Regional renewable outlook: NPCC

Options Toolbox

Related Companies Allco Renewable Energy Group Aroostook Wind Energy Caletta Renewable Energy Deepwater Wind Energias de Portugal First Wind Holdings GDF Suez SA ISO-NE Laidlaw Energy Group Inc New York Power Authority Riverbank Energy Center Riverbank Ogdensburg Riverbank Power Corp TransCanada Corp. (TRP) Winergy

Related Documents Industry Document "Renewable Electricity: Tracking State Output and Standards" presented on 7/14/2009 Industry Document "Regional Outlook for Renewables" presented on 9/30/2009

Related Articles 10/6/2009 Data Dispatch: Regional renewable outlook-California 9/25/2009 Data Dispatch: Regional renewable outlook — ERCOT 8/12/2009 Data Dispatch: Waxman-Markey renewable electricity standard and state-level fuel mix

Related Power Plants Allco Offshore Wind Farm Aroostook Wind Berlin Wood Burning Blenheim-Gilboa Davis Bank Offshore Wind Jefferson Renewable Energy Nantucket 1 Offshore Wind Nantucket 2 Offshore Wind Northfield Mountain Ogdensburg Pumped Storage Robert Moses Niagara Tomkins Cove Pumped Storage Verplanck Pumped Storage project Wiscasset Pumped Storage

Despite the cancelation of 675 MW of renewable projects in 2009, the Northeast Power Coordinating Council region maintains a healthy list of future renewable projects. More than 59% of total planned capacity within the NPCC region is classified as renewable generation. Such an aggressive portion of future capacity for renewables can be, in part, attributed to state renewable portfolio standards.

It is worth pointing out that not all renewable resources are necessarily eligible to be included within a state's RPS. Such standards vary from state to state when it comes to eligible technologies and fuel types; specifications of those technologies in terms of year constructed, nameplate capacity, biomass emission levels and so on; percentage of electricity purchased from other states; and a multitude of other standards. For the purpose of this article, renewables include all biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar and wind resources.

The 2007 ratios of total renewable generation to total net generation vary widely from state to state. Rhode Island produced more than 7 million MWh of power in 2007, 2.2% of which came from renewable sources. Rhode Island has committed itself to an aggressive RPS target of 19% renewable generation by 2019. Helping achieve this goal is 965 MW of planned renewable capacity, most of which will come from the planned 676-MW, RPS-eligible Allco Offshore Wind Farm. Maine, on the other hand, generated a whopping 51.5% of its electricity from renewables in 2007 though not all of that is necessarily RPS eligible.

The current renewable energy portfolio within the NPCC heavily favors hydroelectric generation, which comprised 73.2% of all current NPCC renewable capacity and 72.2% of all renewable net generation in 2007. The Robert Moses Niagara plant in New York contributed more than 27% of 2007 renewable generation for the entire region alone and holds 18% of the current operating renewable capacity at 2,353 MW. Other hydroelectric plants of note are the Blenheim-Gilboa plant in New York and the Northfield Mountain hydro facility in Massachusetts, which have an operating capacity of 1,146.8 MW and 1,080 MW, respectively.

Looking forward

Of the five largest planned renewable projects, four are hydroelectric facilities. Riverbank Power Corp is aggressively expanding into the NPCC as the owner of all four of these 1,000-MW facilities. Wiscasset Pumped Storage in Maine and Ogdensburg Pumped Storage in New York are owned by Riverbank Energy Center and Riverbank Ogdensburg, respectively. Both are subsidiaries of Riverbank Power. The Verplanck Pumped Storage and Tomkins Cove Pumped Storage projects complete Riverbank Power's planned renewable portfolio for the NPCC.

The fifth largest project planned for the NPCC is the Nantucket 1 Offshore Wind project, which has 831 MW of planned capacity and is owned by Deepwater Wind subsidiary Winergy LLC.

Despite the fact that hydro projects dominate the top five, planned wind projects lead the way when it comes to total aggregate capacity. With 118 projects in the works and an expected 11,406 MW of capacity, wind accounts for more than 67% of planned renewable capacity. All of the top five planned wind projects are to be located in the ISO New England Inc. territory. Aroostook Wind is an 800-MW project in Maine owned by Energias de Portugal subsidiary Aroostook Wind Energy. In addition to Nantucket 1 Offshore Wind, Deepwater Wind also is pursuing the 763-MW Nantucket 2 and the 784-MW Davis Bank projects. Wrapping up the top five wind projects is the Allco Offshore Wind Farm in Rhode Island being developed by Allco Renewable Energy Group Ltd. LLC.

Aside from wind and water, there are 439.5 MW of biomass waste capacity planned for the NPCC. Spearheading this sector is Caletta Renewable Energy with its 90-MW Jefferson Renewable project. There are seven biomass wood projects slated for the NPCC totaling 365.6 MW, the largest project belonging to Laidlaw Energy Group Inc. Laidlaw's 65-MW Berlin Wood Burning project is located in New Hampshire.

Within the NPCC, the spot to watch is New York, where, arguably, the bulk of renewable projects will be located. Of the 16,921 MW of planned renewables within the NPCC, 8,455 MW are planned for New York, representing an impressive 50% of planned renewable capacity within the entire NPCC. The bulk of this capacity will come from wind plants, with 64 wind projects planned in the state totaling 4,814 MW. There are a total of 210 hydroelectric projects planned in New York, representing 3,482 MW of planned capacity.

The top five owners of operating renewable capacity within the NPCC are the New York Power Authority, GDF Suez SA, Brookfield Asset Management Inc., TransCanada Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The top five owners of planned renewable capacity are Riverbank Power, Deepwater Wind, Energias de Portugal, First Wind Holdings and Allco Renewable Energy Group.