-residential solar is 13-38
percent less than average residential systems.
“No Reason to Scale Back”
Despite siting challenges, regional renewable goals
shouldn’t be abandoned.
“There’s no reason to scale back,” said Stein. “Germany
meets its electricity needs with 35 percent renewables, and California, Texas,
and Iowa are rapidly following suit with more than 50 percent renewables at
times — Northeast states, collectively motivated to decarbonize their
economies, are right to confidently follow suit.”
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