Johns Hopkins University Inks Solar Power Supply Deal

Image: Johns Hopkins University

The USA’s Johns Hopkins University has announced it will meet roughly two-thirds of its overall electricity needs with solar power.

The university has struck a 15-year deal with energy company Constellation to supply its campuses with more than 250,000 megawatt hours of solar electricity annually.

Under the arrangement, Constellation will purchase energy and renewable energy certificates (RECs) from a 175-megawatt solar farm currently under construction in Virginia and will sell the power and project-specific RECs to Johns Hopkins.

“This agreement demonstrates the seriousness of our commitment to sustainability for the good of our university and our planet,” said University President Ronald J. Daniels.

Other sustainability related actions include Johns Hopkins committing to divest from coal (endowment holdings) back in 2017 after ongoing pressure from a student group.

Johns Hopkins has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 51 percent by 2025 (2008 baseline), which is proving to be a challenge as the institution continues to grow. This solar energy agreement will make a significant contribution to that effort, with it expected to help the university reduce carbon emissions by 123,000 tonnes in the first year.

“The university’s Climate Action Plan committed us to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions drastically, developing academic programs that would train tomorrow’s leaders and scientists, and creating the technologies and policies the world needs,” said Professor Ben Hobbs, who is director of the university’s Environment, Energy, Sustainability and Health Institute.

Johns Hopkins is also self-generating clean electricity through solar panels installed at some of its campuses. One of the projects, installed in 2012, saw more than 2,900 solar panels installed on seven buildings on the Homewood and East Baltimore campuses. That rollout was expected to generate more than 997 megawatt-hours of electricity each year while avoiding around 544 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.

Universities And Solar Power In Australia

Australian universities have also been embracing solar energy as a way to reduce their carbon footprint and electricity costs. Earlier this month we reported Flinders University in South Australia announced a new investment of $2.4 million into solar and other sustainability measures.

Other Australian universities with solar installation programs and/or solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) in place include:

• University Of New England
• University of Newcastle
• UNSW
• Monash
• Deakin
• Charles Sturt
• University of Southern Queensland
• University of Queensland

Some Australian universities are also divesting from fossil fuels to a degree; including La Trobe University, Swinburne University and Queensland University of Technology (QUT).