ASTI Newsletter | Summer 2015 Edition | by Tyler Espinoza
Alameda County recently led a group of 19 governmental agencies across four counties in the East Bay and Silicon Valley regions of the San Francisco Bay Area to solicit 31 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy. The Regional Renewable Energy Procurement Project (R-REP) is the nation’s largest multi-agency collaborative solar procurement to date.
This collaborative solar procurement model was initially implemented in Silicon Valley in 2010, and is now being replicated in other parts of the country, including the Mid-Atlantic and Central New York. Optony has played a role in developing each of these projects. The approach is designed to accelerate the adoption of solar energy by addressing soft cost barriers, such as limited resources, lack of expertise, customer acquisition and other transaction costs. Participants are expected to save $108M and projects are expected to generate $70M+ in local economic activity and 300+ jobs.
The R-REP portfolio includes 186 sites at regional government facilities that will have solar installed on rooftops and parking structures, as well as ground-mounted systems. Systems will be placed at a variety of locations, including libraries, fire stations, office buildings, community centers and clinics. The projects generally range from 15 to 230 kilowatts, with the largest being a 6.6 MW project on the West Winton Landfill in Hayward. Read more (Greentech Media).
