Renewable energy development continues in Oklahoma

The renewable energy industry continues to thrive throughout Oklahoma even as many of the incentives for

new development have been scaled back or ended over the past few years.

The industry received a big boost this week with the announcement of two unrelated projects totaling 850 megawatts of new generation, plus the state's first commercial-scale battery storage project.

There is a bit of a rush for such projects nationwide as the federal production tax credit for wind is set to phase out beginning next year. Still, improving technology and growing demand for renewable energy is leading to new and bigger projects.

Mark Yates, a vice president with the Advanced Power Alliance, said wind and solar projects are likely to continue.

"A lot of the studies we've

seen now show that even without subsidies at the federal or state level, we're seeing levelized costs come down to the point where depending on where you are in the nation, solar and wind are even more competitive than cheap natural gas,” Yates said.

“I think you're going to see a lot of investment even if the federal government phases out these programs just because the cost curve continues to come down.”

On Wednesday, Duke Energy Renewables announced plans to add 350 megawatts of generating capacity to existing 200-megawatt Frontier Windpower project in Kay County. That project is expected online by the end of next year.

That announcement followed one day after Western Farmers Electric Cooperative announced a power agreement with NextEra Energy Resources for 250 megawatts of wind energy and 250 megawatts of solar energy in Garfield, Alfalfa and Major counties. The Skeleton Creek is expected to be completed in phases beginning in 2020 and becoming fully operational in 2023.

The project also includes a series of commercial-scale batteries capable of storing up to 200 megawatts for up to four hours.

“That's big news,” Yates said. “A storage project is a game changer in this market.”

Among the biggest objections to renewable energy is the fact that it's not always available when the power is most needed and it can be too abundant when demand is low.

Utilities and grid operators have reduced those negative effects with better coordination across large regional areas, allowing the power to go where it is most needed at any time. Still, battery storage promises to help with the effort by proving more flexibility to the system and helping to level out power fluctuations.

“You're just now seeing the investment take place in storage,” Yates said. “It's going to ramp up. The time of day is so important when you have peak demand. I think you'll continue to see quite a bit of investment.”