American Municipal Power has been awarded a $29 million zero-interest Clean Renewable Energy Bond from the federal government to build a solar-powered energy plant in the Danville area.
The bond, financed through funds from the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 and the Recover Act, was one of 805 projects totaling $2.2 billion announced Tuesday by the U.S. Treasury Department. The energy bonds were issued to cooperative electric companies, like AMP, as well as gov-ernment agencies and public power providers, to obtain lower cost financing for clean energy development projects.
Now I am all for Danville, VA getting all of the new investment dollars that they can possibly obtain. They have been ravaged by factory closings and job losses for two decades and their current unemployment is in the high teens. That said, I am not sure that solar energy is the technology on which the Southern Region of Virginia wants to hang its hat. That region can only count on getting solar radiation of about 3-5 kWh/sqm/day. This is quite a bit less than locations in the southwest U.S. which will get about 5-8 kWh/sqm/day. I hope that it works out for them, but they may not get the return on investment that will be necessary to prove the commerciality of solar technology.The Southern Virginia region is rich in agriculture and forestry assets. I think it offers more potential for the region to develop renewable energy potential by harvesting energy crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus as well as forestry residues. They could put in a 75-100 MW gasification-based power generation system for slightly more cost. Then could also install biorefineries to convert these feedstocks into ethanol. That would seem to be a better investment.
Either way, the Danville area stands to be a player in the renewable energy market in the years to come. With the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville is conducting plant biology research to develop super breeds of energy grasses, there is quite a potential for economic development in the area in the renewable energy economy. Good for them.
