Delaware Solar Resiliency Pilot Project
CLIENT:
Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU), a unique non-profit organization that leverages multiple sources of funding to help Delaware’s residents and businesses save money through clean energy and energy efficiency
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
To develop, implement, and grow a solar resiliency program in Delaware that showcases the enhanced resiliency of solar projects that are coupled with batteries
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
Gabel Associates supported the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU) in its formation of a pilot program to develop solar projects with battery storage at schools and emergency management facilities. Four sites have been selected for the first phase of the project.
These projects represent a significant leap forward in realizing benefits from solar energy. By combining solar with energy storage, these sites can gain (1) the ability to utilize solar power when the electrical grid is down during daylight hours, (2) diversify their back-up energy supply resources, and (3) take advantage of certain peak shaving and demand response opportunities to further reduce energy costs and generate additional revenue.
These projects will be facilitated through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), which are not a well-established feature of the solar commercial marketplace in Delaware. DESEU will purchase the solar renewable attributes from the project to help facilitate private sector financing. DESEU aims to foster solar market growth in Delaware by demonstrating the viability of this arrangement.
In addition to creatively drafting a novel program structure in a constrained marketplace, Gabel Associates worked to educate the selected sites with respect to commercial operations and the resiliency features of the project.