Posts Tagged ‘energy’

The commonwealth of Massachusetts will fund a program to conduct comprehensive energy audits at each of its six military installations as part of a first-of-its-kind initiative to identify opportunities for renewable energy development, officials announced Thursday. The effort is intended to help the Defense Department achieve two of its key priorities — reducing base operating costs and boosting energy security — and builds on the state’s leadership in promoting energy efficiency and clean energy …

The Army on Wednesday dedicated its largest solar photovoltaic system at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., a 4.1-megawatt array that will generate 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. The $16.8 million array designed by Solaria Corp. features a ground-mounted, single-axis tracking system that is projected to increase energy yield by up to 30 percent over fixed systems. The array consists of 15,500 sun-tracking solar panels spread over 42 acres …

The capacity of microgrids at DOD installations is estimated to reach 55 megawatts by 2018, according to a recent report from Pike Research. While the Marine Corps has shown the fastest initial growth spurt in microgrid capacity, because of its sheer size the Army is expected to experience the largest increase in annual capacity over time. More than 40 bases either have operating microgrids or are planning and demonstrating microgrid technologies …

Chicago-based Invenergy said last week it will not go ahead with a planned, 49-turbine wind farm in eastern North Carolina that posed a hazard to low-level flights from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. The company said it would consider altering the layout of the turbines — which, at the tip of the blades, extend 492 feet into the air — or moving the 11,000-acre project in Beaufort County to a new site …

The Defense Department plans to lease up to 500 special electric vehicles at six different installations later this year to test their ability to export power to the local grid. The $20 million project, which will be run by the Air Force, will use idle, charged vehicles to resupply power grids at times of peak demand as a way to lend stability to stressed electrical grids while offsetting the vehicles’ cost …

The investor behind a 12.3-megawatt rooftop solar installation at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in central New Jersey last week announced it had closed on $35 million of financing for the effort and planned to begin construction. The investment made by New York-based True Green Capital Management will allow photovoltaic arrays to be installed on the base’s privatized family housing and generate an estimated 13.7 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy annually …

The Pentagon’s push to protect its installations from disruptions to the commercial grid has spawned a revolution in how the military looks at energy. The drive to reach “energy security” has changed how the military services consider acquiring new sources of energy and how they finance new supplies, and also defined new roles for host communities and utilities …

DOD will be required to issue guidance for selecting the financing approach for renewable energy projects, under a provision in the conference report for the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill approved this week. The guidance, which is due six months after the measure is enacted, “should describe the requirements and restrictions applicable to the underlying authorities and any Department of Defense-specific guidelines for using appropriated funds and alternative-financing approaches for renewable energy projects …

The Defense Department would be required to issue guidance for financing renewable energy projects under a provision on the conference report for the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill approved Tuesday. A separate provision requires energy security to be included as a component of DOD energy savings contracts for buildings, facilities, installations, vehicles, and equipment …

The Navy recently completed an environmental assessment for a joint effort between El Paso, Texas-based Hunt Cos. and Norway-based Scatec Solar to build a 5-megawatt solar array near the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station in West Oahu. The $30 million project, Kalaeloa Renewable Energy Park, will consist of 21,000 photovoltaic panels on 20 acres next to the Marine Corps’ former Ewa Field. Hunt affiliate Kalaeloa Ventures LLC will sell the energy to the Hawaiian Electric Co. through a 20-year power purchase agreement, reported Pacific Business News. The solar farm is one of many renewable projects the military is planning in Hawaii. The Marines, for example, hope to be off the grid by 2015 at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on the other side of the island from Kalaeloa, according to the story.