Great River Energy, a nonprofit electric cooperative in Minnesota, has announced a company goal to supply its member-owner cooperatives with 50% renewable energy by 2030.
The co-op has also established interim renewable energy goals of 30% by 2020 and 40% by 2025. Great River Energy’s renewable portfolio currently includes 468 MW of wind energy, 200 MW of hydropower, 4 MW of solar and 30 MW of biomass. It has also announced plans for an additional 300 MW of wind energy by 2020.
“Great River Energy has already met Minnesota’s 25 percent renewable energy standard eight years ahead of requirements. We continue to evolve our power-supply portfolio, delivering even more renewable energy to our member-owner cooperatives to help them remain competitive in a changing market,” says David Saggau, president and CEO. “We look forward to meeting this goal for the benefit of our members while maintaining strong system reliability.”
Great River Energy says it has reduced the carbon-dioxide emissions in its portfolio 35% since 2005.
In its 2017 integrated resource plan filing to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Great River Energy projected wind energy as an important resource need over the next 15 years.
“Renewable energy, particularly wind, is currently our lowest-cost option for new generation resources,” notes Saggau.
A fact sheet on the goal can be found here.
