Dive Brief:
- Austin Energy will seek up to 600 MW in utlity-scale solar contracts next month, the Austin Monitor reports, as the utility continues to fill a projected power shortfall.
- The city's municipal utility is facing a 500 MW shortfall identified last year in its resource and reliability plan, the newspaper reported.
- Austin has set a goal to meet more than half of its demand through renewable resources by 2025.
Dive Insight:
Austin will seek up to 600 MW of solar power, the Austin Monitor reports, as the city's utility seeks to execute a resource plan it produced last year.
The strategy calls for using revenues and capacity created by a new 500 MW combined cycle gas plant investment to allow for the retirement of older fossil fuel generation. The city intends to increase renewable energy to 55% of its total resources in the next decade, executing a plan that also calls for increased investments in storage and demand response.
The city has requested solar proposals by April 15, Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis told a utility oversight committee.
Among the utility's goals, Austin Energy will also maintain the current target of 800 MW of energy efficiency and demand response by 2020, and will add an incremental 100 MW of demand response to achieve a total of at least 900 MW of demand side management by 2025. The utility is also implementing a plan for distribution connected local storage of at least 10 MW, complemented by as much as 20 MW of thermal storage.
