by Lauren Craig

Pennsylvania will soon see 141 megawatts (MW) of clean energy projects deployed in the state with the help of state funds. The Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) has awarded nearly $13.8 million in grants and loans to six renewable energy projects, including the 139.4-MW Twin Ridges Wind Farm, which upon completion will be one of the largest wind farms in the state. Combined, the projects will generate more than 423,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy annually—enough to power more than 44,000 Pennsylvania homes, or every household in the cities of Erie or Reading.

The Twin Ridges Wind Farm in Somerset County, being developed by New York City-based EverPower Wind Holdings, received a $12.7 million Renewable Energy Program construction grant. The grant is the largest ever awarded by the program, which has also provided grants to the 30-MW Patton Wind Farm in Cambria County and enXco’s 38-MW Chestnut Flats Wind Farm in Blair County. Once completed, Twin Ridges will generate 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s wind power.

The $238.8 million project is expected to generate an additional $226.2 million in private economic investment, and is expected to be operational by the end of 2012.

In addition to Twin Ridges, funded projects include a ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) array in Chester County, a solar thermal system for the Franklin County YMCA, two residential geothermal systems, and a high-performance building project in Bucks County, among others. The entire list of projects funded through the program can be found here.

According to Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker, the projects are expected to spur more than $231.7 million in private investment for the state. ”These investments will result in substantial energy savings for businesses, families, municipalities and schools that use renewable technologies,” Walker said. “These new projects will help make the development and deployment of solar, wind and renewable energy technology more affordable across Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania’s wind resources have already caught the eyes of private wind developers. Twin Ridges will join the ranks of Sempra and BP’s 144-MW Mehoopany Wind Farm, under construction 20 miles northwest of Scranton, and Duke Energy’s 69-MW Laurel Hill Windpower Project in Lycoming County.

Wind power development in Pennsylvania is supported by the state’s alternative energy portfolio standard (AEPS), which requires utilities to generate 18 percent of their electricity with “alternative” energy resources by 2021. The law calls for utilities to generate 8 percent of their electricity by using “Tier I” energy sources and 10 percent using “Tier II” sources. Tier I sources include photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal, wind, low-impact hydro, geothermal, biomass, methane gas (both biologically-derived and derived from coal-mines) and fuel cells. Tier II sources include some controversial sources like waste coal, large-scale hydro, municipal solid waste, wood pulping and manufacturing byproducts, and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal technology.

Environmental advocacy groups like the Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) worry that the administration of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett supports policies that would weaken the renewable energy portion (Tier I) of the AEPS, and put state’s clean energy economy at risk.