Sustainability and Resiliency

Power Purchase Agreements

Two multi-year power purchase agreements will produce as much renewably-generated electricity as Brown consumes.

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Power Purchase Agreements

Two multi-year power purchase agreements will produce as much renewably-generated electricity as Brown consumes.

Brown has secured agreements for four renewable power purchase agreements that will produce enough combined solar and wind power to offset all on-campus electricity use. These contractual agreements allow developers to build and operate new renewable energy projects with Brown as a dedicated offtaker of the energy credits. These projects bring new renewable energy sources onto grids and allow Brown to retire the renewable energy certificates (REC) and claim the offset of electricity use on campus.

The first project, a wind farm in Fisher County, Texas that will generate 8 megawatts of electricity, became operational on June 11, 2020.

 

“ Power we purchase from Mesquite Star [in the form of renewable energy credits] will offset about 30% of [the University’s] campus electricity. ”

Stephen Porder Associate Provost of Sustainability

The second project is Rhode Island’s highest-capacity contiguous solar generation project located on a 240-acre field on a former gravel pit in North Kingstown. Use of the former gravel pit was a key feature in the project. It was paramount to the University that the project would avoid any encroachment on neighborhoods or large-scale tree-clearing, two quality-of-life and environmental concerns commonly associated with new renewable projects.  This project became operational in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/pwnKcKoFhLw

Dry Bridge Solar Project

 

A 50-megawatt (DC) solar facility in a former gravel pit in North Kingstown, R.I., will offset the majority of campus electricity.

Two other smaller Rhode Island solar projects were secured in 2021 to offset the expected growth through 2027. These two projects located in Richmond and Burrillville, Rhode Island went operational in early 2022. 

As the University grows and continues to electrify, it evaluates and forecasts its renewable energy needs in order to ensure PPAs are in place and offsetting 100% of electric usage.