Dover approves purchase of solar power

Dover city council agreed to buy all the energy produced by what's being described as the first utility-scale solar power plant on the Eastern seaboard north of Florida.

Operating through a local affiliate called White Oak Solar Energy LLC, LS Power Development of East Brunswick, N.J., says it will spend $50 million to $60 million for a plant that would generate 10 megawatts of electricity. The plant will be on a 90-acre tract of the city-owned Garrison Oak Technology Park on the city's east side.

Francis Hodsoll of Pace Global Energy Services, who advises the city on utility projects, was pressed by Councilman William P. McGlumphy to tell residents how they would benefit. The cost of electricity will be higher, Hodsoll said, but the solar plant would replace polluting sources of energy with clean ones. He said the project will make Dover the regional leader in solar energy and provide "risk mitigation" in case the city were required to use renewable energy sources in the future.

Councilman Eugene B. Ruane said the solar plant would cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 22,000 tons a year while also reducing other chemical byproducts of the city's oil- and gas-fired electric plant.

The energy purchase agreement is the first of three contracts needed to finalize the deal. Another contract would provide for the lease of the plant site and the third would be an agreement among the city, Delmarva Power and White Oak on how renewable energy credits generated by the solar plant would be divvied up.

Delmarva will not buy power from the plant — to be called Dover SUN Park — but will buy the bulk of the energy credits to help satisfy a state requirement that renewable sources account for 20 percent of the utility's power supply by 2019. The state's municipally owned utilities are expected to buy the rest.

Related News

texas electricity reforms

Texas Weighs Electricity Market Reforms To Avoid Blackouts

HOUSTON - The Public Utility Commission of Texas is discussing major reforms to the state’s electricity market with the purpose to avoid a repeat of the power failures and blackouts in February 2021, which led to the death of more than 100 people and left over 11 million residents without electricity for days.

The regulator is discussing at a meeting on Thursday around a dozen proposals to make the grid more stable and reliable in case of emergencies. Proposals include paying power generators that are on standby when the grid needs backup, and requiring companies to pre-emptively buy capacity to meet…

READ MORE
canada-first-commercial-electric-flight

Canada's First Commercial Electric Flight

READ MORE

iran nuclear plant deal

Iran Says Deals to Rehabilitate, Develop Iraq Power Grid Finalized

READ MORE

schott-powers-german-plants-with-green-electricity

Schott Powers German Plants with Green Electricity

READ MORE

bc hydro logo

B.C. residents and businesses get break on electricity bills for three months

READ MORE