Companies target PJM for new renewable energy

Toronto-based developer OYA Renewables and Ohio drilling company Oil Well Shares are partnering to build community and utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage projects on the power grid overseen by the PJM Interconnection.

The joint venture, called Chrysalis Energy, is planning to build more than 3,000MW of renewable energy across 1.5mn acres of "mainly contiguous" land spanning Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The companies expect to complete work on those installations by 2030, focusing on wind, solar and storage systems.

Projects will begin coming on line within the next 12 months, according to OYA Renewables.

"The sheer magnitude of the land position is remarkable, likely the single largest private land inventory in PJM and comprising 1/1000th of the entire continental US acreage," OYA Renewables founder Manish Nayar said. "Proximity to the Great Lakes is also highly significant, allowing us to explore green hydrogen opportunities in addition to solar, storage and wind."

The two companies will collectively develop, build, own and operate the generating portfolio. They estimate that the infrastructure development will result in more than $3bn in capital spending by the end of the decade in the PJM region, an area deemed "highly attractive" for the clean energy collaboration due to high community density and a strong industrial base.

The Chrysalis partnership comes as the PJM Interconnection takes steps to overhaul its interconnection process, a bid to facilitate new renewable capacity attempting to link with the regional grid. The transition to the new model features a temporary freeze on new applications as PJM works through a backlog of 1,200 projects, mostly renewables, that filed with the grid operator before 2021.

PJM has asked the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve its changes by the end of the month.

The Organization of PJM States, which comprises the regulatory commissions of the 14 jurisdictions served by the grid, has estimated that PJM may not begin reviewing new applications until 2026 based on the current time table, and those projects may take another two years to make it through the process.

But Chrysalis has taken those hurdles into consideration when setting their targets.

"Long term, we believe that the review should make the process smoother and faster for renewable energy applications submitted to the queue," OYA Renewables said. "In the shorter term, as the process is implemented and approved, there may be some delays, and we have anticipated these in our development projections."

By Patrick Zemanek