Central-station versus distributed power, writ small. An entrepreneur has put some sturdy little legs on a debate that's usually theoretical: what is more desirable, the central-station power model or the distributed power model. Not that it has to be either-or, though that discussion could be lively.
The case in point is a company called GridSolar, which has proposed a project to Maine regulators for installation of enough 2.5-MW photovoltaic units to get 100 MW altogether -- and this would eliminate the need for a 350-mile transmission line that lots of people don't want.
The aim of the solar project, like the aim of the power line, is to improve system reliability. If it were approved it would be the first use of solar to provide reliability in lieu of building transmission, project partner Richard Silkman told our correspondent Lisa Wood. The idea of solar power being reliable in Maine doesn't compute easily for some of us, but the solar units would be backed up by fossil-fueled generators or batteries, he said.
Silkman, a longtime consultant and developer of a wind farm in Maine, puts project costs at $4,000/kW to $4,500/kW, expensive for generation, but not for reliability service in lieu of transmission construction, he said. "You can build more transmission and bring in generation from faraway places like Canada or very northern Maine. Or you can locate distributed generation close to the load and defer the transmission investment," he said.
The project is seeking state approval to operate as a utility and charge cost-of-service rates, a move Silkman says makes sense in light of the current difficulty developers have attracting financing for capital-intensive projects. GridSolar, however, would not serve retail customers, but would act solely as a grid reliability project.
GridSolar's proposal came as the Maine public advocate told state regulators that Central Maine Power and Public Service of New Hampshire have failed to justify their transmission project, the one the solar power developer says it could supplant. The advocate's office criticized the way the utilities calculated the need, and it also said the companies have a big incentive to build the line -- incentive rates of return from federal regulators and socialization of costs among the New England states.
Leave a comment