Stanford To Go All Renewable By 2021

PALO ALTO, CA -- With a future as bright as its student body and faculty, Stanford University plans to meets its goal to be completely sustainable on solar power in the next three years.

The idea is to produce enough clean renewable electricity each year to equal the university’s annual electricity consumption, the Stanford News Service reported. The lofty goal tops California’s proposal of a carbon-free grid by 2045.

To go clean power, Stanford finalized an agreement to collaborate with Recurrent Energy on an 88-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant to be built in central California, near Lemoore. The plant is scheduled to go online in late 2021, the news service added.

Because of advances from the cutting-edge Stanford Energy System Innovations (SESI), Stanford’s current greenhouse gas emissions already are down by 66 percent from peak levels. The new solar plant, to be known as Stanford Solar Generating Station #2, is projected to reduce GHG emissions even further, to 80 percent below peak levels. That's four years ahead of the renewable energy goal established in the university’s long-range planning process.

The new station will augment the 67-megawatt Stanford Solar Generating Station #1 in Rosamond, California, which came online in 2016 -- complementing 5 megawatts of on-campus rooftop solar power. This effort came online last year.

“As a university, we are pursuing an ambitious plan to further reduce our carbon footprint, and our second solar plant is a critical new component of that plan,” Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne said. “Sustainability is a major focus for Stanford and a priority for our local community.”When Stanford’s first solar plant went online in 2016, the university increased its clean electricity portfolio to 65 percent, up from the state minimum of 27 percent, and has since further reduced university greenhouse gas emissions to 66 percent below peak levels.

The campus will not be wired directly to the remote installations. Essentially, clean electricity will be injected directly into the state’s power grid, and Stanford will be able to withdraw an amount equivalent to their production from that grid.

Details about the programs and accomplishments that make Stanford more environmentally responsible can be found in the Sustainability Year in Review.

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