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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--When wind power was the leading source of renewable electricity, perhaps five years ago, the middle of the U.S. experienced a sustained gust of wind power project activity. But now that solar power has displaced wind as the leading source of renewable energy, sunnier areas like the West Coast, Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions have surged to the front of the line in terms of renewable energy project activity.
But as a recent request for proposal (RFP) from Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) (Fort Wayne, Indiana) showed, renewable power project activity is alive and well, and growing, in the country's midsection. I&M, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) (Columbus, Ohio), on March 15 issued an RFP for 1,300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy that would come online between late 2024 and the end of 2025. The RFP called for 500 MW of solar power to be sited in Indiana or Michigan. The RFP's 800 MW of windpower could be sited in those states, or Illinois or Ohio. Bids are due April 21.
"This RFP is designed to provide qualified developers the opportunity to bring forward wind and solar projects that can be used to serve Indiana Michigan Power customers," Dave Lucas, I&M's vice president for regulatory and finance, said in a March 15 statement. "These new resources will combine with I&M's existing generation to provide an even more diversified and flexible generation portfolio that will stabilize energy costs over time, stimulate economic growth, reduce emissions and take advantage of new technologies."
That March RFP from I&M, which provides electricity to more than 600,000 customers in Indiana and Michigan, will be followed by a second RFP seeking approximately 800 MW of solar, 60 MW of battery energy storage, and 1,000 MW of gas-fired peaking generation, all of which must be online by 2028.
The utility said the two RFPs would more than quadruple its current solar and wind generation capacity.
As shown in integrated resource plans (IRPs) and RFPs across the nation, the electricity industry's rush to renewables shows no signs of slowing, though a few utilities are trimming their renewable aspirations and hedging their bets by increasing their request for gas-fired generation. However, the years-long trend of renewables being the largest source of new electric generation in the U.S. is expected to continue, driven by ever-improving competitiveness of renewable generation coupled with supportive state and federal policies and rising concerns over global climate change.
U.S. market regions such as the Southwest, Rocky Mountains and West Coast are the leading areas for renewable power development. Renewable energy projects with a medium or high probability (70-99%) of moving forward, and with a construction kickoff date between January 2022 and December 2026, total about $44 billion in Southwest, $33 billion in the Rocky Mountains and $28 billion in the West Coast.
Over that same five-year construction kickoff period, the Great Lakes, with an estimated $26 billion of renewable energy projects with a high or medium probability, and the Midwest, with about $15 billion of renewable projects with a high or medium probability, are the next most active regions for renewable power development, according to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform.
Across the nation, there are approximately 1,161 proposed renewable energy projects with a medium or high probability that are scheduled to begin construction between January 2022 and December 2026, according to the GMI platform. The total investment value (TIV) of these projects is about $183.6 billion. Solar accounts for roughly 707 of these projects, about 61% of the total number of projects. The TIV for these solar projects is about $105.4 billion. There are 141 wind projects with a TIV of approximately $55 billion. Proposed hydro projects account for most of the rest of the projects and TIV.
Drilling down to the state level, over the 2022-2026 period, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois are among the states with the highest dollar value of renewable energy projects with a high or medium probability of moving forward.
Click on the image at right to see a listing for the top 10 states of high or medium probability renewable project activity over the January 2022-December 2026 period.
I&M isn't the only heartland utility ramping up its renewable energy aspirations:
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
But as a recent request for proposal (RFP) from Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) (Fort Wayne, Indiana) showed, renewable power project activity is alive and well, and growing, in the country's midsection. I&M, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) (Columbus, Ohio), on March 15 issued an RFP for 1,300 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy that would come online between late 2024 and the end of 2025. The RFP called for 500 MW of solar power to be sited in Indiana or Michigan. The RFP's 800 MW of windpower could be sited in those states, or Illinois or Ohio. Bids are due April 21.
"This RFP is designed to provide qualified developers the opportunity to bring forward wind and solar projects that can be used to serve Indiana Michigan Power customers," Dave Lucas, I&M's vice president for regulatory and finance, said in a March 15 statement. "These new resources will combine with I&M's existing generation to provide an even more diversified and flexible generation portfolio that will stabilize energy costs over time, stimulate economic growth, reduce emissions and take advantage of new technologies."
That March RFP from I&M, which provides electricity to more than 600,000 customers in Indiana and Michigan, will be followed by a second RFP seeking approximately 800 MW of solar, 60 MW of battery energy storage, and 1,000 MW of gas-fired peaking generation, all of which must be online by 2028.
The utility said the two RFPs would more than quadruple its current solar and wind generation capacity.
As shown in integrated resource plans (IRPs) and RFPs across the nation, the electricity industry's rush to renewables shows no signs of slowing, though a few utilities are trimming their renewable aspirations and hedging their bets by increasing their request for gas-fired generation. However, the years-long trend of renewables being the largest source of new electric generation in the U.S. is expected to continue, driven by ever-improving competitiveness of renewable generation coupled with supportive state and federal policies and rising concerns over global climate change.
U.S. market regions such as the Southwest, Rocky Mountains and West Coast are the leading areas for renewable power development. Renewable energy projects with a medium or high probability (70-99%) of moving forward, and with a construction kickoff date between January 2022 and December 2026, total about $44 billion in Southwest, $33 billion in the Rocky Mountains and $28 billion in the West Coast.
Over that same five-year construction kickoff period, the Great Lakes, with an estimated $26 billion of renewable energy projects with a high or medium probability, and the Midwest, with about $15 billion of renewable projects with a high or medium probability, are the next most active regions for renewable power development, according to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform.
Across the nation, there are approximately 1,161 proposed renewable energy projects with a medium or high probability that are scheduled to begin construction between January 2022 and December 2026, according to the GMI platform. The total investment value (TIV) of these projects is about $183.6 billion. Solar accounts for roughly 707 of these projects, about 61% of the total number of projects. The TIV for these solar projects is about $105.4 billion. There are 141 wind projects with a TIV of approximately $55 billion. Proposed hydro projects account for most of the rest of the projects and TIV.
Drilling down to the state level, over the 2022-2026 period, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois are among the states with the highest dollar value of renewable energy projects with a high or medium probability of moving forward.
Click on the image at right to see a listing for the top 10 states of high or medium probability renewable project activity over the January 2022-December 2026 period. I&M isn't the only heartland utility ramping up its renewable energy aspirations:
- Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on February 8 was granted permission to build or acquire up to 4,650 MW of new renewable generation by 2032 by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (Minneapolis, Minnesota), pursuant to the utility's integrated resource plan.
- Ameren Missouri (St. Louis, Missouri), a unit of Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) (St. Louis, Missouri) last month announced plans to buy a 150-MW solar farm in southern Illinois being developed by Invenergy Renewables LLC (Chicago, Illinois).
- AES Indiana (Indianapolis, Indiana), a unit of AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) (Arlington, Virginia) last month said it intends to become coal-free by 2025, though its integrated resource plan (IRP), which remains under development, did not commit to renewables or natural gas-fired generation as a replacement. AES Indiana provides electricity to more than 500,000 customers in central Indiana.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.
