Comment box Scope: information, summary Tone: neutral Opinion: a bit Sarcasm/humor: a couple dry remarks Renewable energy continues to grow in the US, especially contributing to the economies of...
Comment box
Scope: information, summary
Tone: neutral
Opinion: a bit
Sarcasm/humor: a couple dry remarks
Renewable energy continues to grow in the US, especially contributing to the economies of rural areas that are still learning to appreciate clean energy investment.
The US state of Oregon is known for being rainy and cloudy, but east of the Cascades it's actually quite dry. While most of the population lives in the west, most of the land is in the dry and sunnier east. Oregon has a higher latitude than most states (about 43 degrees), but there's still a lot of opportunity for solar energy here, more so as the technology rapidly and continually improves.
Sunstone Solar is a 1.2 GW solar, 1.2 GW battery energy storage project planned for eastern Oregon.
For context, the entire state of Oregon has 1.9 GW of cumulative solar installations in its history, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
The company expects the engineering and procurement process to begin in early 2025 with phased construction starting in 2026.
SEIA reports that Oregon sources about 4% of its electricity from solar, enough to power roughly 250,000 homes. About 4,000 people are employed the state’s solar industry.
This single project would allow Oregon to source 63% more energy from solar than it currently does. A strong foundation in hydro power means that Oregon is in a good position to balance intermittent generation from solar and wind. (Hydro dams are basically batteries.)
Comment box
Renewable energy continues to grow in the US, especially contributing to the economies of rural areas that are still learning to appreciate clean energy investment.
The US state of Oregon is known for being rainy and cloudy, but east of the Cascades it's actually quite dry. While most of the population lives in the west, most of the land is in the dry and sunnier east. Oregon has a higher latitude than most states (about 43 degrees), but there's still a lot of opportunity for solar energy here, more so as the technology rapidly and continually improves.
The state has a lot of electricity to decarbonize: a considerable amount of its power is from methane gas and coal.
This single project would allow Oregon to source 63% more energy from solar than it currently does. A strong foundation in hydro power means that Oregon is in a good position to balance intermittent generation from solar and wind. (Hydro dams are basically batteries.)