The University of Arizona’s existing sustainability efforts — including renewables (such as the solar panels seen here on the roof of McClelland Park) — will be significantly bolstered by a new partnership with Tucson Electric Power that will entail clean energy contributions from wind, solar, and storage.

“We made a commitment to become a more sustainable campus, and now we have in place a system that will make a significant impact in just two years,” said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins, who made sustainability a key initiative in the recently announced strategic plan. “I believe it is up to higher education institutions to lead the way on clean energy solutions.

Robbins added: “This university is already a leader in environmental and sustainability research, and we found a partner in TEP that shares our commitment to make effectual change. We have a forward-looking team to make these changes a rapid reality.”

The University of Arizona is part of the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3, which is committed to reducing climate-changing emissions and improving research on climate change policy across its 20 member universities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

If the agreement with TEP is approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission, the University of Arizona will be the largest research university in the country to have a plan in place to offset the entirety of its scope two emissions. Scope two emissions are greenhouse gases that result from the generation of electricity, heat or steam purchased from a utility provider.

“We’re proud to support the ambitious renewable energy goals of President Robbins and the University of Arizona, which are consistent with our own aspirations,” said TEP President and CEO David G. Hutchens. “We’re working together with our customers to build a sustainable energy future for our community.”

TEP expects to provide more than 28% of its power from renewable resources in 2021, nearly doubling the 2025 goal for the state of Arizona. Under the agreement, TEP will dedicate portions of two new renewable energy projects to serving the energy needs of the University of Arizona, including a wind farm in New Mexico and a solar-plus-storage system southeast of Tucson.

The Wilmot Energy Center will include a 100-MW solar array and a 30-MW energy storage system, each the largest of their kind on TEP’s local energy grid. The system will include approximately 314,000 solar panels on 1,130 acres near South Swan Road and East Old Vail Connection Road. Construction is planned to begin in January, and the system is expected to be online by December 2020.

The Oso Grande Wind Project will generate up to 247 MW for the university and other TEP customers. The project will include 61 highly efficient turbines installed on 24,000 acres southeast of Roswell, New Mexico. TEP expects construction to begin later this year, and the system also should be in service by the end of 2020.

The agreement provides the university with affordable access to energy from those two systems for 20 years.

“We have been researching a way to implement 100% green energy, and this deal gets us there in one fell swoop,” said UA Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management Chris Kopach. “This project provides capacity for consistent and reliable power with capacity for decades of growth in Tucson and on campus; the kind of capacity needed by a Research I university.”

TEP also is working with climate experts at the University of Arizona Institute of the Environment to develop measurable, science-based carbon-reduction targets to help guide its long-term resource development plans.

“This exciting project is consistent with the impactful cross-disciplinary research and teaching taking place at the University of Arizona,” said UA Office of Sustainability Director Trevor Ledbetter. “Southern Arizona is one of the fastest warming areas in America, and anything we do to slow it down helps us at home. It is our responsibility to be a leader in this space and to do so alongside our community, and this project is a significant step in the right direction.”

The university and TEP have a long history of working together to expand educational opportunities and promote renewable energy. The Solar Zone at Tech Parks Arizona – one of the largest multi-technology solar demonstration sites in the U.S. – is a joint venture by TEP, the university and solar developers. TEP also collaborates with scientists in the University of Arizona Institute for Energy Solutions to test solar panels, experiment with different technologies and develop techniques to test batteries for storing energy.

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Tuscon Electric Power has filed its 2017 Integrated Resource Plan with the Arizona Corporation Commission. It plans to add about 800 MW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) plans to meet customers’ future energy needs by investing in efficient, innovative technologies. The utility is expanding renewable energy and exploring new ways to reduce reliance on coal-fired generating resources.

TEP’s long-term strategy to build a more responsive, sustainable resource portfolio is described in its 2017 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) filed this week with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).

“We’re evolving from a traditional utility to a more technology and consumer-focused provider of energy products and services while maintaining reliability, convenience, and affordability for our customers,” said David G. Hutchens, TEP’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

TEP will continue to diversify its generation portfolio by expanding wind and solar generation with a goal of delivering at least 30% of its power from renewable resources by 2030 – twice the level required by 2025 under Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard.

The plan describes TEP’s current resource portfolio, projects future energy needs, and outlines strategies the company will use to meet customers’ energy requirements over the next 15 years.

“Our plan recognizes the continued financial and operational benefits of owning Units 1 and 2 at the Springerville Generating Station, Arizona’s most efficient, cost-effective coal-fired power plant,” Hutchens said. “However, renewable energy, energy efficiency and cost-effective natural gas technologies will play an increasingly prominent role in our future resource plans.”

The company anticipates adding about 800 MW of new renewable energy capacity by 2030. TEP recently signed an agreement with NextEra Energy Resources LLC to buy power from a new 100-MW wind facility. The company also is evaluating proposals for a new 100-MW solar facility that would be built and owned by a project partner.

An increasingly flexible, sustainable generation portfolio will create operational challenges that require new ways of managing the intermittency and variability of renewable resources. TEP will continue to rely on energy efficiency measures and invest in new cleaner burning, natural gas resources.

TEP also expects to make greater use of energy-storage systems, which can boost power output levels more quickly than conventional generating resources to maintain the required balance between energy demand and supply. Such systems are expected to rapidly decline in cost, and the company could gradually add up to 100 MW of storage capacity. TEP recently completed three energy-storage projects with a combined capacity of 22 MW that are designed to provide grid-balancing support.

TEP will lose 170-MW of coal-fired capacity when Unit 2 at the San Juan Generating Station in New Mexico is shut down at the end of this year. The company plans to stop using the plant entirely when the current coal supply agreement ends in June 2022, shedding another 170-MW of coal-fired capacity. It is also preparing for the retirement of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, which participants have agreed to run through December 2019 if a land lease extension can be reached.

TEP owns 7.5%, or 168MW, in that plant and has joined other owners in working with the Navajo Nation to develop a transition plan for the facility.

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