Great River Energy is subject to the Minnesota Renewable Energy Standard, which requires electric utilities to supply an increasing%age of their energy sales from renewable energy, reaching 25% by 2025.
Great River Energy would need about 1,200 MW of wind resources by 2025 to meet the new standard entirely with wind energy resources. Great River Energy currently has slightly more than 300 MW of wind resources in its energy portfolio, which is sufficient to meet the standard through around 2013.
Great River Energy is seeking around 1.6 million megawatt-hours per year of new resources from eligible energy technologies.
In addition to renewable energy projects, Great River Energy is interested in proposals for other resources with low or no net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions relative to coal or natural gas fueled resources. Related resources will also be considered; these include wind turbine generator supply, wind power related development assets and renewable biomass fuel supply.
“We’re issuing this RFP to bring value to our member cooperatives and to stay well ahead of the Renewable Energy Standard requirements,” says Glen Skarbakka, Great River energy manager of resource planning.
“We are most interested in projects entering commercial operation late in the 2010-2012 timeframe,” says Skarbakka. “Proposals for resources qualifying as Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) are particularly encouraged, as are proposals from our member cooperatives.”
