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June 10, 2022

As solar pops up on land once used for farming, dual-use systems have emerged as a way to keep the land in production while still using it to generate energy. Photo by Michael Dennett.

The sun comes out for solar installers

By Kate Cough

The solar installation industry got some good news on Monday when the Biden Administration announced it would implement a two-year pause on new tariffs, invoke the Defense Production Act to encourage domestic production of solar components and permit more renewable energy projects on public lands.

The domestic solar installation industry said the tariffs, which have been in place in some form since 2012 and were extended in February, would make millions of dollars and hundreds of acres of projects "unworkable," as Robert Cleaves of BNRG Dirigo, told Maine Public last month.  

Jeremy Payne, executive director of the Maine Renewable Energy Association, told News Center Maine this week that pausing the tariffs would likely help solar developers in Maine move forward with projects.

"This is very helpful action taken by the president," Payne told News Center. 

Solar installations have soared in Maine in recent years, even in the face of uncertainty over net metering payouts and long lines of projects waiting to be connected to a grid that is aging and, in many areas, at risk of being overloaded.

Annual solar installations in Maine, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Maine had 486 megawatts of installed solar capacity as of this spring, enough to power 79,201 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The state gets about 3% of its electricity from solar.

In terms of renewables, however, hydroelectric is still king in Maine, accounting for roughly 34% of the state's renewable energy generation in 2020. Wind provided about 24%.

Megawatt hours of installed electricity generation capacity in Maine. U.S. EIA

Maine gets a significant portion of its electricity from renewables - around 79% in 2020. That's due in large part to hydroelectric power and biomass (energy derived from wood and wood waste) and, in recent years, wind. We also import some electricity from out-of-state.

Those figures, of course, don't take into account the ongoing dispute about what counts as "clean" energy. Unfortunately for all of us who like to plug things in, there is no form of electricity production that does not have environmental costs somewhere along the line.

Building dams for hydro requires lots and lots of concrete, the overall production of which is thought to account for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions; there are also consequences associated with flooding areas that weren't flooded before. Wind turbines, solar panels and the battery systems that back them up require vast amounts of metals and minerals dug out of the earth, a process that has historically not been super environmentally-friendly and often happens in countries with lax regulations. Like siting any kind of infrastructure, the placement of them can also affect habitat and wildlife. Nuclear is really reliable (more on that below), but also comes with that pesky problem of nuclear waste. Then there's the question of lifespan - how long will a plant or turbine or panel produce energy? 15 years? 40? 100?

And we can't take reliability and efficiency out of the equation, which is where capacity factor comes in. The capacity factor is a measure of how much energy is actually being generated by, say, a wind turbine (or hydroelectric facility or nuclear plant or solar panel) as a percentage of how much energy that turbine could theoretically produce if it were running at full tilt all the time. The capacity factor depends on a lot of different variables, including design, location and availability of the resource (wind doesn't always blow, sun doesn't always shine).

Those numbers vary from between renewable generation sources. Nuclear far outstrips the competition: the nation's 58 nuclear power plants had an average capacity factor of 93% last year, producing nearly as much energy as they were theoretically capable of. Biomass was around 64%; hydroelectric and wind were similar (37% vs 35%), and solar came in last (25%).

That means, for instance, that a solar farm rated to produce 100 megawatts will have an actual output closer to 25 megawatts, while a nuclear power plant rated to produce 100 megawatts will have an actual output around 93 megawatts.

Better minds than mine are at work figuring out what solutions work best and where, and countries are coming to different conclusions about the tradeoffs: Canada is heavily reliant on hydropower to meet its renewable goals, while Europe is split over the future of nuclear, which has long provided a significant portion of its electricity. 

Where Maine winds up will depend on a variety of factors, including political and economic. We're already seeing tension over siting new resources - New England Clean Energy Connect (a.k.a. the Corridor project), the possible wind turbine production facility on Sears Island, farmers losing land to solar - being just a few recent examples.

As Fortunat Mueller, co-owner ReVision Energy, put it during a meeting on solar siting last year: "Ultimately, these projects have to go somewhere if we're going to achieve our energy goals." Where remains to be seen, but The Monitor will be there to report on it when it happens.

A rendering of the 1,776 foot tall flagpole associated with Flagpole of Freedom Park, a 2,500-acre development proposed by the family behind Wreaths Across America.

Courtesy of Flagpole of Freedom Park/Break The Ice Media

Small town, big decision

As someone who has taken minutes for local planning boards, I know how dense and (sorry!) tedious such meetings can be. They're not sexy. They take a long time. But they are so. Very. Important. These boards determine what your town looks like and what you can do with your property, decisions that have far-reaching implications for everyone, property owner or not. They have the power (and the burden) to make choices affecting the placement and regulation of housing, roads, sewers, businesses, solar farms, sidewalks, wind turbines, public parks, transfer stations - the list goes on.

In Maine, with its myriad small towns, most of these boards are populated by volunteers - citizens who devote their time (often, a LOT of their time) to wading through complicated regulations and thinking thoughtfully and thoroughly about the applications that come before them. From what I've seen, it's a very difficult, often thankless, (typically unpaid) job, one that most people only notice when the board makes a decision someone doesn't like.

On Sunday, I wrote a story about a huge decision facing a tiny Downeast town in which the 476 residents of Columbia Falls will be tasked with voting on whether they (and their planning board) want to take on oversight of the planning, oversight and governing of Flagpole of Freedom Park, a proposal from the Worcesters, the family behind Wreaths Across America.

The park, with its eight miles of loop roads, six miles of gondolas, several villages, campgrounds, a hotel, theater, restaurants and shops, would be more akin to a small city. The company expects the development, which co-founder Rob Worcester described as “part national monument, part historical adventure, immersive tech-driven museum and architectural wonder,” to attract 6 million visitors and 5,000 employees, most of them year-round.

That’s substantially more than the number of visits logged at nearby Acadia National Park, which broke records at 4 million in 2021, and a workforce roughly the size of the year-round population of Bar Harbor, where many of Acadia’s tourist services are based.

On the face of it, this may not seem like an energy or environmental story. But if the project is built, it will have far-reaching implications in both of those areas, and beyond: on housing, infrastructure, traffic, employment, and the character of the area, among others.

The story is long. But if you've made it this far, it's a safe bet you're interested in development that will impact Maine's environment, and I'd urge you to check it out, if you haven't already. You can read it here.

In other Maine news:

Extended producer responsibility:

Maine's landmark recycling law will take years to implement.

Wind:

The developers of a planned offshore wind energy research array have asked state regulators to approve a 20-year electricity supply contract, but Public Advocate William Harwood said this week that he’s concerned that the power contract could add to the bills of struggling Maine electricity customers.

Lobstermen and wind:

Lobstermen are collaborating with the University of Maine on an effort to potentially map out their fishing grounds and prevent conflict with offshore wind-power structures.

Lobstermen and whales:

Lobstermen are grappling with an onslaught of new rules aimed at protecting endangered Atlantic right whales, from remote control traps to breakable lines.

Skiing:

Greenville-area residents weighed in on the redevelopment of a Moosehead Lake ski resort at a recent Land Use Planning Commission meeting.

Moths:

Our browntail moth outbreak might be fueled by climate change.

PFAS:

U.S. Air Force engineers are asking residents at the former Loring Air Force Base how they use their water sources as part of an investigation into PFAS chemicals in the water supply.

More PFAS:

Maine is only beginning to grapple with the toxic legacy of "forever chemicals."

Land:

Twenty new Land for Maine’s Future projects were approved this week, preserving public access to lakes, rivers and mountains.

Farmers:

USDA Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree met with Maine farmers in Brunswick to talk about relief from the pandemic and fuel costs, among other issues.

Wildfires:

Springtime is wildfire season in Maine, and this spring is no exception. 

Sharks:

A buoy that sends real-time notifications when a tagged white shark swims nearby was deployed in Saco Bay on Tuesday, the first of its kind in Maine.

Parks:

Gov. Janet Mills wants to put $50 million into rebuilding Maine’s state parks. 

Forests:

Loggers struggling with inflation are making some tough decisions.

Whales:

Endangered whale numbers may be stabilizing after some bad years, but their future remains uncertain.

Phytoplankton:

Phytoplankton, the center of the Gulf of Maine's marine food web, are 65% less productive than they were two decades ago, in part because the Gulf is growing warmer and saltier.

The commons:

This isn't until Tuesday, but we'll be watching and we thought you might be interested too: Director of Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries Paul Anderson will talk about the emerging interests competing for the commons, including fisheries, aquaculture, renewable energy and transportation.

ICYMI From The Monitor:

Columnist Marina Schauffler wrote about the climate impacts of all our stuff.

A small town Downeast will decide whether or not to take on oversight of proposed $1 billion park.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.

Kate Cough covers energy and the environment for The Maine Monitor. She's a graduate of Columbia University and an 8th generation Mainer born in Portland who's now decamped Downeast. You can reach her at kate@themainemonitor.org or @kaitlincough.

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