Minster recognized with“Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” award

0

MINSTER — Minster received the prestigious “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” award from Green Energy Ohio (GEO) at GEO’s Ohio Green Energy Policy Conference held on April 7 at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center at Ohio State University in Columbus.

Minster is now the site of the only utility-scale solar energy system built in the state since the Ohio Senate passed SB 310 in the summer of 2014, crippling the state’s Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SRECs) market. In December 2015 the 4.3 Megawatt (Mw) solar generator was put in service, producing a healthy portion of Minster’s substantial industrial and commercial demand.

When Minster included the 7Mw/3Mwh energy storage (ESS) in March 2016, the combined solar power and storage system, conceived and developed by American Renewable Energy, LLC., (ARE) became the largest in service for public power in the United States.

In March, ARE began preliminary work on the first community solar/storage project in Ohio, also in Minster, and the largest such project in the United States.

“The Minster project sets the stage for a new wave of solar with storage projects that will ultimately become community-owned micro grids,” said David Dwyer, president of American Renewable Energy, who spoke at the GEO conference. “Minster has shown itself to be an national leader and innovator in public power. We are developing projects with six additional municipalities in Ohio, following Minster’s lead.”

“We believe working with an experienced partner made the critical difference,” said Minster Village Administrator Don Harrod. “We truly benefited from the technical and financial expertise of ARE. Together, Minster and ARE sustained the focus and determination necessary to see this industry leading project become a reality. Our partnership produced a solid win for the people of Minster, the investment firm, and ARE. It also cleared a path for other public power members, schools, and rural electric coops to follow suit.”

Dwyer said, “It is no surprise to me while larger cities and utilities remain functionally paralyzed, a more agile, relatively small public utility from Ohio is leading the way. Innovation seems natural in this part of the country where Wilbur and Orville Wright, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong all have roots.”

The Minster solar-storage system provides needed VAR (volt-ampere reactive) compensation and will consistently support higher grid power quality for local industry. The system is also capable of engaging with the PJM ancillary and capacity markets. For the frequency regulation market, the system responds to signals from PJM. The ESS injects and withdraws power in less than 1.5 seconds (compared to conventional power sources that require a minimum of 3 to 10 minutes), thus stabilizing the PJM system with the fast frequency response. It provides peak following capability, demand management, ramp rate smoothing and is black start/backup capable.

American Renewable Energy of Chicago and Columbus, originates, designs, develops and delivers utility-scale projects. ARE has developed 25 Mw aggregate solar and storage installations in Ohio for public power, school districts and career centers overcoming technical, political, and financial roadblocks along the way. For more information visit www.americanrenewable.com.

Minster Village Administrator Donald Harrod, left, and David Dwyer, president of American Renewable Energy, Inc., present information about the village’s award winning solar energy system at Green Energy Ohio’s Green Energy Policy Conference, where the village won the “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” award.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/04/web1_Harrod-Dwyer.jpgMinster Village Administrator Donald Harrod, left, and David Dwyer, president of American Renewable Energy, Inc., present information about the village’s award winning solar energy system at Green Energy Ohio’s Green Energy Policy Conference, where the village won the “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” award. Courtesy photo

A photo of Minster’s award-winning solar energy system. The village was just named “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year,” by Green Energy Ohio.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/04/web1_Minster-solar-installation.jpgA photo of Minster’s award-winning solar energy system. The village was just named “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year,” by Green Energy Ohio. Courtesy photo

Minster Village Administrator Donald Harrod presents information about the village’s award winning solar energy system at Green Energy Ohio’s Green Energy Policy Conference, where the village won the “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” award.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/04/web1_Harrod-speaking-at-podium.jpgMinster Village Administrator Donald Harrod presents information about the village’s award winning solar energy system at Green Energy Ohio’s Green Energy Policy Conference, where the village won the “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” award.Courtesy photo

Executive Director of Green Energy Ohio William Spratley, left, presents the award for “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” to Nicole Clune, council member of the Village of Minster, and Donald Harrod, village administrator of the Village of Minster, at GEO’s Ohio Green Energy Policy Conference held on April 7 at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center at Ohio State University in Columbus.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2016/04/web1_Spratley-presenting-to-Harrod-and-Clune-1.jpgExecutive Director of Green Energy Ohio William Spratley, left, presents the award for “Ohio Clean Energy Community of the Year” to Nicole Clune, council member of the Village of Minster, and Donald Harrod, village administrator of the Village of Minster, at GEO’s Ohio Green Energy Policy Conference held on April 7 at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center at Ohio State University in Columbus.Courtesy photo

Staff report

No posts to display