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Released December 01, 2022 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Portland General Electric Company (PGE) (NYSE:POR) (Portland, Oregon) has long been among the nation's greenest utilities. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (Golden, Colorado), a U.S. Department of Energy facility, has designated PGE as having the No. 1 renewable energy program in the U.S. for more than a decade.
PGE plans to add significant amounts of new renewable and non-emitting generation as it seeks to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. In an "About Us" brochure, the utility said it expects "to nearly triple our clean and renewable resources on our way to reducing by at least 80% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power served to customers by 2030. We'll achieve a 90% GHG reduction by 2035 and a 100% reduction by 2040."
The utility, which provides electricity to more than 900,000 customers in the Greater Portland area, plans to add about 311 megawatts (MW) of new wind capacity when Phase I of the Clearwater Windfarm comes online at the beginning of 2023, according to an October 25 news release. That project has two phases, with a combined generating capacity of 775 MW. It is located in Montana, near the Colstrip power station. A unit of NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) is developing that project.
PGE will own 208 MW of the Clearwater project. It has entered into a power-purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC (Juno Beach), purchasing an additional 103 megawatts of power generated by the facility, PGE said in an October 25 news release.
In that news release, Brett Sims, PGE's vice president of strategy, regulation & energy supply, said: "PGE's stake in Clearwater will not only help in our state's clean energy transition, but also create jobs and tax base in Montana, continuing our commitment to a state we have had an ongoing investment in for over four decades. By tapping into the most consistent renewable resources across the West, this project, along with other actions resulting from our 2021 RFP (request for proposals), will help ensure we can deliver clean and affordable energy to our customers."
When that new wind generation comes online, PGE's wind resource portfolio will total about 1,328 MW. The utility also has about 541 MW of hydro and solar generation in operation. But PGE, which aims to be emission-free by 2040, also has about 1,830 MW of gas or oil generation, as well as 296 MW of coal-fired generation from Units 3 and 4 of the Colstrip Power Station. PGE also has nearly 1,000 MW of power-purchase agreements covering a variety of fuels.
PGE closed its 575-MW Boardman coal-fired power plant two years ago. By 2035, it plans to exit its share of coal-fired generation at the Colstrip Power Plant.
To offset the closure of Boardman and to meet strong customer demand growth of about 2% per year, the utility and NextEra developed a 300-MW windfarm at the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility. The windfarm began operating two years ago. Last year, Wheatridge's other resources--a 50-MW solar project and 30 MW of battery energy storage--came online. For more on the Wheatridge project, see October 5, 2022, article - NextEra Opens Major Facility Amid Renewable Energy Buildout.
In its third-quarter earnings call with investors October 25, PGE officials said they plan to invest about $4.2 billion over the 2023-2027 period on reliability and resiliency measures. Aside from a bump in 2023 to pay for its share of Clearwater, much of the planned increase will be invested in the utility transmission & distribution (T&D) network, which the utility is expanding and strengthening.
Construction of Clearwater Phase I, a 365-MW, $730 million project, is nearly complete. It is scheduled to begin operating in early 2023. Construction of Phase II, a 385-MW, $764 million project, is scheduled to begin in mid-2023 and be complete by late 2024.
The coming months should bring further announcements about PGE's renewable energy plans. The utility has not finished assessing the bids to a 2021 request for proposal (RFP) for renewable and non-emitting generation and capacity. Beyond the Clearwater project, which is scheduled to begin by the end of 2023, PGE said it is still seeking approximately:
The decisions likely will be significant. In its October 25 investor presentation, PGE said, "We will need approximately 2,500 to 3,500 MW of clean resources, in addition to removing coal from our portfolio, and approximately 800 to 1,000 MW of non-emitting dispatchable capacity resources, to meet our 2030 emissions standard."
It continued: "With renewable additions and emissions reductions, new non-emitting capacity will be required in the near-term and new technologies will be required in the longer-term as we look to our 2040 requirement of zero-GHG emissions associated with the electricity we serve Oregon retail customers."
Industrial Info was unable to reach a spokesperson at PGE to learn about its timeline for closing its gas- and oil-fired power plants.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
PGE plans to add significant amounts of new renewable and non-emitting generation as it seeks to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. In an "About Us" brochure, the utility said it expects "to nearly triple our clean and renewable resources on our way to reducing by at least 80% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power served to customers by 2030. We'll achieve a 90% GHG reduction by 2035 and a 100% reduction by 2040."
The utility, which provides electricity to more than 900,000 customers in the Greater Portland area, plans to add about 311 megawatts (MW) of new wind capacity when Phase I of the Clearwater Windfarm comes online at the beginning of 2023, according to an October 25 news release. That project has two phases, with a combined generating capacity of 775 MW. It is located in Montana, near the Colstrip power station. A unit of NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida) is developing that project.
PGE will own 208 MW of the Clearwater project. It has entered into a power-purchase agreement (PPA) with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC (Juno Beach), purchasing an additional 103 megawatts of power generated by the facility, PGE said in an October 25 news release.
In that news release, Brett Sims, PGE's vice president of strategy, regulation & energy supply, said: "PGE's stake in Clearwater will not only help in our state's clean energy transition, but also create jobs and tax base in Montana, continuing our commitment to a state we have had an ongoing investment in for over four decades. By tapping into the most consistent renewable resources across the West, this project, along with other actions resulting from our 2021 RFP (request for proposals), will help ensure we can deliver clean and affordable energy to our customers."
When that new wind generation comes online, PGE's wind resource portfolio will total about 1,328 MW. The utility also has about 541 MW of hydro and solar generation in operation. But PGE, which aims to be emission-free by 2040, also has about 1,830 MW of gas or oil generation, as well as 296 MW of coal-fired generation from Units 3 and 4 of the Colstrip Power Station. PGE also has nearly 1,000 MW of power-purchase agreements covering a variety of fuels.
PGE closed its 575-MW Boardman coal-fired power plant two years ago. By 2035, it plans to exit its share of coal-fired generation at the Colstrip Power Plant.
To offset the closure of Boardman and to meet strong customer demand growth of about 2% per year, the utility and NextEra developed a 300-MW windfarm at the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility. The windfarm began operating two years ago. Last year, Wheatridge's other resources--a 50-MW solar project and 30 MW of battery energy storage--came online. For more on the Wheatridge project, see October 5, 2022, article - NextEra Opens Major Facility Amid Renewable Energy Buildout.
In its third-quarter earnings call with investors October 25, PGE officials said they plan to invest about $4.2 billion over the 2023-2027 period on reliability and resiliency measures. Aside from a bump in 2023 to pay for its share of Clearwater, much of the planned increase will be invested in the utility transmission & distribution (T&D) network, which the utility is expanding and strengthening.
Construction of Clearwater Phase I, a 365-MW, $730 million project, is nearly complete. It is scheduled to begin operating in early 2023. Construction of Phase II, a 385-MW, $764 million project, is scheduled to begin in mid-2023 and be complete by late 2024.
The coming months should bring further announcements about PGE's renewable energy plans. The utility has not finished assessing the bids to a 2021 request for proposal (RFP) for renewable and non-emitting generation and capacity. Beyond the Clearwater project, which is scheduled to begin by the end of 2023, PGE said it is still seeking approximately:
- 75-200 MW of renewable resources
- 375 MW of non-emitting dispatchable capacity resources that can be used to meet peak customer demand, and
- 100 MW of renewable energy in support of PGE's Green Future Impact program
The decisions likely will be significant. In its October 25 investor presentation, PGE said, "We will need approximately 2,500 to 3,500 MW of clean resources, in addition to removing coal from our portfolio, and approximately 800 to 1,000 MW of non-emitting dispatchable capacity resources, to meet our 2030 emissions standard."
It continued: "With renewable additions and emissions reductions, new non-emitting capacity will be required in the near-term and new technologies will be required in the longer-term as we look to our 2040 requirement of zero-GHG emissions associated with the electricity we serve Oregon retail customers."
Industrial Info was unable to reach a spokesperson at PGE to learn about its timeline for closing its gas- and oil-fired power plants.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
