The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois approved a 20-year power purchase agreement Sept. 19 for a second solar project at the school's flagship campus in Urbana-Champaign, Ill. The board is the sole owner of Prairieland Energy Inc., an Illinois-based corporation established to provide the university with low-cost energy.
A finance-related board subcommittee advanced the 54-acre project, dubbed Solar Farm 2.0, to the entire membership Sept. 9.
Washington, D.C.-based Sol Systems LLC will design, build, maintain and operate a solar array capable of generating about 20,000 MWh annually, according to Morgan White, University of Illinois' associate director of facilities and services for sustainability. The university will purchase the power at a fixed rate of $45.99/MWh, inclusive of associated renewable energy credits.
Sol Systems will lease the land needed for the facility from the university for $1.00 per year, White said. At the end of the power purchase agreement's two-decade term, the University of Illinois will have the option to buy the installation.
In February, Prairieland published a request for proposals, or RFP, through which it sought a developer to "design, build, operate, and maintain" an on-campus solar farm and to enter into a 20-year power purchase agreement, although interested parties also were instructed to provide a 10-year term option. The RFP stipulated a minimum generation capacity of at least 18,000 MWh annually.
Anticipating a contract award date of Aug. 1, the RFP noted that any "mobilization on-site" could not begin until after Oct. 1 and that construction would conclude at some point during summer 2020.
White said 19 project proposals were submitted in response to the RFP.
As the winning bidder, Sol Systems will be responsible for upgrading the university's current circuit if necessary to accommodate the new project. Because the array will be directly connected to the university's grid, no transmission or distribution charges will be incurred.
According to the university, the first solar project built to service the campus, the nearly 21-acre Windsor Road site, has been operated by Phoenix Solar South Farms LLC since December 2015. That project generates about 7,200 MWh, or 2% of the Urbana-Champaign campus' power needs, annually.
The on-site shift to renewable energy stems from the university's 2015 Illinois Climate Action Plan, known as iCAP, which is tied to the American College and University President's Climate Commitment. That plan directed officials to source 25,000 MWh of on-campus needs from solar by 2025 as part of a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
Sol Systems' other projects include the 25.73-MW Holstein Project in Scotland County, N.C., and a 5.34-MW solar project for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The solar company did not respond to requests for comment.
