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Projects Updates for key objective: 43. Campus Power Contracts for Renewables

  1. FY21 Green Power Partnership Renewed

    F&S completed the renewal of our recognition as a Green Power Partner through the US Environmental Protection Agency. Green Power Partners of our scale now have to use renewable power for seven percent of their annual consumption. Fortunately, the FY21 green power supply for FY21 was 9%, which is a +1.72% increase from the FY19 supply of 7.28%. See attached file.

    Overview submitted: 

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is proud of its sustainability initiatives and success in achieving Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) goals (https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/). The iCAP is the university’s strategic plan to meet the Climate Leadership Commitments, including being carbon neutral as soon as possible and building resilience to climate change in the local community.

    The Urbana campus on-site renewable energy portfolio meets more than 12 percent of annual electricity needs (https://fs.illinois.edu/services/utilities-energy/production/renewable-e...). UIUC’s Solar Farm 2.0 was energized in January 2021, producing 20,000 MWh/year. Combined with Solar Farm 1.0 and other rooftop and ground-mounted solar installations, the Urbana campus generates more than 27,000 MWh/year, ranking UIUC third amongst U.S. universities in on-site clean power production. Incorporating renewable energy continues to be a focus of new facility construction and major renovation projects. Most notably, the innovative Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building features 970 rooftop panels. Since production started in April 2019, 11 percent of all power supplied to the ECE Building has been from the array, while additional output is reserved for research and educational activities. In September 2016, the university also signed a ten-year wind power purchase agreement for 25 million kWh/year and the rights to the environmental attributes.

  2. UIC interest

    Associated Project(s): 

    Cynthia Klein-Banai, Assistant Vice-Chancellor and Director of Sustainability at UIC, provided this summary of UIC's interest in Solar Farm 3.0:

    "Rob Roman approached VC Coronado last fall about lending support to their efforts to amend the DUP in order to allow for renewable energy procurement, specifically through a Power Purchase agreement. The evaluation of the project was referred to the Office of Planning, Sustainability and Project Management and to Campus Utilities and Energy Services. It was determined that these groups were not only interested in supporting the amendment but also in participating in the RFP process to procurement 80,000 MWh/yr of renewable electricity through a Power Purchase agreement (aka Solar Farm 3.0) for a project in Illinois. On February 3, 2021, John Coronado, VCAS, Dave Taeyaerts, Associate Director of Planning, Sustainability and Project Management, and Cynthia Klein-Banai, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of Sustainability met with Chancellor Amiridis to gain his approval for this. Chancellor Amiridis said he was supportive of both the amendment change and engaging in the RFP process together with UIUC."

  3. Sustainability Sub-Council Meeting 3-18-21

    The first Sustainability Sub-Council meeting occurred on 3-18-21 and discussed the iCAP process and procedures, Solar Farm 3.0, Energy Performance Contracts, and Land Management Practices. The meeting minutes and presentation are attached. 

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