Tag: – Target Achieved

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (State), Germany

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (State), Germany

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind, solar and biogas
  • Implementation: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a rural, thinly populated state on the northern coast of Germany. In 2013, the state was the first in Germany to generate more power from renewable sources than it required for consumption. In 2012, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had already begun generating the equivalent of 90% of its energy consumption with renewables. From 2012 to 2013, the percentage increased by 30% -  from 6.3 billion to about 8.3 billion kilowatt-hours. This was the equivalent of 120% of what the state uses. 

    Mecklenburg-Vorpommen today exports a large share of the surplus renewable power it generates to neighboring regions. The State's renewable electricity mix is a combination of wind, solar, and biogas. In 2013, 89 new wind turbines were installed, bringing the total to nearly 1600 turbines. Onshore wind energy generated about 4 billion kilowatt-hours in 2013. In the same year, 1700 PV systems and 32 biogas systems were installed. In September 2014, the state became home to Germany's first commercial large scale battery storage system, a 5 MW/MWh battery power plant in the Schwerin district of Lankow manufactured by Younicos for WEMAG. The facility houses 1600 battery trays containing 25,600 lithium-manganese-oxide cells that can store and release energy within milliseconds. The battery system can reportedly replace at least 50 MW of conventional power plant generation.
  • Population: 1,611,119 (2017)
  • Area: 23,174 km2 (8,948 sq mi)
  • Link: (In German) https://www.regierung-mv.de/Landesregierung/em/Energie/
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (State), Germany

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne, Australia

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind power
  • Implementation: The City of Melbourne is the first major city council in Australia to be 100% powered by renewable energy, achieved through the implementation of a renewable energy power purchasing agreement. The energy is sourced from a 80 MW wind farm at Crowlands, a small agricultural community about 128 miles (206 kilometers) from Melbourne. Pacific Hydro has installed twenty-five turbines, with the goal of 39 turbines. The construction of the wind farm was supported by fourteen members of the city’s leading universities, companies, councils, and cultural institutions. The city aims to lead Australia  in responding to climate change, securing a sustainable energy supply for the future and show how a major city with a AUS$92 billion economy can influence positive outcomes in regional towns. The project has created over 140 regional jobs during the construction period. It has also created eight ongoing maintenance jobs. In Crowlands, Pacific Hydro is installing a rooftop solar photovoltaic system and storage battery at the town hall. It will become one of the few town halls in the country powered by solar energy.

    The city plans to expand the project by facilitating power purchase agreements for businesses across the city. This will continue to generate investment in new renewable energy which is the cheapest cost for new build electricity generation.
  • Population: 5,000,000 (2018)
  • Area: 9,992.5 km2 (3,858.1 sq mi)
  • Link: https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/sustainability/pages/sustainable-energy.aspx
Melbourne, Australia

Mindanao, Philippines

Mindanao, Philippines

  • Target: Bring renewable, off-grid electricity and clean water to remote, conflict impacted communities in rural Mindanao.
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Solar photovoltaic (PV) battery chargers, PV solar home systems of 20-50 watt-peak, 210-300 watt-peak community PV systems for schools, health centers, and community centers, and 20-45 kilowatt micro-hydro systems.
  • Implementation: Since 2009, the Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) has supplied electricity to over 13,000 households in more than 400 barangays (villages) in 12 provinces, most of which are in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. AMORE is implemented by Winrock International and funded by the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, the former Mirant Philippines Foundation, and Sunpower Foundation. To be qualified for the program, communities have to be low-income but show potential for economic development, and be at least 5 kilometers from an existing electricity grid connection. The AMORE program trains local community members to manage and efficiently run their own renewable electricity installations. They would form Barangay Renewable Energy and Community Development Associations (BRECDAs), where citizens would build skills and knowledge necessary for community development. Each BRECDA chooses their own leaders and rules, raises their own money, and completes the proper government registration of their organization. Women and children are encouraged to participate, and BRECDAs organize locally and regionally to share best practices and resources. Through the AMORE program people also learn about the importance of water and other natural resources for their livelihood.Most of the program's projects have been funded by subsidised grants but AMORE is now helping local renewable energy providers to develop economically sustainable business models. One example of an AMORE project is Lam-Alis is a small rural community located in the province of Sultan Kudarat. The program helped create a 9 kilowatt, off-grid micro-hydro source for electricity using the local creek, supplying power to more than 80 households. The local people created a membership group called the Lam-alis Christian-B’laan Renewable Energy Association (LACREA) to administer the project, along with a clean drinking water program. LACREA collects PHP100.00 per month (USD2.3/month) for electricity and PHP10 each month (USD0.23/month) for water from community members who opt for the service. Failure to pay risks having electricity cut off. By March 2011, LACREA accumulated more than three hundred thousand pesos (USD7,000).  In addition to membership fees and electricity and water payments, the association earns extra income from a corn mill, a fish pond and a lending business, which they created to take advantage of the cheaper micro-hydro sourced electricity. LACREA is purchasing and lending out battery systems to households to connect to the micro-hydro plant.
  • Population: 25,537,691 (2018)
  • Area: 97,530 km2 (37,660 sq mi)
  • Link: A long road for renewable energy in Mindanao
Mindanao, Philippines

Morgex, Italy

Morgex, Aosta Valley, Italy

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: A hydropower plant, PV installations, biomass plants and a district heating system.
  • Implementation: Morgex is a small town located in the center of the Valdigna region in northern Italy. To date, the town supplies all of its electricity and heating requirements with renewable energy. To meet the demands of its electricity sector, the town is powered by a 1.1 MW hydropower plant that produces enough electricity for 1,100 families, and also by 9 photovoltaic installations totaling 112 kilowatts. Heat is obtained from biomass plants fed with locally grown wood. One plant installed in 2001 and expanded in 2005 has a capacity of 9 MW and a distribution system 10 kilometers long, which powers the local school and other town buildings.
  • Population: 1,989 (2006)
  • Area: 43 km2 (17 sq mi)
  • Link: Current Status of Energy Production from Solid Biomass in North-West Italy
Morgex, Aosta Valley, Italy

Mureck, Steiermark, Austria

Mureck, Austria

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Biodiesel plant, a biomass district heating system, a biogas plant and a photovoltaic plant.
  • Implementation: The region of Mureck/Steiermark is taking action against climate change. It is ensuring social stability and creating new jobs by focusing on renewable and decentralised energy. Today, the region exceeds its energy demand of heat, electricity and fuel by 160% through the generation and use of renewable energy. It is not only a self-sufficient but is also an energy exporter. The municipality Mureck produces energy from renewable sources via the Energy Co-operative SEEG and local energy providers Nahwärme Mureck GmbH, Ökostrom and SEBA. The providers run a biodiesel plant, a biomass district heating system, a biogas plant and a photovoltaic plant involving citizens. The SEEG makes biodiesel from rapeseed grown by about 500 regional farms, as well as from used cooking oil sourced from private households and restaurants. About 95% of Mureck’s total heat demand is covered by a 2-MW biomass heat boiler, waste heat from electricity generation and a 2-MW biogas peak load boiler. This system is run by Nahwärme Mureck GmbH.  The biogas co-generation plant generates 8,000 MWh of electricity annually as well as heat. It uses manure and by-products from biodiesel production in the production process. The 2,500 kWp citizen photovoltaic plant comprises a solar farm, panels on roofs, and a climate-friendly energy-generating glasshouse, where organic vegetables are grown.
    Through the use of renewable energy, Mureck achieves a reduction of about 60,000 t of CO2 and 20,000 t of crude oil per year. Mureck‘s energy cycle system has received three sustainable energy  awards – the World Energy Globe, the European Solar Prize and the Austrian Solar Prize. Since 1998 Mureck has been a member of the Climate Alliance Austria and in 2007 it was named the most innovative Austrian municipality.
  • Population: 1,597 (2016)
  • Area: 38.72 km2(14.95 sq mi)
  • Link: Mureck 100% Renewable
Mureck, Austria

Niederösterreich, Austria

Durnstein, Niederösterreich, Austria

  • Target: 100% renewable electricity
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Hydroelectric power, wind energy, biomass and solar.
  • Implementation: Niederösterreich, or Lower Austria, is located in north-east Austria, and shares its borders with Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The state is Austria’s most populous. The 100% renewable electricity target was accomplished in November 2015 but is seen as but one step in an ongoing process by the state government. Renewable energy development is continuing as plans are in place to decommission the remaining coal fired power plant in the state by 2020. Further to this, the state is planning to generate 50% of all the state’s total energy demand via renewable sources by 2030. This includes increasing the production of bio-fuels for transportation and heating/cooling needs. At present, 100% renewable electric production in the state comes from a blend of generation technologies. It gets 63% of its electricity from hydroelectric power, 26% from wind energy, nine percent from biomass and two percent from solar. A pilot project took place studying the possibility for a wind to hydrogen storage system. Lower Austria’s renewable energy success has created growth in employment in renewable energy fields (38,000 jobs)  and the development of small and medium locally owned businesses. By 2030, the number of jobs is expected increase to 12,000 jobs.
  • Population: 1,653,419 (2016)
  • Area: 19,186 km2(7,408 sq mi)
Durnstein, Niederösterreich, Austria

Pellworm, Germany

Pellworm, Germany

  • Target: 100% renewable electricity
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind power, solar farm.
  • Implementation: Pellworm is the third largest North Frisian island and relies on tourism and agriculture. About 50 farms engage in livestock. 70 percent of the land is used as grassland .  A 28 km long and eight meter-high dyke protects the island from the North Sea. For more than 30 years, the island of Pellworm has been a pioneer in the renewable energy field. At the end of the 70s, the first small wind-energy systems were tested here. After 1983, a 300 kW solar power station appeared, complemented by three 25 kW wind-energy units. The electricity produced was used to supply a health resort. Since then, the plant has been upgraded and enlarged several times and today it serves the E.ON group for the testing of ‘smart grids’ and modern storage technologies.  In the second half of the 90s, the Association of Ecological Economies, the Municipality and the electricity provider Schleswag set up an energy concept that enabled Pellworm to become energy self-sufficient. A public wind-park company was founded in order to use electricity production as a source of income. The municipality opened an energy office. A biogas assessment led to the installation of a public biogas unit, local heating from which supplies the health centre. A round-table meeting brought together all operators and parties interested and involved in the energy sector and initiated further development of the energy concept.
  • Population: 1,136 (2016)
  • Area: 37.44 km2 (14.46 sq mi)
  • Link: Smartregion Pellworm
Pellworm, Germany

Watch "Pellworm: Germany's green energy island" by AFP News Agency

Prato allo Stelvio (Prad am Stilfser Joch), Italy

Prato allo Stelvio, Alto Adige, Italy

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Biomass heating plant, 4 small hydroelectric plants, rooftop solar and a wind farm.
  • Implementation: In 2010, Prato allo Stelvia, a small Italian town in the mountains, won the RES Champions League title for having the best policies to promote renewable energy. Today, it has achieved 100% renewable energy self-sufficiency. The town has installed several renewable energy technologies, including a 1.4 MW central biomass heating plant, 4 small hydroelectric plants totaling just over 2 MW,  5.4 MW of rooftop solar power spread throughout the town, and a 1.2 MW wind farm. This energy mix has brought many benefits to the citizens of Prato all Stelvia. The air is free of pollution from conventional power plants, and utility bills have been reduced by 30-40%. Moreover, in 2003, when nearly all of Italy suffered a massive black out, the town fared well even though it was still connected to the national grid,  thanks to its efficient locally operated grid powered by renewable power plants.
  • Population: 3 603 (2018)
  • Area: 51,49 km²
  • Link: https://www.e-werk-prad.it/it/
Prato allo Stelvio, Alto Adige, Italy

Rhein – Hunsrück, Germany

Schönburg Castle, Flaggenwiese, Rhein-Hunsrück, Germany

  • Target: 100% renewable energy by 2020 based on local sources
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Hydropower, wind power, solar photovoltaics, and biomass.
  • Implementation: The District of Rhein-Hunsrück is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in southwestern Germany. When the District set the target to entirely switch its energy system to one based on efficiency and local, renewable sources by 2020, it was in part due to the need to cease energy imports which was costing the district millions each year.

    In 2010, only 65% of Rhein-Hunsrück’s electricity was sourced from renewable energy. But by 2012, the District had become a renewable electricity exporter. Some of the surplus is used for running electric heat pumps, for methane created from excess wind and solar electricity, and for charging electric battery and fuel cell powered vehicles.

    The energy transition in Rhein-Hunsrück took place between 1999 and 2009. It first began with building efficiency improvements, which soon resulted in cost savings of 1.13 million euros. To lower local building energy use, the District implemented passive solar principles and heat pumps connected to ground heat collectors. Technologies made use of abundant local renewable resources such as wood pellet heating, biomass-based district heating, and rooftop PV. By 2009, 269,000 tons of CO2 emissions had been avoided through use of renewable electricity, heat and biofuels, and 12.3 million euros had been saved by avoided import costs for coal, natural gas and mineral oil. In 2010, Rhein-Hunsrück created its first zero-emissions school. Connected to the local district heating grid, the school is fueled with wood chips and a combined heat and power (CHP) unit that utilizes oil from regional rapeseed. By 2010, a total of 93 kW of PV were installed creating 33% more power than the facility consumes.

    Rhein-Hunsrück has invested a total of 7.5 million euros in district heating networks. The systems feed around 10 million m³ of biogas into the natural gas grid each year and save the District the equivalent of 660,500 liters of fossil fuel oil a year. Between 2011-2031, the investment is expected to bring the added value of at least 10.5 million euros due to fuel delivery costs staying within the region. By 2050, the aim is to reach a cost savings of 250 million euros.

    Rhein-Hunsrück makes use of Germany’s Feed-In Tariff law (Renewable Sources Act), and has simple permitting processes in place to ensure that rooftop solar installation is a relatively sound and easy investment. To show its own commitment, the District has installed PV on all public administration buildings. From 2007-2011, total capacity on public buildings jumped ten-fold from 35 kW to 366 kW. To increase community buy-in to the energy transition, educational facilities have been created where young people can learn about renewable energy and ecological stewardship. A public relations campaign focuses on public information, with attention given to making citizens aware of the community and financial benefits in participating in the energy transition.
  • Population: 102,938 (2017)
  • Area: 990.70 km2(382.51 sq mi)
  • Link: (In German) https://www.kreis-sim.de/Klimaschutz/Ziele-Motto-und-Konzept
Schönburg Castle, Flaggenwiese, Rhein-Hunsrück, Germany

Rockport, Missouri, USA

Rock Port, Missouri, USA

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind energy
  • Implementation: Rock Port Missouri announced itself as the first 100% wind powered community in the United States. Four wind turbines supplies all of its electricity. The turbines are located on agricultural lands within the city boundaries of Rock Port (Atchison County). The city consumes around 13 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year, although the four turbines have the capacity to generate 16 million kilowatt hours each year. Excess wind generated electricity not used by Rock Port homes and businesses is fed into the grid, which is purchased by the Missouri Joint Municipal Utilities for use in other areas.

    University of Missouri Extension specialists say that there are excellent opportunities for sustainable wind power in northwest Missouri. There are currently 24 wind turbines in Atchison County, 24 in Nodaway County and 27 in Gentry County. The specialists say the wind farms will bring in more than $1.1 million annually in county real estate taxes. The wind power is also benefiting landowners, who can make between $3,000 to $5,000 leasing part of their property for wind turbines. The payback on a per-acre basis is quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, resulting in savings for the community, and savings for the rural electric companies. It is projected to provide electricity service over at least 20 years. The wind turbines have also attracted visitors , adding tourism revenue.

    A map published by the U.S. Department of Energy indicates that northwest Missouri has the state's highest concentration of wind resources and contains a number of locations potentially suitable for utility-scale wind development.
  • Population: 1,227 (2016)
  • Area: 2.77 sq mi (7.17 km2)
  • Link: http://www.rockportwind.com
Rock Port, Missouri, USA